I asked Olympus if I could review this camera. I had written reviews for them before. To preface the review I will mention that I own several of the Olympus EP2 cameras and the EPL1 camera. While the EPL series cameras don't come with the accessory finder, VF-2, I consider it the reason to buy this camera and this family of cameras. More on that in a second. I gave this camera five stars but you should be clear that all ratings are contextual. It's not a better camera than a Nikon D3 or a Canon 1dsmk3 but it is a wonderful and very capable camera for $600 (with a lens). I consider it an $800 camera because I want to be able to use the 1.4 megapixel finder.Reasons not to buy one: 1. You shoot sports and need super fast autofocus and a very fast frame rate. 2. You rarely see daylight and want a camera that shoots noise free from 3200 ISO up. Nope, this one is not your camera.
Reasons to buy one: 1. The files right out of the camera (as jpegs) are very nice. Rich and accurate color and nice balance of sharpness and contrast. 2. It's a very stealthy package that flies under the radar, masquerading as a point and shoot but fully capable of great results. No one will guess that you're a serious photographer. 3. With adapters there is a very wide range of lenses from other manufacturers that work well with the camera. If you want to try a Nikon or Leica lens for some street shooting this would be the camera to try it with.
The big question I got over and over again in response to my review on my blog was whether this camera has better image quality that the EPL1. No. I find them identical. But the newer screen and newer controls are better.
The HD video is limited to 7 minutes per take but the quality (720) is very good and the camera has full manual controls for every facet. You'll need to buy an Olympus adapter if you want to use external microphones.
Why do I like these cameras? Because they are quick to operate and very, very lightweight. I like to spend hours and hours walking thru city streets shooting and the cameras are light enough to make this an enjoyable thing. Not a job-like task.
Now, on to the finder. I'm old fashioned. I just don't like composing a scene at arm's length. it's a very compromised technique. Olympus makes a great electronic viewfinder that works with all the Pen cameras and also the new xz-1 compact camera. It's a 1.4 megapixel finder. It's very detailed and makes the camera a wonderful tool. I wouldn't consider buying any of the Pens unless I budgeted for the finder as well.
Bottom line? Great camera for the money. Just make sure you are buying it for the right reasons.
IMO this camera is targeted toward two markets. For those moving up from a point and shoot, it's wonderful. It's familiar and less intimidating than an SLR. It can create better images than even the best point and shoots. The price is reasonable. It's attractive and it's a lot lighter than an SLR. Those people wouldn't consider shooting in bad light without a flash. They wouldn't consider deliberate long exposures to smooth motion effects. Those last two areas are not the camera's strengths as Brad R. points out. From the things he's asking the camera to do and not getting satisfaction he is a more knowledgeable photographer and demands more than the main target market for this camera. If you want low light capability or low ISO speed then this isn't the best camera around, though it isn't that bad, either.
The other market is more experienced photographers looking for a light and compact second or third camera. They have cameras for low light or fast action shooting. But there are reasons for not carrying around a big, heavy, professional looking camera but still wanting quality image files. That's my reason. My aging back hurts lugging around a fully sealed and rugged SLR. I've also found that I've been questioned about photos when in many tourist places: No pros allowed. Pros need to pay a fee. I don't want a reporter taking my picture. Guess what? The EP-2 doesn't get that kind of response. It looks like a tourist camera and tourists aren't as intimidating as professional looking photographers, pro or not. Stick a big camera with vertical grip in a room and people tense up. Hold your camera a foot in front of your face and few people care. I love that about this camera. I guess you can tell that I like street photography with it.
How much do I like it? A lot. It's tolerably light, fits in a smallish fanny pack. handles great, takes great photos in good light, has well though out controls, and works fine with flash systems. Will I be shooting at night with this for available light? No. Is it a great camera for portability? Absolutely. It's light. Its lenses are lighter than any larger sensor camera's. I can take excellent quality images when I work with rather than against the camera. All in all I very pleased.
