All compact point and shoot cameras have tiny sensor about the size of a fingernail on the pinkie finger and then the manufacturers cram a large number of pixels onto the sensor so each photosite is too small to be effective at capturing light. This results in pictures that seldom look great at 8x10 and picture taking at ISO 400 or lower. Add in slow lenses and these are good only for snapshots and 4x6 pictures. Enter the new Micro Four Thirds camera format that has a sensor that is 6 times the size of the compact P&S cameras and with a more conservative 10-12 megapixels in total and able to produce good looking 11x14 prints from pictures taken at ISO 1600.

This is still a small and lightweight camera. The camera with its 14-42mm lens attached and battery inserted weighs only 17 ounces. My DSLR zoom lenses alone weigh more than that, and some more than twice as much. The camera is unusual in that it not only has an internal flash and a hot shoe for a standard flash it will... Read more

I've owned a handful of point and shoots from Sony to Leica, and 3 DSLRs. Two Canons and a Sony Alpha. Like so many people, I got into DSLR's because I wanted something that took better pictures than my cell phone does. Sadly, DSLRs are huge bulky expensive things, packed full of needless complications, not to mention the unavoidable snobbery of psuedo-photographers.

This camera got me, and most, exactly what I wanted. Portable, SLR quality pics. Less complicated controls. Not LESS control, LESS COMPLICATED control. It's not just easier, it's more evolved. The DSLR dial is another needless thing. Buttons are just easier to control.

Camera has lots of iArt setting things. Cool. 16 programs, full auto, full manual, etc. The JPEG processor is an industry leader. The camera is well made.

The lenses are also great, and a good pairing. You probably wont need to buy anymore, and you can always ad filters and adapters to them.

You can get an... Read more

I am no photographer, so I wanted a "real" camera that would be easy to use. This is it! It has so many great features. The art filters are really cool and the on screen controls in the iAuto setting make things so simple. I also bought the Olympus Pen EL-1 for Dummies so that I can learn about all of the features of the camera. I have only had it for a week, but so far I could not be happier. The quality of the pictures is incredible. I am going to be learning about some of the manual options so that I can do some of the settings on my own. The large lens that comes with this kit is incredible. I don't think that I will be using the smaller one very much.

If you don't know much about cameras, but want to upgrade to a camera that gives you the option to go manual, this is the one. You can go from fully auto to fully manual and everywhere in between.