I asked Olympus if I could review this camera. I had written reviews for them before. To preface the review I will mention that I own several of the Olympus EP2 cameras and the EPL1 camera. While the EPL series cameras don't come with the accessory finder, VF-2, I consider it the reason to buy this camera and this family of cameras. More on that in a second. I gave this camera five stars but you should be clear that all ratings are contextual. It's not a better camera than a Nikon D3 or a Canon 1dsmk3 but it is a wonderful and very capable camera for $600 (with a lens). I consider it an $800 camera because I want to be able to use the 1.4 megapixel finder.

Reasons not to buy one: 1. You shoot sports and need super fast autofocus and a very fast frame rate. 2. You rarely see daylight and want a camera that shoots noise free from 3200 ISO up. Nope, this one is not your camera.

Reasons to buy one: 1. The files right out of the camera (as jpegs) are very... Read more

I am quite surprised at how good the images are that I'm getting, especially jpegs. I'm used to shooting raw because I get better files and can squeeze a bit more juicy goodness out of my photos that in-camera jpeg processing does. Surprisingly, this camera does a great job with jpegs in good light situations. That's the important idea to keep in mind, good light. Kirk Tuck gives this camera a fine review, but realize that he's a lighting pro, who has written several (good) books on the subject.

IMO this camera is targeted toward two markets. For those moving up from a point and shoot, it's wonderful. It's familiar and less intimidating than an SLR. It can create better images than even the best point and shoots. The price is reasonable. It's attractive and it's a lot lighter than an SLR. Those people wouldn't consider shooting in bad light without a flash. They wouldn't consider deliberate long exposures to smooth motion effects. Those last two areas are not the camera's... Read more

This camera is the perfect travel companion and great for street photography. It doesn't draw too much attention due to its size, styling and small lenses. The in-body image stabilization is fantastic as is the built in flash. The flash is designed in a way that allows it to be bounced off the ceiling, allowing for a more natural look. The wireless flash support was a key seller for me...I don't have an olympus flash unit but plan on picking up the FL-36R for travel. I have this camera with the kit 14-42 and a panasonic 20mm f/1.7. The 14-42 is silent and is sharp, but the lens construction is on the cheap side and it is slow (in f-stop, not autofocus). Autofocus is fantastic with both lenses and comparable to a GF1 in focusing speed. I love the image quality and the high iso performance is pretty good; images are usable at ISO 1600. The noise that is present has a film-like quality....

Overall, this is a fantastic kit at a great price....its not going to replace my... Read more