"OK" but much cheaper camera body and invest in a good lens or good body with kit?

Mike Loanzon wrote:

Thanks for your reply. Investing in lenses over camera bodies seems to be the consensus. I feel I am thoroughly convinced now. (But in need of some M43 body suggestions atm, since someone beat me to the Pen-EP5 deal. i may just wait for the OMD price to drop.)

You stated that you shoot RAW but are unhappy with the colors you are getting. May I suggest that you give Capture One Pro a look. It is, in my opinion,, the best raw converter out there, and it certainly gives some of the best colors I have seen. They support a huge number of cameras, including Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony.

I'll look into this, thanks!

Too bad. An E-P5 with any VF for $300 is a great deal.

What you didn't like about the GF-2 images will be improved on newer cameras but at hazard of starting an endless argument, they won't be miles different.

I would say in general, look to 16MP (or 20 if the prices don't scare you) cameras over 12. In indoor situations they will perform better. For social P or A mode shooting, any of the 16MP cameras with a popup flash will be a good start. Any of the f1.7-2.0 primes from 12 to 45 mm will help for social shooting. I find the zooms, even the expensive f2.8 ones, dark for social shooting in color. But most any of the zooms even at ISO 6400 create great pics in black and white if you know how to push up the contrast.

For social shooting you don't really need a VF.  But consider dials have a BIG effect on usability.  If you want to be a manual control photographer look for a camera with front and rear dials like the E-P5. If you like to use automatic modes then an E-PL5 is fine and pretty inexpensive these days but it will be limiting if you decide later to be a manual shooter.  The E-PL5 and 6 (and many of the Panny GF's) have an awkward dial on the back but the E-PL7 and 8 have a nicer thumb dial on top.  Some of the Panny's combine a rear single dial that you push/click to toggle from aperture to shutter, which is nicer than a single dial but not as nice as 2 dials.

And there's a large range of sizes that I don't know how to comment on but I'm pretty sure if you took a poll on how many M4/3 users have 2 or more bodies, there will be quite a few of us.  So don't be afraid to start too simple or too complex, it's an easy problem to fix; especially in the used market.

As far as picking Panny or Oly, they render colors quite differently.  I'd spend some time on Flickr, look up M4/3 groups and study Oly images vs Panny and see what you prefer; opinions of others are often unhelpful.  Again, take a poll to see how many own both

Mixing mfg's lenses and bodies generally work fine but affect colors, autofocus and purple edges too.  So researching your lens and body combo's helps prevent surprises.