The other nice thing about this camera is that it will take accessories and a remote shutter release. You can, and probably should add the attachable viewfinder. It will also take external microphones, which helps with much higher audio when recording video. That sounds strange, but it's true. As a video camera, it's pretty equivalent to current entry level SLRs.I've used the Oly Pen e-PL2 for over a month now (update: over 6 months) and I like it very much. I'm going to try to highlight some of its best features and also recommend some very useful accessories. And I'd also like to show you how to navigate quickly while avoiding unnecessary problems. My review will be long and detailed but will ultimately save you time. I'm a pro fine-art photographer (Dick Sanders) and I shoot medium format film cameras for "the look," but I have numerous other photo needs, and I found myself using my Nikon F100 film camera for everyday apps, which was inconvenient. I didn't want to buy a bulky DSLR for non-pro work, but I also didn't want (even the best) point-and-shoot camera with its tiny sensor. The Oly Pen e-PL2 gives you a quality four-thirds sensor in the ideal body size. And because it has both a front grip and a rear thumb rest, it's easy to hold and shoot, even with one hand. Granted, the Oly is not pocketable (except for a large jacket pocket), but that's not important to me, especially after getting the perfect case, the Lowepro Rezo TLZ 10 (more on this great case just ahead).
A great feature right off the bat is that the Oly e-PL2 comes with a 100 page printed English manual (see page references for various features ahead). It also has a CD ROM with a detailed manual, but I haven't found a need for it. The camera has vast capabilities and can seem daunting at first with so many menus and choices, so expect to spend several hours with the manual and camera exploring, but this is fun and you can customize the settings for your preferences. Before buying this camera, I had read a couple of reviews in which the users said the camera had confusing menus and difficult navigation, but this is not true. Spend a little time with it, and you'll see that it's actually quite logical, and while there are many choices, once you learn what you want to do, you can do those things pretty quickly. There is a small dial that you can spin to navigate and make changes, and some people complained about it being too sensitive (it is), but you don't even have to use it, as there are arrow buttons as well. I find the arrow buttons plenty fast and rarely use the dial, but it is handy for "more quickly" scrolling through pics during review.
In any case, right out of the box, I found I could use the iAuto and get beautiful photos effortlessly (see my sample pictures here of a white rose and my white cat). The large-fine jpg files (be sure to set it for that, pg 42) open at 10.08 by 13.44 inches at 300 dpi, and the quality and colors, even with the kit lens, are very good. With today's high quality enlarging plug-ins for PhotoShop (I use OnOne Software) you can easily enlarge the 10.08 x 13.44 to 30 x 40 inches and get very good results, but mostly I wanted this camera for 5x7s, 8x10s and the occasional 11x14 (and of course for various online pics). I prefer the 4/3 format over the others, because it easily makes 5x7s, 8x10s and 11x14s with minimal cropping. But you can also change to other formats, including 3:2, 16:9 and 6:6, although it'll crop the full 4032 x 3024 sensor accordingly. By the way, I think it's important to note you're getting 12 megapixels on a fairly large four-thirds sensor, which is the reason for the good image quality. Typical P&S cameras cram 12, 14, and even 16 megapixels onto tiny sensors and that's a recipe for poor quality.
Right off, I took a picture handheld in my living room on iAuto, at ISO 1600 and a 1/15 second shutter speed, and with the image stabilization, the picture was sharp, with natural colors (just slightly warm), and no visible noise in an 8x10 print. It was quite good right out of the camera, and I made minimal PhotoShop adjustments to make it perfect. Anyone can use this camera on iAuto and the results out of the camera will be very good and ready to use. Some noise was visible in the shadow areas of my living-room photo if blown up larger, but a quality noise reduction program would take that out. So, there is probably no "general need" for the external FL-36 flash, which I bought with a bounce-diffuser then returned (the camera does have a pop-up and tiltable built-in flash and more on that just ahead). In low available light I can shoot at 1600 and print up to 8x10, and probably larger with a noise reduction tool such as Nik Dfine or the one in Lightroom.
