Great camera.

Very happy product just as described

Bought this camera for my teenager in 2012. Has proved a real winner - robust, long lasting, relatively easy to use -but with some input needed to make it interesting!

If you're looking for a camera that looks nice and takes excellent quality photographs, then this is the one for you. Easy to use and well equipped I'm very happy with it. The only slight issue is that there is no viewfinder so getting the focus right, particularly in bright light can be a challenge. The aperture settings also do not go that low, so if you want a photograph with a dramatic difference between what is in focus and what is not, you can't really get that much of a blur. However it is a great camera and I am very happy with it.

olympus E-PL1 great little camera fair price paid for a lot of camera love it .

I bought one of these cameras for my dad who has developed an interest for photography in his retirement and he was very pleased with it.This compact system camera is excellent, giving the quality of an entry level SLR without the bulk. My dad is not the most technical person but he took to this very quickly and has been almost inseparable from it since Xmas.

Very good buy....excellent camera and lovely design and finish !! Glad I bought this as I use it a lot !!

I have now decided that this is a truly great camera. The quality and (sic) use-ability is second to none. I have used many a digital camera, my first being an Olympus Pen and culminating in a Nikon D3100 and Canon EOS 1100. The Olympus far out-performs them all and I was forced to buy one again just recently. I will stay with this for many years I think. Pity I lost my VF-2 on a recent shoot.......that cost me another £200.00.,.. still what can you do? A truly great camera and I agree with the other reviewer that said get your hands on a copy of 'Olympus Pen For Dummies' as it's brilliant and really helps getting to grips with the manual controls of the camera.Get one or remain forever in doubt!!!!!

When I was a lad we took pictures with manual cameras, and you had to guess (if you couldn't afford a light meter) the settings, and estimate the distance, and do everything manually. Then you had to spend hours in a darkroom with a funny red light (or in complete darkness) with smelly chemicals that I am sure did you harm, just to produce pictures in black and white...But when you tell the children of today, they won't believe you.I know this is no longer the most up to date model, but it works fine for me.Slow autofocus (AUTO focus??) is a common complaint, BUT; - I view it as a luxury. (!) - There are work arounds. - It is rather lens dependent, and works great with the Pany/Leica 25mm, my favourite lens.I was fortunate to get mine for the equivalent of 150 pounds, - a real bargain.The newer models are great, but this is quite sufficient for most people, spend the extra cash if you have on good lenses!

So, you don't want backache (DLSR) you don't want pocket sized limited-performers (compact cameras) this is a good choice! This is my 5th camera since the digital era, and I have the feeling I will not need to upgrade in the near future:
- One of the cameras got some dust inside the lens, so all the pictures have small dots! I still have the camera, (sony) it works and all but the pics are dirty...something that willnot happens with this one, because you can reove the lens and clean the sensor any time
- I have bought an adapter ring, so I can use old lenses, and the possibilities are endless now, and the results still amazes me everyday.
- The images you can take (just on auto mode) are so nice, and the colors are awesome too, this is the 1st time I got a camera that most of the pictures do not need to be retouched on photoshop afterwards

ONly low point:- the zoom on the standard lens is quite limited, the one I had on my previous camera (a compact one) had twice as much reach...

So, you don't want backache (DLSR) you don't want pocket sized limited-performers (compact cameras) this is a good choice! This is my 5th camera since the digital era, and I have the feeling I will not need to upgrade in the near future:- One of the cameras got some dust inside the lens, so all the pictures have small dots! I still have the camera, (sony) it works and all but the pics are dirty...something that willnot happens with this one, because you can reove the lens and clean the sensor any time- I have bought an adapter ring, so I can use old lenses, and the possibilities are endless now, and the results still amazes me everyday.- The images you can take (just on auto mode) are so nice, and the colors are awesome too, this is the 1st time I got a camera that most of the pictures do not need to be retouched on photoshop afterwardsONly low point:- the zoom on the standard lens is quite limited, the one I had on my previous camera (a compact one) had twice as much reach...

