Opinions on the Olympus E-P2?
I'm close to buying one, but a few things bug me.
1. Is it not able to take decent action shots? Are there any lenses that can improve this?
2. Is this a good portrait camera?
3. Is this a good landscape camera?
4. Do I need a macro lens or will the macro setting work well enough?
5. Is the quality equal to, or nearly equal to a nice DSLR?
Okay that was more than a few. You don't have to answer this questions if you don't want to, but I'd appreciate just some overall reviews. I'm an amateur photographer, hoping to start doing some pet portraits for a little extra cash.
I'll take suggestions of other cameras that would suit me. A big part of why I want this camera is because of the size and ability to change lenses.
I have an E-PL2. The Micro Four Thirds sensor can provide better quality than the compact cameras. The autofocus lag is not bad compared to compact cameras. The compactness is better than a DSLR, although when you get to adding lenses and accessories, it becomes not so very compact. The skin tones are very good. Some digital cameras struggle to capture good Asian and Caucasian skin tones in the same scene under fluorescent light. The Olympus E-PL2 did very well:
http://www.martingrumet.com/coworker3.jpg
The noise filter by default is a bit high, which produces some smudginess. It can be turned off, and the slight graininess is more pleasing than smudginess, providing nice detail.
The DX sensors of Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Pentax DSLR's are larger than Olympus or Panasonic Four Thirds sensors. Their dynamic range is better, and noise at very long exposures is less. The phase detect autofocus in the pentaprism housing is still a lot snappier, so the DSLR's do have the advantage for action shots.
The new 14-42mm II M-Zuiko kit lens is impressively sharp. The camera has no processor correction of chromatic aberration, but that lens has hardly any CA. The in body image stabilization is noticeably helpful with the kit lens, but with the 40-150mm the effectiveness of the IBIS is meager. The optical image stabilization of many Nikon and Canon lenses is much better.
Like the DSLR's, there is really no macro setting. To get really, really close, you would need to buy a macro lens.
The optional Olympus FL-36R flash has nice adjustability, comparable to the Nikon SB600 or SB700. True to the Micro Four Thirds spirit, the Olympus weighs a little less, although not a lot less. The FL-36R's two AA batteries need replacing more often than the four AA batteries of the Nikon.
A look at what is currently available on eBay
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