So I have now had this lovely camera for about 6 months. I thought that it might be (or not so much) enlightening to know, for those new and those not new to the format what I think about the camera. Lets look at this as a "Long term road test" so to speak. I think I will post another 6 months from now as well.
For some history, I had previous only used a Panasonic FZ3. This is a 5 or 6 year old 3.2mp superzoom. Tens of thousands of pictures have been shot with that camera. The things I loved about the camera was its reach, its image stabilization, full manual control, and at the time, and an f2.8 lens through the entire zoom range.
The things I hated was over proccessing of jpegs and tons of noise even at ISO 400. Even its dynamic range was pretty pitiful.
Even with all of its limitations, I have some 11x14s hanging up at work and my home.
Now getting to the PEN.
The PEN has obvious advantages over my previous camera, at least on paper. I won't go into those because they may or may not translate into real shooting. So lets talk about real shooting with this camera. Lets talk about what I like and dislike, or rather frustrates me at times.
Like any tool, the usability and ergonomics of the tool is just as important as what the tool does. All cameras take pictures. Not all cameras fit my hand or are intuitive to me.
Regarding ergonomics, I'm still on the fence. The grip is a little to small for me when I take a lot of pictures. At that price, I get portability, which this camera gives me. Right now I keep the Camera, collapsable kit, and 4/3 40-150 with the adapter in a LowePro Rezo 110 bag. This is a small bag. I even have a smaller bag for just the camera and collapsable lens. For the most part, most folks don't even know I'm carrying an SLR unless the large zoom lens is attached. The other nice thing is due to the light weight, I can get away with smaller and lighter tripods for support.
One of the things that I especially love about this camera is the speed at which I can make changes. First off, its live view, and thats what I'm used to. Many people first recommened the Nikon and Rebel cameras for my first "real" camera. I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be rude, but I don't want to have to guess as to what my picture is going to look like. I want to know when I take it. WYSIWYG is right up my alley. Yes, those cameras make it up in speed, but if it takes 3 seperate shots with 3 seperate settings to get the right one, I'm not sure how that is faster.
The changes are easily made in manual mode using the control wheels, which are great design. My only real complaint is that the main control wheel have a little more stiffness to it. Its just a bit too easy to nudge.
Lets talk about the thumb or verticle dial. Whoever design this camera had my big thumb in mind. It is perfect. I use this for EV change in A or M mode, because I usually shoot in A mode at the sharpest aperature for the camera in good light, and I can adjust the exposure quickly.
I can't stress how much being able to make exposure changes quickly is to me. My significant other is with me many times, and she doesn't always have the patience for me to fumble with the camera. I can take the shots I want with the settings I want fast. There are a few settings that are buried that shouldn't be, but I find the menu's and controls intuitive.
One of the things that has been a big thread burner is the AF of the camera. I must say, I felt that when I first purchased the camera, for static objects, it was adequate. As I became more and more familiar with the camera and was shooting a wider variety of subjects, my opinion changed to more of a "barely adequate". However, the latest firmware update I think remedies most of my complaints. Yes, I do miss a picture from time to time due to the slower AF, but there is no guarantee I would have gotten that shot with a different camera, either. It is accurate for the most part, except in difficult lighting situations, where manual focus can help out. There are the rare occasions where the AF wants to hunt, and this does frustrate me, because I have no idea why it hunts. Usually focusing on a different spot remedies the problem, but other times, just letting the camera refocus on the same spot will get accurate focus.
The LCD screen I find completly usable in bright light. I find that in daily use, it is more than adequate. Farther down the post though, I will talk about what I don't like about the LCD.
The Oly kit lens is something else that has suprised me. The lens overall is sharp for my needs, compact, and light.
The overall image quality, for the most part, I am extremly happy. The images typically come out sharp and with the color spot on. I do sometimes boost the contrast of some of the images in PP, because I find in some situations that the images don't have enough. This can be increased in the camera settings, but I don't want to add something that I can't take away. I've got plenty of images in my gallery. No, they aren't great, but the one's there are just a small sample of the great images I've taken.