I have been a keen photographer for many years but didn't want to always be carrying my SLR around with me. However my point-and-click pocket camera or iphone camera just doesn't give me the quality I need. This camera however does. Superb jpeg picture quality straight out of the camera (with no post-processing). Art filters are fun as well. Overall a great little camera.

Purchased one of these beauties to replace a Canon that could eat through batteries faster than the space shuttle!The camera can produce remarkable images, even with my dislike of live view. The screen is nice and bright, the photos produced in natural light are nicely balanced and saturated, battery sleeps less than me. And it feels tougher than Mr T?This is the first Olympus I have ever owned and this piece of kit would make David Bailey proud.However, it does have its shortfalls, firstly if your looking for camera to take to the party, get a very large handbag, secondly your blinking eye is more powerful than the flash and the lens cap needs looking after like a rampant three year old, in addition you will need a science degree to find your way around the menu. If you can live with this small list of negatives you can be the proud owner of an extremely competent piece of kit for holiday and everyday use.I own in excess of 3,000 worth of pro Nikon cameras and their all jealous because the Olympus is racking up the airmiles!

It took me a lot of researching before I decided to go with this camera. I'd owned an Olympus E-450 DSLR camera previously and had been more than impressed with it so I knew I'd be happy with the micro-4/3 format lens and sensor.In effect this is that camera but without the mirror and DSLR format body. In fact the resolution is up from 10mp to 12mp, otherwise I find the results very similar.I visited review sites to look at sample photographs from this camera and, to be frank, was blown away with the quality. All the reviews mention the good quality results and on occasion you do wonder if they've been a little carried away with hyperbole. They haven't. This little camera delivers.For me I doubt I'll be changing the lens. I don't want dust on the naked sensor and I rarely need very long zoom or macro fish-eye. The standard lens covers a lot of ground and for a camera easily to hand, is a good compromise.The build quality is very good, lacking a little in that the main body is all plastic, however it's solid and sturdy enough. The tripod bush is metal as are the strap hangers.The neat feature for me of this camera is the on-screen menu. Press the Menu/OK button in the centre of the arrow circle and you can easily change most of the vital settings in just a few presses. For example shoot JPEG one moment and RAW the next, just press the Ok button, move the selection up a notch and you're in RAW mode. Simple.Downsides are that simplified control system which desperately needs another dial to give access to the pro options which are indeed there but buried, and the very annoying movie and zoom-in/out buttons. Unlike all the other buttons which click in haptic response nicely, these three are just squidgy rubber presses and feel awful. I really can't figure out why.Other than that the camera comes with USB and video data cables, a mains charger and CD containing the Olympus ib software for editing and organising your photographs. Very useful for adjusting RAW data files.This model is becoming rarer now as it has been s

Olympus E-PL3 Compact System Camera - Black (M.ZUIKO Digital 14 -42mm II R Lens Kit)Olympus E-PL1 Compact System Camera - Black (14-42mm Black Lens Kit)I bought this camera when my little Nikon suddenly stopped working after several years of good service. I thought about another point and shoot, but was attracted by the ability to have interchangeable lenses and the price of this camera. I have a 4/3 Olympus DSLR as well as some Canons; this camera was for day to day stuff and for walking around when I don't want the inconvenience of lugging kit about. For what now counts as a budget priced camera, it works amazingly well. I haven't used it for action shots, but most of the pictures I take are still or slow moving. The test shots I took are well saturated, in focus and remarkable sharp. The 14 - 42 Olympus kit lens has been praised as being superior to most kit lenses and this micro 4/3 lens is no exception; it is a good lens. In good light and where the subject has enough contrast, focus and exposure is pretty good. In dark situations, the same is true, but the results are more noisy or more grainy. Where the scene is dark and of poor contrast, the autofocus struggles and sometimes fails. However, this is in situations where the shutter speed is in excess of 1 second and not ideal in any photo situation without additional lighting or a light source of some kind to provide contrast. Lots of people make a big thing about this, but light makes photographs and it is a requirement. In these situations, providing there is enough contrast to achieve focus, the flash can be put into play and I was impressed with the results in my test. Good c

