E-P3 is a good upgrade from an E-PL1

Humansvillian wrote:

David wrote:

Humansvillian wrote:

I'm used to the screen on my PL-1 and this new P3 is like driving a new Cadillac compared to a trusty old Chevy. The touch focus is a great feature, and the two dials make the Program Shift and the Aperture and Shutter and Manual modes much easier to make inputs. There's even a Function 2 button that toggles on the EV mode, or can be assigned other functions. And this camera just oozes quality and has sort of a high dollar glow to it when you sit back and look at it. What a toy. The P5 looks like about the same rig only improved and made better. It would be tempting to try one.

But the OMD M10II looks like a little DSLR and has a viewfinder and a flash on top and has lots more goodies and gizmos than the P5.

This is America. We don't have any camera control laws,,,,yet.

The only solution is to buy both.:-)

But all in due time. I'm still learning this P3.

What, in the world, is a digital teleconverter?

Do I want to "Keep Warm Colors"?

Maybe I need to learn to shoot RAW so I won't be such a newbie, too.

And it's nice to have a real, working movie camera that really does autofocus when you use it.

This P3 ought to keep me busy awhile, before I try to upgrade.

Thanks for all your help.

Before upgrading to a newer body, think about investing in new lenses instead. Lenses keep their value relatively well as opposed to bodies and also fast f/2.8 zoom lens allow you to shoot at 1 to 2 stops faster shutter speeds compared to a kit zoom. When I had my E-PL1, I went that route and was able to shoot at the lowest ISO to maintain good IQ. In fact, at photo meetup groups, I was able to not only beat full frame and APS cameras because most of the participants were using very slow kit zooms that their best full frame and APS cameras were not the limiting factor to getting great IQ. It was their lenses. The Olympus 12-40 f/2.8 Pro or the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 are both great medium focal length zooms that will showcase what your E-P3 can do. My Olympus E-5 is similar to your E-P3 in terms of IQ and the only reason I still shoot it is because I have a fast zoom lens that keeps shooting ISO low, thus maintaining good DR and noise. And of course, when the time comes for you to upgrade, you will be able to use the lens on a new body.

Hope this helps..

I was thinking about the same thing, and in fact was searching for the Oly Fast 45 portrait lens when I stumbled on the P-3.

I have a 2.8 Oly pancake 17mm and a Panny 1.7 25mm. I love them. I want more of them.

My new P-3 was only a body, so for a kit lens, I think the choice is between the Oly medium fast tele and the Panny medium fast tele pro lenses. I think they both cost about $600. The Panny will have built in IS. The Oly has a bit more focal range.

And my three extra lenses, the 17, 25, and 40-150, none have IS in the lens, so I'm likely to stay with Olympus bodies, although the new Pannies I understand have body stabilized IS.

Another consideration is this. I attend a lot of family reunions and community meetings that are inside, and I'm always the only person in the room with something other than a smartphone camera. Every F stop of light is precious, to shoot without flash. All the photos are reduced to send over email or IM to my friends.

I've heard good things about the Panny 20mm pancake.

Should I get that, or an Oly 45mm, or use that money to save up to get the medium Oly or Panny telephoto?

A new camera body can wait.

But I want mo' betta' fasta' lensas'!.:)

I love primes and if you look at my gear list, I own quite a number of them albeit mostly Panasonic and I shoot with them quite often in very low light where every F-stop counts.  And that was how I prolonged my E-PL1's life a little longer until I managed to get the E-P5 deal.

17mm, 25mm and 45mm forms the holy trinity of primes, so the Oly 45mm 1.8 is a good choice.

You already have a 25mm 1.7 prime, so 20mm pancake in my opinion would be a close duplicate.  The 45mm 1.8 would be a nicer choice.  If you want EXOTIC, the Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 is very nice and sweet.