If you're a novice or moving up from a P&S, this is a great camera because you can start on iAuto and always revert to it in an emergency. If you press some buttons that take you somewhere you don't want to be, all you have to do is press the menu button twice and you'll be instantly returned to the basic iAuto shooting mode -a lifesaver when you need to act fast to get the shot (my wife likes this feature). Another great feature is the "Live Guide" which is quickly accessed in iAuto by pressing the central OK button (pg 18) and from there you can make the scene lighter or darker, warmer or cooler in color, more or less saturated in color, and also change the depth of field (blur the background). You'll see your adjustments live on screen. Making the color temp a little cooler indoors without flash is usually necessary, but Oly makes it easy. And because you see exactly what you're getting as you make the changes, the Live Guide is of immense value. Also, if you get deep into the menus and feel lost, Oly prompts you how to "go back" and also labels or explains everything on screen (very helpful in the beginning). And then as you learn more, you can begin to use more functions and choose your settings. But I should warn you that this is not a camera to hand off to somebody at a restaurant for a group photo. There are several small buttons on the back that do different things. Your thumb definitely needs to go on the thumb rest. When I handed the camera to a person who volunteered to take our picture, he accidentally pressed a couple of buttons and somehow got night mode with a long exposure and flash and the pics were worthless, but this was my mistake.
Another feature that's easy to access is exposure compensation, which I've used all my photo life, and I like that I can access and change it quickly in Program, Aperture or Shutter Priority (pg 36). The same is true with adjusting white balance (38) or changing ISO (43). There is also a manual mode, but I haven't found a need for that yet. There's a movie mode, too, and the movie button is positioned just to the right of the thumb rest, so you can hit it easily to start filming. But you can also trigger it accidentally. Since I have a good quality Canon Camcorder I customized my Oly to disable the movie button, and the advantage here is that you can assign this button another function (pg 84) and still make movies by turning the mode dial to "movie." The camera has six push-button art filters. I'm not a fan of digital gimmicks, and I see many photos today that are over HDR'ed or otherwise hyped and made ridiculous, but I confess I found the art filters, including pinhole, grainy black and white, and especially the dramatic tone to be fun, and you can even combine these effects in multiple exposures (pg 51). The dramatic tone gives you a pseudo HDR look and it's a bit over the top, but I found I could dial the effect back in Photoshop and make a dramatic and interesting photo that looked only slightly unrealistic, and for some pictures -for example, flowers against a sky with clouds -the results were improved without looking terribly unnatural. The effects you get with sky and clouds are especially good here. I also got some funny pics of my cat with the pinhole filter, so there are definite uses. The grainy black and white is a little too contrasty for my liking, but I can remember when such a look was popular in the 1960s (think high-key fashion or gritty rock documentary). There is also diorama, for a miniaturization effect, plus pop art for dramatically hyped colors, and soft focus for portraits or dreamy effects. In addition, there are about 20 different "scene modes," including panorama (pg 50) for stitching several photos together. Basically, this camera is good for novice to pro. It'll do a lot for you, or you can do a lot with it, or you can limit what you do. Let's face it, you'll mostly use 5, 6 or 7 favorite things, which you'll learn to access and use fairly quickly. The other 101 things the camera will do can be ignored or serve as fodder for experimentation. And you can also use the MYSET feature, which will give you your favorite settings as the default (see page 31).
