E-P2 – The Test Drive!

 

Finally!!! I got my E-P2 yesterday evening!. Last night we went to the mall for the first test drive and today I took it to office in NYC for the second test drive! Boy am I surprised & pleased!!! The pics straight out of camera are pretty cool!
Most of the pics I have posted here are straight out of the camera taken as Small-Fine and Small-Super-Fine JPEGs. I have touched up only those pics which I took through thick glasses in my office or through train window.
I did shoot in RAW + JPEG, but i didn't have time to process RAW and couldn't wait to post the first test pics!

Verdict: Although not as powerful in terms of spec as my E-30, yet it packs an amazing punch. Its image quality combined with its small size is really something to kill for.
The Viewfinder is fantastic even in very very very low light, simply a great piece of engineering & design.
The LCD is unlike E-30's because on a very bright day I have difficulty using Live view as I cant see anything on E-30's LCD. but E-P2 LCD is fantastic.
The 3 FPS is pretty jiffy and doesn't lag much.
My first reaction is E-P2 has better dynamic range than E-30. But this is a non-scientific statement, its just what I concluded looking the pics.
IS is amazing! Al my office night shots are hand held @ 2 sec or 1.6 sec.
The focusing is not too bad if you are a patient man on standard grade lenses (better than my Evolt-330). Focusing is pretty fast on High Grade lenses like 14-54 and 12-60. For the kind of photography I do, I don't think I will have a problem with E-P2's focusing speed.
High ISO performance is fantastic. it clearly trumps E-30 here.
AF-tracking is ok - nothing extraordinary about it. probably will good for shooting small children.

White balance is amazing! I think its better than E-30’s WB,

Something I noticed: If the face-detect is on then the camera was not able to focus on close subjects if background had too many things, it always focused the things in the background. But without face-detect, I could pretty much get it to focus on any kind of subject.

Best features I liked - Dynamic range, View Finder, high ISO performance and IS

Features I would Like - A way to use flash and view finder! :-) well I knew it before I bought it, but still I would have like this feature.

 

Here they are!

You be the judge!

That's Me

That's Me, originally uploaded by Puru's Photos.

We were on our way to the beautiful Martha's Vineyard. While waiting for the bus to take us to the ferry, I got totally bored. I had all the gear but nothing to photograph!
Then Suni mentioned that I dont take too many family photos while we are on vacation!

So I turned around and shot this pic! It show me in Suni's eyes. Of course I did miss Adu, its still not a complete family pic!

Am I crazy? or Am I crazy!

…and that my dear friends is the question!

Well, why am I asking this question? Take a look at this

This, my dear friends, is the new E-P2. The newest micro 4/3rd digital camera. Remember, its not an SLR, its not a point and shoot….as Olympus calls it…its digital PEN!

Now, why am I saying all this? That’s because I have a serious desire to buy this, that’s why!

Everybody, including my beautiful wife ask me – Why do I need one more camera?

Today I was talking to my friend and when I told her I am waiting for E-P2 to be released she said “You are going crazy with your photography equipments, you are going over the top – seriously you should control!”

I was taken aback by this reproach and it got me thinking. This blog is an introspection as a result. What this blog is not – an excuse to buy this camera or other equipments.

I have an Olympus E-30 – top of the range DSLR and Evolt-330 – an armature DSLR as a supplementary camera.

Why on earth would I need E-P2 which looks like a point and shoot!

Before I answer that, let me tell you something.

Researching on photography equipments is my serious pastime. This does not mean, I buy anything I happen to like or afford or looks great. My photography gear includes (apart from camera bodies) 7 lenses from 9mm to 300mm range, 2 external flashes, 3 memory cards, filters, light meter, remote and cable release, diffusers, pro-tripod. All these are fruits of huge amount of research I have put in to really understand what I need for the kind of photography I am interested in. I am interested in landscape and indoor photography. So my gear is geared-up, so to say, for that kind of photography. What I don't own, I don't need – because I am not into other kinds of photography - like architecture, fashion, underwater etc.

