E-PL2

The first serious camera I owned was an Olympus OM-1 way back in the late 70's. I have been a fan of Olympus cameras every since.

The two lenses I tried with this camera — the 14-42 f3.5-5.6 and the 40-150 f3.5-5.6 —were both excellent. Quality construction and fine optics make these lenses a joy to use. The autofocus is quick and smooth. It locks on to your subject without a lot of searching back and forth. Both have very good edge-to-edge sharpness, with the 14-42 being outstanding.

The Pen E -PL2 is comfortable to hold and has good balance in your hands. The camera has a top shutter speed of 1/4000 and an ISO range of 200-6400. The shutter speed is enough to stop high-speed action and the ISO range allows you to shoot in almost any light without the need for a flash. Read more

Last week at CES Olympus introduced six new cameras, including the new Olympus PEN E-PL2, the fourth in the PEN family of compact interchangeable lens digital cameras, and the Olympus XZ-1, an ultra-compact with a built-in ZUIKO lens. In addition, the company's 2011 point-and-shoot cameras have new features such as 3D photo mode, Eye-Fi card compatibility and new Magic Filters. Here is a rundown:

Olympus PEN E-PL2
The PEN E-PL2 is a great camera for beginners, as well as experienced photographers who want DSLR image quality but without size and weight of a traditional DSLR. This breakthrough camera expands your creative potential with Live Guide II, new in-camera creative features, new auxiliary lenses, and more.

Priced at $599.99, the 12.3-megapixel camera also includes the new MSC ED m14-42mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens (28mm-84mm equiv.), a 3-inch 460,000 dot LCD, ISO 6400 and new Face Detection with Eye Detect. It has 22 Scene-Select Modes, Intelligent Auto (iAuto) Mode, In-Camera Panorama and an iEnhance mode that heightens the warm yellow and orange colors of a sunset.Read more