43 Rumors

I recently switched from an E-PL2 to an E-P2 because of the slightly larger body and better build and the great price now. It handles well even with larger lenses like my adapted Zuiko 55mm/f1.2 and reminds me of the good old Contax G2 days

The Olympus Pen 2 has it´s quirks: setting up a decent small spot AF-Point and use it at the same time with the nice build-in-level is just no option – only the Olympus firmware designers know why…you´ll find yourself pressing the Info button a lot.

But somehow shooting with the E-P2 is still just lots of fun. The Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake lens fits it nicely too – better than the GF1 IMO – the weight and feel is just right. The EVF is awesome, make sure to get one!

Final line
Body Quality: Great, weather sealing would be nice (you can wish, can´t you?).
Usability: Size great, Menu/firmware/speed: a little sluggish, needs some work
Features: Great, but you´ll have to press the Info button a lot.
Price: it is really cheap to get nowadays! Hard to beat.

It´s a great little camera, delivering DSLR-like image quality in a small (and now cheap) package.

Regarding the glossy body parts – I recommend the AKI-ASAHI leather skin – the E-P2 looks “classic” with it!

The E-P1(which i owned before) lacked the ability to give clear visual focus confirmation, thanks to the lowres lcd, so shooting wide open with fast lenses results in many misfocussed photos. So its mainly suited for AF lenses. I bought the E-P2 because my Nokton 50 1.1 was screaming for the EVF-2 ; and it shows, nailing focus increased enormously with this accessoire. One disadvantage of the black E-P2: the glossy black body parts are very sensitive for scratching. I solved this by adding a leather JnK skin.

The Olympus E-P2 makes a good demonstration for some of the possibilities hidden in the mirrorless design. It is not quite “there”, but it is extremely useful for photographing people (who are my favorite subjects).
The build is solid, the weight is just right and the size and styling are delicious.
Operation is fine: the user interface is comprehensive enough to satisfy any DSLR user, but the response is not quite immediate. Autofocus speed is not too bad, but it obviously lags behind last generation DSLRs. It is not the best option for tracking fast action. I find myself using classic techniques such as pre-focusing and zone focusing to insure that my subjects are sharp. Critical manual focusing is as easy as it gets using the lovely EVF. I don’t even need magnification to get it right. Another useful feature of the EVF is its preview capability. I don’t know another system which allows a square, monotone preview in the VF. It also renders exposure settings rather accurately, which allows a uniquely intuitive use of the manual exposure mode.
Image quality is satisfactory at decent light conditions. I don’t consider myself very picky about some grain in the images, but chroma noise may be quite ugly at ISO1600 and above, especially when underexposed. With proper exposure I don’t hesitate to shoot at this ISO setting. JPEG colours are very appealing with a bit of a warm cast to them. I rarely have to correct them in PP, which also commends of the accurate white balance.
The E-P2 is small and unobtrusive, especially when combined with one of the pancakes, which makes it a dream camera for photographing people. The lack of a pop-up flash, the slower AF and operation and the potent EVF make it a camera best fitted for advanced users, whose creativity may be boosted by the challanges it poses.