Santa Catarina Park, Madeira Photos

Olympus E-PL2 Compact System Camera
Includes M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 II Silver lens

"I am very pleased with the micro 4/3s system as it gives excellent photo quality due to the large sensor (about 6 times the size of the sensor in a compact point and shoot camera) whilst remaining small enough to carry around comfortably on holiday. I already have a Panasonic G1 and a variety of lenses but the G1 is the size of a very small SLR and I wanted to add something that I could just slip into a pocket when e.g. going to a party or going shopping. I have the excellent Panasonic 20mm F1.7 lens which is a very wide aperture for shooting in low light, combining this lens with the in-body stabilisation of the EPL2 means that I can take great photos in very low levels of lighting without having to resort to intrusive flash. I have tested the EPL2 with all my Panasonic lenses including the very wide 7-14mm and it works a treat. The auto-focus is rapid on all of the lenses. The lens it comes with also seems fine and telescopes down internally to a minimal size. The menu system is very easy to navigate as long as you are just wanting to change basic variables such as ISO, white balance, exposure compensation, forced flash, aperture, shutter speed etc. as you just have to press the OK button on the back to access all those. For anything very complicated you need to go into the main menu system which takes a bit longer but I find that everything I want is easy to adjust using the OK button. An interesting feature (not sure if it was intentional on the part of the designers) I found was that you can use the flash in a 'bounce flash' way by just tipping the flash head back with your left hand finger as you take the photo. I've tested this and found that it gives more natural results although obviously much depends on the colour of the ceiling, how close the subject is, ISO and other factors. I would recommend this camera to anyone who wants good quality without wanting to lug heavy gear around and I would also recommend getting the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 to go with it if you like available light photography and/or a very slim pocketable camera size."

Prospero (UK) - Amazon.co.uk review, 21st February 2011