When you read my notes in previous posts on the Olympus E-PL2, you will see I really like the latest incarnation of the PEN series. It is the first time I believe Olympus did not really know, how to position a new camera model. The E-PL2 body is not as unique and detailed as the E-P2. What really makes the E-PL2 different is its great functionality. It also gives us a window into what we might see from Olympus in the future especially on m4/3 cameras.

Olympus is the market leader introducing new functions and technologies in the world of photography. Having said that, it is also true that Olympus often stop just that little to soon when thinking of new ideas and functions. To take a basic example, lets look at the popular ART filters which Olympus pioneered into pro type SLR cameras, like the E30 and later the E5. The media made fun of the new Olympus ART filters, the forum guru said NO and the filter followers group would not tell when they used it. Olympus persisted by growing the ART filter pallet and today I see large review sites commenting increasingly positive on the Olympus ART filters. Today we have 12 or 14 odd ART filters and they scattered between 5 or 6 different camera models. Personally I find no logic behind the criteria Olympus used to group these filters including what filter should go into what camera. The question is, Mr Olympus why not create an ART Filter Databank which the Olympus user can use to select that filter selection the user prefer.

From this Olympus User Databank the Olympus user could get access to all the different ART filters plus if you really want to be bold Mr Olympus, you could add more functionality to the "Filter Databank". To explain, lets take one more example:- Why has the E-P2 an auto rotate ability and the E-PL2 not? Why did Olympus go and change the excellent histogram on the E-P2? If these functions were available in an Olympus User Databank, Olympus will not only have great access to realtime user preferences, Olympus will also develop more brand loyalty plus cementing your customer base.

Why did Olympus find it necessary to design the E-PL2?

Why another 12MP mirror-less system camera from Olympus? Never before did we experience so many different cameras using the same sensor. When you look at the offer from Olympus plus that from Panasonic which are using this "same" 12MP sensor then it looks really strange. Was that sensor really that awesome or could it be that Olympus were buying time? It is no secret that the future Olympus system camera will not use a Panasonic sensor...... It takes time to develop the sensor that will take Olympus into the future. It could also be that it was not clear to Olympus what the full potential was of the mirror-less concept when they worked on the original prototypes. Take for example the G series from Panasonic, they still today look like baby SLR cameras. I believe it was only as these cameras were individually developing that Olympus realized what the full potential was of the m4/3 concept. This is why I believe Olympus is the better choice today. They managed not to create a direct competitor to either the SLR or the compact, they really developing a totally new niche market.

I do not know the 100% correct answer guys to why so many cameras are using the same sensor What I can see when having a closer look at the Olympus E-PL2 is that Olympus is using a similar Design Criteria than what one would expect at the end of a product life cycle. The first objective is to increase profitability by reducing cost. Place all the PEN cameras next to each other and its easy to see which is the most profitable PEN. That does not necessary mean reduce quality, there are many ways of reducing cost. The E-P2 has a wonderful detailed design with chrome work, a great user interface with two adjustment dials and many more small details. The E-PL2 on the other hand use a mono color layout with no special detail design work. It has a higher resolution screen, but if compared the E-P2 screen is not flash with the body as is the case with the E-PL2. That helps giving the E-P2 that extra little screen protection but with a more expensive body design. There are a number of detail design aspects that shows how the Olympus engineers managed to squeeze every Dollar profit out the E-PL1 & E-PL2. That is without really degrading the camera functionally or in terms of quality.

One more reason for the last 12MP PEN is new technology and/or functions the manufacturer likes to introduce and test. The E-PL2 is literally packed with interesting additions not available in the more advanced E-P2. With the E-PL2 one can really see how Olympus is moving away from the SLR type camera and how the new niche camera really develops. The first small but significant example is the well known SAT function build into the most recent SLR's and more advanced compacts from Olympus. The E-PL2 has the next incarnation of the SAT function. Like SAT its based on the well known Curves adjustment one find in software like Adobe Photoshop. The difference is the new function gives the user much more control and therefore the results are better. The most significant improvement is in terms of shadow noise, the new curves function has much better results and with less noise in the shadows. Another example is the well known ART filters. The ART filters are now adjustable plus in some cases its possible to include frames or other small details to the final output of the image. It will be really interesting to see what the full functionality of these new functions will look like. Another significant improvement is the different focussing options one has with the E-PL2.

What are these changes like in use?

Before I start, I like to remind you that I use one hand only to hold my camera. It is therefore really important to me that the camera has a comfortable holding position, that the control layout is good and that the camera has a comfortable grip. In terms of holding the camera and its control layout, the E-PL2 is hands down the winner. The new user interface design is great and the shutter button which is now placed a little forward all contribute to an excellent feel in the hand, well done Olympus! I also prefer the external mode dial of the E-PL2, it is more comfortable in use when compared to the in-body type design of the E-P2.

