getting the an olympus pen

[kl34quest]

Im looking to buy a new PEN Olympus

But at times im still undecided .

I want the EP3 but and not sure if i should just settle for the EPL3 .

EP3 is faster, and a few more features , but bascially the same as the EPL3 which is cheaper and has the flip ot screen .
I ahve no idea if the screen will be of use to me as i have never used a flip out screen and have been fine all these years without one . i still feel i shud go for the EP3 . can anyone make any suggestions on the EP3 and EPL3 ..

AT present i have a canon G9 ... and found recently on a trip to washington that i was unable to focus on the subject in the foreground , rather the background ,white house always came into focus . .
the ability to decide on the focus point via the touch screen so might be really helpful ,im thinking .i suppose that is how that feature works .... im not sure .is it ?

i also suppose that these cameras will do better than my G9 , in speed, or action , hence less blurr and fare better in low light . am i right ?

Im only disapointed in not getting much zoom with these olympus cameras . canon g9 was a 6 x zoom .. so all the videos and shots i took at sea world came out well as i was able to zoom into the animals . .. with these PEN cameras i wont be able to do that unless i buy a second lens. the kit is a 14-42 mmm.
the 40-150 luks really out of place and ugly on the camera ... and i dont think it will give me the 6x zoom . im reading up on focal length so as to understand

I hear that within a month OLy will announce new models for these camera , im hesitant to go to the stores to get something now . so i have decided to wait out a bit and see if there will be a better model or atleast a price drop in the cameras im looking at ,

since i had the time i was wondering if someone cud answer my questions for me .

[Sponge]

Performance-wise I don't think you're going to find much differences between the two but in terms of price it looks like the E-P3 costs twice as much.

Differences between the PEN Lite E-PL3 and PEN E-P3

Faster continuous shooting: up to 5.5fps vs. 3fps
Tilt/flip LCD display vs. fixed OLED touch screen
Lower resolution screen (460,000 vs. 614,000 dots) in 16:9 vs. 3:2 aspect ratio
No thumb dial
No orientation sensor
Slower flash sync speed of 1/160th vs. 1/180th of a second
Four fewer Art Filters (Loses Pale Light & Color, Light Tone, Gentle Sepia and Cross-Process)
No built-in flash (clip-in unit included)
No level gauge

I looked at the E-PL3 before settling on the E-PL2 partly due to the difference in screen dimensions (16:9 is more suited to video which I barely ever use), ergonomics (the E-PL2 has a small hand-grip and is slightly bigger which works for me) and the fact that the E-PL2 has a built in flash which can be tilted up (not a game-changer but something I like to have). It was also a lot easier to find a good deal on a used E-PL2.

If you are seriously considering spending on the E-P3 you might want to consider spending a tad more on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 which is their latest micro four thirds camera and has just about everything one could ask for in this type of camera and gets glowing reviews.
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2012/0...by-steve-huff/
With the kit lens (14-42) it's going for $1099 but is hard to find in-stock. Also as you mentioned there should be new cameras in their PEN series soon and they will most likely offer things that the old PEN cameras don't. If cost is your main priority I think you will be very happy with the E-PL3.
*as far as focal length goes, the 40-150mm lens is actually 80-300mm equivalent due to the size of the sensor, which is longer than the Canon G9's longest focal length (210mm).

[kl34quest]

Thanks for the reply .
I live in India , and the price diffrence between the 2 is about 90$.
I am really hoping to hear abt some great new cameras .

copied from my post below

AT present i have a canon G9 ... and found recently on a trip to washington that i was unable to focus on the subject in the foreground , rather the background ,white house always came into focus . .
the ability to decide on the focus point via the touch screen so might be really helpful ,im thinking .i suppose that is how that feature works .... im not sure .is it ?
i also suppose that these cameras will do better than my G9 , in speed, or action , hence less blurr and fare better in low light . am i right ?

cud u answer those questions for me ?

unfortunatly the OMD isnt avaliable here , except on order . so i canNOT even get one to handle before i buy .
I have read next to nothing on OMD as i thought it was an SLR with the SLR size . but i see its not so .
people here ask why spend that money when u can get a super nikon for cheaper ..... even when i ask for the ep3.

i didnt realise that the 40-150 mm lens was more than wat the G9 had .. i have handled a EPL3 with the 40-150 .. and it didnt feel that way ... thanks for informing me !

can u please compare the ep3 with the OMD as u did with the epl3 and ep3 .it wud have been really helpful . Here in india the OMD costs more than 700$ more than the ep3

[Inkanyezi]

AT present i have a canon G9 ... and found recently on a trip to washington that i was unable to focus on the subject in the foreground , rather the background ,white house always came into focus . .
the ability to decide on the focus point via the touch screen so might be really helpful ,im thinking .i suppose that is how that feature works .... im not sure .is it ?