Unfortunately, the camera does not focus well in very low light and there is no focus assist lamp (Olympus, please add this for the e-PL3 -Jan 2012 update -Olympus has disappointed with the e-PL3; while they did add a focus-assist lamp, they made the camera smaller and ditched the grip, making it much harder to hold. They did add a tilt LCD, which is good for low angle shots, but not fully articulating so you can't do self-portraits, and then they raised the price. They did improve the back control layout some, but if you're buying the e-PL3 you will need to buy an accessory grip that you can attach to it, otherwise you'll never be able to hold it with one hand: Google Richard Franiec grip for Olympus Pen e-PL3). I don't think the hotshoe FL-36 flash unit provides the focus-assist beam feature, either. But you can customize the fn button to toggle between manual and autofocus (pg 33) so in low light you can hit the fn button, zoom in, focus manually, then zoom back out to get the shot. There's also a way to hit a couple of buttons for a quick zoom-in for close focusing, but I found it faster to manually zoom in and focus. Of course, in the old days we all did this just fine. Sadly, autofocus has made us lazy and I can say it's let me down on many occasions. But if you're dealing with a really dark scene, you can also set the screen brighter (pg 75), and then zoom in and manually focus, so there are good workarounds here. On tiny P&S cameras, you have little buttons or levers that make zooming slow or awkward, but here you just grab the lens, twist, and you're there. Zooming and manual focusing is fast and easy. Of course, you can choose the focus mode and target (pgs 32-33), and you can customize buttons for focus and exposure lock (pg 83). I like to use a central target which locks when the shutter button is depressed halfway, then I recompose and shoot. But for portraits, you can set the camera on face detection with "closest eye detection," and it'll track focus on a moving face, which is good for pics of your kids (it even worked on my cat) or just when you want the focus on your subject's eyes. I will definitely use this feature, especially with the Panasonic/Leica 45mm lens (90 macro) which I intend to buy next along with the Panasonic 20mm f1.7. But I've been using the 14-42 kit lens with good results, and I like that it focuses to 9 inches, which at the full zoom 42 (84) gives you big closeups.
Two must-have accessories in my opinion are a 37mm to 46mm step-up ring and the B&W brand 46mm collapsible rubber lens hood. This combo will attach to the 37mm threaded kit lens, and with the rubber lens hood in the collapsed position it'll work very well for 14 to 17.5mm (28-35) and in the full extended position from 17.5 to 42 (35-84). The B&W 46mm two-position rubber lens hood is much more practical than a fixed hard lenshood and is really helpful outdoors. Also, this 46mm lenshood will fit and work well on the Panasonic/Leica 45mm f2.8 macro lens (90mm), as well as the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake lens (40mm). Now, if you add a 46mm filter to the step-up ring-lenshood combo, you'll get a little corner vignetting at 14-17.5mm, but none thereafter. But the step-up ring and lenshood offer protection for the lens, so you can go without a filter, unless you specifically need one for special effects (ND filter, for instance). I do use a 37mm UV filter on the camera when indoors for general lens protection. And I have a 46 UV filter I use outdoors sometimes, but I must remove either it or the lenshood for 14 to 17.5 wide angle, unless using the 16:9 format, in which case the corner vignetting isn't an issue. Note: I want to use the 46mm filter and lenshood with the Panasonic/Leica 45 and 20 lenses (both threaded for 46mm), otherwise I could get a 37 to 52 step-up ring, 52mm filter, and B&W 52 rubber lenshood and there would be no vignetting whatsoever. This is an option if you know you're only going to use the 14-42 kit lens, and in such case you can even get a very thin 52mm filter. Another advantage of the B&W lenshood is that if you're wearing the camera around your neck, and you stoop down and the camera swings out in front of you and bangs something (while hiking, for instance) the rubber lenshood offers good protection, which is why I prefer collapsible rubber lenshoods for all my lenses including those for my big film cameras.
