Tuesday 7 February 2012

Olympus E-PL3

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2 45mm f/1.8 Panasonic GF3 14mm f/2.5
Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2 45mm f/1.8 Panasonic GF3 14mm f/2.5

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2 45mm f/1.8 Panasonic GF3 14mm f/2.5
Due to some general dissatisfaction round here with the Panasonic GF3 we've decided to give the Olympus E-PL3 + VF-3 a try.

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2 45mm f/1.8
Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2 45mm f/1.8

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2 45mm f/1.8

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2 45mm f/1.8

As you can see its the usual Pen style, and in fact it looks much better in reality than the pictures of it. Personally I have no problem with the fact there is no grip, as I'd rather have none at all than the somewhat small ones that seem to appear on m4/3 cameras. It does in fact feel very GF1 like, though somewhat nicer with the metallic feel. It works pretty much like the E-P3. It has a nice responsive shutter and though I've only used it once, I enjoyed it very much. But then I am a total fanboy for these things anyway. 

The VF-3 isn't quite as good as the VF-2 in terms of coverage and clarity, with a somewhat tunnel like view, however it is much better than the VF-2 in low light. There's a lot less flickering and noise, with the 12mm and 45mm lenses. 

So no surprises, the camera is almost exactly what I thought it was going to be. Only 12MP, but then I'm currently selling large quantities of my 6MP film scans, so thats not a problem, and if I want bigger files then I will put together some multi image stitches. 

Bottom line is its a lovely camera to work with, and that enjoyment and pleasure I get from using it is more important to me currently than anything else.

Here's some pictures I took with it.

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2

Olympus E-PL3 45mm f/1.8

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2

Olympus E-PL3 12mm f/2

Olympus E-PL3 45mm f/1.8

Panasonic GX1 20mm f/1.7 Olympus 12mm f/2

Panasonic GX1 20mm f/1.7 Sony NEX-7 Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron 35mm f/1.2 Nokton 75mm f/2.5 Heliar

Panasonic GX1 20mm f/1.7 GF3 14mm f/2.5 Sony NEX-7 NEX-5n 30mm f/3.5 macro Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron

Panasonic GX1 20mm f/1.7 Sony NEX-7 Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron