Olympus Pen E-PL2

[Ayesha Ferdouse]

I've been absent from here - and the photography world all together - for a little more than a month because I've been camera-less for a while. But, I'm about to purchase a new camera! I'm so excited. I went to B&H today to look at some cameras and I think I fell in love with Olympus Pen E-PL2. I am well aware of Canon and Nikon's awesomeness, but their bulkiness is very unappealing to me. I love the compact design of the Olympus Pen cameras and it is very user friendly and I enjoyed holding it in my hands.
I met this man at the store who uses an Olympus Pen and he relished on how he enjoys its features. Just to be on the safe side, I wanted more opinions. I usually read reviews online, but there seems to be a lack of that for Olympus Pen E-PL2.
So, if anyone here is an avid user of the Olympus Pen series, please let me know your thoughts and opinions on it before I make my purchase. Thanks!

[Lacey Gautreau]

AYESHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited that you fell in love, and I'm even more excited you will be back!!!! Oh, I don't have an opinion on the Olympus, because I've never used an DSLR of theirs, but I love my old point and shoot by them. And, I think if you LOVE it, you should go for it!

[Ayesha Ferdouse]

@laceyjogautreau Haha, yes, I fell in love. And when buying something I'll be using extensively, I think I need to be in love with it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to purchase it, but I just wanted some outside opinions. Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures next week.

[Spaceman]

I use an "old" Olympus DSLR,but not a Pen.. All I can tell you is that I think Olympus cameras are cool and easy to handle.

[Dragonfly Explorer ( Rhoiz )]

That's good to know. Olympus is also great, my first DSLR camera is Olympus E PL1 and it is a great camera no doubt about it. But unfortunately i sold it out and change it to Nikkon not because of the quality but because of the lense. Olympus EPL 1 has the latest lense in the market The micro four third lenses and unfortunately there is no available lenses for that here in Dubai, though i can order but it is way too much expensive. There are other lenses that is compatible with it, but i think i would like to have my lenses the same brand of my DSLR camera. So i change to nikkon5000 which lenses are much affordable and with lots of variety to chose and i want to explore on my photography.

Please Don't get me wrong, I know you fell in love with the olympus EPL already, I'm just sharing what I have since I owned the camera EPL before, just last Nov. 2010. The Camera is really great specially taking portraits you will really fall in love more.
Quality wise and like what you said convenience of carrying it is indeed a good choice.
So Follow what you think it's best for you because you are the one who will use it. It should have the love feeling on it.
Quality, Features and Convenience is SUPERB . Recommended.
Thanks

[Lacey Gautreau]

Did you check out all of the different lens options? That would be one thing I would check out.

[Ayesha Ferdouse]

@laceyjogautreau I did check out different lens options. I can interchange the Olympus and Panasonic micro four-thirds lenses. If I choose the have a regular SLR lens, I can always buy an adapter.
And I just placed the order! I can't wait!
@spaceman @blueburn11 Thank you for your input! I really do love it and I would feel very upset if I didn't buy it.

[Jennifer Ashburn]

@idonotsqueak I just got the Olympus PL2 this monday and I LOVE it!! I cant say how much I love it. I normally use the Nikon 5000 yet I am just loving how small and easy the olympus is! It has the same size sensor as a regular sized camera and I have found its taken some great pics. There are a bunch of art settings, I tried one today that does pin hole and it was pretty sweet
Of course my fav feature of all is the Nature Macro setting!!! I have a bunch of pics I have taken this week with that setting and I just love it youre welcome to check out this weeks photos!

[Tremerryn]

@idonotsqueak
Hi, I wondered if you got the olympus pen and how you got on with it? At the moment I have the canon G10 which is a bridge camera. I like the idea of moving on to a dslr but was concerned about the weight aspect and want it to be handbagable. Love the idea of being able to add lenses etc.
Many thanks for your help,
Catherine

[Dawn Reilly]

@grizzlysghost uses an EPL5 and can;t say enough good things about it.

i am having a bit of trouble with the Nex 7 i just bought...wondering if i should have taken his advice. check out his albums gorgeous photos there

[Dawn Reilly]

@caeralee i am a nikon user too. do you find the settings on the camera easy to navigate and do you need special software to load the photos?

[Aaron]

@tremerryn @sunshinephoto5 After quite a bit of research, I opted for the EPL5 and haven't regretted it one second. Menus are easy to navigate, you can have complete manual control (as seen by some of my long-exposure shots), the lens options are superb, autofocus is fantastically quick and accurate, it's lightweight, touch-screen control of everything, tilt screen that tilts all of the way down, and all of the way up for self portraits, etc.

I tag all of my photos taken with the camera with "EPL5", here's a link: http://365project.org/tags/epl5

[Dawn Reilly]

@grizzlysghost Did you need special software?? Why it it that is never ever mentioned in any review? i needed to find out the hard way :(

[Aaron]

@sunshinephoto5 Nope, no special software. I never really read the books or use the CDs that come with cameras, and didn't with this one either. I believe the manual for the EPL5 has to be downloaded (I don't think it came with the full version), but the menus are so intuitive I don't see me ever needing it. Sorry to hear about your Nex 7 struggles.

[Dawn Reilly]

@grizzlysghost and amazon is giving me $250.00 credit, it's now so cheap I hate to give it back..I am going to give it the weekend and make up my mind then, and not shoot raw! lol!