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Handled an E-PL2 today. WOW, it is nice.

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Tom Hoots

Tom Hoots

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Boy, let me tell you....

If you're even only "remotely" interested in the E-PL2, you owe it to yourself to head down to some local shop that will let you hold one and play with it. Once you get your hands on one, you won't want to leave the store without it.

My favorite local shop had it in stock today, and I spent about 15 minutes playing around with the one on display. I was very impressed with its build quality and with the way it felt in my hand.

Man, it is just night-and-day different from the E-PL1. I've been critical of the E-PL1's build quality -- it's just "cheap" everywhere you look, everywhere you touch it. From the small, low-resolution screen to the buttons, to the general feel of the thing -- well, it's a capable tool, but I'd have to leave it at that.

The E-PL2 just feels GREAT. Excellent. It just fits better in your hand, and it feels dense -- the E-PL1, in comparison, feels plasticky and actually kind of "hollow." Bottom line, the E-PL2 just has that feeling of truly excellent build quality, and the E-PL1 just doesn't. Plus, subtle changes just make the E-PL2 feel amazingly better in your hand.

Just go and get your hands on an E-PL2. It'll be worth the trip.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhoots/
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4330317199/albums
 
Well, that's just an opinion on the PL1, is it?

Because you seem to be interested by many cameras, as if they were some tins to assess by their weight at a grocery store.

Perhaps you shake them to see if there is enough content in them?

As many others I am very satisfied with my camera, and don't feel at all the need to 'upgrade'.

The PL1 is very solidly built, easy to handle and has terrific IQ. So why should I change it?

Perhaps you never had one or sent it back after a week? LOL

Am.

--
Photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amalric
 
Tom Hoots said:
Boy, let me tell you....

If you're even only "remotely" interested in the E-PL2, you owe it to yourself to head down to some local shop that will let you hold one and play with it. Once you get your hands on one, you won't want to leave the store without it.

My favorite local shop had it in stock today, and I spent about 15 minutes playing around with the one on display. I was very impressed with its build quality and with the way it felt in my hand.

Man, it is just night-and-day different from the E-PL1. I've been critical of the E-PL1's build quality -- it's just "cheap" everywhere you look, everywhere you touch it. From the small, low-resolution screen to the buttons, to the general feel of the thing -- well, it's a capable tool, but I'd have to leave it at that.

The E-PL2 just feels GREAT. Excellent. It just fits better in your hand, and it feels dense -- the E-PL1, in comparison, feels plasticky and actually kind of "hollow." Bottom line, the E-PL2 just has that feeling of truly excellent build quality, and the E-PL1 just doesn't. Plus, subtle changes just make the E-PL2 feel amazingly better in your hand.

Just go and get your hands on an E-PL2. It'll be worth the trip.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhoots/
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4330317199/albums
Click to expand...
The tinny and flimsy build of the E-PL1 with it's wobbly kit lens torqued me totally off when I played with that camera. I'm really interested in the E-PL2 as my compact camera, and after the various positive reports how much better than the E-PL1 the E-PL2 is built, I can't wait to lay hands on the new model. With a little luck there will be an upper-tier m4/3 soon, because I would certainly be even more interested in that.

As for the E-PL1, I guess it's okay for the casual user with rather small hands and a gingerly grip. ;)

--
http://photography-by-thomas.blogspot.com/
 
Hi Tom, maybe you will buy one and contribute to this forum, your thoughts are very well regarded and will add greatly this forum.
 
I am VERY tempted by the E-PL2, but I am perplexed by the lack of orientation sensor. I just can't see myself, after a weekend out, having to sort through the 100 or so photos, turning them with the correct side up.
How do you cope with this? Has it been a big annoyance to you?
--
Luca
 
Hi,

I'm looking forward to to seeing how it compares to my E-P1. Originally bought the E-P1 instead of the E-PL1 due to it's improved build quality and feel. I know that the E-PL1 has a higher spec but to me part of the fun/experience of taking pictures is the feel of the camera.

That said, I would like the added features that an E-PL2 would give (better screen, accessory port, flash, added filters etc) BUT only if it feels as classy as the E-P1 does (or at least comes close to it, which the E-PL1 didn't).

