EP-1 with available light

[clark_yerrington1]

<p>I have substantial investment in MF and 35mm film gear, with various capabilities and strengths. Mostly I've been shooting quirky urban landscapes and casual portraits. <br>

Lately I've had the opportunity to shoot events and performances. I think I could start doing a lot more of this sort of work. Most others who do this use higher end DSLRs with long zoom lenses -- having a hard time making that jump, but feeling limitations of working with 35mm. Need to use flash a lot of the time, and that can be somewhat disruptive. <br>

I also like the idea of using a different than typical approach, if you know what I mean.<br>

Have been using a Panasonic DMC-LX2 for a couple years [first digital, bought used] -- it is great in daylight and for landscapes but not much good in available light and low light. The autofocus drives me crazy, and the durability of the camera has been an issue.<br>

Was thinking about either a GF-1, EP-2 or EP-1. Adorama is selling the EP-1 with both 14-42 and 40-150 zooms for $699... seems reasonable. It would probably do everything the DMC-LX2 can do, and still be small enough to take everyplace. [i could also adapt it to use my Leica M [Voigtlander] lenses, eh?] But would it come very close to the DSLR for musical/artistic performance? In terms of ease of use, eliminating shake/blur and image quality.</p>

[akira]

<p> If you are sure that you will often use m4/3 cameras under difficult lighting conditions, I would recommend you to look for faster prime lenses like Panasonic 20/1.7, 14/2.5, or mayby Olympus 17/2.8.</p>

<p>I've used Panasonic G1 with kit zoom (14-45/3.5-5.6) and 20/1.7 myself. Under good lighting conditions, the kit zoom is a clear winner in terms of the AF speed, but I've noticed that 20/1.7 works more solidly under dim lightings. The contrast detection AF systems of m4/3 cameras seem to be benefited by faster lenses.</p>

<p>For the mid-tele to long lenses, you should be able to utilize your 35mm film lenses via appropriate adapters. You are, of course, confined to MF, but the live view makes it much easier to focus manually.</p>

[mukul_dube]

<p>The 20/1.7 will probably be your best bet. Leica M lenses, f/2 or faster, in 28mm, 35mm and 50mm are other options.</p>

[frode_inge_helland]

<p>Maybe this can make your future 4/3 life more comfortable:<br>

<a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/06/iso-6400-from-an-ep1.html">http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/06/iso-6400-from-an-ep1.html</a></p>

 

[mukul_dube]

<p>Oops, sorry. I see you want long lenses. One inexpensive option would be a Soviet era Jupiter 9 (85mm f/2), Pentax/Praktica 42mm mount or Leica 39mm mount.</p>

[clark_yerrington1]

<p>thanks, people. very helpful!<br>

akira, think i'd like to use manual focus exclusively anyway.<br>

frode, that blog post was fascinating. an elaborate workaround, i wonder how they even discovered it? but seems to achieve the desired results and i'm sure i could replicate the steps.<br>

mukul, the longer ones seem more useful for performances, when sometimes you can't get as close as you would need to if using a 20mm prime. don't really need zoom, though -- willing to move around the floor/aisles as needed -- and varying the viewpoint is a good idea anyway.</p>

[meissner]

<p>Given you want to use manual focus exclusively, I would say DON'T get the E-P1 or G-F1. Get the E-P2 (or E-PL1) and the VF-2 electronic viewfinder. Originally the E-P2 kits always contained the VF-2, but recently Olympus has been making some kits without it, so make sure you know whether the kit has the VF-2 in it when comparing prices.</p>

<p>The E-P1 was the first Olympus Pen, and it did not contain the accessory port that the VF-2 fits into, so you will only be able to focus using the LCD. I suspect for handheld shots, you will be more comfortable focusing with a viewfinder like the 35mm gear has, rather than at arms length like you generally need to do with LCDs. Now, on a tripod, it is different, and IMHO, using the LCD wins over the viewfinder, but since the cameras support both, you can chose which is appropriate to use.</p>

<p>The general consensus is the E-P2's electronic viewfinder beats the G-F1's VF hands down, since it is brighter and has more pixels. I personally find, I can manually focus with the VF-2 on my E-P2 much better than I could with my E-3 (which had the best VF in the Olympus DSLRs until the E-5 came out).</p>