The Lowepro Rezo TLZ 10 camera bag is a perfect small bag for this camera. It'll hold the e-PL2 in the main section with some extra room, and it'll hold the 37 to 46 step-up ring, 46mm filter, and 46mm B&W lenshood (combined and ready to use) in the front pouch. The front pouch also has two small compartments that can hold two extra BLS-5 batteries (a good idea since the battery life is a little short) and/or more SDHC cards. You can also fit an SDHC card on either side of the bag behind the shoulder-strap rings (nice design touch). You'll find that for a long day of heavy shooting, or a 3-day travel weekend, carrying 2 extra batteries is a good idea. And you can now get an off-brand BLS-5 battery at Amazon for a very reasonable price. By the way, since I'm not shooting HD movies, I bought the Delkin 4 gb Pro Class 10 SDHC card for this camera and it works great and holds over 500 pics, unless you're shooting raw. Raw and movie shooters should get the 8gb class 10 SDHC card. And if you're going to get serious with raw, you should know the raw converter Oly provides isn't very good. Lightroom is much better, and the 3.4 upgrade will convert the raw Olympus .orf files, and it also has the noise-reduction feature. But back to the case -in the main section of the Lowepro Rezo TLZ 10 case, you can put the Panasonic/Leica 45mm macro lens at the bottom and the Oly e-PL2 on top, and the lid will still close. You can also put the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake lens in the front pouch, if you don't use it for the lenshood, in which case that will easily fit with the camera in the main section and can be left on the camera. It just depends what you're buying and how you want to use the case. But this is a high quality, small, lightweight bag with both a top handle and adjustable shoulder strap, which can be made long enough to swing the bag comfortably behind your back. It has a secure quick release latch on the front which is also adjustable to make both the lid taller and the front pouch bigger. This is ideal if you're carrying the camera with two extra lenses, 2 batteries, and the "step-up ring, filter, lenshood combo." And if you're carrying less you can tighten the strap and shrink the bag. You can also remove the shoulder strap and attach this case to your belt. It'll be a little bulky that way, but the back of the bag features a quick-release velcro patch with safety snap that is so secure you can comfortably rest your arm on the bag. And to top all, the bag is even bargain-priced for its high quality. Whatever you do, don't buy the Olympus Pen casual case because it was made for the eP1, eP2, and e-PL1, all of which are slightly smaller than the e-PL2 (although I understand it will work for the e-PL2 with the Panasonic 20mm or Oly 17mm attached).
The 3 inch LCD screen is of good quality (460k dot) and after a month's use I don't have a single scratch on it. It's also adjustable in brightness, and you'll find it easy to zoom in and move around to check focus. But you'll be surprised at how much better your pictures look when you open them in PhotoShop. I can't stress this too much -the quality and colors right out of the camera are very good. So, if you're a beginner who doesn't have good PhotoShop skills, you need not worry. You can shoot on iAuto, make quick adjustments with the Live Guide (pgs 18-19), and you'll get great pics right out of the camera, ready for Flickr or Facebook or instant printing. The same goes for the art filters and scene modes, all easy to use. And as you learn more about photography, you can start to set your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure and flash compensation, color temperature, shadow-highlight balance (pg 36), etc. You can really grow with this camera. In my own case, after a lifetime of photography, it gives me all of the options I want and many more. If it has any weaknesses, it would be sports action and low light work where you need quick and accurate focus. In both cases you'll need a DSLR.
The built-in flash is surprisingly powerful, but I try to avoid it, since you just get that "blasted flash look." But because it's fairly strong, adjustable in intensity (pg 55), and can be tilted up, I'm going to see if I can rig up a mini bounce-diffuser for it. Also, because of the tilt-up feature, you can bounce it off a "low white ceiling" and get improved results. Don't try it on a very high or dark ceiling. UPDATE: I did succeed in fashioning a mini bounce diffuser out of white construction paper, modeled on the Lumiquest Promax Pocket Bouncer, and it worked quite well to soften the flash but only at fairly close distances. Of course this is when the straight flash is the worst, so this is an option when you need more light and don't want it to look harsh. For sure, there's an advantage to using the pop-up flash outdoors in the shade, in a backlit situation, or at dusk as fill flash, especially since it's adjustable and you can dial it down for a more natural look. But if you do, you'll have to remove your B&W lenshood, as it will block some of the flash. By the way, you can customize your Oly to synchronize the exposure compensation with the flash intensity, so these will work in tandem if you prefer this arrangement (pg 55).
