Olympus E-P 2 Review

It is not often I spend my hard earned cash on a new piece of electronics, but the Olympus PEN E-P 2 caught my eye and after numerous viewings testings, reading reviews and generally messing around, I decided to bite the bullet and buy one.

First of all – this thing feels fantastic. Pick it up and you are immediately aware that you are in the presence of a real camera. Olympus really hit the spot with the micro four thirds camera system. I have been considering a digital single lens reflex for some time now, but was put off by the fact that most of them are made of plastic and feel as though they have a permanent motor drive attached.

I wanted something I could stick in my pocket – not that I needed to buy a special bag to carry around. There are a range of Olympus E-P 2 lenses on the market and I bought the 17mm pancake. The next one I buy will be the 14-150 mm which is the 35mm equivalent of 28-300. Not available in Europe just yet.

The electronic viewfinder works a treat, and this was another reason to buy the ep2 – I live in a place where there is bright sunshine much of teh year and I cannot see those screens attached to the back of most point and shoots. This is wonderful. You can plug all sorts of interesting stuff in to the viewfinder slot also – from directional mikes when shooting in HD video, to a variety of esoteric stuff I have no clue what to do with.

These are some sample shots – taken inside a local church. Using ambient lighting I am amazed at the quality – all shot on "auto" and all hand held in very dim lighting. I seriously considered the Leica M8, but the price differential was so great as to make it a one horse race. The other one I considered was the Leica D-Lux 4 – but the Olympus beat that hands down. The ep 2 has no competitors as far as I am concerned, and the HD video quality is excellent.

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Go – buy yourself an Olympus E-P2 before they run out. I still think the best place to buy them is on Amazon, but there are a few used ones coming up for sale on ebay now.

At Amazon:

Fotodiox Pro adapter, Nikon Lens to MFT Micro 4/3 Four Thirds System Camera Mount Adapter, Olympus Pen E-PL1, E-P2, E-P1, E-PL2, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, G2, GH2, GF1, GH1 G10

$33.95

If you have a SLR or DSLR camera and other maker/mount lenses, the Fotodiox Mount Adapters allow you to use your lenses on the film/digital camera body. Sharing lenses has some distinct advantages. Certain prime lens just can't be replaced, and you save cost of purchase lenses. Fotodiox offers a range of adapter from large format to smaller format digital adapters. Adapting larger format lens,…

Olympus XZ-1 10 MP Digital Camera with f1.8 Lens and 3-Inch OLED Monitor (Black)

$399.99

Unleash your creative side with the first-ever Olympus X Series camera. Designed for those who want the quality of an SLR in a high-end point-and-shoot format, this camera provides a new, easy-to-use outlet for artistic expression. With the XZ-1 you'll capture high-quality still images and HD videos in any shooting environment thanks to its fast, super-bright, built-in Olympus iZuiko lens and its …

At Ebay – maybe some used ones at a lower price?