Focusing on the background instead of the subject is a common treat among AF systems, and in order to cope with it one must learn how to use it. Both contrast AF and phase shift AF share this problem. The camera cannot know what you want to focus upon within the focusing point. Moreover, the point itself is not exactly defined. There is a slight difference between contrast AF and phase shift, but both may choose to focus on the background instead of what is up front, as they find a "better" subject there to focus upon. This is particularly true with the compact cameras, As Canon G-series, that have rather large focusing points.

An example. I found a roe deer relaxing on a lawn in a garden, and aimed my Canon PowerShot G7 at it, with one focusing point, that I set to the head of the animal, which I thought should have reasonable contrast for focusing and was the point where I wanted the image to have optimal sharpness. However, as she lay on a lawn, in the background, behind her head, there was grass. Grass and foliage is about the best possible contrast you can get, as it consists of a lot of straws or leaves, where one shades the other, so there was a mix of sunlit straws with partially shaded straws. So the camera focused on the lawn behind her head.

To avoid it, I would have had to focus on the lawn at the same distance as her head. This flaw in AF systems often needs to be worked around There are objects that are impossible to focus on, as a bicycle, where you almost inevitably will have focus on the background. So a larger patch at the same distance must be found to focus upon, as the main subject might not cover the focusing point sufficiently. Touch screen makes no difference in this respect. It is easier solved by pointing the camera at a better spot where to focus, which is simpler than fingering on the display.

Compared to the Canon PowerShot G-series however, with a µ4/3 camera you may choose a much smaller focusing point.

i also suppose that these cameras will do better than my G9 , in speed, or action , hence less blurr and fare better in low light . am i right ?

There is a rather large difference in low light, and there is also a great difference in focusing speed as well as shutter delay. Whether it is sufficient is up to you to decide. In good light, focusing is swift, in low light, it sometimes is very slow, particularly when you have a longer tele lens with a large focusing span. Hunting for focus is not uncommon in low light with a long lens.

Im only disapointed in not getting much zoom with these olympus cameras . canon g9 was a 6 x zoom .. so all the videos and shots i took at sea world came out well as i was able to zoom into the animals . .. with these PEN cameras i wont be able to do that unless i buy a second lens. the kit is a 14-42 mmm.
the 40-150 luks really out of place and ugly on the camera ... and i dont think it will give me the 6x zoom .

As the µ4/3 system is not only one brand, you have more lenses to choose from, and maybe your ideal camera would be a different one. After all it is a system, and not only a system, but a standard as well. Both Olympus and Panasonic make lenses that will cover a wider range, 14-150 and 14-140 respectively, but as the sensor is larger than the compact G9, the camera with a superzoom mounted is a behemoth. If you really want that kind of lens, a Panasonic body might be a better choice, or the E-P5, so you can also have a peekhole viewfinder of good quality. The tradeoff with a larger zoom lens is that the size of the camera grows.

[Sponge]

It's hard for me to know exactly why your G9 had trouble focusing on the subject in the foreground but it could depend on how close your subject was. Different lenses have differing minimal focusing distance so that is a possibility. The next time you could try moving a little further away and see if that helps. This is assuming that you were focusing on the subject (if center focus was selected or is the default you'd want to center on the subject and half-press the shutter before recomposing the scene to your liking and then fully pressing the shutter). I've seen that the G9 has manual focus so you could try to manually focus the subject and if it still won't focus than I would guess it's because you're too close.

The EP3 and EPL3 will fare better in low light due to the larger sensor and reviews of the cameras show the Auto Focus is quite fast which will help capture moving subjects. But if you plan on shooting sports or fast-action photography a DSLR is better suited.

I'm surprised the price difference between the EP3 and EPL3 is that narrow in India. I would think the EP3 is probably the better choice in that case. The only thing I would prefer about the EPL3 is the tilt/flip screen. My old camera had one and I do miss it for getting low/high shots and candid street photos.

