E-P3: Just took the plunge!

[pggunn]

Just got the Olympus E-P3 with kit lens, Panasonic 40/1.7 pancake, a used Olympus 4/3 to Micro 4/3 converter and should have a Lens Baby Composer Pro with Sweet 35 Optic on Tuesday. I wanted another digital camera after shooting nothing but my OM1 for the last three years.

I'm really enjoying the E-P3. The image quality is very nice, the autofocus is very quick, and it's highly customizable. It will probably take me another week or so using it, and consulting the manual quite a bit just to set it up the way I want, but after two days with it, I'm pretty satisfied. I didn't think I'd be using the touchscreen features at all, but I've got to say that having the camera autofocus and shoot very quickly just by tapping the screen where you want it to focus is pretty awesome. I hope you purists will forgive my blasphemy!

And I've got to say, I love the 40/1.7 pancake. I hope to use the kit lens for some videography soon, but I can't bear to take the 40/1.7 off the lens mount yet! It just fits the E-P3 so well.

Here's the obligatory picture of my cat snapshot with the pancake lens. This one with a bit of cropping and minimal PP in Aperture:

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Boopsie_01_E-P3 by pggunn1, on Flickr[/IMG]



I shot it by holding the camera in one hand and tapping the screen. Here's the straight-out-of-camera JPEG:

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Boopsie_02_E-P3 by pggunn1, on Flickr[/IMG]



And here's my lovely wife at ISO 1000, f/1.7 @ 1/60s after minimal PP in Aperture, then Silver FX Pro:

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Nanci_01_E-P3 by pggunn1, on Flickr[/IMG]

If anyone is interested in pixel peeping, you can download the full sized images from my Flickr site. There are two straight-out-of-camera JPEGs of the cat in the E-P3 set. I hope to add more to the set tomorrow night after an afternoon of shooting. I've actually had very little opportunity to handle the camera yet, only about two dozen mostly mundane snapshots so far. I've had too many chores and family obligations to attend to, but tomorrow afternoon I'm free! 😀

 

[JoeV]

Enjoy your new camera. I'm continuing to enjoy my Lumix G1 after 3.5 year of use. I primarily use the 20/1.7, but the Lumix 14-45 is a great daylight lens, and is sharper than the pancake. I primarily use the 14-45 for daylight shooting. But if I desire shallow DOF in brightly lit scenes I use an ND4 filter on the 20 and shoot at f/2 at nearly the camera's maximum shutter speed at ISO100.

The greatest thing the m4/3 format has done for my photography is enabled me to see the shot before I take it. Through the EVF I see it exactly the way it will be recorded, even previsualizing in B/W using the dynamic JPEG mode while recording raw.

Live view cameras are a game changer for my photography. Thanks for posting, hope to see more images soon.

~Joe

 

[raid]

How does the EP-3 differ from the EP-2?
Is the 40mm/1.7 like a 80mm/1.7 on a 35mm camera, or is it a 20mm/1.7 lens?

 

[pggunn]

Thank you Joe.

I know what you mean about the live view. When I first went from film to digital about seven years ago it helped my photography quite a bit because of the ability to chimp and get instant feedback on whether the shot worked or not - composition or exposure.

After a few years I went back to film and though I still love it, there's no doubt that digital is more convenient for me at this time in my life and I sure do like the micro 4/3 much better than the big heavy DSLR I used to haul around. The E-P3 is a lot closer in size and spirit to my beloved OM1.

 

[pggunn]

How does the EP-3 differ from the EP-2?
Is the 40mm/1.7 like a 80mm/1.7 on a 35mm camera, or is it a 20mm/1.7 lens?

Hi Raid,

I'm far from an expert, but I believe the biggest difference is probably the autofocus speed and maybe the touchscreen functions. Other than that, they are pretty much the same camera. I know they have the same sensor, but the E-P3 has two processors - one is dedicated just to autofocus - and like all M4/3 there's the 2x crop factor, so the 20/1.7 is a 40mm equivalent on a 35mm camera.

Though I've read about the E-P2, I've never used one so maybe someone else who has experience with both could tell you more. I probably would have been just as happy with the E-P2 and the several hundred dollars it would have saved me, but I've been saving for a couple of years now and when the E-P3 became available I went for it.

 

[raid]

Hi Gregor,
Yes, these seem to be the two major differences.
The exposure system in both cameras is superb.

I got the EP-2 from Brian at a very fair price, and I have no regrets.
It brought back to life a lot of first class SLR lenses that had outdated or unreliable SLR cameras. Today, I used the Canon FD 7.5mm 5.6 on the EP-2 for a 15mm perspective.

