Olympus E-P2 Compact System Camera (14-42mm lens & VF-2 electronic viewfinder) Black

Product Information

This was a tip I learned when using the E510 when I first started taking infrared photographs and has proved to be an invaluable piece of advice. I would recommend this to anyone with interest in taking up infrared photography. My favourite lens with the EP2 is the Samyang 7.5 mm fully manual, wide-angle lens which produces almost surreal images, where, for example, I can sit underneath a spreading oak tree and can capture the whole tree as it looms over me. Regular readers might recall that I have not been a big fan of the Four Thirds format. The reason was simply that it seemed when the format was introduced, and subsequently, that the smaller format did not allow for significantly smaller cameras. But with the introduction of Micro Four Thirds the format has found its niche. MFT does away with prisms and reflex mirrors but retains the same size sensor as its larger predecessor. Instead we have cameras with Live View LCDs, and also built-in or accessory electronic viewfinders (EVF). This allows for considerably smaller cameras than the 1.5X to 1.7X "reduced frame" formats from Nikon, Canon and others. That the E-PL2 has a built-in flash is taken by many a sign that this is a ‘step up’ camera – aimed at high-end compact owners looking to move up a notch in terms of control and versatility. Neither of the two cameras that sit above the E-PL2 in the PEN range has a built in flash and nor does Sony’s NEX-5/3, but the Lumix GF2 does.

For anyone comparing the E-P2 to its prime competitor, the Panasonic GF1, the choice may well come down to in-body stabilization vs lens-based stabilization. Olympus’ solution is preferably for me, but I find the Panasonic’s controls, menus, and rear LCD quality preferable.Just like Fujifilm's X100, the Olympus PEN E-P1 generated a lot of excitement at its launch thanks to its elegant traditional styling. And, in common with the X100, the shooting experience didn't always live up to the high expectations that its classic looks might have engendered. The E-P2 was a slight reworking of the E-P1, doing little more than adding the ability to use the excellent VF-2 electronic viewfinder, and could still be a slightly slow and awkward camera to actually use.

Manual focus isn’t a problem with such a wide-angle lens and I normally set focus to infinity. The other lens I often use is the Olympus ED 14 – 150mm F4 – 5.6 11. I use this on both the EP2 and the EM5 Mark 11 as my “shoot everything” lens. Another lens that I enjoy using is the Samyang fully manual 12mm which is excellent in low light and has a reasonable distortion free wide-angle.Contrast Detection AF system (when non high-speed contrast AF compatible lens is used, it works as MF assist) The extending lens barrel is equipped with a bayonet mount that accepts a lens hood or one of three adapter lenses for macro, fish eye and wide angle shooting. The wide angle adapter converts the 14-42mm range to 11-22mm (22-44mm equiv.) and the macro adapter brings the close focussing distance in to 24cm with a 0.28x magnification factor. If you’re a fan of circular polarisers you’ll be pleased to know that the front section of the lens has a 37mm filter thread and doesn’t rotate when focused.

Removing the mirror box from the design also means that there is no longer any requirement to make wide angle lenses retro focus designs. The rear element of the lens can be almost touching the sensor if necessary and this frees the designer to make lenses more easily so quality can in theory be improved and size reduced. The same applies when comparing Leica rangefinder lenses to any typical modern DSLR lens. The rangefinder lenses are much smaller. 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. There are 7 ISO settings available on the Olympus E-P2. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and the RAW equivalent on the right:Like the E-PL1, the Live Control menu allows you to shoot video in Program, Aperture Priority or fully manual modes or with any of the six Art Filters. As on other PEN models, though, shooting movies with the more intensive Art Filters will greatly reduce the frame rate with jerky results. I bought my first Olympus DSLR in 2008, the E510. I chose this camera specifically with infrared photography in mind because it featured the innovative live view function and came with excellent kit lenses with no “hot spots”. I have always been fascinated by the otherworldliness and mysterious qualities of infrared images, in particular in the work of Simon Marsden.

The electronic viewfinder on the E-P2 is much better than the one on the GF1, and is included in the kit price, but on the other hand it is larger. The GF1 has a built in flash, while with the E-P2 one has to buy an accessory flash and forgo the use of the electronic viewfinder when it is being used. One figure hidden away in every SLR's spec is the size of the viewfinder (often in a format that makes comparison between competing models impossible). The size of the viewfinder is a key factor in the usability of an SLR - the bigger it is, the easier it is to frame and focus your shots, and the more enjoyable and involving process it is. Here, as expected, the Olympus 14-42mm lens is indeed very small, even taking 37mm filters, an unusual size. The lens is also very good. This is a high quality optic and will not disappoint.

Olympus E-P2 vs. Olympus E-P1

The contrast detection AF is surprisingly fast, snapping cleanly into focus and proving highly reliable. Even fast moving objects are focused correctly. Various points across the frame can be selected as required or the centre point only used to select the focus point. The one handling difficulty is the small size of the camera, and sometimes it can be slightly annoying to attempt to change an aperture and find we are actually changing the focus point instead. As previously noted, operation of the camera does need care.