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Technical Details
Color: Black
- Brand Name: Olympus
- Model: 262901
- Optical Sensor Resolution: 12.3 MP
- Optical Sensor Technology: MOS
- Optical zoom: 3 x
Olympus PEN E-PL2 Digital Camera: Preview by dpreview.com
Product DetailsColor: Black
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Product Description
Color: Black
From the Manufacturer
The PEN E-PL2 continues the PEN family's legacy of a small, light and simple design, intuitive interface and DSLR image quality and expands your creative potential with new lens technology, Live Guide, new in-camera creative features, new auxiliary lenses, a new Close-Up Spotlight accessory (MAL-1) for macro photography and the new Olympus PENPAL Bluetooth accessory. And the newly designed E-PL2's ergonomic body makes capturing amazing still images and HD video more fun than ever before.
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Olympus PEN E-PL2 Highlights
Smaller, silent kit lens
The E-PL2 comes with the new Movie & Still Compatible (MSC) ED m14-42mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens. This new kit lens has a smooth, silent and quick inner focus mechanism to make it exceptionally fast and nearly silent when recording high-definition movie.
New Live Guide for stills and movies
The PEN E-PL2's Live Guide system takes the guesswork out of great photography and videography by allowing you to preview effects at the touch of a button. Want more vivid or muted color in your shot? Want warmer or cooler color? Want a brighter or darker subject, or a sharper or softer background? Simply select Live Guide and turn the wheel on the back of the camera to slide through numerous photographic and videographic effects. Make adjustments and watch the LCD as the effects are made live--before the image is captured!
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Nail the focus every portrait photo, every time. The new face detection AF employs an "Eye Detect AF" that adjusts focus automatically on the subject's eyes during portrait shooting.
3-inch high-resolution LCD
The E-PL2 provides an overall excellent user experience with a large, easy-to-view 3.0-inch 460,000-dot high-resolution LCD monitor and a control dial.
Expand your creative horizons with built-in effects
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Big sensor, not a big body
At the heart of the E-PL2 is a large-size image sensor that's the same sensor as the one inside the Olympus E-30 and E-620 Digital SLR models. The only difference between this sensor and what the pros use is that this big sensor is inside the much smaller body of the E-PL2. This high-performance 12.3-megapixel Live MOS image sensor (8 times larger than the average point-and-shoot camera sensor) delivers excellent dynamic range, accurate color fidelity, and state-of-the-art technology to reduce noise and capture fine image details in both highlight and shadow areas.
HD movies made easy
Recording HD movies with the E-PL2 is simple thanks to an easy-to-reach one-touch record button on the back of the camera body. If you're about to snap a photo and you realize a video would capture the spirit of the scene even better, simply press the record button and instantly you're capturing videos! Easily toggle back and forth between capturing stills and video by using your index finger to press the shutter button or your thumb to press the red record button. Having the ability to shoot still images and videos opens up a world of imaging possibilities.
Additional Features
In-body Image Stabilization
Say goodbye to blurry images. In both still and movie modes - the E-PL2 Image Stabilization excels. The E-PL2's three-mode In-body Image Stabilization system compensates for up to three shutter speed steps in the still shooting modes with any of its interchangeable lenses: Mode 1 for general shooting, Mode 2 for creative high-speed horizontal capture, and Mode 3 for high-speed vertical capture. The camera's Mechanical Image Stabilization automatically compensates for camera shake in low-light situations or when using a telephoto lens. In the Movie Modes the advanced Electronic Image Stabilization tracts the images both vertically and horizontally to achieve clear sharp movies, matching the performance of the in-body IS.
Built-in pop-up flash
Illuminate low-light subjects, reduce red eye, and fill in dark areas. Set the built-in pop-up flash to auto or control the amount of light the flash emits.
12.3-megapixel resolution
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TruePic V Image Processor
In addition to more detail, the image sensor, combined with the next-generation TruePic V Image Processor, delivers excellent dynamic range, accurate color fidelity and reduced noise, all the way up to 3200 ISO.
Dust Reduction System
A Dust Reduction System assures spot-free images. Every time you turn on the camera, the patented Supersonic Wave Filter silently vibrates, flinging and collecting dust so that it cannot interfere with the picture imaging at any time.
HD Movie with manual control, Art Filter Movie, and new Direct Movie button
Shoot movies at 30 frames per second, with high-quality sound, in 720p with available manual control over aperture and shutter speed. This new level of control allows you to express your vision exactly how you want in your HD videos. A Direct HD Movie Button switches you from still to movie mode with the press of a button. You can also capture HD video (720p) using one of the six Art Filters for more creative shooting options.
Accessory port
The E-PL2 includes a port (AP2) for new accessories including the MAL-1 accessory light, the PENPAL Bluetooth accessory--which makes it easier than ever to share your images--as well as the VF-2 viewfinder, a detachable electronic viewfinder. The external accessory port also allows for connection with the new EMA-1 external microphone adapter for enhanced audio capture.
PENPal
This Bluetooth accessory plugs into the camera's accessory port to easily save albums, send pictures from your PEN to a smart phone or another PEN. This makes it easier than ever to share images to sites like Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. When the information is sent, it includes shooting location to make geo-tagging easier than ever before.
New, easy-to-use Live Guide control
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22 Scene-Select modes
From portraits to sunset shots, the E-PL2 is equipped with 22 Scene-Select modes for effortless picture taking, including Fireworks, Sunset, Children, Macro and Panorama, to name a few. Capturing beautiful portraits is easy with the ePortrait Mode that enables you to smooth your subject's complexion. There are even three scene modes that are specific to shooting with the new conversion lenses to optimize the performance of those lenses.
iAuto with iEnhance
iAuto automatically identifies the scene you're shooting--portrait, landscape, night portrait, macro, or sport--and adjusts the settings to optimize results. iEnhance can be used in any mode, and automatically engages when using iAuto to enrich color in any subject, just as the human eye sees it.
Micro Four Thirds mount
The Micro Four Thirds Mount on the E-PL2 provides many key benefits, including the effectiveness of a digitally designed image sensor, an ultra-compact design, and expandability and compatibility with all Micro Four Thirds Lenses and Four Thirds System Lens via the MMF-2 Adapter.
Autofocus Live View with Autofocus Tracking
Keep fast-moving and unpredictable subjects in focus. AF Live View displays subjects, in focus, on the LCD the instant the shutter is pressed half way. AF Tracking locks your subject into focus and adjusts focus and brightness whether you or your subject is moving.
Media cards
The E-PL2 is capable of recording video to SDHC and SDXC media cards to accommodate large files. (SDHC Class 6 cards are recommended.) Videos, stills and high-fidelity audio can also be output via HDMI cable--direct to any HD television.
Product Description
Olympus E-PL2 with 14-42MM lens Black
Available Warranties for This Item
Color: Black
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
229 of 239 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I had this camera to review for Olympus. Here are my quick thoughts.
January 29, 2011
By Kirk Tuck
Color Name:Black
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.
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.
68 of 70 people found the following review helpful
Color Name:Black
I am quite surprised at how good the images are that I'm getting, especially jpegs. I'm used to shooting raw because I get better files and can squeeze a bit more juicy goodness out of my photos that in-camera jpeg processing does. Surprisingly, this camera does a great job with jpegs in good light situations. That's the important idea to keep in mind, good light. Kirk Tuck gives this camera a fine review, but realize that he's a lighting pro, who has written several (good) books on the subject.
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.
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.
71 of 77 people found the following review helpful
Color Name:Black
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. Read more ›
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. Read more ›
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