 

[pggunn]

A few more differences between E-P2 & E-P3:


35-area AF system
Touch AF and Touch shutter
Direct movie record and display magnification buttons
E-PL2-style control layout, 5 customisable buttons
Live guide control in iAuto
iEnhance colour mode
Revised and expanded Art Filters (with quick preview option)
Built in flash and ability to control several groups of off camera strobes

DPReview has a pretty good review here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusep3/

 

[pggunn]

Hi Gregor,
Yes, these seem to be the two major differences.
The exposure system in both cameras is superb.

I got the EP-2 from Brian at a very fair price, and I have no regrets.
It brought back to life a lot of first class SLR lenses that had outdated or unreliable SLR cameras. Today, I used the Canon FD 7.5mm 5.6 on the EP-2 for a 15mm perspective.

Yes, I think the exposure system is very good on these cameras and the ability to use so many different lenses, via adaptors is very nice.

Wow, I'll bet that Canon 7.5mm is nice on the E-P2! I'd like to see some of your work with that!

 

[kuzano]

The ep-2 is aged technology....

The ep-2 is aged technology....

How does the EP-3 differ from the EP-2?
Is the 40mm/1.7 like a 80mm/1.7 on a 35mm camera, or is it a 20mm/1.7 lens?

Relatively speaking, the EP-2 is ancient history. The E-PLx cameras came between the EP-2 and the EP-3. I think the E-5 came out after the EP-2, which likely means that the processor is mildly different in the EP-3 and the processing engine is at least one evolution newer. Somewhere in the riegn of the EPL-1 or EPL-2, Olympus changed the AA filter for improved OOC jpegs, which I encountered with my EPL-1. It was the best OOC jpeg camera of all the Olympus's, both DSLR and PEN I have purchased.

All I read indicates the EP-3 is much improved in various areas over the NOW old EP-2.

Now taking the EP-2 off the table, there are currently 3 pens on the table. All have the Truepic VI processing engine which replaced the Truepic V in the EP-2, among other enhancements improving autofocus, adding tilt screens, etc.

The EP-3, discussed here.
The EPL-3, with a tilt screen and a mid range camera between the EP-3,
And finally the EPM-1... M for mini. A very small camera near P&S, but with the same 4/3 sensor (latest version) and the interchangeable lens mount, and Truepic VI processor.

I'm interested in the Mini, which seems will be the smallest EVIL camera on the market, with all the great flexibilty of the m4/3 mount taking all the adaptors currently availabe.

Don't think I will buy however as I am still holding out for a Pro version of the Pen. I'm old, but I think I'll make it.

 

[raid]

The EP-2 does the job well for using SLR lenses with it.
No camera is perfect, and all digital cameras become outdated within a year or so.

 

[kuzano]

Did not mean to infer the EP-2 was not good....

Did not mean to infer the EP-2 was not good....

Was only pointing out that one can spend a lot of time and money chasing the "best" camera. The EP-3 will be tomorrows outdated camera.

I was only point out to the query about the comparing the EP-2 to the EP-3. There are three generations between them if you add the PL variations.

I think we're on the same page about how fast these cameras can be improved. It's not an issue of obsolescense.

 

[Gillymaru]

The Ep3 has a modest improvement in image quality over the EP2. I notice an improvement in fine details and a slight improvement in higher ISO.
I am very happy with my EP3 it a such a joy to use.

 

[shadowfox]

Gregor, good for you.
Sounds like the touchscreen is the way to go.

I'm skipping E-P3 waiting for the m4/3rd camera with built in viewfinder. Hopefully it'll still bear the name Olympus Pen.

 

[pggunn]

Gregor, good for you.
Sounds like the touchscreen is the way to go.

I'm skipping E-P3 waiting for the m4/3rd camera with built in viewfinder. Hopefully it'll still bear the name Olympus Pen.

The touchscreen is a nice touch 🙂rolleyes: Sorry, I can't resist a bad pun!) for choosing the focus point and shooting almost simultaneously! I like the dials and buttons for everything else, though for quickly changing settings without delving through the menus, the super control screen feature is very nice too.

A built in VF would definitely be much, much better, but I thought I'd try the E-P3 and see if I could live without it for now. As someone who needs reading glasses to see anything within arm's length, the VF would definitely benefit me, but I'm hoping as I become more familiar with the camera and get it set up to suit my preferences, I'll be able to operate it better by feel. If that's being overly optimistic, I may have to spring for the optional EVF. Or, if financing allows, get an E-P4 too!

 

[Guaranteed]

Wow, I'll bet that Canon 7.5mm is nice on the E-P2! I'd like to see some of your work with that!

Me too! 😀

 

[seanathan]

Wow! That pancake lens really is nice. Great shots!