what's better in terms of performance and overall more worth it to invest in, almost the same price in my place the epl1 comes with a 14-42mm and the gf2 comes with a 14mm. i will make this my backup body since my omd is still being repaired.

I love that 14mm, and the way I see it, that would be my purchase with the body at a discount...

however, the E-PL1 image quality wise packs a punch.

Either camera to me would be fine, the investment would be, as always, in the glass, and IMHO the 14mm is better then the 14-42mm, but obviously if you go this route, you lose some reach on the long end due to giving up the zoom.

a refurb E-PL1 at $129 from Cameta is hard to pass it.... I bought 2 of em...

I know this will be the minority opinion but IMHO the GF2 is a much nicer camera than the E-PL1 to use (and I've used both quite a bit). I'd say the E-PL1 has a slight edge in IQ due to it's weaker AA filter, but the IQ differences between any of the 12mp m43 cameras is pretty small and no matter which one you choose you'll find they are all capable of terrific images.

I prefer the GF2 because I like the way it handles better. It has a clickable thumbwheel that allows you to switch between aperture and exposure compensation. When using an adapted lens the MF assist is activated by pushing the thumbwheel and it disengages by half pressing the shutter. I find that really nice. It also has a nicer LCD, surprisingly useable touch screen and overall has faster AF and shot-to-shot performance. I think the E-PL1 gives you more reliable AWB and metering but the GF2's AWB is adjustable and setting that up is super easy.

Also, the P14 is a cool little lens.

im not from the us so the nice epl1 deals arent available here. epl1 with kit lens is around 300 dollars here. gf2 with 14mm is around 400 dollars. so gf2 is a better deal? i was planning to get just the body and sell the kit lens

Do you shoot raw or jpeg? If jpeg, beware you may find, as I have, that the E-PL1 delivers more finely detailed and richly colored jpegs than your OM-D. I use my OM-D almost solely for video because its jpegs are "ho-hum" compared to those from my E-PL1.

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E-PL1, E-M5, 14-42, 40-150

im happy with my omd, im choosing bet the epl1 and the gf2.