The Olympus E-PL2 offers one continuous shooting option, rated at approximately 3fps; Olympus quotes around 12 Large Fine JPEGs or 10 RAW files. To put this to the test we fitted a formatted Lexar Professional 133x 8GB SDHC card, and fired-off 14 Large Fine JPEGs in five seconds before the camera began to slow; this corresponds to a rate of 2.8fps, and while the camera could keep shooting beyond 15 frames, it greatly slowed down. The Olympus PEN E-P3 looks a lot like its forebears - not just the E-P1 and E-P2 but, just as significantly, the company's film era Pen F camera. Significantly because, in an age in which the major electronics giants are building their photographic presence, Olympus is one of only a handful of companies with genuine heritage to turn to. And, despite modern cameras making high image quality more accessible than ever, there is an undeniable reverence for the look and feel of 1960s cameras. There are quite a number of "Art" modes. I didn’t try any of them as this just isn’t of interest to me. What I did note and appreciate is that raw files can be converted to JPGs with various " artistic" adjustments applied. For those that like this sort of thing being able to do it after the fact is likely going to be found preferable to shooting a single JPG image with a certain effect baked in and no ability to alter it afterward. Unsurprisingly the top plate control layouts of E-P2 and E-P1 are one and the same, not that there was any reason to go changing. The E-P2 features a dedicated exposure compensation button to its far right (if viewing the camera from the rear), whereas the GF1 uses this space for a dedicated video record button. Next to this on the Olympus is a large raised shutter release button with a nicely definite halfway point - the camera lightning fast in determining focus and exposure when pressed. Adjacent to both of these is an indicator lamp marked SSWF for Olympus' grandly named Supersonic Wave Filter dust prevention. Due to the fact that we were using the Pen with the 14-42mm test lens, which features a retractable design mechanism to minimize overall size of camera and lens combined when inactive, powering up the camera proved to be a slower process (than without) as, as on the E-P1, the lens has to first be manually unfurled before the camera will operate. Of the Sony NEX-3/5, the Lumix GF2 and the E-PL2, the latter’s screen is the least contrasty and most difficult to see in bright conditions, so the VF-2 could be a must-have accessory. As well as allowing eye-level composition, the VF-2 rotates upwards to 90 degrees so you can look down into the viewfinder – useful for composing low-level shots, but you still need to have your eye to the viewfinder unlike the flip-out screen of the Sony NEX3/5 with which you can comfortably shoot from the waist.

The size of human hands is a limiting factor in the design of many products, and in the case of digital cameras its necessary to strike a balance between small size, the ergonomics of the devices controls, and practical issues such as screen and control size and positioning. The E-P2 gets it pretty much right, offers a good compromise by being large enough to hold comfortably yet not so small as to make control use problematic. The development of the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera has been fast and led by keen consumer interest and demand. Removing the mirror box reduces the size of camera bodies and lenses considerably, giving us the promise of DSLR quality with compact camera size. Olympus has been at the forefront of this revolution, combining its Micro 4/3 format with the retro appeal of the Pen SLR design. We look at the latest offering in this range, the E-PL2, a light and compact alternative to the DSLR, providing of course that the quality level is there to match that of the larger cameras.

