Olympus E-P2 hands-on preview

[Four Thirds User editorial team]

Read our preview of the new Olympus Pen E-P2 based on our hands-on examination of a pre-release sample, which reveals an exciting new high resolution electronic viewfinder and a host of other developments, plus news of forthcoming new m.Zuiko lenses.

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[Ian]

It may look rather big and bulky in pictures, but the VF-2 electronic viewfinder is actually quite compact. And the quality of the view is very good.

Ian

[Idle_Bull]

Looks like the camera Olympus should have released in the first place!

IF you can live without the EVF then there might be some E-P1 bargains about!

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Idle_Bull

Looks like the camera Olympus should have released in the first place!

IF you can live without the EVF then there might be some E-P1 bargains about!

Well, the E-P1 is significantly less money. The EVF is not cheap technology.

Ian

[cacau]

I think that AF tracking , new art filters etc. is a matter of software (i.e. firmware). Hope we , early adopters of EP-1, could benefit from a firmware update sooner or later?

[David Dunnico]

Originally Posted by Idle_Bull

Looks like the camera Olympus should have released in the first place!

I'd agree.

Whilst the addition of a viewfinder is a big plus, for me there's not enough difference from the EP-1. Still if it helps the MFT format develop that can only be a good thing.

[dalexa]

is the vf-2 compatible with the gf1 or do they use different connections?

[Ian]

Originally Posted by dalexa

is the vf-2 compatible with the gf1 or do they use different connections?

They are completely different. In fact Panasonic told me that one reason why they didn't go for a high resolution EVF for the GF1 was that the connector would need to be huge to manage the data bandwidth.

It's widely supposed that Olympus is using a new Epson 1.44 million dot viewfinder LCD, and this may use a more efficient bus arrangement (smaller connector) than the Panasonic device.

Ian

[Ian]

Originally Posted by cacau

I think that AF tracking , new art filters etc. is a matter of software (i.e. firmware). Hope we , early adopters of EP-1, could benefit from a firmware update sooner or later?

I certainly share your hope in this respect!

Ian

[donmcmahan.com]

I have no immediate plans regarding M4/3 buy if I did choosing between the superior jpeg rendering and in body image stabilization of the EP1 and the EVF and better auto focusing of the Panasonic GF1 would have required some thought. Does the EP2 have improved auto focus? if so no additional thought required