Help Me Select: E-PM2 vs E-PL5 vs E-P3

NoTx wrote:

Hey all,

So life happened and I was forced to sell off all my cameras a few years ago. And I am now looking at getting back into photography. So, I was looking at the various systems, and it looks like I am going to go back to Olympus.

So, this time around I have a fairly tight budget as far as body (or I would be getting an OM-D), but in the end I want either a 25/1.4 or a 17/1.8 and a body… so I am limiting my targets.

There are three bodies I am looking at, all Olympus: E-PM2, E-PL5 and E-P3. These are all within a $150 range. What would your recommendations be?

Old cameras were E-1s, Leica M6TTL or Contax rangefinders. Prefer street photography and portraiture.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks!

Rob

I have an E-PL5. It has very good image quality (same sensor as the E-M5) and runs close to matching the IQ from my D7000. The AF is snappy and accurate. You can set a very small AF target. Not so good for continuous AF so you might need to work around that if you shoot moving subjects a lot. I bought mine with the kit lens and added a 40-150 to create a very light weight system that I can carry any distance. I also carry the 9-18mm and 20mm f1.7. The zooms are quite decent and the 20mm is excellent.

The E-PM2 again uses the same sensor as the E-M5 and should therefor have the same IQ. haven't used one though. The E-P3 uses an older sensor though and again I have not used one.

Regards

John