Your Comments

Portrait, Landscape, Landscape with Portrait, Macro, Sports, Night Scene, Night Scene with portrait, Children, High key, Low key, Digital Image Stabilisation, Nature Macro, Candle, Documents, Panorama, Beach and Snow, Fireworks, Sunset, e-portrait Unlike the Panasonic Lumix GF2 and the Sony NEX-3/5, the Olympus E-PL2 has a physical mode dial. Its eight positions select the four PASM exposure modes in addition to iAuto, ART, SCN and movie. All of the autofocus modes use an 11-area system which is located in the centre of the frame arranged in three rows, with five areas in the middle row and three above and below. Press the right side of the control dial and you can select an individual AF area which is useful if, as is occasionally the case, the 11-area system selects part of the frame that doesn’t contain your main subject. One of the complaints of the original E-P1, especially compared to the Panasonic GF1, was its fairly leisurely AF speed. This was slightly improved with the v1.1 firmware update for the E-P1, and the E-P2 (as tested) inherits this most recent capability. As such you’re looking at roughly one second to autofocus with the 17mm f2.8 lens under ideal conditions, which still makes it slower than the GF1. In general-use with static subjects you won’t care, but as soon as you’re trying to capture fleeting smiles from fast-moving kids, you’ll find the GF1 enjoys a higher success rate. In our tests, the GF1’s face detection also proved more reliable than the E-P2, with the Olympus often focusing just in front of the identified face when the subject was turned slightly. We experienced the same issue with the E-P1. I’ve always been interested in art and creativity and have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. Photography seems a natural extension of that and much of what I’ve learnt through art is easily transferable.

Auto, Red-eye reduction, Slow synchronisation, 2nd curtain and slow synchronisation, Fill-in for exclusive flashI can now shoot infrared handheld, aided by the in body image stabilisation, with no need for tripods or long exposures. This has broadened the range of subjects and lighting conditions I can now shoot in infrared, from trees and woodland scenes to landscapes and seascapes and even street scenes and portraits. Olympus launches E-P2 Micro Four Thirds camera". Digital Photography Review . Retrieved 22 November 2009.

The knurled thumb wheel on the right side of the body, on the other hand, is far too easy to turn accidentally. It would have been much better (though a bit more costly) to make it a push-in-and-turn design. The now ubiquitous circular thumb wheel is a bit too small, and many times the difference between wanting to spin it with ones thumb, or press it inwards to select a setting such as ISO or AF modes, is made by accident. It’s hopeless with gloves on. The other major change made to the E-P2 also improves the camera significantly. The addition of an accessory port isn't usually the sort of thing that excites us but, when it allows the use of such a good electronic viewfinder, it does make quite a big difference. Most obviously it offers a steadier way of holding the camera and a way to use the camera in really bright light, where the E-P2's rear screen can be hard to see. In addition, though, the clip-on nature of the EVF means that you only have to carry it when you think you'll use it and users who don't think they will are likely to have the option to not have to pay for it.In summary this is a lens that takes advantage of the possibilities of the mirrorless design to offer a compact and high quality zoom.

The E-PL2 body measures 115 x 73 x 42mm and without a lens attached or battery fitted weighs 317 grams. Pop the battery in and add the 17mm f2.8 pancake prime and the weight comes up to 432g. To put that into context, Canon’s high end PowerShot G12 compact weighs 401g, albeit featuring a built-in 5x zoom. Another comparison worth making is with the Panasonic Lumix GF2 which is not only a little smaller, but lighter, weighing only 265g without the battery or a lens attached. So the VF-2 is very nice, but how often would you actually use it? We were initially sceptical about how often we’d switch to it, not to mention concerned over the extra size it added to the top of the camera, but in use we ended up composing roughly half our shots with it. The VF-2 really came into its own when bright sunlight made the screen harder to view, or at times when we wanted a more detailed look at the subject – the fine detail also makes manual focusing much easier. The E-P2 is sold as a kit; body, electronic viewfinder, and a Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom. Optical quality seems quite fine, but I am not a big fan of this lens for several reasons.I liked the E-P2, notwithstanding some of my complaints. It’s an enjoyable photographic tool. Between it and the GF1, if it comes down to a choice between them, it’s a tough one, with neither camera offering a clear edge over the other. It will eventually come down to issues of flash, EVF quality, stabilization, and ease of use, all of which will vary from one person’s needs to another. As before though, shooting movies with the more intensive Art Filters (such as the new Diorama or older Grainy B&W and Pinhole options) will greatly reduce the frame rate with jerky results. The crops above are taken from images shot at 1/15 with image stabilisation turned off (left) and set to mode 1 which enables it in both vertical and horizontal planes. The crop on the right is a tiny bit soft, but just about acceptable, which means that in our tests the E-PL2 manages between two and three stops of image stabilization.