Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat camera and would highly recommend!
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2015
Let me just start off by saying: I LOVE this little camera!
As a disclaimer, I am new to mirrorless camera / enthusiast-level photography but I have spent hundreds of hours researching cameras over the last 6 months. I almost purchased a Nikon d5500 before finally settling on buying this camera in black with the Olympups 14-42 EZ with the LC-37C lens cap and the Olympus 40-150mm. I also ended up buying the Olympus 25mm f1.8 prime a month or so later. One of my main priorities in a interchangeable lens camera system was compactness and portability, and this camera fit the bill perfectly.
Having had a chance to use it for 2-3 months now, and continuing my research of the competition, I feel pretty confident in my evaluation of the pros and cons of this camera. I will just hit on the standout points that helped me decide to buy this camera, and leave the more exhaustive reviews to the professionals:
Pros:
- Size: Like I said above, this size of this camera was a big deciding factor for me. I wanted something small and portable that I could take with me on all my vacations, including tropical / hot places, and not feel like I was about to die lugging this beast of a camera with me everywhere. As part of researching which camera to buy, I borrowed my buddy's Canon t5i on a trip my girlfriend and I took down the Pacific Coast Highway, and we just didn't love the added bulk that the body and three extra lenses added to our trip (and that camera isn't even that big compared to some DSLRs!). This camera hit the sweet spot offering good image quality, a good lens selection, portability, and quality.
- Build quality: I absolutely love the build quality of this camera. This is a huge pro in my book. It is a magnesium-alloy metal body, and it feels very solid and durable in my opinion. In researching, I also tested the Sony a6000, which is plastic, and the metal build of the Olympus feels 10x better than the a6000. I realize there is a significant price difference, but in my opinion paying a little bit more for a camera with much better construction is worth it. You get what you pay for.
- Lens selection: If you're looking at this camera, you probably already know that the m4/3 camera system offers the best native lens selection of any mirrorless camera system. Obviously, many systems make use of adapters to extend the compatability of lenses, but most of those solutions are clunky and not optimal. So far, in my experience, lenses have been high quality yet with reasonable prices. If you're looking for a system that you can grow into that won't break the bank, m4/3 will do the job for you.
- Customization: This camera is extremely customizable. Ever single button on the camera can be repurposed from the default settings. You can even set different user profiles and change between them at a flick of the switch.
Cons:
- User Interface has a little bit of a learning curve: The menu system / user interface of this camera is definitely not the most intuitive. For experienced photographers, this probably won't be much of a problem, but for someone like me, that is just learning the basics of photography and interchangeable lens camera systems, it was definitely intimidating. The screen kept shutting off randomly, I couldn't figure out how to easily switch between auto and manual focus, and changing certain settings required diving into complex menus, etc. In using my friend's Canon t5i I initially found that I preferred the Canon user interface. However, watching a few youtube videos helped a lot, and now I actually prefer the Olympus menu system for the amount of customization that it contains.
- Price: This camera definitely is a little more pricey than its competitors. If you're looking for absolutely best bang for your buck, I would say look elsewhere (Sony a6000, Nikon d3300, Nikon d5500 would be my top picks ATM). However, for me, there were a lot of factors that went into my decision besides price.
Overall, I am very happy with my purchase of this camera, and would definitely recommend it to someone who is looking for a balanced, lightweight, portable camera.