The separate video record button on the E-PL2 is a winner. The added functionality between the separate video button and the traditional shutter button makes working with the E-PL2 that much better. For example at any time one can now start a video recording and while recording one can press the shutter button halfway to focus if needed. This allows the photographer additional creative control. One cannot start a video recording with the E-P2 if one did not select movie on the mode dial. While recording a movie with the E-P2 one can also focus on a subject like with the E-PL2, but with using the "image review" button. Again this is not as comfortable as the E-PL2 but it is possible.

The build-in flash on the E-PL2 is a winner. Not only can it help out in many situations, it can also control external Olympus flash units. If you once worked with the Olympus RC Flash control on the Olympus SLR cameras then you always want that functionality in other cameras. Remote flash control enables endless creative opportunities and it is a real pleasure to use. I always wondered why Olympus did not build the RC function into the E-P2. It must be possible to activate this functionality when the PEN flash unit is mounted. Adding this functionality to the E-PL2, moved the E-PL2 into a different league all together.

The E-P2 also has a few aspects making it a winner. One of them are the leveling indicators build into the live view of the E-P2. I was taking HDR pictures and I had the E-P2 mounted on my tripod which is fitted with a ball head. It was such a pleasure having this leveling function on the E-P2 while taking the HDR images. It is these basic but great functions that makes it difficult for me to decide me in favor for the E-PL2 only. If Olympus had the user database in place then all I had to do was to log-in, download the App and my E-PL2 would have had the leveling function ready. The next function the E-P2 does better than the E-PL2 is the auto rotation of images. I cannot think how Olympus decided not to add the orientation sensor in the E-PL2 when they were looking for ways to save cost.

Many people prefer the E-PL2 because it has the same Dramatic Tone filter first seen in the E5. At first people described it as a HDR filter and as people saw more images produced with this filter it became clear the Dramatic Tone filter can do much more. The filter does not have the typical static "one only look" which the other ART filters has, instead it is dynamic and it changes with every movement of the camera. The user therefor has a type of control over the filter , every movement of the camera creates stunning results.

Another result one can get with the E-PL2 that is not possible with any other PEN cameras to date is the above image. I saw this scene which typically will be death for the average forum Guru. Reason being the guru does not recognize any creative opportunities in photography, everything has be technically perfectly correct. The problem the above image presents to the camera sensor is that the DR (Dynamic Range) of the image is outside the sensor specification. The results are blown highlights and shadows without detail. As you know a dynamic range that exceeds that of the sensor will have the excess highlight detail turn into white and the excess shadow detail into black. Knowing what one can do with the new Olympus Viewer 2 software, the artist could decide to apply the steps described below the original of the above image.

The E-PL2 user could decide to use the build in curves function to adjust down the highlights and up the shadows prior to taking the image. That is if the user prefer a JPEG output. In case the user use RAW files, it is not always necessary to adjust curves in the camera because he or she could decide to use Viewer 2 to modify the image. When home I looked at the above image in Photoshop Bridge and thought, lets have fun with Viewer 2. First I applied the Pop Color Art Filter, then on top of that I applied the Pin Hole Art Filter, I added a unique white balance to the pin hole and finally I applied the Soft Focus Art Filter on top of all that. This sequence one can only do with E-PL2 RAW files. The above image shows the additional control available in Viewer with E-PL2 RAW files.

Studying the above image you will see that I was standing in a passage way pointing my camera towards to the outside. As I mentioned above, the exposure conditions were extreme having very bright light on the outside and having the danger of under exposing the area where I was standing. With the E-PL2 one can avoid that by selecting the build-in curves function to correct the exposure prior to taking the image. Using this curves function one can up the shadows and reduce the over exposure in the camera. In the image below you will see the curves function plus I added 4 more small images showing you the different adjustments one can make. The adjustments one can do, range in both bottom "curves" example or top "curves" example from +7 to -7. To access this curves function press the up arrow and then the Info button. Pressing the Info button a 2nd time will move the curves adjustment from bottom to top and vice versa.

There are much talk on the forums and the web lately about the different mirror-less cameras and which is the better model. The average Panasonic supporter are pushing hard for the Panasonic G1 to go down history as one of the best. In a similar way it is said the original 14 - 45 mm kit lens from Panasonic is a must-have. My first m4/3 camera was the G1 and I enjoyed it a lot. I sold it to finance my E-P2. Later I again bought another G1 for a bargain because it was said to be the best m4/3 rds body. Knowing my E-P2 well at that stage, I used the second G1 a few times and then decided to sell it again and I made a nice profit. The G1 is good but not better than a E-P2 in my mind. I kept the 14 - 45 mm lens because I like the look of it on the E-P2 and the E-PL2 plus I think it is good. Is it worth paying the normal listed price for one? Absolutely NO, that good it is not. If you find one secondhand in good condition then yes, my advice is get it. The two Panasonic lenses, the 14 - 45 mm plus the 45 - 200 mm, are excellent in movie mode. They are silent in operation, fast and a pleasure to work with.

