Olympus PEN E-PL1

The PEN E-PL1 is a simplified, less expensive addition in Olympus's Micro-Four Thirds camera range. The E-PL1 includes many of the features of its big brothers, the EP-1 and EP-2 and also adds a built-in flash. Compared to the PEN E-P1 and E-P2, the E-PL1's simplified, button-press based interface dictates that it'll be best suited to compact camera users who want to get better photos straight away and learn about things such as apertures in their own time. Experienced users who regularly want to take control of individual shooting parameters are likely to find themselves frustrated by the sheer amount of button-pressing induced by the loss of control dials. That said, the most important aspect of any camera is its image quality and it is, without question, the E-PL1's strongest point. By just about any measure, the E-PL1's image quality is very good indeed and, thanks to one the most capable JPEG engines we've come across, is easily accessible to everybody.