"i didnt realise that the 40-150 mm lens was more than wat the G9 had .. i have handled a EPL3 with the 40-150 .. and it didnt feel that way ... thanks for informing me !"

With micro four thirds cameras the crop factor is 2 so you have to double the focal length of the lens. The 14-42mm kit lens will give you a 28-84mm range and the 40-150mm lens will be 80-300mm. Your G9 has a 35-210mm range the '6 x' stands for 6 x 35.

I'm sure you can find a good comparison between the EP3 and OM-D with a quick google search so I'll just mention a few things in favor of the OM-D. It has a 16mp sensor designed by Sony (considered by many to make the best sensors currently) which shows some improvements over the ones used in the current PEN line-up (though it's believed that the upcoming PEN's should include this sensor as well), it has a built in EVF (handy when shooting in full sun and allows you to put the camera to your face for better stability), 5-axis image stabilization (looks like it performs very well with some reviewers getting sharp shots hand-held from shutter speeds as long as 1/2 sec), weather sealed, tilting touch-screen LCD, and probably some other things that I'm forgetting.

[jcuknz]

I have the the e-PL1 and the Pany G3 ....the flip screen is very useful when you need it and I most use it for going into menus.
I have had it for ages with various cameras and feel at a bit of a loss with the E-PL1 which doesn't have it ..I also got the VF-3 and it is a tiny tunnel to look through compared with the Panasonic EVF.
My Oly only has a grid of focusing areas like a DLSR unlike the G3 which can place the focusing point anywhere on the screen and more important IMO is that I can and do almost permanently have a very small selection area organised. This means I can pickup a small area to focus, such as little more than the eye of the deer above rather than I suspect the whole head.

It should be very easy to focus on the close object rather than the distant White House if you place the focusing target area over the near object, take half trigger, and when the camera tells you it has found focus, my P&S Canon has a green indicator light doing this, one then re-frames for the shot you want while continuing to hold half trigger. When set complete full pressure. There can be drawbacks to this that the exposure for the close subject may not be suitable for the wide view and for these situations you camera probably has AF-lock which you should read about in your manual ... there should also be something about AE-Lock where you first get the exposure you want and then re-frame. I did these basic tricks with my Canon s20 which is a much simpler camera than your G9. [ not AE and AF Lock becuase it doesn't have those features].
It is also useful if you want to capture action and you take half trigger with the camera pointed at where the action will be when it arrives and then with the camera set up you wait for the subject holding HT ... the camera when you press full trigger will take the photo without delay.

I would check exactly what you can do with that touch screen compared with the Panasonic version.

If you want the equivalent zoom of your G9 then you should consider the 014140 Lumix lens which gives you a x10 zoom from 28 out to 280mm AoV which will focus faster than your G9 and in most situations as fast as a DSLR according to dpreview ... I love it In dull street lighting I had a hard job to stop it snapping into focus when I was trying to stop it finding focus. Even if you fitted it to the OM-5 It is definitely not like the proverbial slow in dull light focusing systems of the past.

[Inkanyezi]

With the G-series compact cameras from Canon, you can lock focus with the left thumb * button, and the camera will then hold until you have again pressed anything on the back, so it is rather easy to use locked focus on the G9. You need not focus with the release button, and the camera will adjust exposure, which may be locked with the release.

But the main problem with contrast AF as focusing spots are so large as on the PowerShot, is that it covers a greater area than you might intend, and the camera might find better contrast for focusing in the background. That is something that won't happen on the Panasonic micro 4/3 cameras, as you may make the spot rather small, small enough for focusing on the eye of the deer.

I tend to use the smallest spot most of the time on my Lumix G1, but in low light the camera finds focus faster if the spot is larger.

[jcuknz]

I tend to use the smallest spot most of the time on my Lumix G1, but in low light the camera finds focus faster if the spot is larger.

That is funny to me as I assumed with absolutely no knowledge of the subject that the smaller the area the less info to be processed so the faster it would work. When I was deliberately trying to NOT focus I had to be very careful to organise an area of uniform tone in the small focusing target area otherwise it snapped into focus in a split second. I guess these days we are talking about splits of split seconds

I was out at the front gate at 11pm for this trial after talking to a blogger

[Inkanyezi]

That is funny to me as I assumed with absolutely no knowledge of the subject that the smaller the area the less info to be processed so the faster it would work.