I can list tons of equipments, which I don't own :-) which I know I don’t need.

Ok, now coming back to the question – Why on earth do I need E-P2? I have 2 DSLR bodies, why do I need this one which looks like another point and shoot.

To reveal the truth folks – This is not a point-and-shoot. It has almost the same spec as my E-30 (not quite, but almost).

But that doesn't answer the question, why do I need it?

Since I bought my second DSLR E-30, I have always felt the need for a very low profile high quality camera. But why? both my DSLRs (although E-330 is lot smaller) are quite big. I have found that this limits my desire and ability to carry them everywhere I want to. For example, I like to carry my camera when I am invited to somebody’s house for a party or when I go to a mall or when I go to my office during festive seasons and more - it gives me opportunity to shoot the moments. However the DSLRs are too “in-your-face” things and are not inconspicuous and I always end-up deciding against taking them with me. I always wanted something very small which I can carry anywhere without people noticing it.

You might say “Ok – that's all fine Puru, but why on earth you need a $1000 camera when you can buys a $200 point-and-shoot which looks the same?”

My reasons are as follows (fruits of my research :-))

1. I did not want a point-and-shoot – I wanted a camera with almost same kind of spec as my DSLRs, but will be so small that I can put it in my pocket.
2. I wanted a camera which will have huge image sensor, an in-body image stabilization and high-ISO capability because I will be shooting a lot in low light without tripod. Image sensor of E-P2 is at least 2 to 4 times normal point-and shoot. It has 6400 ISO capability and has an IS.
3. I needed a camera in which I can change lenses and which can make use of all my existing lenses so that I don't have invest in lenses.
4. A camera which will work with my flashes and cable release so that I don't have to buy them again.
5. A camera which can do everything and yet will be tiny enough.
6. A camera which will have same image quality as my DSLRs

Now I hear another question “Now we understand why you need E-P2, but the why on earth do you need your DSLRs then?”

Well, for the simple reason of control and extendibility– Its much easier to control the DSLR than to control E-P2 in various situations although E-P2 will give me almost same kind of control as DSLR. Second its easier to extend my DSLR to do various kinds of photography like fashion photography with multiple strobes and multiple flash groups or underwater photography with underwater housing or serious wildlife photography or very high-speed photography. E-P2 is a not meant to replace my DSLR nor can it. Its role will be to complement it in situations where DSLR is an over kill.

Now another question – Why did I take that reproach from a friend so seriously that I had to write a blog? Well, I am actually used it, my wife always says I buy too many things for my photography.  I probably don’t take her too seriously because I know her too well and believe she, in her heart, understands why I need my equipments although she is worried about the money I spend.

When a friend told me I am going over the top, it actually got me thinking. Did my friend see something which I am not seeing?

Although I knew I was not going over the top, I had to prove I was not to myself. It gave me an opportunity to introspect and question my own judgments and my hobby as a whole. Is my hobby only as good as my equipments? I don’t think so, but that's for people to judge.

I believe my equipments will ultimately be key factors in the plans I have for the future. So in that sense, I feel I am ok! :-)

But I thank my friend for making me think! :-)

 

CIAO and take care!

How to choose your first DLSR?

Question: What is the the most embarrassing moment in your life?

Answer: Watching yourself talk on the TV!

Well, you may ask “How is this question and the answer is relevant and how is it related to the blog subject?”

Answer to that is – It is not relevant and it is not related to the blog subject :-)

Remember I told you guys in my last blog that I did an exhibition on 10th of October 09? Well, I forgot to mention a minor detail. It so happens that, in that exhibition a local TV crew were roaming about interviewing people. I did not notice them until they came to my stall and then came the most stressful moment for me. I was asked to say a few things about my art, in front of camera and with a mike in my hand! Well, I did say (or blurted out rather) something.