<p>One downside of the electronic viewfinder on Olympus E-P2/E-PL1 and Panasonic G-F1 systems is you can't use an external flash and the EVF at the same time (why? doesn't anybody think about ergonomics these days?). If flash is important to you, then this might be an issue.</p>

<ul>

<li>The Olympus E-P2 does not have a pop-up flash, so you have to choose VF or external flash (or external microphone for video).</li>

<li>The Olympus E-PL1 does have a pop-up flash. If you are wanting more control on the light, the E-PL1 supports the Olympus remote TTL flash setups with the Olympus FL-36R/FL-50R or Metz 48/50/58 flashes.</li>

<li>The G-F2 has a pop-up flash if that is acceptable.</li>

<li>The Panasonic G-1, G-2, G-10, G-H1, and G-H2 bodies have an electronic viewfinder built-in, so the hot-shoe isn't taken up with the EVF and it isn't an issue. On the other hand, the built-in VF adds to the height of the package, and made the cameras about the same size as the smaller DSLRs like the E-620.</li>

</ul>

<p>One thing that electronic viewfinders can do is magnify a small region of the final picture, so you can make sure a particular eye or detail really is in focus. On my E-P2, I have it set up so normally turning the focus ring does not do the auto magnification, but use the image magnification live view mode (with the green square), and position the square where I want it to magnify and then hit the Ok button to get the magnification.</p>

<p> </p>

[clark_yerrington1]

<p>MM, thanks for taking the time to write all that. Very valuable and getting me to rethink. The G-1, G-2, G-10, G-H1, and G-H2 are sounding a little better. Maybe small size isn't so valuable, if I'm going to be lugging around extra lenses, adapters, flash, etc.<br>

Are there any other significant differences between the E-P2 and E-PL1 besides what you mentioned? [besides video capabilities, that I'm not much interested in.] The pop-up flash is pretty worthless, I am guessing.</p>

[meissner]

<p>Let see, off the top of my head:</p>

<ul>

<li>E-P2 has a faster shutter speed (1/4000 vs. 1/2000).</li>

<li>E-P2 uses two dials to change aperture/shutter speed while E-PL1 uses buttons (however, I found until I got used to it, that I often was changing settings based on how I held the E-P2).</li>

<li>As I said, E-PL1 has a pop-up flash, and while pop-up flashes are mostly useful in an emergency when you left your main flash at home, it does support the Olympus remote flash setup, so that you can do multiple flash setups without having to figure out manual lighting ratios.</li>

<li>The E-PL1 does not support the orientation sensor to set a flag for smart software to correctly orient the picture, while the E-P2 supports it.</li>

<li>Due to no orientation sensor, the E-PL1 does not have a builtin level function, while the E-P2 does support it if you don't have a cheap bubble level.</li>

<li>The E-PL1 does not support the wired shutter release, while E-P2 does.</li>

<li>The E-PL1 adds another art filter or two.</li>

<li>The E-PL1 has an extra button that can be programmed (normally it is the movie button).</li>

<li>The E-PL1 has a slightly weaker anti-alias filter, which can result in sharper images when you pixel peep. The downside is if you shoot in RAW, and don't use the Olympus tools, it is theoretically possible that you will see more moire when developing the shot.</li>

<li>I think the E-PL1 has a slightly thinner body. It felt different from the E-P2 when I tried it in the store.</li>

<li>The E-PL1 comes with a new version of the 14-42mm lens that is slightly lighter than the one offered with the E-P2. In Japan, Olympus just released a new varient, the E-PL1s that has yet another version of the 14-42mm lens.</li>

<li>The E-PL1 comes in different colors, depending on the region of the world you are in.</li>

<li>Originally, the E-P2 came with the VF-2 electronic viewfinder bundled in the package, but lately Olympus has offered some E-P2 kits without it, so if you are comparing the two, be sure to know whether it includes the VF-2.</li>

</ul>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>Well you can handle MF lenses on the EP-1 but you have to use the 7x and 10x magnifier. So an EV is an easier way to go.<br>

Further above information gives in all details the differences between an E-P2 and E-PL1. Very good information!</p>