Day Two with E-P2 (newbie M43 user)

[khollister]

So, I bought a E-P2 to try a more stealth/portable platform to use in addition to my Nikon big guns (D700/D300s and all the f2.8 zooms). Took some adjustment and I'm still coping with the camera, but I had a breakthrough today. Went down to the local camera store to nose around and was surprised to find they had Nikon F to M43 adapters. Came home with one, dug out my Voigtlander 40/2 pancake, Nikkor 105/2.5 AIS and Nikkor 50/1.2 AIS and played this afternoon.

Awesome - very easy to focus in the VF-2, even without the 7x zoom. Here's a couple, one with the 40 and one with the 105 (which is still, after 28 years, probably my favorite Nikon lens). I shot them as monochrome jpg's in the camera (!!!!!) and did some levels adjustment and sharpening in CS4.

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[khollister]

So my take away so far on the PEN is ...

* Little sucker gets pretty warm, no overtemp indicator, though
* The battery sucks - I am definitely going to have to get a couple extra
* The UI is, uh, different. I really could use a few additional shortcuts to commonly used features (selecting focus area, zoom for focusing without changing the default live view info)
* I keep feeling the images aren't super sharp like I am used to with my Nikon bodies. I need to get an arca camera plate so I can lock it down in my tripod and take some test shots.
* Since the IS only operates during the actual exposure, I can't get a feel for how much stabilization is provided. Used to seeing the effect through the VF with the Nikon VR.
* I am running Normal gradation and no contrast adjustment and feel the images are pretty low contrast compared to what I am used to.


Great form factor and fun to use, though. I need to install the RAW software and see what that gets me. I have the feeling I will shoot with MF adapted lenses more than native stuff, although I do not yet have the Lumix 20mm or 45mm. I tried the Oly 9-18 zoom at the store today, and was not impressed with the images I brought home on the card.

Still getting the hang of it, so things will only improve, I'm sure.