I guess the camera can calculate fast enough for several spots too, but a larger spot receives more light, which might be the reason why it is faster. This effect is noticed only when there is very little light. It also helps to measure a spot that is more contrasty, so you can see more light than in a dark spot. I often take images where the shutter time is rather long even at a high ISO setting with a large aperture, and it certainly helps sometimes to use a larger spot. The wildlife shots I have made are often at dawn or dusk with subdued light, as the images below. They are taken with the Lumix G1, micro 4/3 and the 45-200 lens at long focal length and large aperture with fairly long shutter time in low light:

link to image of snake, inline image removed on request (Inkanyezi)

link to another image of snake, inline image removed on request (Inkanyezi)

[kl34quest]

Thanks for all the advise .

As i said i prefer a mirrorless camera for its size .
Someone mentioned above to take a look at the other mirrorless cameras in the market .

i have taken a luk at the nikon , panasonic ,and sony models .
I still feel that olympus rules at the moment , for its features and performance .

Does anyone have another opinion , or suggestion ?
nikon seems to be working out quirks it has only 2 models released
I have had too many bad experinces with sony , so hence not willing to try that brand again
I feel that the features in the oly are better than those in the pany

The rumour is the the EP3 line and EPL3 line will be merged in the next release , supposedly in a month or 2s time . Am hoping that the quirks of these 2 models will be corrected and the best of the two models are merged into one hell of a camera.

[inkista]

Just me, but I wouldn't get an EP-3 or EPL-3. I'd wait on the next release cycle, when the sensor in the OM-D/EM-5 is likely to trickle down. It's been a while since Olympus has updated the sensor in their m4/3 cameras.

I would also recommend going to the mu-43.com forum. There are a ton of shooters there with a huge amount of experience with all the Oly PEN models, and they can guide you through which model is likely to be the best fit for you, but be warned, someone may end up upselling you to the OM-D/EM-5.

[kl34quest]

Just me, but I wouldn't get an EP-3 or EPL-3. I'd wait on the next release cycle, when the sensor in the OM-D/EM-5 is likely to trickle down. It's been a while since Olympus has updated the sensor in their m4/3 cameras.

i hear that there is bound to be a release soon . thats what im waiting for ..... hope i dont have to wait too long !

the issue is that omd sells for about 1500$ in india , thats too expnsive .... hope they come up with a new model to the ep3 that better in performance and features similar to the OMd .. but hopefully cheaper .

[jcuknz]

The Samsung Nx range are mirrorless but body a bit bigger as they are APS-C and the lenses are much bigger [ same as APS-C lens].

[thequacksoflife]

As i said i prefer a mirrorless camera for its size .
Someone mentioned above to take a look at the other mirrorless cameras in the market .

i have taken a luk at the nikon , panasonic ,and sony models .
I still feel that olympus rules at the moment , for its features and performance .

really? I'd suggest not with the exception of the E-M5.....

The Panasonic G3 is excellent value for money and the 16mp in the G3/GX1 is a step up from the one used in the pens and the Pan GF series.

The Sony's have better sensors than the Oly's/Panny's but there isn't the range of lenses.

And the Nikon's will toast any other mirrorless camera if you want to track moving subjects. Image Quality is comparable with the 12mp m4/3 cameras from Olympus and Panny.

The Olympus cameras are very good but look at the alternatives.

http://tysonrobichaudphotography.wor...-a-new-sensor/
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/1...ected-to-hate/

[kl34quest]

So the canon mirrorless is out .

whats everyones first impression ?
Still waiting for that olympus release ...Im fond of its art filters ... I dont think any other brand does as well with the art filters ,
I maybe wrong but it seems to be so ... does anyone differ ?

[inkista]

So the canon mirrorless is out .

whats everyones first impression ?

There's an entire thread on that over here: Canon EOS M

Still waiting for that olympus release ...Im fond of its art filters ... I dont think any other brand does as well with the art filters , I maybe wrong but it seems to be so ... does anyone differ ?

Fuji ain't bad, either, but I prefer doing that stuff in post for myself. As for waiting on the release, most camera release tend to happen in the Feb/March or Sept/Oct. timeframe. I'd expect to hear about any new camera releases around the time of Photokina, which is being held this year Sept. 18-23. The press release are liable to start flying around then.

