Choices choices choices!
Let me start by stating that I know very little about photography. I am one of those
normal guys snapping at things in the street and taking holiday pics.
I wanted to move up from my good compact P&S (Fuji 200EXR) but was in a
dilemma over what to buy. The pictures the Fuji produced had gotten me interested
in photography but did I want to commit to a buying a Carrera or an SLK?
Some friends told me to buy a DSLR but I already had a film SLR bought 15 years
ago that I hardly ever used. It was just too heavy and bulky for me to enjoy
carrying around my neck for long periods of time. I must had gotten through 10
rolls of film in those 15 years.
I also considered "Superzooms" like the Panasonic FZ35 - but then the picture
quality might just the same as my Fuji (or perhaps worse). They were also not that
small - certainly not trouser pocket size.
Then I found out about these little 4/3 babies. I must admit that it was a hard
choice between the Panasonic GF1 and this one. I liked the feel of the GF1 more
and the screen was better. However, as a novice photographer I wanted the security
of in-body stabilisation which the Panasonic didn't have.
I also didnt want to bother with "post-processing" using Photoshop (something my
DSLR friends seemed to enjoy that) and everyone (and the reviewers) said that the
Olympus produced the best JPEG output straight from the camera of the two. Even
better were the art filters - the grainy film and the soft focus especially.
The last clincher was the price... the Olympus was $200 cheaper. The Panasonic
was the about same price as the Canon 550D/T2i.
Weighing up the pros against the cons the EPL-1 was the best choice for a guy like
me - a novice photographer on a budget.
Let me start by stating that I know very little about photography. I am one of those
normal guys snapping at things in the street and taking holiday pics.
I wanted to move up from my good compact P&S (Fuji 200EXR) but was in a
dilemma over what to buy. The pictures the Fuji produced had gotten me interested
in photography but did I want to commit to a buying a Carrera or an SLK?
Some friends told me to buy a DSLR but I already had a film SLR bought 15 years
ago that I hardly ever used. It was just too heavy and bulky for me to enjoy
carrying around my neck for long periods of time. I must had gotten through 10
rolls of film in those 15 years.
I also considered "Superzooms" like the Panasonic FZ35 - but then the picture
quality might just the same as my Fuji (or perhaps worse). They were also not that
small - certainly not trouser pocket size.
Then I found out about these little 4/3 babies. I must admit that it was a hard
choice between the Panasonic GF1 and this one. I liked the feel of the GF1 more
and the screen was better. However, as a novice photographer I wanted the security
of in-body stabilisation which the Panasonic didn't have.
I also didnt want to bother with "post-processing" using Photoshop (something my
DSLR friends seemed to enjoy that) and everyone (and the reviewers) said that the
Olympus produced the best JPEG output straight from the camera of the two. Even
better were the art filters - the grainy film and the soft focus especially.
The last clincher was the price... the Olympus was $200 cheaper. The Panasonic
was the about same price as the Canon 550D/T2i.
Weighing up the pros against the cons the EPL-1 was the best choice for a guy like
me - a novice photographer on a budget.