Regarding HDR, which is both very popular and overused today, there is a practical use for it that even Ansel Adams (the inventor of extended dynamic range with his Zone System) would likely approve, and that's to shoot in Raw, take 3 images -one exposed normally, one underexposed, and one overexposed (a tripod will be needed here) -and then combine all three in camera as a single image. In post processing, you can then create a realistic photo with an extended range that shows more detail in the highlights and shadows. In the instruction manual, look up RAW plus Overlay (pg 51 and also 63).
I like the four-thirds format because the quality is very good and it's an open format, so you can use both the Panasonic/Leica lenses and the Oly lenses, and myriad other lenses with adapters, and very likely more lenses will be coming. I'm excited about trying the Panasonic Leica 45 and 20 micro four-thirds lenses (90mm and 40mm respectively) because these lenses have pro quality. And specifically the 20mm f1.7 is ideal for low light work. If you plan on doing a lot of indoor shooting and don't want to use the flash, this lens can be very helpful. I have a friend, also a pro street photographer, who uses the Olympus 11-22 f2.8-3.5 ED four thirds lens on this camera with an adapter, and he routinely produces excellent results. In fact, I've noticed a few have said that this is a great street camera, since it's neither obvious nor intimidating. UPDATE: Panasonic has just come out with a new Leica 25mm f1.4 aspherical lens that could prove to be the best lens yet for this camera. This "normal perspective" prime lens (50mm equivalent on full frame) will also be excellent for low-light work, and is just long enough to also work for portraits. Conveniently, it also has a 46mm filter/hood thread.
I should mention this camera feels solid. It's got a little weight, which I prefer, and you get the sense of a fine piece of equipment, and yet it's smaller, lighter and more comfortable to carry and use than a DSLR. One important thing, because of the front grip and rear thumb rest, you can shoot this camera with one hand, which will allow you to do something else with the other hand. Believe me, this is absolutely necessary sometimes. For example, you can use your hand to shade the LCD screen so you can see what's on it outdoors in bright light (unless you're buying the hotshoe viewfinder). Or you can shade the lens, when you need to remove the lenshood. I once used my left hand with spread fingers to create dappled sun/shade falling on a white rose (see it in sample photos here). And sometimes I use my left hand to hold a 22 inch Photoflex translucent litedisc above a small subject to diffuse the sunlight (creates soft light), which is a miniature version of what pros do on location. On Amazon, look up Photoflex Translucent Lightdisc, and you'll see 12, 22, 32, 42, and even 52 inch circular sizes. The 22 and 32 sizes are practical for holding with one arm. These discs also come as dual-sided reflectors for reflecting white, silver, or gold light, so pay attention to what you're ordering.
A few people complained about the quality of the kit lens, as if they expected pro quality. Why? I find the kit lens to be quite good, but I don't expect pro results from it; that's why I'm adding the Panasonic/Leica 45mm f2.8 and 20mm f1.7 lenses. One person said the pictures were washed out. Really? In some cases, I've had to slightly reduce the color saturation, but you can also set the camera for vivid, natural, muted, monotone, etc (see pgs 40 and 41). Or in iAuto, press OK for Live Guide and adjust "color saturation." Remember, the color tone, saturation, and white balance are all adjustable. You can even choose the exact color temperature (pg 38). One person said the pictures came out with a yellowish cast in iAuto indoors with no flash. Sure, that's common because of tungsten or mixed lighting or even the color of the walls. But the fix is easy: In the iAuto mode, press the OK button to get Live Guide, then choose "color image" and make the color cooler (pages 18-19). Or under Program, Aperture or Shutter Priority, press OK for Live Control, then toggle up to WB and select "incandescent," which will balance the color temperature to your indoor lights (pg 38). Even if you have your Oly set for "auto white balance," there's a white-balance compensation feature for fine-tuning the color (pg 39). And you'll see all of the adjustments I've described above "live" on screen. Another person said the camera was signaling it was in focus when it wasn't, but I wonder if he failed to choose a "default focus target." If you don't select a target (pgs 33 and 77), the camera will choose one of 11 targets for you, which obviously will often be wrong. And here's something that will save you time: in iAuto, the camera wants to choose a focus target for you (a face if you have it set on face detection) but if you want to choose your own target, simply press the button (note: that's not deleted copy, the symbol is three dots) and select from a grid of 11 targets and press OK. But if you switch from iAuto to use Program, Aperture or Shutter Priority, and then back to iAuto, the camera will revert back to choosing its own target, and you'll have to press the button and select your target again (a 3 second manuever). Remember this and you'll avoid aggravation and lost shots. In any case, why send the camera back because you're unwilling to read the manual and learn how to press two buttons? I just don't find these complaints realistic, unless the complainers got a bad copy (it does happen), in which case they should return their cameras for a refund and buy new ones.
