I may have looked at this camera when it was new, almost 4 years ago. When comparing it to a DSLR, the Olympus E-PL1 seems slow, to handle, focus and shoot. When I looked at it I didn't have the luxury of testing it with the electronic viewfinder, an option.
There was also the rumble of gossip and expectation of a Canon Mirrorless Interchangeable lens Camera or MILC. I held off on the purchase of a non canon MILC. Canon did release a mirrorless camera, the Canon EOS M. There were mixed reviews. The camera was released with only two native lenses. Unlike the many price barrier breaking intros, Canon brought the camera in at, I think, $799 with the Kit lens, then the 18-55 STM; a better lens than it's predecessor but nothing to write home about. To use EF or EF-S lenses an adapter was required, which was over $100. This made the system price very high for a marginally functional camera with very few native accessories, like an Electronic Viewfinder (EVF). I chose not to buy an EOS M. The EOS M body and lens kit is now selling for $279! It's almost worth it to get the lens which retails for $139. As a follow up and answer to the poorly performing EOS M, Canon introduced the EOS SL1; the smallest lightest DSLR ever produced. It has been received well. It uses all lenses, poor kit lenses, great heavy L lenses. It still makes the loud slapping mirror sound.
As with many Canon fans, I was looking for a camera that was as fast as a DSLR but smaller and lighter. In the end the EOS M and it's possible replacement is that, although the camera itself is light all the lenses that we own, love and use are still very heavy. I want something lighter and fast handling. When I travel, I carry a rolling carry on bag that weighs about 40 pounds! The bulk of this is lenses.
What's an aging, Canon L lens photographer to do? Bite the bullet and try a MILC, in this case an Olympus E-PL1, a three year old 12 megapixel MILC camera. I found the camera on Craigs List for sale at $255. I read the reviews and checked pricing. The camera was listed with the two kit lenses the 14-42 and 40-150, along with the EVF-3, UV filter for the long lens and 3 batteries. I got it for $200.
The reviews say that the Jpeg engine is one of the best ever seen. All things about the camera work well. The two faults are that the menus seem hard to navigate and that there is no orientation sensor; you have to re-orient portrait pictures after download. I haven't had a problem with the menu system. Like anything new, it takes time to acclimate to any new system be it car, gps, camera or computer. I'm not too worried about turning photos, photoshop and does it easily.
Last night I started testing the 14-42 kit lens. My process is to set up a still scene with colors, fibers, and type. I start at the low end of the focus range and shoot through the f stops, working my way up the focus range. I look for center and corner sharpness, white balance, color rendition and any other aberrations.
I don't typically shoot with raw on as it needlessly takes up space on the hard drive. However, I had raw turned on and shot a few shots in raw format which turned out to be a fortunate happenstance. First, my copy of Photoshop Elements 9 for mac didn't import the raw photos. It flagged them as broken files. I had to go online to Adobe and run a patch. Afterwards Elements did fine. I'd also taken some shots of the dogs and Kari with out flash. Our family room is lit by a mixture of CFL bulbs and firelight, the photos had a bit of a yellow cast. I don't blame the auto white balance, this is tough light and the photos were probably true; our eyes and brain automatically make this right for us. I was able to adjust both the raw and jpeg photos easily to render a more pleasing look.
I also took some flash photos and was immediately disappointed they were way too dark. But, searching the menu items, I found the PO had set the flash on 1/64th flash power. After adjusting it to full ( I didn't understand the menu choices) the shots were too hot. Going back to the menus I finally found the Auto setting which brought the shots into an acceptable performance (I really don't care for any flash shots).
After running the lens through all of the f stops at the different focal length settings I found that the lens and camera performed exceptionally well. I was hoping to use my Canon EOS XSI with the 18-55 kit lens on the same targets to compare the quality of the two systems. It was getting to be two am, I just couldn't stay up any later.
My first impression is that if the kit lens is this good with the camera, better lenses would be great. The one possible drawback is that the E-PL1 being a 12 mpx camera it's native photo size around 13x11 inches. I've lately been testing poster size enlargements and these may not make the grade. We'll see.
I now need to test th 40-150 lens and the actual handling in use.
I wandered out to the backyard with the dogs to get some semi-action shots and some shots of all the winter "brownery", no green here. My other test is to try and run out a fully charged battery, little was said about battery life. I know that Canon, on DSLR's seems to try and get about 300 shots out of a battery.
A couple of shots with the 14-42
I started with the short lens, the 14-42. The dogs were somewhat compliant. I'm using the EVF-3 for capturing the shots. I'm not an action photographer and framing in the EVF seems a learned skill. The first annoying thing is the blackout, it seems longer than any of my Canon bodies. I then switched over to the 40-150, the long lens. I was a bit awkward with it. I think my hands are probably on the large size, the camera is small as is the lens. I first had a problem zooming, the PO has a cap keeper strap around the barrel of both lenses. I like these for keeping caps, but I dislike the band around the barrel and when changing lenses you can't sit the lens on the front cap to put the rear cap on. For now they'll stay.
Some shots made with the 40-150
Secondly, to zoom from one end of the range to the other seems to require a full revolution of the zoom ring. Again, with my large hands and the close proximity of the ring to the camera, it felt tight for me.
I'm heading out for a "walk/drive about" to further test the camera and run out the battery.
I didn't run down the battery on my walkabout, I did however run it out later in the evening when we went to dinner at the inlaws. Although the use of the rear screen is almost mandatory, or the EVF, it did seem that around 300 shots is a good estimate. Most of the daytime shots were at 40*F, which would have run down the battery more quickly.
At dinner I shot the obligatory birthday shots of both nephew and grandad. I didn't put much work into them, I didn't use a flash often. The pictures turned out as expected, not very good.
But, to be fair, I didn't expect miracles, and it's not my kind of photography. I've been researching fast primes for this little camera. As I was looking for a fast "normal" prime for my Canon bodies. My search has led me to the Panasonic 20mm f1.7. It is rated very highly. Again I don't expect miracles just nice photos in lower light at decent shutter speeds and ISO's.
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