The Pen EVF... what's it any good for?

Brian,

As you know the EVF is in short supply but I could not wait so I "upgraded" from my Nikon DSLR system -- a D200 and a D70 --to an Olympus E-PL1. I do not have hands-on experiece with the VF-2 so I don't know what I am missing and all the advantages are up to my imagination -- aided by anecdotal evidences from multiple sources. I do know it is only going to make things better so I am ready to buy one.

However, I find your observations extremely interesting. One of the reasons I chose the E-PL1 is that I should be able to use the EVF and a (wireless) add-on flash at the same time. But reading your comments here it seems as if I would have been well-off with the E-P2 with an on-board flash commander and no EVF?

Majority of my macro work is done off of a tripod and would you say that for such work the EVF is dispensible as one gets more accustomed to focusing with the LCD? Which of the advantages of the VF-2 is more valuable in your opinion -- the high-resolution platform for precise manual focus to focus on, or is it the articulating design?

I will be using legacy lenses almost exclusively and I will be focusing them stopped down to the desired aperture. Focusing wide open and then turning the aperture ring to stop down before exposure is not a quite viable approach in my case because in addition to being more time consuming there is also a chance that handling the aperture ring may interfere with carefully placed plane of focus. So my question is -- does the VF-2 offer any added advantages in precise manual focusing if you are focusing an adapted lens in stopped-down mode?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

 

I didn't buy the E-P1 because I don't like LCDs for framing so bought the E-P2 and EVF. I am still getting used to it I must admit and find its very prominent position and its ease of coming off the camera disconcerting. I carry it in its pouch on my camera strap as I don't want to lose it.

I actually prefer usung the G1 with its more dslr like form factor. I'm glad I have both bodies and like the EVF for macros . Video is an obvious bonus.

 

Thanks for all the comments and replies. I have an EPL1 and love it. I like to manual focus but dont find it very easy with the LCD.
Now I wish I could just find one in stock close to home, or anywhere in Canada  

 

Brian, have you heard of the new eyecup (ep-9) for the VF-2, and any idea when it will actually be hitting shelves? I lucked out getting an unused vf-2 from an ebay seller/owner of an e-p2 yesterday, hopefully it will arrive for the weekend!

 

I can hardly manual focus without an EVF. I really have come to enjoy my Micro-Nikkor 55 2.8, the Contax G 45 and 90 Planar lenses as well as lensbabys which all need to be manually focused. I wear reading glasses so having the EVF eliminates the need for glasses when photographing though I still need them to review.

I always list the lens I use in my PAD Blog posts:
Micro Four Thirds User Forum - Lisa O's Photo Blog

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Micro-Nikkor 55 2.8
F Stop: F/5.6

 

I never was really enamored with the G1/GH1 (or new models). I already have 2 dslrs!

 

Yes, I agree they are too close to DSLR size for me as well.

 

That was one of my biggest draws to Pentax (well, price didn't hurt at the time, first pentax dslr was an *istDL under $400 in 2005) - that being legacy lens support. When it comes to backwards compatibility of their own lenses, none of the manufacturers have done it as well as Pentax - full aperture support and easy stop down metering with non-A setting lenses, its even easy with the screwmount lenses.

Of course with 4/3 and much moreso m4/3 you can adapt some (4/3) and almost all (m4/3) lenses from any manufacturer! But that is progress of course, who knows where technology will take the photography sector 5 years from now!

 

... there are downsides ... as already mentioned .. it's clumsy and ugly and comes off too easily ... BUT ... it's good for almost everything for me, especially as I use the ZD 70-300mm a lot; even using the 17mm kit lens, I'm now so long-sighted that I can barely use the LCD without holding the camera at arm's length ... I like a little macro stuff too and I can't see how I could without it ... for me an incorporated EVF would be perfect (so long as the body didn't bulk up too much as a result) ... of course, once I'd held the E-P2, I could never have gone for a G1, despite the EVF

 

PDH, how do you like using your 70-300mm on the m4/3 body? Does AF work well? Which adapter are you using? I have been thinking about replacing my 45-200mm with the adapter/70-300 (not really interested in the forthcoming panasonic 100-300, the range is not great and the price will probably be several hundred more than the adapter/70-300).

 

@pxpaulx -- we don't want to hijack this thread so can I say there are a few comments in two other places on the forum:

https://www.mu-43.com/f40/300mm-more-epl-1-a-3668/

https://www.mu-43.com/f40/olympus-70-300mm-e-p-l-1-2-can-done-2038/

and on fourthirds-user (by me): http://www.fourthirds-user.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7286

 

Coming from rangefinders, albeit a few years now, I find the VF-2 refreshing to use. I dearly missed having a viewfinder for the EP-1 as I just don't like composing on the LCD screen, I like to hold the camera to my face. Maybe I'm too old school, but I just didn't like holding a camera out in front of me to take a photo.

As for size, the kit is multitudes lighter and smaller than my 5d and lenses I sold to fund this. Depending upon lens, rangefinders always had accessory finders available and they had the same advantages/disadvantages as the VF-2.

The VF-2 and EP-2 is a fabulous combination - I wouldn't have come back to a Pen if it hadn't received such good reviews, and I'm glad I'm back

 

I find that the problem with "only" having an LCD to focus and compose with is not in the intensity of the daylight but rather the angle of the sun. Perhaps some of the other photographers in this forum that work outdoors in high latitudes know what I'm talking about. If I was only using AF Panasonic and Olympus lenses I might be able to get away without the VF-2 on my E-P2 but really the entire reason I bought the E-P2 was to use MF legacy glass (if I want or need AF I pull out the E-3 which frankly does it much better).

The only real downsides of the VF-2 that I have found (besides the cost) are handling issues; E-P2+ VF-2 doesn't fit into typical camera bag compartments as smoothly or without slightly pushing off the VF-2 each time its retrieved.

I think most people expect the successor to the E-3 to be a weatherproof E-P2 with a built in VF-2, autofocus will need some sorting out for that to happen though.

 

As an E-3 user (still), I wouldn't agree that that is the expectation of the DSLR crowd. I would agree that a weather-sealed E-P2 with an EVF makes for a very nice dream for us still lugging our heavier DSLRs! I am getting closer to that time when I'll be converting (selling) my 4/3s into m4/3! The concept is great, but I agree there is some Olympus R&D needed to pull it off.

As I'm getting use to our E-PL1 with the VF-2, I can only concur with the odd shape and concerns of knocking off the EVF as I walk about with it attached or store it in a bag, ready for use.(This design smacks of the poor design of the Olympus DSLR eyepieces -esp. the E-3 version- to fall off the camera body when they brush against something, be it your jacket, the camera bag, etc.)

That all being said, I would still be outside looking in, if it weren't for the VF-2 being available for the E-P2 and E-PL1; Olympus "well done enough- for now":smile: