When Up is pressed in modes other than Manual , the dial starts to control EC. This also makes the vertical buttons control EC and the horizontal ones control the exposure parameter. In Manual mode, pressing Up makes the dial and vertical buttons control shutter-speed. It also makes the horizontal buttons control aperture.
So, once Up is pressed, the 4-way controller controls both parameters. To return to normal, press the OK button. While directions control exposure parameters, pressing the Info button allows the tone-curve to be changed separately in 15 steps for highlights and shadows.
The quick-menu has ten options arranged vertically and is easy to navigate. It is truly impressive that this entry-level digital camera has a ton of customizable options, many of which are genuinely useful.
Down normally controls the drive mode but can be assigned to WB among other options. The display is clear and refreshes reasonably fast. It is sharp but not enough to confirm precise focus without the handy MF-Assist function.
That function can either be invoked manually using the Magnify button or automatically when the focus-ring is turned. Since it is relatively easy to accidentally turn the focus ring, it is preferable to not activate the Automatic MF-Assist option.
One can clearly see more details with it, making it easier to confirm focus. There are a number of oddities with the rear LCD. One is that color-saturation is not the same in the preview than in the instant review.
The EVF suffers from the same problem but to a lesser extent. This makes using the E-PL2 at eye-level somewhat frustrating. The preview is exposure-priority in P and M modes. Both A and S simply flash an exposure parameter when outside of the exposure range but do not preview the resulting exposure. Since the live-histogram is based on the LCD display, it is only correct within a certain exposure range.
For practical purposes, it is sufficiently close in Manual mode within a few stops from the metered exposure. Outdoor visibility is average for a modern camera. The LCD has an excellent viewing-angle though. Under bright light is preferable to use the optional EVF.
When installed on the E-PL2, the VF-2 makes the camera rather clunky looking which seems to deter curious people for some unknown reason. Performance starts with image quality, which is the criteria used as the foundation of our digital camera ratings.
Ergonomic issues may get in the way, but in the end, image quality counts the most. For an ILC, image quality greatly depends on the lens used. While color, noise, exposure and dynamic-range are properties of a camera, distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberrations are properties of the lens. Sharpness and contrast depend on the weakest link. That is, a camera cannot capture more details than a lens lets through.
Conversely, it is quite possible for a lens to transmit more details than a sensor can capture. ISO barely shows noise and very fine details start getting damaged.
This only reduces maximum print sizes a little but remains perfectly usable for most common sizes. There is a noticeable jump in image noise at ISO along with smudging of fine details. Still, a 9x12" is still completely acceptable showing only a hint of noise. The maximum sensitivity of is even more noisy but small 4x6" prints are quite nice. Color accuracy is good. The Neutral color mode produces the most realistic colors with a slight under-saturation.
Each can be adjusted for contrast, sharpness and saturation in 5 fine steps to tune JPEG output. Automatic while-balance performance is not so reliable. It is capable of producing good results under most conditions but has trouble staying consistent under artificial light. Small changes in scenery cause the color-temperature to noticeably change, generally leaving a slight yellow cast.
Still, it is rarely completely wrong. Preset while balance are good, with the usual caveat that there are too many types of incandescent and now CFL lighting to match most bulbs perfectly.
Custom white-balance though is perfectly accurate. It may over-expose dark-scenes by about 1 stop and under-exposure unusually bright subjects by a similar amount. Since the LCD clips a little early, it is likely that an image appears over-exposed in the preview but comes out perfectly. Such a nice I do realize that with other brands the focus will be manual if I understand correctly? Overview Exposure modes, Program, shutter-priority, aperture-priority, manual.
What settings do you use for your E-PL2 when using a legacy lens with no From a practical perspective when you have a legacy manual lens The manual focus ring will only function if it is activated.
Join Co-production practitioners network. Sign Up or Sign In. With the 17mm f2. Other zoom lenses in the range include a mm f You can of course also mount micro Four Thirds lenses from third parties, including a number of tempting options from Panasonic, including a 20mm f1. The E-PL2 has built-in sensor-shift image stabilisation. Mode 1 applies stabilisation in both horizontal and vertical planes, while modes 2 and 3 only stabilise in the vertical and horizontal planes respectively, allowing you to pan with the camera in either landscape or portrait orientation.
