Olympus E-PL2 Review

Olympus E-PL2: What’s New?

Olympus E-PL2 seems a little bit to bulky for a compact camera. The digital camera comes in three different colors: black, red and silver. At first glance, the E-PL2 makes much better impression than its predecessor. The camera has a total weight of 2.6 pounds, including the 14-42/3.5-5.6 lens.

The new E-PL 2 has an improved ergonomic design. The camera combined dial/rocker button in the back, the same design as on most high-end cameras. Important parameters such as the AF point, exposure compensation, flash mode, etc. can be set quickly and easily. The E-PL 2 offers a separate record button for video recording.

Olympus E-PL2 comes with larger display screen than its predecessor. The 3-inch display screen provides 460,000 pixels. The display screen shows good contrast quality and sufficient image detail. There also an optional accessory; the VF 2 Electronic ViewFinder which provides a detail resolution of 800 x 600 pixels.

The main switch is well protected against accidental operation, something sunk. Unfortunately, Olympus E-PL2 does not have the tripod socket in the optical axis for panoramic shots. However, the tripod socket is made of solid metal.

The E-PL 2 is designed for those who want to take pictures quickly and easily. More than 20 scene modes are available on this camera and 6 programs for image distortions such as sot focus and pinhole. Semi automatic and manual settings are also possible with this Olympus.

Compared to a compact camera, the E-PL2 has some advantages, such as slow sync or a compensation of flash exposure. What the E-PL2 missing are special functions to receive high-contrast scenes, such as a HDR-automatic.

Olympus E-PL2 offers the seven white balance presets, allows manual specification of a color temperature and can be calibrated to a gray area. In playback mode you can adjust the saturation, for example, subsequently generate a black and white picture or a picture cut. The E-PL2 can convert RAW images directly in the camera into a JPEG copy.

The E-PL2 stores movies only in AVI Motion-JPEG format, the maximum video resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels. The recording duration is limited to four minutes; longer duration is possible with a lower resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The E-PL2 records in mono, but it can be extended via the hot shoe system with a stereo microphone SEMA-1. Film and photographs can be selectively transmitted via the HDMI or TV-out jack to a TV.

The Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens It is about a quarter lighter than its predecessor. The filter size shrank to 40.5 to 37 millimeters, the dimensions of Olympus has also decreased slightly

The auto focus of Olympus E-PL2 provides extensive configuration. In addition to the usual static AF or continuous AF, the autofocus can be overridden manually. The face recognition ensures that the camera automatically focuses on faces and keeps them in focus. The auto focus works well in video recording.

Olympus E-PL2: Image Quality

Micro four thirds cameras from Olympus are known for its compact size and good image quality. Olympus E-PL2 shows even much better quality than its predecessor. The signal to noise ratio is about 40 dB, at ISO 800, it takes off almost imperceptibly. At even higher ISO numbers, the noise is more visible. Yet the camera up to ISO 1600 is relatively easily applicable. Olympus has a very nice structure; the grain size remains very small across all the sensitivities, the noise is so fine. In addition, the most annoying color noise is significantly weaker than the less disruptive luminance noise.

The noise suppression of the E-PL2 is clear when one compares the JPEG files with their RAW counterparts: In Adobe Camera Raw 6.4 beta could hardly get a better result - that is rare!

The Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens fits very well with Olympus E-PL2. It is quite sharp and detail with a resolution of about 40 line pairs per millimeter.

Conclusion

The E-PL 2 is an answer to any criticism on its predecessor. The design looks more solid and stable. The speed is 30% faster than its predecessor. They who are looking for a small and efficient camera will found much joy on Olympus E-PL2.

Title Post: Olympus E-PL2 Review
Rating: 100% based on 2069 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: the Wicaksonos Family

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