I guess that ultimately I'll have to try the camera. Unfortunately, I live in the back of beyond and I don't expect my local store to get an E-PL2 in anytime soon.

Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks,

Alan
 
LucaPCP said:
I am VERY tempted by the E-PL2, but I am perplexed by the lack of orientation sensor. I just can't see myself, after a weekend out, having to sort through the 100 or so photos, turning them with the correct side up.
How do you cope with this? Has it been a big annoyance to you?
--
Luca
Click to expand...
I have the PL1 that lacks the orientation sensor as well: yes, it is an annoyance, but I wouldn't call it a major one. e.g. I use IrfanView to browse them, and to turn them correctly it takes very few. And once it's done, it's done forever.
 
AISHJAN said:
i want to get ep2
which is better in your opinion ep2 or epl2
Click to expand...
I personally had an epl1 and now have an ep2 and vastly prefer the ep2 (although it has nothing to do with the perceived 'build quality' - I thought the epl1 was just fine in this regard and liked the lighter weight). But from everything I can tell from reading, the epl2 has almost completely closed the gap to the ep2. It has the very slightly better IQ of the epl1, it now has a rear control dial (although only one, but that's VASTLY better than none, imho), it has the same max shutter speed as the ep2 - I just don't see much separating the epl2 from the ep2 at the moment except for the onboard flash on the epl2 and the built in electronic level and orientation sensor in the ep2. If one of these is really important to you, base the decision on that. Or if you just have to have the aesthetics of the ep2 - that's never been the key issue to me, but it matters a lot to some folks. Otherwise, I'd go with the epl2 on price alone. Then again, I think the similarities of these cameras means that the ep2 isn't long for this world and there will be some new upper end model fairly soon. So you might be able to find the ep2 fairly inexpensively within the next few months if its phased out.

-Ray
 
TheEye said:
Tom Hoots said:
Boy, let me tell you....

If you're even only "remotely" interested in the E-PL2, you owe it to yourself to head down to some local shop that will let you hold one and play with it. Once you get your hands on one, you won't want to leave the store without it.

My favorite local shop had it in stock today, and I spent about 15 minutes playing around with the one on display. I was very impressed with its build quality and with the way it felt in my hand.

Man, it is just night-and-day different from the E-PL1. I've been critical of the E-PL1's build quality -- it's just "cheap" everywhere you look, everywhere you touch it. From the small, low-resolution screen to the buttons, to the general feel of the thing -- well, it's a capable tool, but I'd have to leave it at that.

The E-PL2 just feels GREAT. Excellent. It just fits better in your hand, and it feels dense -- the E-PL1, in comparison, feels plasticky and actually kind of "hollow." Bottom line, the E-PL2 just has that feeling of truly excellent build quality, and the E-PL1 just doesn't. Plus, subtle changes just make the E-PL2 feel amazingly better in your hand.

Just go and get your hands on an E-PL2. It'll be worth the trip.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhoots/
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4330317199/albums
Click to expand...
The tinny and flimsy build of the E-PL1 with it's wobbly kit lens torqued me totally off when I played with that camera. I'm really interested in the E-PL2 as my compact camera, and after the various positive reports how much better than the E-PL1 the E-PL2 is built, I can't wait to lay hands on the new model. With a little luck there will be an upper-tier m4/3 soon, because I would certainly be even more interested in that.

As for the E-PL1, I guess it's okay for the casual user with rather small hands and a gingerly grip. ;)

--
http://photography-by-thomas.blogspot.com/
Click to expand...
You must have tried a different EPL-1 to the one I use. Mine is a sturdily built camera which takes plenty of punishment. I often throw it into a bag and generally take it everywhere with me. It has never shown the slightest sign of wear and tear or letting me down. About the only thing I can criticise it for is the lcd which gets smeared very easily and is a pain to keep clear.
--
Tony
http://the-random-photographer.blogspot.com/
 
I'll wait a bit until they announce the EP3 before I pull the trigger though. Too bad there isn't a EPL2 kit with the pancake and the VF2.

The EPL1 wasn't that much cheaper than the EP2 kit if you added the additional cost of the VF2 and the pancake, I bet it'll be the same with the EP3.

