Olympus E-P2 Review - A Micro Four Thirds Camera that Harkens Back to Another Era

Written by: digitaldan1 • Edited by: Rhonda Callow
Updated Apr 26, 2010

As many DSLRs get bigger and heavier, a new class of camera, the Micro Four Thirds camera has introduced the idea of an interchangeable lens camera that is almost as small as a point-and-shoot camera. Offerings by Panasonic and Olympus have provided enthusiasts with high quality options.

Introduction

As many DSLRs get bigger and heavier, a new class of camera, the Micro Four Thirds camera, has introduced the idea of an interchangeable lens camera that is almost as small as a point-and-shoot camera. Offerings by Panasonic and Olympus have provided enthusiasts with high quality options that can work with each others Micro Four Thirds lenses and, with the right adapter, other Four Thirds system optics. This places a growing lists of lens choices before the user of these small, capable cameras. This review looks at one of those cameras, the Olympus E-P2.

Images

Four Thirds versus Micro Four Thirds

The Four Thirds system is a relatively new format, one that takes advantage of the fact that a digital camera doesn't have to be designed around the dimensions of a piece of film. This allowed camera designers to create a system that follows more sensible proportions than the ones dictated by film. Cameras of this type still retain the internal mirror/pentaprism design characteristic of the single lens reflex approach. Micro Four Thirds cameras do away with this assembly, resulting in thinner and smaller designs. These smaller cameras can also take smaller lenses making for a smaller, lighter interchangeable lens camera option than typically used. (Those lucky enough or wealthy enough to afford Leica rangefinder cameras will take exception to this statement. Any Leica rangefinder user wishing to make an issue of it is welcome to send me their camera, so I can compare it to the E-P2. I promise, I'll return it -- eventually.)

Read The Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds Camera Series to learn more about the history, advantages and disadvantages of these cameras.

Compared to Point-and-Shoot Cameras
Rating

So where does the Olympus E-P2 fall in the hierarchy of digital cameras? Size wise it's closest to a point-and-shoot size. When it comes to cost and capability though, it's much closer to a high quality serious amateur DSLR. Indeed, this is much more than an interchangeable lens point-and-shoot camera (although it can be used that way if the shooter doesn't have much knowledge or experience). It produces excellent quality images even at mid-range ISOs (400, 800). A test image printed at 12x18 at ISO 1600 produced a very useable print even though it was shot at low light, indoors in a poorly lit zoo display. The camera's autofocus effectiveness is modest, but useable, but shutter lag is noticeable. Shutter lag is less of a problem when shooting in Continuous Autofocus than in Single Shot focus and best when shooting in Manual Focus mode.

Image Stabilization Approaches
Rating

The Olympus E-P2 provides image stabilization via the camera body rather than through the lens the way Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds cameras do. The camera's image stabilization does its job quite well producing sharp images even at slow shutter speeds. The Olympus approach offers some distinct advantages over Panasonic's since any lens used on the E-P2 benefits from this capability even if the lens doesn't have any kind of vibration reduction ability. Since if you have the right adapters it's possible to use a wide variety of lenses on the E-P2, including Olympus legacy lenses from the company's film camera heyday, this is a very useful feature.

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