Now on its 4th PEN, Olympus displayed evolution on this new M43rds model. The Olympus PEN E-PL2 is their most recent release which is by naming convention is a successor to their E-PL1 which proved successful at launch. As a user of the Olympus PEN E-PL1 for more than a year now, E-PL2 is more like a beefed up version of the E-PL1. It has the same sensor with a few tweaks so Image Quality is more or less the same. What significantly changed is the body. So here are a few things I liked from the new E-PL2. Also you can see a few hi-resolution out-of-the-camera real-world sample shots which you can access at my flickr account.
Sleeker Look and Better Handgrip. I always thought the E-PL1 was too boxy. Most of the time I’d like to dress it up with its leather case to make it look attractive. The E-PL2 was a lot sleeker with its more rangefinder-like body. It’s like a cross between the E-PL1 and the E-Px line. The grip now is wider and more comfortable to hold than the E-PL1. The silver, white and red colors look more attractive to me than the black one.
Shutter Speed Reaching up to 1/4000. I think this is the most significant of the changes. The E-PL1 can only go as high as 1/2000 which poses a problem when your shooting with an aperture wide open with a lens like the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 on broad daylight.
ISO up to 6400. While I’m not really a High ISO shooter, it’s comforting to know that the feature is there. I had a situation before where I had to boost my ISO to 6400 when I was inside a bus to shoot this little girl across the row. It proved useful and handy especially with Olympus having in-body Image Stabilization.
Rear Control Wheel. I really didn’t like the button pushing on the E-PL1 but I got used to it again but each time I use it, I always thought the controls on the E-P1/2 were more convenient and faster to use when changing settings. Well it’s a good thing they brought back even one of the dials. While it still poses the same problem I had with the E-P1 like accidentally changing the settings, it’s still a welcome development. And now we have an option to even lock the wheel through the menu.
New Faster and Silent MSC kit lens. The new 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens is still collapsible but smaller, slimmer, slightly taller and only has one protruding barrel in front. While I think the quality didn’t change much, the speed on this new lens spells the difference. It now has an MSC (Movie and Stills Compatible) design that makes the AutoFocus a lot smoother and also quiet which is ideal when shooting videos on continuous autofocus.
Better LCD Screen. It’s about time Olympus upped their resolution to 430k dots, it helps a lot when manual focusing especially on a large 3inch screen. It’s also a lot appealing when reviewing photos
Better Battery. The new gray BLS-5 still has the same size as the previous PEN battery BLS-1 but with an added contact which is a new japan specification for improved efficiency when charging batteries. The E-PL2 is still compatible with the BLS-1 but the chargers are not interchangeable. I also noticed when I was shooting a festival that the new BLS-5 can shoot more images. With a fully charged BLS-5 I was able to shoot up to 500 jpg images while with the BLS-1 I reached only up to 300 jpg images.
New Art Filters. The E-PL2 also has the Dramatic Tone Filter as the Olympus E-5. I thought this was really attractive to use for that similar HDR effect but of course it has to be used appropriately.
Copyright Embedding Options. Now I appreciate little things like this. I was always envious of other camera brands when they can embed their signatures on the EXIF file via a copyright option in the menu. I first saw this on the Olympus E-5 and I was glad the E-PL2 has it. Olympus should have it as a staple option on their cameras from now on.
To Upgrade? If you think the improvements I highlighted where important enough to help ease your shooting, by all means upgrade.
For New/Potential Buyers, if you are looking to jumping into the mirrorless camera world or just want to have a camera with the same quality as DSLRs but not the bulk, the Olympus E-PL2 would be a good choice as its a very well rounded camera especially for its price. Recently, competitors churned out a good number of mirrorless options as well but the advantage with Micro Four Thirds is that they already have a good lens system available. Not to dismiss the E-PL1 as well as it had a big drop in prices making it as the same level as some advanced compact cameras making it a good option too.
I didn’t say much about the image quality as like I said it’s very close to the Olympus E-PL1 which I thought was a really good camera by itself. But having tried shooting with the E-PL2 for almost a month I found it a lot more enjoyable with this improvements.
The Olympus PEN E-PL2 is now available in the Philippines at major camera store outlets. The single lens kit with the version 2 of the 14-42mm kit lens has an SRP of P33995 while the two lens kit with the 14-42mm and the new M.Zuiko version of the 40-150mm kit has an SRP of P39995. It comes in colors of black, white, silver and red.
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