--
Regards
Thorsten
 
You only describe enthusiasticly, how the camera feels , but not how it operates . Especially I am concerned, if the flimsy wheel around the 4-way controller is actually a good ergonomic design. My impression from the EP-x cameras was that this wheel is too flimsy and too easily to change unintentionally. While the EP-x bodies rely at least on two wheel controls, we have with the EPL-2 only this one, which seems much more error prone than Panasonic's quick wheel, which was already criticized.

While the camera may feel solid, I have doubts that operation is really than good. Up to now the camera isn't available here, so I can only judge from the EP-x situation.
Tom Hoots said:
Boy, let me tell you....

If you're even only "remotely" interested in the E-PL2, you owe it to yourself to head down to some local shop that will let you hold one and play with it. Once you get your hands on one, you won't want to leave the store without it.

My favorite local shop had it in stock today, and I spent about 15 minutes playing around with the one on display. I was very impressed with its build quality and with the way it felt in my hand.

Man, it is just night-and-day different from the E-PL1. I've been critical of the E-PL1's build quality -- it's just "cheap" everywhere you look, everywhere you touch it. From the small, low-resolution screen to the buttons, to the general feel of the thing -- well, it's a capable tool, but I'd have to leave it at that.

The E-PL2 just feels GREAT. Excellent. It just fits better in your hand, and it feels dense -- the E-PL1, in comparison, feels plasticky and actually kind of "hollow." Bottom line, the E-PL2 just has that feeling of truly excellent build quality, and the E-PL1 just doesn't. Plus, subtle changes just make the E-PL2 feel amazingly better in your hand.

Just go and get your hands on an E-PL2. It'll be worth the trip.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhoots/
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4330317199/albums
Click to expand...
--
Thomas
 
alanjp said:
I'm looking forward to to seeing how it compares to my E-P1. Originally bought the E-P1 instead of the E-PL1 due to it's improved build quality and feel. I know that the E-PL1 has a higher spec but to me part of the fun/experience of taking pictures is the feel of the camera. . . .
Click to expand...
I'm with you there, at least in part
alanjp said:
That said, I would like the added features that an E-PL2 would give (better screen, accessory port, flash, added filters etc) BUT only if it feels as classy as the E-P1 does (or at least comes close to it, which the E-PL1 didn't).

I guess that ultimately I'll have to try the camera. Unfortunately, I live in the back of beyond and I don't expect my local store to get an E-PL2 in anytime soon.

Any thoughts anyone?
Click to expand...
E-P1/2 are well thought out ergonomically and they are finished with a metal plating which gives the cameras a feeling of substantiality missing in many cameras. They are more like a traditional rangefinder camera, roughly comparable to my Bessa film camera, actually in some ways some ways better than the Bessa. E-PL2 is undoubtedly a very good camera, but if you bought the E-P1 over the E-PL1 in the first place, I doubt you would ever be entirely happy with the PL2. I would wait to take a look at the new E-P3.
 
amalric said:
Well, that's just an opinion on the PL1, is it?
Click to expand...
Yes, just my opinion.
amalric said:
Perhaps you never had one or sent it back after a week?
Click to expand...
I had an E-PL1 for about three months, and probably shot at least 30,000 shots with it. I took many of those on a trip to Las Vegas, and I've got some of those shots in this DPReview gallery:

http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/4330317199/albums/olympus-e-pl1-las-vegas

I wouldn't disagree with anyone who feels that there's no need to upgrade from it to the E-PL2, but for anyone who has been considering doing so, a few minutes handling the E-PL2 in a store might well help make that decision easily, right then and there in the store.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhoots/
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4330317199/albums
 
moorept said:
Hi Tom, maybe you will buy one and contribute to this forum, your thoughts are very well regarded and will add greatly this forum.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the kind words!

It's tempting, no doubt. I'm thinking mainly in terms of pairing it with the Panny 100-300mm telephoto lens, taking advantage of the 2x crop factor to get a relatively monster 600mm, 35mm-equivalent zoom. Of course, that's only one kind of usage, but that's the one that currently grabs my interest.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhoots/
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4330317199/albums
 
EPL2 seems like a nice improvement on EPL1, but EPL1 is $200 cheaper. It's almost the same camera for $200 or 2/3 of the price less. For this money one can get for example VF-2 or buy a double zoom kit with 40-150. If I were in the market right now, I'd probably have gone for E-PL1.
 
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