there’s actually a mix panic-buying and a lot of confusions with the kind of micro four-thirds camera i planned to get, but in the end, i settled to an Oly Pen EP-2 with 20mm f/1.7 Panasonic Lumix lens and Oly 14-42 mm m.zuiko digital. The New Micro Four-Thirds. first, let me tell you about this new class, the micro-four thirds. different types of dslr have different kinds of mounts. having said that, a canon lens can only be, as primarily designed, be used with a canon dslr body. likewise, a nikon lens to a nikon body. of all these manufacturers, panasonic and olympus happen to share the same mount, which is called the four-thirds. this means that panasonic and olympus dslr lenses can be interchangeably used to both manufacturers’ camera body. four-thirds is approximately a huge times 2 focal multiplier to a 35mm (canon is 1.6, nikon is 1.5).
i mentioned a while ago that i’ve parted with haggy, my old and trusted 400D. it was really sad to let it go because unusually, i feel some personal attachments with things i own. but things, like almost everything in life, are transitory, so i just thought that i’ll be getting something better and it is more practical to gave up something old and get a new one rather than keeping all stuff to myself. last saturday, i got an olympus ep-2, named kafka. i made a complete change of camera system from canon to micro four-thirds pioneers - olympus and panasonic, so i’m still playing around the camera and getting used to it. also, this has to be the last biggest expenditure i’ll be having for the year (but i really really desire a macbook pro)…and now it’s high time to do some savings. i’ve been working and earning for 5 months now, and yet, i guess the max savings i have in my thin bank account is a pity $500.00. that’s an average of $100 a month. lovely!
in a typical dslr, the lens and the optical viewfinder are not in perfectly paralled position to each other. there is a mirror inside the camera’s body that reflects to the optical viewfinder (OVF), this is the reason why when you peek in the OVF, you see the actual projection of what the lens can see. almost WYSIWYG (but technically not exactly). for example, when you zoom the lens, the optical image in the viewfinder zooms as well, and when you block the lens, the view you have from the optical viewfinder is blocked too. this hardware setup made possible the light metering mode of TTL (through the lens, which is mostly used in SLR), because there is a connection between the OVF and the actual camera lens, again, through the mirror.
innovating their systems, the 2 companies developed a recent type of camera utilizing the same sensor for four-thirds, but removing the mirror in the body. this is called the micro four-thirds. the technology enabled the camera to be significantly small in size, but of course due to the absence of mirror, there is no viewfinder of eyepiece type. if you opt to use an OVF, there will be a parallax because it’s not exactly the sight of lens.
as of recent, panasonic and olympus released 6 models of micro-four thirds cameras, 3 for each company. the Oly Pen EP-2 is second to the latest from olympus after they release the EPL-1 this month. because of the absence of mirror, it’s not possible to have a mirrored optical viewfinder on micro four-thirds. technology has several alternatives to this problem. naturally, one is the use of LCD as liveview viewfinder. this is basically similar to what has been implemented ages ago with a normal point and shoot camera with LCD. newer dslrs have adapted this that it’s LCD can now be used for liveview as well (my canon 400d uses the lcd only for preview). second, the use of electronic viewfinder (EVF). panasonic released its first 2 micro four-third cameras (GH1 and G1) with a built in EVF. the initial impression of the public is, is this micro? easily judging by the fact that there’s not a visibly big difference in size compared to typical dslrs. the biggest difference of EVF compared to OVF is that the image you see in the viewfinder is actually a small-scaled LCD. you can see all the information, settings,focusing, preview, etc..the last option is, the use of a dedicated OVF attached through the hotshoe. there are several issues with the latter option and the biggest perhaps is that a particular type of OVF is only applicable and useful to one particular range or type of prime lens. each time you change a prime lens, you have to change an OVF designed for that lens. most importantly, the information can not be seen in the OVF. it defeats the purpose of using an OVF because you still have to look at the LCD to see the status anyway. all of these, plus the parallax.
for me, it has been hard to decide whether to get an Oly Pen EP-2 or the Panasonic GF1. i initially preferred the GF1 due to faster auto focus (AF), but decided that EP-2, despite having slower AF, will give me more additional functions, benefits, and versatility. i’m sold with olympus’ art filter alone, and with the impressive implementation of its EVF, i’m sure it’s worth the few extra dollars. GF1 is the 3rd and latest micro four-thirds from panasonic, and it’s not a bad camera at all. it is even better compared to EP-2, which is more recent, in a lot of points.
now that you have a better idea of the new system, i suppose i will not be talking about how many megapixels the camera has, etc.., these infos can be easily found elsewhere, so i’ll try to discuss more on its unique features, and why i chose an EP-2.
<to be continued..>