I had completely forgotten what I said and about that unfortunate incident until, that is, I happen to see the recording aired on the local TV station today (28th Oct 09)! Oh Man! That was the most embarrassing moment of my life - listening to myself talking in front of a camera with a mike in my hand!

Such, my dear folks, is life – sooner or later everything comes back to you!! :-)

Well, enough of nonsense -  now for some serious stuff.

How to choose DLSR if you are the first time buyer?.

3 things most important while choosing a DSLR for the first time are.

1. Format i.e. 4/3rd (Olympus, Panasonic etc) or APS-C (Canon, Nikon)
2. Brand
3. Budget and Specs

FORMAT

A format in DSLR world is nothing but the size of the image sensor. Image Sensor is the Film of the DSLR or any digital camera and is the eye of the camera. There are number of Formats. Following figure illustrates the various formats available.

Image Source- Wikipedia

In DLSR the most popular formats are the Four Thirds and the APS-C. Once you select the format you will be married to it. Because all your lenses and accessories will be of that format. So once you choose a format, you will find it extremely expensive to switch to another format. So this will be your most important decision. All decisions from here on will be based on this one particular choice. I chose to go the four thirds way. Now whether that is a good choice or not I do not know. The reason why I chose 4/3rds format is for following reasons.

• Its an Open format, it is not proprietary like APS-C (both Nikon and Canons are APS-C, however Nikon and Canon lenses cannot be interchanged, because  as see in the above image, they implement APS format in their own respective standards so their image sensor sizes are different and hence lenses are different). This mean I can buy lenses from any manufacturer as long as it says 4/3rds without worrying about anything.
• Secondly, its a format which closely resembles the aspect ratio of the physical photograph standard. So the there is lot less cropping.
• Thirdly, the High Grade Pro Lenses are lot less expensive than the APS-C counterparts.

So choose the format carefully. Do research on the net. Read blogs and visit discussion forums. And once you have made up your mind, keep in mind that you will find it very expensive to change it.

BRAND

Brand decision will be born out of format decision. If you select 4/3rds then you will have to go with Olympus or Panasonic (micro four thirds (MFT) a variant of four thirds but all four thirds lenses will fit on MFT with an adapter).

If you select APS-C then Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony etc.

Again – Once you select the brand you will be married to it. You will find it cost prohibitive to change brands, especially if its APS-C brands. With 4/3rds or MFT you can at least switch between 2 brands dealing in 4/3rds lenses and bodies. I chose Olympus for the in-body image stabilization. Which I think is great!

BUDGET and SPECS

These 2 are directly related. More budget you have better DLSR body you can buy. But if you are a beginner what should be your budget?

IMHO (in my humble opinion) you should budget at least $700 to $800 (US dollars) for a decent body and at least 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses (lens config may be different in different brands). Idea is that you should budget for DSLR body, and at 2 lenses – 1 wide angle zoom and one telephoto zoom. If you have more budget then you can invest in a good external flash.

Based on this you can research which spec of DLSR body fits your budget.

So the bottom Line is

• Research on the format
• Research on the Brand – Most important criteria is abundant availability of lenses and accessories  in your country.
• Choose the DSLR Body spec according to your budget with at least 2 lenses
• Order of the choices should be as above – don't for example fix a budget and then go hunting for the DSLR. Because brand that you choose will decide the budget. You can fix a range on budget though, say from $600 to $800, something like that.
• Do not be overwhelmed by the information.
• Read both pros and cons on format and brands
• You first DLSR will not be and need not be a pro or even advanced armature. You need to understand the basic DSLR beast before you can graduate to higher end models.  You should not buy a higher end model unless you are convinced that you have out grown your current model.
• Most importantly – You should know basic photographic techniques and photography basics, including but restricted to fundamental knowledge on – composition, aperture, shutter, manual control, exposure, white balance etc

I may do an edit on this post to add more – Keep watching!

In the meantime – Enjoy the Fall Colors

CIAO!!