A cool feature for black-and-white shooters is that once you choose "monotone" under Picture Mode (pgs 40-41) you can go on to choose a filter, including neutral, yellow, orange, red, and green. The yellow filter will add a little contrast. The orange and red filters will add more contrast, making a blue sky darker and highlighting white clouds. The green filter will lighten green foliage and darken red objects and can accentuate facial features in portraits. The red filter will lighten red foliage and darken the sky. I like the orange filter for black and white landscapes that include sky and clouds, and sometimes red for maximum drama. You can also choose sepia, or add a slight bluish, purplish, or greenish cast. All useful effects.
All in all this is a great camera, especially for its size, features, and fine quality at this price. I'd say you can't go wrong, unless you want fewer features, a smaller sized body, and are willing to sacrifice some image quality (the small Sony NEX excluded since it has an APS sensor). But I found the camera perfect for the myriad everyday apps I need, and it will also make an ideal travel camera. Well, that's about it. Sorry my review is so long, but I find that when I'm looking for new gear, the detailed reviews are more helpful. I hope I've answered some of your questions and also suggested some useful accessories. Good shooting!This camera is the perfect travel companion and great for street photography. It doesn't draw too much attention due to its size, styling and small lenses. The in-body image stabilization is fantastic as is the built in flash. The flash is designed in a way that allows it to be bounced off the ceiling, allowing for a more natural look. The wireless flash support was a key seller for me...I don't have an olympus flash unit but plan on picking up the FL-36R for travel. I have this camera with the kit 14-42 and a panasonic 20mm f/1.7. The 14-42 is silent and is sharp, but the lens construction is on the cheap side and it is slow (in f-stop, not autofocus). Autofocus is fantastic with both lenses and comparable to a GF1 in focusing speed. I love the image quality and the high iso performance is pretty good; images are usable at ISO 1600. The noise that is present has a film-like quality....
Overall, this is a fantastic kit at a great price....its not going to replace my 7D for shooting motorsports or wildlife but it definitely does well in all other scenarios.I bought an Olympus PEN E-PL2 w/ kit lens and with a Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens separately last week and since then cannot let go of it. I take it everywhere I go, and I shoot everything, anything that moves and doesn't move, day and night, outdoor and indoor. The photos blow my mind away. Upon seeing photos, people are keen to ask what camera I use.
* Portability *
This camera is incredibly small, about half the size of an entry-level DSLR. It's about the size of a bridge camera except E-PL2 is thinner. It could not be slipped into a pocket, but it's so portable that I have no trouble taking it everywhere I go.
* Low Profile *
E-PL2 having such a classic low-profile design is a perfect quality camera for candid photography of kids and people who get intimidated by pro-looking DSLR. I don't know but people tend to get too serious when faced with professional camera gears. The purpose of candid photography isn't really to spy on them but to capture them in their most natural poses with genuine smiles. The retro-looking compact design seems to avert their attention away. People don't seem to mind having photos taken as much. When I'm out on the streets, this camera doesn't scream for attention. People won't stare at you. They won't come asking.
* Image Quality *
I find noises very acceptable up to ISO 1600. At ISO 3200, the noises get very noticeable although quite acceptable for general use in a family album, blog or Facebook. At its highest ISO, 6400, the image quality gets degraded so much you would have to be desperate to use it.
