Anyone got a spare Pen? The Olympus E-P3.

My recent purchase of the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens for my E-M1 signals (to me at least), my commitment to the Olympus micro four thirds system. Especially when you consider that I sold every lens I had (plus some other camera gear) just to get it.

Fortunately I got an amazing deal on the 12-40mm f2.8 Pro (see last post), which means that there's some money left in the kitty. With the range of the 12-40mm, I've got 'most' bases covered. But, just occasionally, I like to have a little more telephoto reach. Not often, but every once in a while. I do like to have a telephoto zoom on-hand for just such occasions, but it also tends to be the lens that I  spend the least on. I've owned cheap Sigma's, Tamron's and manufacturer's versions in the 70 to 300mm f4/5.6 range and they've all been reasonable performers.

I've also owned Olympus's own version of this lens - the 40-150mm f4/5.6. It's a cheap, no frills (plastic mount) lens sold as a 'kit' with most of their consumer focused cameras like the Pens, and the OM-D E-M10. I owned mine when I had the E-M5 Mk2 and it was a surprisingly good lens. I did a review of the lens here and praised its sharpness up against 'L' series Canon glass!

So I decided to get another one to compliment my 12-40mm, and give me a 12 to 150mm (24 to 300mm) reach with the two lenses. No, the plastic bodied 40-150mm f4/5.6 isn't in the same league as the f2.8 Pro lens, but for the amount I'll end up using it, a couple of hundred dollars is really all I'm willing (or can afford) to spend on a telephoto lens. And as I've said almost ad-nauseam, it really is a very good performer.

Looking on Trademe (New Zealand's version of eBay), there were a couple for sale in the $200NZ range. But I thought I could do better than that. A trick many on-line auction buyers use when they want to but a lens, is to look for a cheap camera that might have a couple of lenses bundled with it. So instead of just searching for lenses, I started looking at the digital camera auctions. And bingo - there it was!

Someone was selling an Olympus Pen E-P3, with the 14-42mm and 45-150mm kit lenses, spare batteries, charger, SD card and camera bag - all must go - for $375NZ. I was already considering buying just the 40-150mm lens for $200NZ, so for another $175NZ I was getting a digital camera and extra lens!

A few quick questions to the seller confirmed that it was all in mint condition - hardly ever used (only 6000 shutter actuations), and I snapped it up using 'Buy Now'.

So now I'm not only getting the 40-150mm f4/5.6 lens that I wanted for the E-M1, but also an Olympus Pen E-P3 and a standard lens to keep on it as a perfect little walk-around everyday travel camera. I'm sure it will become our new family camera, and my wife will really enjoy using it (she currently takes a little Lumix point-and-shoot with her when she travels).

Olympus E-P3, front and rear views

I'm also looking forward to having a play with the E-P3. I owned one of the first Pens, the E-P1, but I didn't really enjoy the experience. It was too sluggish and slow for my liking, and I quickly sold it on and went back to a much more responsive DSLR. That was, however, over 10 years ago - and I haven't touched an Olympus Pen since.

I have kept up with their progress somewhat though, and it seems that Olympus got the Pen series 'right' with the E-P3. They worked very hard with the auto focus speed and accuracy on the Pen series, and by the E-P3 they were claiming it had the 'World's fastest AF System' of ANY camera system! I'm sure there would be some Canon and Nikon Pros who would laugh at this claim - and the autofocus tracking on micro four thirds still lags behind the top gear from the big two - but in day to day single point focus use, the E-P3 does look blazingly fast - and one heck of a lot faster than the E-P1 was!

It's also the first Pen to include a pop-up flash, and includes a removable grip for better ergonomics and handling. So basically, it fixes all of the things I disliked about the original E-P1.

What I did like about the original Pen, and all the Pens that have come after it, was the look of the camera. Damn it's a sexy camera! Especially in all-black. I know that some of the even smaller, paired-down Pens have been marketed squarely at women looking for a small, light, fashion-statement camera that they can slip into a large purse or small handbag. But the E-P line of top-tier Pens (E-P1, E-P2, E-P3 etc) have always been feature-rich, slightly bulkier, and designed specifically for the advanced photographer in mind. And once again - boy are they sexy!

So yes, I'm looking forward to my 'new' Pen E-P3 arriving soon. I think it will be an excellent addition to my micro-four-thirds system, and compliment the E-M1 perfectly. And if it doesn't? Well, there's always Trademe 😉