Upgrading E-PL1 to E-P(L?)3?

RMillward said:

Of course the decision to upgrade is obviously a very personal one... But I'm evaluating whether to upgrade from an E-PL1 to an E-P3 variant, and I'm interested to hear thoughts from other E-PL1 owners on their reasons for upgrading (or not)...

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I have the E-P2 and the E-PL1.

I won't upgrade yet. The main reasons for me to upgrade would be a higher definition LCD and an autofocus assist light. The E-PL2 has more of what I want at a price point that seems fair, except that it doesn't have the built in autofocus light.

I don't think I'd choose the E-PL3 because it doesn't have a built in flash and no grip on the front. The E-P2 taught me that I need a built in flash. I don't like a clip on flash and am a little disappointed they went that way. I do like the E-P3, but not at that price point.... maybe when it drops in price.

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Dave

I have the E-PL1, and my reasons for totally excluding an upgrade with the E-(P)L2 was that none of these cameras, as a previous uses said, would allow me to get "more" shots - AF was still the same, generally, and IQ over my camera was not better. Now I am pretty sure the new cameras (any of them) with improved AF and AF assist lamp would allow a higher rate of keepers in most circumstances, so this only is making my upgrade very likely. I like the other features and the price point of the E-PL3, so I do believe if i get a decent price for my camera I will try to fork out the difference.

I've been a user of a L1 since launch. When the L2 was released next I was VERY tempted to buy it, it's perfect design-wise, fixed most of the L1 interface problems BUT it didn't solve my main two problems with PEN cameras:

• Superior sensor
• Built-in EVF

For these very same reasons none of the new cameras really do it for me, in fact, I think they took a step backwards in their E-PL line just to protect the e-p3 only because the e-p3 couldn't really bring a mayor step forward. The e-pl3 looses the flash and the grip, closely resembling their P&S camera, dumb move.

The fact that the E-p3 doesn't bring enough change on its own only reassures me that there's a Pro Pen in the works, otherwise there's no sense to mix and cripple features on these pens or to release the 12mm and develop faster AF. So far the only camera coming close to ideal is the G3, it's just a shame it's not an Olympus camera though.

I am a E-PL1 user. I will update to E-PL3 (not now, maybe next year). Simply because it is getting smaller.

The the whole point of Micro 4/3 format (I do have already Nikon D7000, recently updated from D90). I will actually update by following E-PL line each time it is getting smaller...

Although it is a little bit annoying pen updated models cannot quite keep up the legendary JPEG rendition of E-PL1 at base ISO. Is it hard to keep what they have already achieved?

I didn't update to E-PL2, because the size change wasn't big enough.





p.s. Already sold E-PL1 2 July.

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Flickr

Are you sure you don't mix up E-PL3 with the E-PM1? From what i've seen in the pics of the previews i think the E-PL3 has the same amount of buttons the E-PL1 has plus a control wheel, while the Mini model is indeed very minimalistic in this aspect.

E-pl1 still has the best ISO 1600 I have seen for the price.

Tedolph

hto2008 said:

I am a E-PL1 user. I will update to E-PL3 (not now, maybe next year). Simply because it is getting smaller.

The the whole point of Micro 4/3 format (I do have already Nikon D7000, recently updated from D90). I will actually update by following E-PL line each time it is getting smaller...

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hto2008 said:

Flickr

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It is smaller without lens, but who uses it without lens?

I thought it was smaller too until I saw this photo:





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Dave

The major attraction for me would be the faster autofocus. That's my one gripe with my E-PL1.

I probably will not be upgrading any time soon, but will continue to keep a close watch on the Olympus models. I'll know when it is time. I am very encouraged by what Olympus is doing to improve the cameras. For my needs, I'd like to see a little more MP in the sensor, because I crop and enlarge and sometimes get rather poor results because there just aren't enough pixels to give a decent print, even using Genuine Fractals/Perfect Resize.

As an E-PL1 user, the E-PL3 is tempting. Reasons for me to upgrade would be:

1.Size/weight/volume less than the PL1
2.Faster AF (kid bro's sports shots and dog shots especially)
3.Burst speed 5 frames/sec!
4.Better IQ

I do have some concerns for upgrading though...

A MAJOR concern I have is if the new E-PL3 will have the dreaded red grid of death!! I hope not. I shoot sun shots quite a bit. Hopefully they dealt with that issue in the PL3. I did not and will not 'upgrade' to the PL2 because of that.

Also, lack of even a small grip on the camera might be a problem with larger zooms. Hopefully someone (Richard Franiec?) makes an aftermarket stick on grip for these...

I was a little concerned about them nerfing the built-in flash... granted, I don't use my flash much, but it is nice to have when I unexpectedly need it. But at least they will be including an attachable flash (a la NEX), and in theory, it saves on weight/size, so I might be okay with that. So definitely no VF2+flash at all now with the E-PL line... that sucks.

The E-PM, being even smaller, looks interesting, but even less buttons looks crappy for me. My E-PL1 seems a fine compromise between too much buttons and too little.

Yes, z direction is not reduced.

But micro 4/3 small shouldn't be expected as the "pocket size" small like the compact card cameras.

If you do put them in your pocket, you should pointing the lens upward, not outward as rule of thumb. It is simply because Z direction size is bigger than both X and Y size with kit lens on.
That's taking LCD side as the footprint.
And it is this footprint that is getting smaller.

But you are right in that, if I am using my Panasonic 20mm prime, there is not change (if) in the pocket.

I find it hard to discuss upgrade until we don't know street prices. New LCDs both on E-P3 and E-PL3 models are tempting as is the fast AF. At the same time, I don't really have any problems with AF on my E-PL1. In fact, I am mostly happy with it all around.

I'll probably wait for PEN with tilting LCD, thumbwheel, and AF that allows focus tracking.

RMillward said:

Of course the decision to upgrade is obviously a very personal one... But I'm evaluating whether to upgrade from an E-PL1 to an E-P3 variant, and I'm interested to hear thoughts from other E-PL1 owners on their reasons for upgrading (or not)...

FWIW, I had been thinking that with my next body purchase, I'd move over to the main E-P# line (frankly because I think a remote might be useful, not because I have any significant problem with the E-PL picture quality or operations).

Thoughts?

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I often use several of my four-thirds DSLR lenses with my E-PL1. As you said, image quality alone would be no reason to upgrade as the E-PL1 produces fantastic images and my four-thirds lenses work well. AF is slow so I often manually focus when using them, especially my 12-60 SWD.

Yesterday I saw this post on the Olympus DSLR forum and watched the attached video of how the 12-60 now works with the E-P3..

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=38821763

I've already contacted the local Olympus store here in Dallas/Fort Worth and have gotten on their list to get the E-P3 as soon as they can get a body-only, which probably will be 2-3 months after the kits have started selling.

I think the overall speed incease of both camera operation and AF speed, both with the micro lenses as well as what looks to be much improved four-thirds lens AF speed, plus the better controls of the higher-end body compared to the E-PL models, is more than significant enough of an upgrade for me to make the jump to the E-P3.