m4/3 Anyone? Refurb EPL-1+14-42 $349

Newegg has the EPL1 + kit lens for $349 + shipping. It's a refurb w/ 1 year warranty.

http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6830111413

hmm I would like a deal like that for the panasonic gf1

Have one already, great little travel camera, with a ton of performance.

Whoa, that's extremely cheap. I gave up on the m4/3 format after finding my old EP1 focused way too slow for my liking. I'm giving the Sony Nex a try now, and I prefer it, despite the much larger lenses.

that problem with slow af was fixed with a firmware upgrade, and the new msc lenses. The 40-140, 14-140 and then new 14-42 actually focus fast for a contrast base AF system with the msc. Faster then the panasonic lenses now. But still slow compare to a phase detect AF system. I used the nex, they are about the same speed with the native lenses, and slow with the alpha lenses.

nex would win hands down if they came out with a pancake lens like the 20mm panny

shoturtle wrote in post #11945588
that problem with slow af was fixed with a firmware upgrade, and the new msc lenses. The 40-140, 14-140 and then new 14-42 actually focus fast for a contrast base AF system with the msc. Faster then the panasonic lenses now. But still slow compare to a phase detect AF system. I used the nex, they are about the same speed with the native lenses, and slow with the alpha lenses.

I had the E-P1, the Panasonic 20mm, the kit 14-42mm, and the 45-200mm lenses. I sold everything off about 2-3 months ago. I had everything updated to the most recent firmware prior to sale. AF speed was abysmal. My standard for testing is sitting shotgun in a car and snapping pics of objects as they pass by (ie signs on the side of the road). The Nex5 with 18-55 lens gets stellar marks from me, only slightly worse than my canon rigs. The E-P1 with lenses however... poor is the only way to describe it.

I can only assume they've improved the most recent generations of lenses and the E-pl1/2 and E-p2

antifire wrote in post #11945608
nex would win hands down if they came out with a pancake lens like the 20mm panny

This is true. In any case, I'm enamored with the 18-55mm lens--not the pancake. It really is superb. I was shocked by how snappy the AF was.

The Nex with an 18-55 is not as small as this combo with the collapsing 14-42, though, so it is all a matter of priorities. Personally, I am very interested in Samsung NX. APS-C and their 20-50mm kit zoom and pancakes are all as small as m4/3 lenses.

From serious compacts:

HTTP response: 404 | Byte size: ZERO

^^^ Sadly, the olympus kit is rather obtrusive and ugly when extended--and it's not exactly intuitive. It's awkward to say the least. The 14-42 can't compare with the 18-55--it's poorly reviewed. If you're addicted to the pancake though, m4/3 is the way to go.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #11946327
^^^ Sadly, the olympus kit is rather obtrusive and ugly when extended--and it's not exactly intuitive. It's awkward to say the least. The 14-42 can't compare with the 18-55--it's poorly reviewed. If you're addicted to the pancake though, m4/3 is the way to go.

I guess I don't much care how big it is when I am actively shooting. I only want small for transport. Honestly, I think the EPL is too consumer-ish for my needs anyway.

M4/3 only has 3 pancakes clustered around 14-20mm, though, so that is pretty boring. I'm telling you, Samsung NX is going to be a killer system in about a year. They already have 30mm f2 and 20mm f2.8 pancakes and 16mm f2.4 is on the way. They also have 60mm f2.8 macro and 85mm f1.4 coming later, which aren't pancakes, but should make the system pretty useful for portraiture (unlike m4/3). Zooms, they have NEX-sized regular zooms or a tiny 20-50 and a 16-80 f3.5-4.5 is coming this year. Rumor mill has a 50mm f1.4, 16-50 f2.8 IS and 50-135mm f2.8 IS coming in 2012.

tkbslc wrote in post #11946338
I guess I don't much care how big it is when I am actively shooting. I only want small for transport. Honestly, I think the EPL is too consumer-ish for my needs anyway.

M4/3 only has 3 pancakes clustered around 14-20mm, though, so that is pretty boring. I'm telling you, Samsung NX is going to be a killer system in about a year. They already have 30mm f2 and 20mm f2.8 pancakes and 16mm f2.4 is on the way. They also have 60mm f2.8 macro and 85mm f1.4 coming later, which aren't pancakes, but should make the system pretty useful for portraiture (unlike m4/3). Zooms, they have NEX-sized regular zooms or a tiny 20-50 and a 16-80 f3.5-4.5 is coming this year. Rumor mill has a 50mm f1.4, 16-50 f2.8 IS and 50-135mm f2.8 IS coming in 2012.

Well, steer clear of the Nex system then, because they've got zero pancake lenses on the way They've got like 10-11 new lenses slated for 2011, but they all start at 40mm+ and are bulky. You'd think Sony would be smart enough to address the need for an actual GOOD pancake lens. Nope.

That's a great deal. I also have one of these and it's a great camera for the size. Beats a P&S when size is important.

K6AZ wrote in post #11946616
That's a great deal. I also have one of these and it's a great camera for the size. Beats a P&S when size is important.

Eh... not sure my old E-p1 with 14-42 would beat my s95.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #11945662
I had the E-P1, the Panasonic 20mm, the kit 14-42mm, and the 45-200mm lenses. I sold everything off about 2-3 months ago. I had everything updated to the most recent firmware prior to sale. AF speed was abysmal. My standard for testing is sitting shotgun in a car and snapping pics of objects as they pass by (ie signs on the side of the road). The Nex5 with 18-55 lens gets stellar marks from me, only slightly worse than my canon rigs. The E-P1 with lenses however... poor is the only way to describe it.

I think that's asking a little much for one of these. Compared to a standard DSLR I think any of these mirrorless cameras are going to seem slow.

As far as the Sony, I had some bad experiences with their color reproduction early on in the digital era (particularly reds being too hot) and from what I understand they still have an issue with the colors.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #11946626
Eh... not sure my old E-p1 with 14-42 would beat my s95.

This isn't the E-P1. The m43 14-42 isn't the best kit lens. If all you used on it was the kit lens you probably didn't get an accurate idea of the camera IQ.