Tech Blog

[#1]

Continued form part 3.

Olympus seems to be listening. They were pretty quick to upgrade the firmware to address the autofocus speed issue and improve the usability of the electronic viewfinder. Way to go! So, here is my input on how to make the E-P2 (or E-P3 for that matter) an even better camera. Are you taking notes, Olympus?

Suggestions for improvements

1) One element that is crucial in my photo work is the ability to easily and effortlessly select the focus point needed for a given composition. The better entry-level DSLRs allow me to do that. The E-P2 does as well, but at a price. Once you have activated the "move focus points" option, you cannot use the four way selector for ISO, WB, etc. as that is being used to select the focus point.

Suggestion: make the focus points adjustable by holding down the fn-button, so it doesn't affect ability to set other important shooting settings. Also if you can, please make the points smaller for more accurate, critical focusing.

2) Clean up the clutter in the LCD display options. The camera has eight different display options. Wow! Normally I wouldn't be complaining about more options. The problem, though, is that if you accidentally pass the option you wanted it takes forever to get back to it by having to cycle through seven others. And the moment may be gone.

Simple suggestion: just gives us two or three options with basic shooting information and histogram. That's all we really need. 

3) Along that line is that fact that Olympus chooses to lock the custom settings in the menu. Even to turn it on is not intuitive, as it is hidden in the setup menu (depicted by a wrench). So be sure to do that when you pick up the camera.

Suggestion: C'mon, Olympus. You gotta have a bit more faith in your users, so go ahead and turn on the custom settings per default.

4) Yes, the E-P2 takes great images. But you have to keep the ISO at 800 or below. 800 is not super crisp, and looks like ISO 1600 on many entry-level DSLRs, such as the Nikon D3000 or Canon XSi. Meaning you loose one stop of light on the E-P2 compared to most entry-level DSLRs when holding image quality constant.

↑ ISO 800 (top) and 1600 (bottom with the E-P2.

↓ ISO 1600 with Nikon D3000 (top) and Canon XSi (bottom)

If you crank up the ISO to 3200 or 6400, the images start to border on useless, unless you really do not mind digital grains. This is a bit surprising. True, the 4/3 format is a smaller sensor, compared to the APS-C size found in entry-level DSLRs, but not that much smaller. Again, I have not shot with any of Olympus' DSLRs, so I don't know how the E-P2 ranks against them, but I would suspect you would see similar characteristics in terms of image quality.

↓ ISO 3200 (top) and 6400 (bottom) of the E-P2. Not pretty.

Suggestion: this is a tough one due to Olympus having so much invested in the fourthirds technology in terms of lenses and sensors, so they can't easily switch to a larger sensor. But they can, and probably will, continue to develop their sensors for even better image quality.

5) The last improvement suggestion is also a bit sensitive, as it really can't be improved, just changed. It is the price. The E-P2 is roughly 30% more expensive than comparable entry-level DSLRs. And ironically, the camera is roughly 30% smaller, and takes the same or worse pictures than most entry-level DSLRs. Hm! strange. I can't imagine that Olympus' production costs are that much higher for an E-P2 versus, say, their E-620.

Suggestion: well, suggesting Olympus to lower their price is a bit optimistic. Instead I suggest potential buyers to hold onto their credit cards just a couple more months until more manufacturers have entered the niche market space. At the moment only Sony is definite with two EVIL/MILC cameras to be released prior to the World Cup Soccer starting June 11. Hopefully, some healthy competition from Sony (and who knows what other manufacturers longer term) will help drive the price point down.

Sorta the same way when the first DLSRs were introduced. And look what you can get today for less than $1000. Pretty darn amazing!

All in all

The E-P2 is an awesome camera. The lightness, form factor and coolness factor is to die for. Coupled with great image quality (@ ISO 800 and below), truly functional video recording, and the lens freedom of the DLSR-word, you have a very admirable and capable camera. Only thing holding me back from buying one is … ugh … the price.

Personally, I am holding my breath seeing what Sony (and potentially other manufacturers) drops into the market space this year. And then, an EVIL/MILC camera will most likely make its way under my Christmas tree. Ho-Ho-Ho!

For the technically interested

All product shots are taken with the Nikon D700 and Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR Micro lens. Additional light was added on top of the natural light streaming in from a big window. All the other shots was of course with the Olympus E-P2 and the 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens. For this review I would really have liked to test other lenses. Especially, the 17mm f2.8 pancake lens and 25mm f2.8 lens. On top of that, Olympus also recently announced two new lenses, the wide angle 9-18mm f4-5.6 (18-36mm in 35mm equivalent terms) and the 14-150 f4-5.6 (28-300mm in 35mm equivalent terms). Pretty cool! If you even want to get more wild, there are several adapters produced allowing you to mount Leica, Panasonic, and other lenses onto your E-P2 camera.

Regarding price, I should mention that the E-P2's 'little brother', the E-PL1, sells for roughly half the price. Most notably, the E-P2 features a more rugged construction, a nicer design/styling, a larger LCD, better button layout, and an included EVF. Here is a quick comparison between the two.