There are many more differences between the E-P2 and the E-PL2 which I did not list in this article. Video operation is one, there are differences between multiple exposure or images operation between the two cameras, Olympus has added more focussing options to the E-PL2 and how one can use different focussing techniques to improve creative control over the image taken with the E-PL2. The build in flash opened the door for several more options, one being the great Olympus remote control of remote standing flash units. Olympus has three different lens adapters that can fit to the standard kit lens plus the macro adapter can also be used on the 14 - 150 mm or the 40 - 150 mm m4/3 lenses. I can hear purists cry, saying NO!..., the quality is not good and no do not buy those options. In the image below I try to show you what those nasty adapters really look like and what you need to go get if you think they not good. I will most definitely buy the kit including the three adapters once the wide angle is freely available here. They will be worth gold in Photoshop and the artist in me cannot wait to start using them. These adapters I believe are really showing us what to expect from these great cams in the future.

Image stabilization is a wonderful addition to modern cameras and I almost always use IS. I wondered which is really better, the sensor based IS or that build into the lens. As mentioned above I have the two Panasonic lenses both with build in IS plus I have a number of Olympus m4/3 lenses. In use I prefer the lens system because it creates an illusion of stability. The sensor based system does not have that same stable feeling as the lens system because the IS only really activates when the image is taken. To test the two systems, I mounted the camera on a tripod, fitted the 45 - 200 mm Panasonic lens and then the 14 - 150 mm Olympus lens. I adjusted both to approximately 120 mm and then tapped slightly on the lens to create camera shake when the timer timed out. I realize it is not 100% scientific but what it showed me was that the Olympus sensor bases IS had sharper images out of a bunch of 10 test shots. The tap created a higher frequency type shake that would be typical of what happens when one press the shutter. It seems to me the sensor based "IS" is quicker to respond to rapid movements.

The last point I like to point out in terms of using these two cameras are the shutter sound or noise. The E-P2 has a lovely shutter sound, it feels solid, good quality and it creates confidence. Contrary to the E-P2, I find the E-PL2 has a noisy, vibrating type sound when the shutter operates. I am not sure if it comes from the cheaper, less solid camera body, or is the shutter mechanism in the E-PL2 of inferior quality. I had the new GF2 from Panasonic in my hand and I immediately noticed it has that same shutter sound as the E-P2. That is while the GF2 body is really tiny compared to the E-PL2. The Panasonic kit lens looked huge on the GF2.

The final difference I like to briefly touch on, is the option port on the E-P2, the E-PL1 and the E-PL2. The E-PL2 sadly uses a version 2 port which is not 100% compatible with the older ports. Some of the new options will therefor not function on the older E-P2 camera. That is unfortunately a hardware issue and something one should expect because research brings new possibilities. I have tried the awesome macro flash "cables" on my E-P2 and it works perfectly. The E-PL2 uses a new battery that has a better life time I read. It looks the same as the older battery, only the color differs. To test, I inserted the older battery at one stage into the E-PL2 and it worked well until it used up approximately 5 to 10% of its capacity. Then the E-PL2 started to malfunction. Inserting the new battery again made the E-PL2 function correctly again......

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed the read plus the information documented in this short article. While writing the article I realized I am making a huge mistake by letting the E-PL2 go. The collector in me also does not want to let go of the E-P2. I do not expect it to become of any real value but I do like the look of the E-P2 plus in certain cases the E-P2 will be the preferred tool. Are their any significant differences in image quality? Absolutely NOT! If anybody wants to tell you the contrary look for the reasons he or she is doing so. These are basically the same camera packaged in different camera bodies. The E-PL2 has unique software options not included in the E-P2 but they do not degrade or improve the image quality.

Are the image quality of these m4/3 bodies good? Again a BIG YES! I know the media likes us to believe differently, the question I ask myself is, why would the E-P2 or the E-.PL2 have a lesser image quality to the E5? Again it is the same camera just packaged into different camera bodies. If you hang an Olympus Pro Grade 50 - 200 mm SWD f2,8 to 3,5 zoom lens or the 12 - 60 mm SWD Pro Grade Zoom Lens to the front of the E-PL2 then the image quality is just awesome. These are highly capable camera bodies and with a bit of creativity one can enjoy amazing results from these small portable camera bodies. I sold both a G11 and a LX3 because they became increasingly boring as I became more accustomed to the superior image quality of the m4/3 bodies. Our friends in the media relies on advertising to pay the bills and the "large" sensor customer is paying well for advertising space. I do not believe they have a problem with their eyes...

Siegfried