Olympus E-P2 In Depth Review

Olympus E-P2 In Depth Review

It seems we had barely gotten to know the Olympus E-P1, when 5 months later Olympus decided to offer a follow up in short order. The E-P2 gave photographers the black color that one presumes customers had been craving, while feature-wise the “only” change it offered was an accessory port for attaching an external electronic viewfinder and other possible goodies. It may not seem critical for many users, but for some enthusiasts, the E-P1’s lack of a viewfinder was a rather huge minus, meaning some number of photographers were left to consider Panasonic’s GF1 instead. Outside of the added accessory port (and the included viewfinder), the other notable changes that the E-P2 offers are 2 additional art filters, diorama and cross process, the ability to shoot video with manual controls, a tracking AF mode that works for stills and video, and and an i-Enhance shooting mode that boosts color and contrasts depending on the subject.

Before continuing we’ll take a moment to point out why products like the E-P2 should merit your attention in the first place. As we’ve taken pains to point out here previously, your typical point and shoot camera offers compact size, but at the expense of image quality, since the sensors inside are very small, and hence their light gathering capabilities are severely limited. DSLR cameras on the other hand, provide remarkably better image quality (their sensors are substantially larger than those on compact cameras) and allow the user to change lenses in order to customize their results based on their subject matter and aesthetic tastes, but DSLRs are clearly much bigger animals, and honestly just not that portable or desirable to carry for everyday use.

By removing the mirror and pentaprism from your average DSLR camera, Olympus and Panasonic created a camera system that promised much more portable cameras and lenses, a promise just partially filled by Panasonic’s G1, but better realized by the E-P1 and E-P2, and Panasonic’s GF1. These cameras offer compact size, big sensors (and better image quality than compacts), and the ability to change lenses (which also happen to be typically smaller than DSLR equivalents). In short, for many photographers, these cameras are practically a dream come true, a bona fide camera system that’s super portable, and with few compromises.

Availability

Olympus E-P2 Pen Digital Camera w/ 17mm f/2.8 Zuiko Lens & Electronic Viewfinder (Black) at B&H Photo Get the Olympus E-P2 Pen Digital Camera w/ 17mm f/2.8 Zuiko Lens & Electronic Viewfinder (Black) and support this site at the same time, by making your purchase through the link above at B&H Photo Video.

Olympus E-P2 Pen Digital Camera w/ 14-42mm Zuiko Lens (Black) at B&H Photo Get the Olympus E-P2 Pen Digital Camera w/ 14-42mm Zuiko Lens (Black) and support this site at the same time, by making your purchase through the link above at B&H Photo Video. Your purchases there made this and hopefully future articles possible.

Competition

If we leave out its stablemates, the E-P1, and the more affordable Pen offering, the more recent E-PL1, the E-P2 has one very clear rival, that being the Panasonic GF1. We’ve spent considerable time with both cameras, frequently going out with both cameras and swapping back and forth with both offerings’ included lenses, and as such this review will make frequent reference to the GF1. More recently another camera has entered this mix-up, the Samsung NX10 which offers an even bigger sensor, includes a viewfinder, and is more affordable that either the E-P2 or the GF1. Below we’ve gathered some key specifications of the 3 cameras for comparative purposes.

Camera	Olympus E-P2	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1	Samsung NX10
Est. Price	$899	$799	$699
Inc. Lens	14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 (35mm film equivalent: 28-84mm)	14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 (35mm film equivalent: 28-90mm)	18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OIS (35mm film equivalent : 27-82mm)
Megapixels	12.3 mp	12.1 mp	14.6 mp
Sensor Size	17.3 x 13.0mm CMOS	17.3 x 13.0mm CMOS	APS-C type CMOS (23.4 x 15.6mm)
Viewfinder	optional: .52x magnification (35mm equiv.), 1,440K dots res., $249	optional: .52x magnification (35mm equiv.), 202K dots res., $149	Built in: .54x magnification (35mm equiv.), 921K dots res.
ISO	100-6400	100-3200	100-3200
LCD	3", 230K	3", 460K	3", 614K
Continuous Shooting	3 fps	3 fps	3 fps
Video	MJPEG (.AVI) 1280x720 @ 30fps, 640x480 @ 30fps, stereo via accessory port.	AVCDHD: 1280 x 720, 60p (sensor output is 30fps) 9-17 Mbps, MJPEG: 320x240, 640x480, 848x480, 1280x720 (all at 30fps), mono.	MP4 (H.264): 1280 x 720, 640 x 480, 320 x 340 pixels, 30 fps, Mono sound (AAC)
Dimensions	4.75 x 2.75 x 1.43" (120.6 x 69.9 x 36.4mm)	4.69 x 2.80 x 1.43" (119 x 71 x 36.3mm)	4.84 x 3.43 x 1.57" (123 x 87 x 39.8mm)
Weight	0.7 lbs (335g)	10.05 oz (285g)	17.6 oz (499g)

Continue Reading This Review:

1. Introduction
2. Specifications
3. Camera Design
4. Interface
5. Performance and Usage
6. Image Quality
7. Playback and Video
8. Verdict
9. Image Samples

Continue the Discussion

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1. 

   AhenaEmily says:

   June 10, 2010 at 1:11 am

   Great review!
   I had a hard time choosing between the PEN2 and the GF1, this review speaks it all!

   reply
   • 

     Didier says:

     June 10, 2010 at 2:48 am

     Yeahh! We made the good choice Athena!! Whoooooo!!
     ; ))

     reply
2. 

   Mike C says:

   June 12, 2010 at 12:17 pm

   The E-P2’s viewfinder in NOT optional; it is included with the camera.

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     June 12, 2010 at 1:03 pm

     Mike C,
     Just note that Olympus now sells the E-P2 in kits with and without the viewfinder, previously (last year) you could ONLY get the E-P2 with the viewfinder.

     reply