Camera Hacker

: :

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

The Olympus PEN E-P2 -- Again

You meet a girl who is absolutely perfect for you. She's beautiful, she's intelligent, she's charming, and she loves you. She likes the same things you do, she's an exciting lover, and she's just absolutely perfect in every way. You marry and are incredibly happy together.

And then five months later you meet someone you like better.

Is that shallow male behavior? Maybe. But it's also an allegorical story of the Olympus PEN E-P2.

The Four Thirds System was developed by Olympus to standardize digital SLR design. The standard allows lenses from multiple manufacturers to be exchanged with various camera bodies that follow the same standard. The entire standard is designed around digital photography. The lenses are computerized and have a crop factor of 2. The standard is called the Four Thirds Standard because of the image sensor aspect ratio of 4:3.

About 5 months ago Olympus announced the Micro Four Thirds standard. It placed the 4/3 type image sensor in an ultra-compact camera body and had more lens-mount electrical contacts to handle future functionality expansion. The new standard was launched with the release of the Olympus PEN E-P1, a camera with the sleek design of the stylish half-frame PEN F film cameras of the sixties and seventies. It was almost as if one of the hugely popular E-620s had been stuffed into a range-finder style camera body, minus a viewfinder and built-in flash.

It was love at first site, and I absolutely HAD to have one. Including a lens, a packaged kit cost me about $1,000. No small piece of change, true, but as I said it was love at first sight. The camera had everything I wanted and was absolutely perfect for me, so I rushed out and bought one. I've been very happy with it – still AM very happy with it.

Except that now, 5 months later, Olympus is releasing the PEN E-P2, which I think I like better.

Technology-wise, the E-P2 is really only a minor upgrade. It adds a port for an external viewfinder (which I realized was a shortcoming of the E-P1) and a few new Art filters, which I don't use anyway. In a kit with a lens and the viewfinder, it will sell for about $1,100. Just $100 more than I paid 5 months ago for the now inferior E-P1.

I'm not unhappy with my E-P1. I still love it. It's a great camera with solid features, I like the styling; it really is perfect for me. Just not as perfect as he E-P2 will be / would have been.

Stormgod7
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:50:51 +0000

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

Did your message disappear? Read the Forums FAQ.

Related Links

Add Comment

Spam Control | * indicates required field
Your Name: *
E-mail:
Remember Me!
Comment: *
File attachment is optional. Please do not attach a file to your submission unless it is relevent.
Attach File:
(20 MB Max)
Spam Protection: * Answer of 6 + 4?
Click button only once, please!

TrackBack

TrackBack only accepted from WebSite-X Suite web sites. Do not submit TrackBacks from other sites.

Send Ping | TrackBack URL | Spam Control

No TrackBacks yet. TrackBack can be used to link this thread to your weblog, or link your weblog to this thread. In addition, TrackBack can be used as a form of remote commenting. Rather than posting the comment directly on this thread, you can posts it on your own weblog. Then have your weblog sends a TrackBack ping to the TrackBack URL, so that your post would show up here.

Messages, files, and images copyright by respective owners.