Olympus E-PL3 Compact System Camera - Black (M.ZUIKO Digital 14 -42mm II R Lens Kit)Olympus E-PL1 Compact System Camera - Black (14-42mm Black Lens Kit)I bought this camera when my little Nikon suddenly stopped working after several years of good service. I thought about another point and shoot, but was attracted by the ability to have interchangeable lenses and the price of this camera. I have a 4/3 Olympus DSLR as well as some Canons; this camera was for day to day stuff and for walking around when I don't want the inconvenience of lugging kit about. For what now counts as a budget priced camera, it works amazingly well. I haven't used it for action shots, but most of the pictures I take are still or slow moving. The test shots I took are well saturated, in focus and remarkable sharp. The 14 - 42 Olympus kit lens has been praised as being superior to most kit lenses and this micro 4/3 lens is no exception; it is a good lens. In good light and where the subject has enough contrast, focus and exposure is pretty good. In dark situations, the same is true, but the results are more noisy or more grainy. Where the scene is dark and of poor contrast, the autofocus struggles and sometimes fails. However, this is in situations where the shutter speed is in excess of 1 second and not ideal in any photo situation without additional lighting or a light source of some kind to provide contrast. Lots of people make a big thing about this, but light makes photographs and it is a requirement. In these situations, providing there is enough contrast to achieve focus, the flash can be put into play and I was impressed with the results in my test. Good contrast, not heavily shadowed and very naturalistic, which is unusual with on-board flash. Overall. I am very pleased with my purchase and look forward to using the camera on a day to day basis; it is a bit of a bargain, to my mind.Having purchased the EPL 1, I don't think I would progress to the EPL 3, but would consider a serious, mirror-less camera. Live view is not a bad way to

i have always wanted a PEN series camera since i saw the very first model that olympus released but up until now had resisted buying one. At the current price i finally justified splashing out on an epl1 to myself and i am really glad i did. First of all, i love the aesthetics of it! such a nice object to hold and use once you have got used to the menu system,although if you have had an olympus before it is no problem to find all the functionality you need and a bit more. image quality - what can i say,for this style of camera and at this price level it is second to none. i own too many cameras to mention,including 2 dslrs and this is a match for them all picture wise. incidentally,i have just tried it with my yongnuo flash and it works perfectly with that too,as well as flash triggers etc raw files look great through photomatix.... I LOVE MY EPL1!!!!

Olympus E-PL1 is for me a step forward from a bridge camera. The image quality is far better. I also find it easy to use though I haven't used its full potential yet.

Had this for about a month now and love it. I had a DSLR for about 6 months, but it was too bulky to carry round and I decided to go for something a little more compact without having to give up all of the great results you can get with a DSLR.Sometimes less is more and this is one of those times.Produces great results, look great and is a lot smaller then a DSLR.DSLR's are great, I just prefer this camera for it's size with not too much if any difference in quality of pictures (I use pretty basic settings and I'm sure for a pro DSLR's can produce more).5 stars.

I have previously used both considerably heavier and larger DSLR cameras and yet smaller and lighter high-end compacts and this seriously out-performs both. It is an excellent tool for most photography but especially the style known as 'shooting from the hip' where a photo can be taken often without the subject's attention being drawn. Using the standard lens at or near its widest setting makes this relatively simple but one of the faster 'pancake' lenses makes this rather more easy.The telephoto lens is neither too long or too heavy for the camera and the combination is still quite amenable to hand-held shooting without the absolute need for additional support, which will sometimes be necessary. The anti-shake system also helps here. With Olympus it is built into the body of the camera so is available for all lenses, unlike Panasonic where the reverse is true but some lenses have it built-in at additional cost but others do not. It is possible to use both brands (and other compatible) lenses but you will need to switch off the IOS system if using them on Olympus bodies.Capable of extraordinary performance, even blowing up a small part of the frame, they can be higly recommended.