[kl34quest]

Thanks ...
but Im trying to keep it around 750 USD.
Fuji is too expensive for me , might as well get an SLR at that price .

[Inkanyezi]

So the canon mirrorless is out .

whats everyones first impression ?

My impression is that the Canon is a "me too" product. It has virtually nothing that other brands don't do better. The only reason that I could see to get one, is if you have a lot of Canon glass that would work with the native adapter. In such case, I'd think it is an obvious choice, but otherwise... Naaah! I am also not particularly fond of not having a peekhole to view the image, so my bias is toward EVF. I guess Canon will soon be out with another metoo camera that provides a viewfinder.

...Im fond of its art filters ... I dont think any other brand does as well with the art filters ,
I maybe wrong but it seems to be so ... does anyone differ ?

If you're into those "artsy" filters, they are traditionally not in the system camera domain, so although there are other cameras that might have them, they are all compact cameras. So you're correct, only Olympus built them into their system cameras.

[inkista]

My impression is that the Canon is a "me too" product. It has virtually nothing that other brands don't do better.

Errr... APS-C sensor is larger than the ones in the m4/3 sensors. And while Sony has a 24MP APS-C sensor in the NEX7, they don't have a 35/2 equivalent pancake.

While the EOS M is definitely is a "me too" product, I don't think it's the complete miss most folks are calling it. (And as Mike Johnston of TOP said, "When you're Mr. Big, you can get to the party any time you want to.") There are a few things they definitely got right. And it's probably the only mirrorless that includes a wireless flash master unit in the box for some markets (90EX. Not in the US, alas). It's essentially a P&S form factor T4i.

The only reason that I could see to get one, is if you have a lot of Canon glass that would work with the native adapter.

Not to mention Canon-compatible flash gear, and Canon cable releases/remotes.

In such case, I'd think it is an obvious choice,...

Actually, not really. I've got a ton of Canon gear, and I'm sticking with my m4/3 stuff for now. But I definitely have my eye on the EOS M to see what develops. If the lens lineup can give me what I'm getting out of m4/3 right now, chances are good, I'll jump, just so I can use my triggers and flashes with both systems. The lenses, not so much, since the point of going mirrorless is to get a more portable system.

but otherwise... Naaah! I am also not particularly fond of not having a peekhole to view the image, so my bias is toward EVF. I guess Canon will soon be out with another metoo camera that provides a viewfinder.

I think one of the big keys is going to be what kind of viewfinder gets provided. If Canon does something like the hybrid Fuji viewfinder on the X100 and XPro1, then you might see opinions swaying considerably. If they do a craptastic OVF like the one on the G-series cameras, they'll be pilloried. And if they do an EVF, it comes down to whether they end up doing the "prism hump" built-in, an add-on to the hotshoe (thereby blocking flash usage), or corner EVF of the NEX-7. First two, it'll be greeted as "me, toos", the latter, and folks will be pretty happy. Make it a corner hybrid like the X100, and I have a feeling it'll be a huge hit.

If you're into those "artsy" filters, they are traditionally not in the system camera domain, so although there are other cameras that might have them, they are all compact cameras. So you're correct, only Olympus built them into their system cameras.

Actually, a lot of these filters are around on dSLRs and mirrorless cameras these days, and while for a still photographer who post-processes, they may not be that interesting, they are still often the only way to really bake some form of color control into video for those who can't afford color-grading software. Not completely useless, since the majority of IL cameras out there that do HD video still don't let the shooter have access to uncompressed video (i.e., the video equivalent of shooting JPEG only).

[Inkanyezi]

Errr... [---]
While the EOS M is definitely is a "me too" product, I don't think it's the complete miss most folks are calling it. [...] There are a few things they definitely got right. [...]

I think it was pretty clear that I scribbled down what was asked for, my first impressions. Then my answer gets a lengthy defense for the product, turning down every single one of those impressions.

So you did not supply an answer to the question in the thread, but instead challenged the opinions of another poster. I can see umpteen reasons why a particular person would opine different from me, but nothing in the OT post will change the simple and rather concise answer I gave. It looks more like Canon advertising than an answer to the OP question about first impressions. To me, all those objections are highly irrelevant.

Good thing that they at least got something right. ;-)