Hi all, I am a casual photographer and I enjoy taking pictures, but its mostly of family and friends, social occasions. I have never used a dslr, tried once but felt too bulky, so I need a Point and shoot, the MFT interests me only because the epl- 1 is almost affordable by the mass consumer, who are not professionals but would like to have a good cam with great IQ. I want to know, if I am better off with a P&S like the canon G11 or something like or should I look into the MFT. This cam will also be used by my wife who likes to shoot in auto, how would that be for her? Is the auto focusing fast? Since I don't plan to spend a lot of money in lenses, I want to know what third party cheap lenses can be used with this, do they auto focus or is it manual focus? Can this cam be used as a P&S, Will it produce punchy colors right out of the camera with PP, I don't want to spend time on PP. I like saturated, popping colors will the oly produce that. Thanks
The E-PL1 will give you better image quality than any small sensor compact camera, G11 included. It will be a great choice for your wife as well, working very well on full auto. Results are punchy straight out of the camera and will not require postprocessing. Autofocusing is not very fast with the lens which comes with the camera. It won't be slower than any of the compacts you've used, and it may be faster, but it won't blow you away. There are no inexpensive (under $200) autofocus lenses which you can add. As I mentioned to you in another thread, there are many inexpensive manual focus 50mm lenses which can be used with an adapter (lens and adapter available for total cost of $100-150) and provide a faster option to the kit zoom lens when you want more speed and/or less depth of field.
I hear what you are saying, but I don't find it appealing that you have to spend more $$$ to get additional lenses and aside from the pancakes, all other lenses attached you can't keep it in your jacket pocket. So why should the mass consumer spend money on the MFT when to begin with the prices are so high, can't they be more competitive and down the prices more in the $450-$500 range. How difficult is it to manual focus? I think the more I am researching the more I find the MFT non-appealing. I really want to like the MFT but I don't have so much $$$ to spend, I will be better off with a 5x or 10x zoom P&S which is under $450. I hope in the coming months years they bring down the price of these cameras.
Will the E-PL1 be available with the fixed lens as an option, or only with the Zoom? I would probably go for the speed of the fixed lens.
369, I find the size of m4/3 to be bigger than what I expected, but the image quality is amazing for the size. I too was looking for a pocket camera and was choosing between the LX3 and the GF1. I went with the latter and might change my mind later on because its not as portable as I had hoped. With that said, the G11 is just as big as m4/3 cameras. The Canon s90 or Panasonic LX3 would probably be the best options for you and your wife. That's what I'm considering now after discovering that putting an external flash on the GF1 defeats the purpose of a pocket camera. The LX3 is down to $370 from Amazon now.
Brian S, I'm sorry I can't help you more with your questions about the lens options with the E-PL1 but I can second flipGTO's suggestion about looking at the Canon s90. I am not familiar with his other suggestion, but almost went with the s90 before I decided to take the plunge back into a more complex camera. I do have a great little Canon SD870is and it fits in my pocket easily - which I love but it does not have the controls their new s90 has and I wish it did! If I had deep enough pockets, I'd have the s90 and my E-P2... Perhaps someday when my ship comes in.
If possible, you ought to try the E-PL1 with 14-42 lens in the store when it becomes available. The lens is collapsible, and depending on your needs, you may find it small enough. It is more compact than the Pana GF1 with 14-45mm lens. I think that the E-PL1 kit with 14-42mm lens is a great value for $500 and will be down to the $400 mark before long. Many mass consumers will likely be happy with that one camera-lens combo and never feel an urge to buy a second lens. They are different animals. It sounds like MFT isn't going to be your best option. Hope we were helpful in your research!
a manual focus lens for the ep series cameras neednt cost more than 50-60 dollars for the adapter and a servicable 50 1.8 or even 1.4 in us funds , look on ebay for adapters for about 35 dollars and the occasional 50 for 10 - 30 dollars rry rainbow imaging for the adapter on e bay i have 6 adapters from them , good prices