E-PL2 reigns supreme in blurring out the background, isolating the subjects. Ideal photos that look awesome define where the eyes should look at, by giving tack sharp focus on where it matters the most. This would be incredibly difficult to achieve with a typical compact, as everything is always in focus. Not that you can't shoot great photos with a P&S compact, but E-PL2 opens up a new dimension to photographers, a dimension that allows the viewers to visualize depth in 2D photos.
* Night and Indoor Photography *
E-PL2 performs wonderfully in low light. I find I'm able to shoot away at ISO 1600 at night and at ISO 800 indoor with a few bright lights. The photos are very acceptable.
The noise sensitivity is almost on par with an entry-level DSLR (such as Canon Rebel T3i or Nikon D5000). E-PL2 has a 4/3 sensor with an area of 200mm² when cropped to 3:2 aspect ratio. That is about 55% of 370mm² area of an APS-C sensor inside a modern crop DSLR, and in comparison, E-PL2 sensor gets only about half the amount of light at the same shutter speeds. To make up for the loss of light, Olympus makes a design change. Firstly, the pixel density of E-PL2 in 3:2 aspect ratio is reduced to 10MP from 15-18MP of a typical DSLR. Lowering the pixel density gives space to making larger photodiodes on the sensor which allows more light collection per pixel. The reduction of the megapixels keep signal amplification power only marginally higher, and that will lead to only a slight increase of grainy noises in the photos.
E-PL2 sensor may be smaller than that of a DSLR's APS-C sensor, but it is still five to nine times the size of sensors found in typical compacts. As the larger E-PL2 sensor gathers much more light, E-PL2 will have considerably less noises. It matters a lot whenever it goes dark.
* Built-in Flash *
The built-in flash is conceptually new in a way that you pop it up and can hold it upright to bounce the flash off the ceiling, and it works pretty good too, granted that the ceiling is not too high. You should however expect to get an external flashgun for the job if you're serious in getting plenty of light on the subjects.
For night portraits, I usually underexpose the flash by two stops (by setting the FEC to -2). By underexposing the flash, the camera will use the available ambient light as the primary/key light, and a bit of flash will fill in the shadows and lighten up the faces, giving a more natural look.
* Sensor-shift Image Stabilization *
For handheld shots, E-PL2 sensor could shift to stabalize the shots by about two stops, even if the lens doesn't have IS.
A few things you should note though. The sensor-shift IS works only for still photos and only during the exposure. It isn't activated when you press the shutter button half-way and when in movie mode (which is the standard behavior of lens-based IS).
It is pretty loud but also such a beauty to observe a shifting sensor while shooting lensless.
* Focus *
It's a mirrorless that relies on contrast detection to focus on subjects, unlike DSLRs which have dedicated AF phase-detection sensors to do the job. While contrast-detection AF is generally slower and less acurate than the phase-detection AF, I find that E-PL2 focuses blazingly fast and accurate. In low light, the AF hits and misses (which is also an issue for phase-detection AF).
* Conclusion *
If you own a DSLR, you will find E-PL2 a great complement for fun and professional uses. It takes awesome photos in shallow depth of field and in low light. The real loss over a DSLR is the loss of pixel density but E-PL2's 10MP is good enough for large prints.
UPDATE: 05/29/2011
* Cons *
After using for another month, some limitations are getting more apparent. Firstly, a video clip is limited to 2GB in size. Since E-PL2 records videos in the outdated Motion-JPEG format that consumes much higher bandwidth than the newer AVCHD/MP4, a clip can last only for 7 mins 30 secs. It however doesn't stop you from recording more clips till the card is filled up. Secondly, while ISO can be changed in the video mode, only ISO 400 to 1600 are selectable. I have no idea why the ISO 200 is not.
* Issue *
The issues apply particularly to this unit I bought. It might say something about the build quality.
Apparently, after two months of use, the built-in flash went dead. It's probably a mintor electrical contact problem since it pops up and down like that. External flashgun still works with it though.
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