The sensitivity was manually set to ISO and the lens was set to its maximum focal length of 42mm 84mm equivalent. The crop on the right is a tiny bit soft, but just about acceptable, which means that in our tests the E-PL2 manages between two and three stops of image stabilization. Like other mirrorless cameras and conventional compacts, the E-PL2 relies on contrast-based auto focusing.
There are five focus modes in all. All of the autofocus modes use an area system which is located in the centre of the frame arranged in three rows, with five areas in the middle row and three above and below.
In Single AF mode the system is swift, sure and silent, locking onto subjects in well under a second. The manual and manual assisted focussing modes are really easy to use with the screen presenting a very clear 14x magnified view which makes it easy to precisely focus with very little fuss.
Our initial delight at the silent operation of the lens in continuous AF mode was tempered a little by its tendency to hunt when shifting from near to distant objects and vice versa. The E-PL2 also has face-priority AF which detects faces in the frame and sets both exposure and focus accordingly. As with other autofocus modes face priority is quick and decisive and, once faces are locked onto, it does an excellent job of tracking.
For a fuller evaluation of the VF-2 electronic viewfinder take a look at our earlier review of the Olympus E-P2. The 3 inch screen has a aspect ratio, a good compromise which displays the full resolution still image area with narrow vertical strips down either side and movies with similar sized horizontal bars top and bottom. One of the advantages of a higher resolution screen is not only does the image look better, but information overlays in both text and icon format are much easier to read.
Pressing the info button on the rear of the camera toggles overlays from the default view. In the PASM modes this displays, among other things, the exposure settings at the bottom of the screen flanked by the currently selected shooting mode and the remaining picture capacity. On the left side of the screen is the three-segment battery life icon, metering mode, and ISO sensitivity.
Some are mode dependent and others, like the sequential shooting mode, only display when activated. Pressing the info button once activates the live histogram display and a second press turns all overlays off providing an unencumbered view of the scene.
There are some other information display options that can be activated including one that indicates highlight and shadow clipping and a multi-view display that shows four-up comparisons of changes in white balance and exposure compensation.
The info overlays can be similarly configured for playback mode. What it lacks in simplicity and navigability it makes up for in terms of flexibility and customisation and frequently used functions are on a shortcut menu activated by the OK button in the centre of the control dial.
The main menu system is arranged on six tabs the first of which has card formatting, setting presets, image size and quality settings.
I also bought a Sigma 30mm f2. Although it is not as fast as this Panasonic 20mm f1. In a few months, I will either buy a Nikon D or a newer Olympus camera with the new sensor as my primary camera, but I will continue using the E-PL3 as a secondary camera without any hesitation!!!
It performs very well. After seeing the wonderful pictures of Suki, my wife convinced me easier to get a dog, and now we have one. Although she is not a Shiba, she is very sweet. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. View all posts by Jonathan.
Skip to content About Me Portfolio. Posted on March 3, February 22, by Jonathan. The strobist in me is very intrigued by this feature… A slightly fiddly command dial aside, the E-PL2 operates very well ergonomically. Shots of Suki Of course, no post would be complete with out some shots of Suki. Of course! Like this: Like Loading Great write up, and I totally agree all your points!
Hah, I should stick my 2. Thanks for the nice comment Cara, always appreciate you stopping by! Nice shots and first impression review! Daniel, Thanks for sharing your experience. Did you get to try the old OM lens yet? Also, does the Panasonic lens match perfectly to the Epl body with all functions operating?
Thanks Paul. Tati, Thanks for the comment! Congrats on the new camera! Happy shooting, and thanks for reading my blog! PS — Gorgeous Shiba! We have one as well. Thanks for the great review and website.
I am in love with shooting pics again. Why not test both! Dear Jonathan, I am interested in this lens for my E-pl2, but I have been spooked by comments online about a loud clicking sound when focusing and when going from lots of light to darker settings. I just purchased the EPL2 with both kit lenses — going to have to save for that 20mm!
Just wow. I really enjoy looking at your pictures. Only you can decide if the 17mm is all you need. Tim, Thanks for the comment! You have to shoot in JPEG to get the art filter effects out of camera. Thanks Jon! Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. Email required Address never made public. Name required. Published by Jonathan. Previous The Silent Photo Walk. Next Off The Grid. Follow Following. Jonathan Fleming's Blog Join 8, other followers.
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