My thoughts after a week with the E-P1

M. Zuiko 12mm F2

Photo taken with E-P1 and Leica DG Summilux 25mm F1.4

So after 1 week of having the E-P1 with me everyday I would like to share my thoughts. It makes a big difference when I'm carrying light weight gear. Even if I'm carrying all 3 lenses (12, 25 and 45) it feels like it's not even there. I don't feel any stress in my wrists even after using it for a while. That is the biggest difference for me. I like it very much and I'm enjoying every second shooting with it. There's no doubt the Canon 5D Mark II has better image quality than the E-P1 but if you can compromise, I believe the E-P1 is the best in its class before the next generation PENs were released. Even Ken Rockwell has a review of the E-P1 and according to him it has the technical image quality of a DSLR or better, it's just not good enough for sports and action which I don't shoot.

I must say that I'm not trying to convince people to switch. My intention is to share my experiences so that it may help others in case they find themselves in the same boat as me or perhaps some are just looking for a second system. If I have the money, I will say it again, I will still have my 5D Mark II with me or maybe even upgrade to the 5D Mark III. For what I do and my style of shooting I find that a m4/3 system is enough and has satisfied my likes up to 90-95% of the time.

M 4/3 First Impressions

This is more of a part II since Eric, a very good flickr friend, offered to lend me his Olympus PEN E-P1 on a short photo walk along Gastown, Vancouver. It was however quite short and I was not able to play a lot with the E-P1. I must say it was helpful still but this time around I have my own E-P1 and I brought along the M. Zuiko Digital 45mm f1.8. I was not planning on getting an E-P1 but just before I picked up my lenses I saw that it was on sale at Lens & Shutter for $199. So I called my contact quickly and asked if they still have stock. They were getting rid of it that's why there was a price drop.

Today was a good day and we are finally getting some sun and warm weather here in the Pacific North West. There was also a Vancouver Flickr Gang photo walk but I was unable to join because I have an appointment with the Honda dealership. So I thought of doing my own photo walk although I ended up taking more photos inside the dealership than outside.

Why switch and why Micro Four Thirds

Quite a lot ask me the questions, why switch? Why Micro Four Thirds? On this post I'm going to answer those 2 questions based on my experiences and research. I want to reiterate that this is my own personal opinion based on the data I was able to gather. I'm quite sure others out there will agree or disagree and I'm all ears to what you have to say. Leave a comment please as I want to hear what you have in mind.