For some history, I had previous only used a Panasonic FZ3. This is a 5 or 6 year old 3.2mp superzoom. Tens of thousands of pictures have been shot with that camera. The things I loved about the camera was its reach, its image stabilization, full manual control, and at the time, and an f2.8 lens through the entire zoom range.
The things I hated was over proccessing of jpegs and tons of noise even at ISO 400. Even its dynamic range was pretty pitiful.
Even with all of its limitations, I have some 11x14s hanging up at work and my home.
Now getting to the PEN.
The PEN has obvious advantages over my previous camera, at least on paper. I won't go into those because they may or may not translate into real shooting. So lets talk about real shooting with this camera. Lets talk about what I like and dislike, or rather frustrates me at times.
Like any tool, the usability and ergonomics of the tool is just as important as what the tool does. All cameras take pictures. Not all cameras fit my hand or are intuitive to me.
Regarding ergonomics, I'm still on the fence. The grip is a little to small for me when I take a lot of pictures. At that price, I get portability, which this camera gives me. Right now I keep the Camera, collapsable kit, and 4/3 40-150 with the adapter in a LowePro Rezo 110 bag. This is a small bag. I even have a smaller bag for just the camera and collapsable lens. For the most part, most folks don't even know I'm carrying an SLR unless the large zoom lens is attached. The other nice thing is due to the light weight, I can get away with smaller and lighter tripods for support.
One of the things that I especially love about this camera is the speed at which I can make changes. First off, its live view, and thats what I'm used to. Many people first recommened the Nikon and Rebel cameras for my first "real" camera. I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be rude, but I don't want to have to guess as to what my picture is going to look like. I want to know when I take it. WYSIWYG is right up my alley. Yes, those cameras make it up in speed, but if it takes 3 seperate shots with 3 seperate settings to get the right one, I'm not sure how that is faster.
The changes are easily made in manual mode using the control wheels, which are great design. My only real complaint is that the main control wheel have a little more stiffness to it. Its just a bit too easy to nudge.
Lets talk about the thumb or verticle dial. Whoever design this camera had my big thumb in mind. It is perfect. I use this for EV change in A or M mode, because I usually shoot in A mode at the sharpest aperature for the camera in good light, and I can adjust the exposure quickly.
I can't stress how much being able to make exposure changes quickly is to me. My significant other is with me many times, and she doesn't always have the patience for me to fumble with the camera. I can take the shots I want with the settings I want fast. There are a few settings that are buried that shouldn't be, but I find the menu's and controls intuitive.
One of the things that has been a big thread burner is the AF of the camera. I must say, I felt that when I first purchased the camera, for static objects, it was adequate. As I became more and more familiar with the camera and was shooting a wider variety of subjects, my opinion changed to more of a "barely adequate". However, the latest firmware update I think remedies most of my complaints. Yes, I do miss a picture from time to time due to the slower AF, but there is no guarantee I would have gotten that shot with a different camera, either. It is accurate for the most part, except in difficult lighting situations, where manual focus can help out. There are the rare occasions where the AF wants to hunt, and this does frustrate me, because I have no idea why it hunts. Usually focusing on a different spot remedies the problem, but other times, just letting the camera refocus on the same spot will get accurate focus.
The LCD screen I find completly usable in bright light. I find that in daily use, it is more than adequate. Farther down the post though, I will talk about what I don't like about the LCD.
The Oly kit lens is something else that has suprised me. The lens overall is sharp for my needs, compact, and light.
The overall image quality, for the most part, I am extremly happy. The images typically come out sharp and with the color spot on. I do sometimes boost the contrast of some of the images in PP, because I find in some situations that the images don't have enough. This can be increased in the camera settings, but I don't want to add something that I can't take away. I've got plenty of images in my gallery. No, they aren't great, but the one's there are just a small sample of the great images I've taken.