My VF-2 Arrived

[dcisive]

Very nicely packed I might add from Olympus. Got that bad boy out and plugged it right it. A snap to figure out and use. I see it has a nice rubberized shroud that covers and protects the delicate metal/electronic interface. The cute little pouch it comes with fits perfectly into a LowePro Edit 100 carry pouch VF and all. That bag is the perfect walk around companion with just a Pancake or kit lens attached and the viewfinder in it's pouch on the top side of the lens when the camera is placed on it's side ready to draw out to shoot. It has some side velcro pockets as well as a front one for cards and such. What a pleasure to be able to use as I do my DSLR with a real viewfinder. Obviously it's a little different, but not too bad. Gives excellent resolution and detail and more than enough brightness and very high contrast. I can see how it would be great for manual focusing as well. A nice push of the button to toggle between the screen and VF. Now I'm armed and dangerous for bright outdoor shooting :tongue:

 

[W.Ray]

Nice! I ordered one yesterday and it still hasn't shipped. I'm calling in the morning and cancelling the order and my E-PL1 is probably going on the block.

 

[OzRay]

You can also adjust the viewfinder brightness etc from the camera controls.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Rich M]

Nice! I ordered one yesterday and it still hasn't shipped. I'm calling in the morning and cancelling the order and my E-PL1 is probably going on the block.

Not an "I LOVE Olympus" day?

R

 

[BBW]

I do love my Olympus EVF, today, yesterday and tomorrow.

Congrats, Lee!

 

[dcisive]

One of the first things I did was calibrate the brightness and color rendition. That sucker is pretty darned high resolution I must say. Good thing I got my eyes fixed a year ago so now I can fully enjoy it without glasses

 

[BBW]

I wear glasses, and that is one of the reasons why I wanted it so much. I'm one of these folks who has to wear glasses for everything... The EVF works perfectly with my progressive lenses.

 

[dcisive]

through shear fortune I ended up getting a procedure called PRK, which is somewhat of a modified version of Lasek. I had a dystrophy of the thin layer (epithelium) of the eye which resulted in the necessity to remove it. It is the same thin layer that Lasek patients get sliced then replaced. It sounds tough but it is actually super simple, fast and the results are I went from 20/600 vision with tons of astigmatism to 20/20 with NO astigmatism. Now THAT is what vision is all about. I've been spoiled over this last year since getting it done and I can't say enough good things for it. I was burdened with glasses since the age of 10 (45 years with them) and I am so glad to be rid of them I can not say. Now I look through this viewfinder and require NO diopter adjustment and it's sharp as a tack. I do still use simple reader glasses as my reading is challenged a bit after all I"m 56. But I'd dump those glasses if I was you.

On another note, I was playing and was shooting fast moving cars, bicyclists, dogs and anything that moved fast. Through the viewfinder I could follow them and NAIL it each and every time IN FOCUS. NOT ONE lost shot. Now I am really amazed this camera will do that. I thought it was supposed to be so darned slow :tongue: So I am truly stoked as now it has opened up some horizons for my shooting style. I'm no longer afraid to shoot things that move. Some guy on the Dpreview site berated the speed of the camera with his GF-1 love. Well sure, the GF-1 is a bit zippier, but the PL1 is obviously a step forward and NO slouch.

 

[john1027]

I'm jealous. Still waiting on the VF-2 I mentioned that I had ordered on eBay from Hong Kong. It has shipped and is probably on some ship in the middle of the Pacific! My timing has always been suspect.

My office is adjacent to a runway at an airport and I have been playing around shooting planes taking off and landing with the E-PL1 and the 45-200mm with great results even without the help of the EV-2. Looking forward to some new images from your camera.:smile:

 

[cosinaphile]

that is one amazing evf , i got to play with it briefly at b and h photo, resolution and contrast is stellar . alas my ep1 cannot mount it ......sniff

 

[dcisive]

John, with those planes, I discovered just having received that VF that if I'm sighting with it and half pressing the shutter button down, I can easily follow just about ANYTHING that is moving at whatever speed and NAIL it in focus. The VF is a real helper as I felt helpless without it for this purpose. Give it a try.....

 

[BBW]

Lee, thanks for the details about the eye surgery. Food for thought. Congratulations on your excellent outcome!

 

[peterpix]

Getting mine on Monday

Been waiting and waiting since i got an Ebay EP-2 (demo from a store) BUT no VF. Ordered through Hunt Photo and finally coming and at a great price!

 

[john1027]

John, with those planes, I discovered just having received that VF that if I'm sighting with it and half pressing the shutter button down, I can easily follow just about ANYTHING that is moving at whatever speed and NAIL it in focus. The VF is a real helper as I felt helpless without it for this purpose. Give it a try.....

Lee, that is exactly what I have been doing with great results...even without the EV-2. It does lock in real well with the half press method you described. It is much more of a guess on a bright day with just the LCD, but I have been all right of most of the time. I am in your age bracket and also wear glasses now and that presents a little more of a challenge. Expecting the EV-2 next week and that should make me even happier with the E-PL1.

 

[paulkbiba]

My VF2 arrived today, for my EPL1, and I must say that it is a remarkable device. The view is crystal clear and it seems to be incredibly sharp and responsive. To be honest, I don't know if I'll ever take it off. The small scale of the camera, with the VF2, reminds me of my Leica days. The tilt feature of the viewfinder is going to come in extremely handy. Best purchase I've made in a long time.

I tried to get a "through the viewfinder" shot for you using my Canon 30D and a macro lens, but no luck.

 

[paulkbiba]

My VF2 arrived today, for my EPL1, and I must say that it is a remarkable device. The view is crystal clear and it seems to be incredibly sharp and responsive. To be honest, I don't know if I'll ever take it off. The small scale of the camera, with the VF2, reminds me of my Leica days. The tilt feature of the viewfinder is going to come in extremely handy. Best purchase I've made in a long time.

I tried to get a "through the viewfinder" shot for you using my Canon 30D and a macro lens, but no luck.

 

[Gusnyc]

Hi Paul, where did you get the viewfinder? I've been looking online but it seems to be sold out. If you got it on e-bay, what is the name of the seller?

Thanks!

 

[paulkbiba]

I got it from Olympus. I saw the post on this site about Olympus having some and ordered it a few minutes later. I guess I was lucky.

By the way, it comes with a case that will attach to your camera strap. Also, once you attach the finder a menu item becomes available that will let you set the brightness and color temperature of the image. I found that I had to "warm" the image up a bit to match what I was seeing.

 

[W.Ray]

Well, I have to eat some crow! My VF-2 arrived today! And it is an amazingly clear display, much better than I expected.

 

[paisatge]

Did anyone notice if you get shorter battery life and less number of shots with the EVF? I went with the E-P2 instead of GF-1 because of the EVF and ended up not able to use it as much as I want because it just drains the battery like crazy.