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| E-PL1 - Point Reyes 2013 |
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| Two Prints - Marin County 2013 |
Actually it's now been a little over a year. The E-PL1 has
been to Zion and Bryce
Canyon National
Parks, to the top of Tchicoma
Peak in the Jemez
Mountains of New Mexico and up and down Melrose Avenue. And
let's not forget my pioneering Lembert Dome descent.
I bought the camera on sale from Costco with the idea of
trying out the "micro four-thirds" (m4/3) format. At the time I was
wondering if I could achieve the same photo quality with a m4/3's camera as
with my much larger Nikon D90. What's interesting is that the answer is
"yes," which calls into question the need for the much larger and
heavier Nikon and Canon DSLRs.
Now, when I say that the E-PL1 can produce the same quality
photographs as larger cameras my criteria are: photos on the web (for the mikereport), and prints made on an
Epson 3880 (paper size 17x22 inches.) That is to say, the end results of the process.
Web: Of course, photos posted on the web
don't require large DSLRs: iPhone pix look great, as do photos taken with every
digital camera I’ve owned. Prints: I actually don't produce that many large
size prints, but I’ve made large prints of agaves taken at the Santa Barbara
Mission and my favorite Yosemite juniper
(above). Actually, very nice! Yes, yes, they have soft corners and some
distortion. But you know what? I've never had a visitor to the booth hold up a
print and say, "Hm, too bad. If it weren't for the excessive noise in the shadow areas I'd buy it."
I now have two lenses that I use on a regular basis: an Olympus 14-150mm zoom (28-300mm equiv.) (which will need
a separate post) and the Panasonic 20mm prime (40mm equiv.).
I use the eye-level viewfinder almost–almost–exclusively.
But it comes in handy now and then to be able to compose using the rear LCD
screen, especially when using a tripod. The viewfinder has a
"flip-up" feature that might be useful, I guess, but I've had a
problem with my glasses accidentally pushing the viewfinder to an unwanted
position. Problem solved with a rubber band holding it down. Alas, a fall from
the truck onto the road has left a crack in the viewing lens, but the device is
still fully functional.
Handling is fine. The controls and interface are a little
fiddly, but since I've used Olympus cameras in
the past, not much of an issue.
