PEN E-PL6 Pancake kit lens

pfettig77 wrote:

Is there any way to get a PEN with this kit lens? Was it ever made available as a kit in the U.S.? I really like how compact it is.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/7682237330/olympus-takes-pen-e-pl6-beyond-asia

Also look at the Panasonic 12-32 pancake. It is much about the same size as the Oly but starts at 12mm

Here it is on my EPL5

In fact, that's one thing that has me leaning a little toward the Sony NEX line - he newer 16-50 lens is really flat. I'd prefer an Olympus (because of IBIS) if I could get a flatter lens.

Forget about the IBIS on the EPL6. It is not very good. The IBIS on the EPL7 is better.

Allan

Hate to hijack my own thread, but...is that true (about the IBIS) on all the Olympus PEN's below the 7? Because I really want to use my old film OM lens and that was the whole reason for looking at the olympus mirrorless.

Thanks. The reason I mentioned the 6 is because the review said that it came with the new pancake style zoom lens. How much of a difference do you think it will make to have the image stabilization with my old f/1.4 zuiko lens? I really want to be able to use it again (sort of an heirloom).

The oly zoom is decent, but nothing to write home about. It's similar to the other kit zooms, but it is electric operation, which may or may not bother you.

Compared to the primes and pro zooms, you loose quite a bit of sharpness and color saturation, which is why I sort of regret purchasing mine. I only use it when I simply want to pocket the camera with no room for other accessories. Most of the time I have the oly 25mm f1.8 on my E-PL7.

E-PL7 IBIS works quite well--not as forgiving as the 5-axis in the other models, but pretty good. I think there is still a promotion for the E-PL7 going on too, if it's within your budget.

pfettig77 wrote:

Hate to hijack my own thread, but...is that true (about the IBIS) on all the Olympus PEN's below the 7? Because I really want to use my old film OM lens and that was the whole reason for looking at the olympus mirrorless.

I agree with Chas2's reply above. You can use your old lenses on any m4/3 body.

There are other considerations, however. If you have a body with poor or no IBIS and you want to use long lenses, then your problem is going to be holding the combination steady enough to focus. In my case, I have a 70's vintage Nikon 105 f2.5. I have trouble with both my G5 and EPL5 holding it steady enough to focus. It depends on how steady your hands are.

This is exacerbated by the 2x crop factor so, my 105 becomes a 210mm.

I don't know about the 3 axis IBIS but the 5 axis IBIS will stabilize the preview image allowing you to focus. The 2 axis does not stabilize the preview image.

Allan