Introduction

Ease of Use

Measuring 109.8 x 64.2 x 33.8mm and weighing 223g (body-only), the metal-bodied E-PM2 is marginally bigger and heavier than its predecessor, the E-PM1, but remains one of the smallest and lightest compact system cameras on the market.

In terms of how the E-PM2 fits into the Olympus PEN range, this is the smallest, lightest, cheapest and most uncluttered model in terms of its control system, although it has usefully gained a few extra buttons to make life easier. The E-PM2 shares a lot of key features with its bigger brother the E-PL5, so some of the comments that we made about that camera will be repeated here. These include the headline resolution of 16.1 megapixels from a high speed Live Mos sensor, and a 3-inch touchscreen which offers a widescreen aspect ratio and comes with a respectable 460k dot resolution, although it's not tiltable as on the E-PL5.

Another welcome attribute that this model shares with the E-PL5 is a claim for the world's joint fastest auto focus system, thanks to 35 AF points spread over the entire LMOS sensor, plus a TruePic VI processor to keep performance zipping along. Full time AF and AF tracking also feature. Once again though there's no optical or electronic viewfinder supplied here as an alternative to the rear LCD screen, though like the recently reviewed E-PL5 there is an accessory port Version 2 to be found above the screen at the E-PM2's rear which will accept one of Olympus's optional external viewfinders.

The raison d'etre of the E-PM2 remains the same as its brethren: high quality images (and video) from an interchangeable lens camera that's perceived to be less fussy to operate and transport than a DSLR. For a suggested price of £449.99 / $599.99 with lens the E-PM2 comes bundled with a distinctly plastic-y feeling M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II T lens (one of 20 available dedicated Micro Four Thirds lenses), with an interchangeable 'decoration ring' and the same sleek, chic retro styling we've come to expect from the PEN range.

Once again the hand-holding Live Guide mode to help novices achieve more professional results is included on the E-PM2 too, with, as on the E-PL3, its features selectable by tabbing up and down a visually-led menu that appears running down the right hand side of the screen. In this way the likes of depth of field/background blur can be adjusted in real time by dragging a simple slider bar.

Front	Rear

There are now 12 creative Art Filters on the E-PM2, actually one more than on the flagship E-M5, all applied at the point of capture. Included here are our preferred choices of pinhole and dramatic tone, joined by the tilt and shift lens ape-ing 'diorama' for rendering cityscapes as if on a toy town scale. Though the latter is a fun tool, we feel this miniature option works less well on the Olympus Pen than its competitors; for us the Pen seems to blur too wide a portion of the frame, so that occasionally the result can resemble a mistake rather than an effect. Once again, these filters can be applied to Full HD video as well as stills, recordable in AVCHD or reduced resolution Motion JPEG format. Just press the dedicated video record button when in Art Filter mode.

Alongside body integral image stabilisation, something that gives it the Pen the edge over the Panasonic Lumix G range, Full HD video with stereo sound is included as standard, with left and right microphones positioned either side of a vacant hotshoe - the latter a feature that might also position it one step ahead of arguably Panasonic's closest rival in the Lumix DMC-GF5. If it weren't, that is, for the fact that what is more unforgivably omitted here is the luxury of a built-in flash of the pop-up variety - a feature that the E-PM2's intended consumer audience is surely going to miss.

Instead, with the E-PM2 a separate plastic-y clip-on flash is included in the box that we can see getting lost down the back of the sofa, or simply forgotten when you head out for the day with your shiny new camera. Admittedly the flash does look quite cool when slotted into place and works effectively, but it does inevitably add to the camera's bulk, and it also prevents you from using the optical viewfinder and flash at the same time. If the supplied flash unit with its guide number of 10 meters at ISO 200 isn't powerful enough for you, the E-PM2's hotshoe is compatible with the FL-50R, FL-36R, FL-50, FL-36, FL-20, FL-14, and FL-300R flashguns. The E-PM2 also supports wireless flash via the bundled unit acting as a master to control off-camera flash units, very useful for more complex studio work.

The E-PM2 now has a new handgrip, as with the E-PL5, although it can't be removed as on its bigger brother. With the handgrip the solidity is sufficient to be able to still hold the camera nice and steady when shooting handheld, although it inevitably makes the camera look a little less stylish than its uncluttered predecessor.

Front	Side

Low light sensitivity has been boosted on this latest Pen, incrementally extendable from ISO12800 to a semi pro-like ISO25600, as on the OM-D E-M5 and E-PL5. This is partly down, says Olympus, to the implementation of a noise reducing Venus Engine VI processor.

From the front then, and with or without the attachable flash fitted, the E-PM2 very much looks the part and worth the relatively modest outlay, exuding a cool sophistication. It still has that 'classic' Pen clean look, with an AF illuminator/self timer lamp top right of the lens, springy lens release button to the right, Micro Four Thirds logo bottom right and Olympus logo top left, with the new handgrip filling the left-hand side.

Moving up to the top plate, the E-PM2 locates a speaker complete with stereo microphones flanking the adjacent vacant hotshoe. This comes with a protective plastic cover that also loops over at the back to at the same time to protect the accessory port against dust and other nasties. Set into a strip to the right of the hotshoe - if viewing the camera from the back - are a small but obvious shutter release button and inset into the top plate, the power button and the new Live Guide / Function button, This control by default accesses the Live Guide controls, but can be usefully reassigned to one of 6 settings, including ISO speed.

The Live Guide options are presented as a colourful toolbar on the right hand side of the screen. From the top we have the ability to change colour saturation, from 'clear & vivid' to 'flat & muted', next down is the ability to alter 'colour image', which translates as shifting the tone between warm and cool via slider bar, with the third option shifting brightness/exposure between a simple bright and dark. The fourth option down is probably the most interesting/effective in that it provides the ability to incrementally blur the background of your shot by again dragging an indicator on a slider - thus providing a similar shallow depth of field effect to that achievable with a DSLR and suitable aperture.

Flash Unit	Top

For its fifth Live Guide option Olympus has retained the curiously named 'Express Motions', which to us has always sounded more like a bowel movement than the actual emphasizing of subject motion by introducing blur. Well, in fact, there's the option to both blur any movement or stop it in its tracks, again achievable by dragging a slider indicator. The last option on this tool bar is a on-board shooting hints and tips manual, with the usual 'suspects' of photographing children and pets given the most prominence ('take a picture at their height level' being a summation of the level of advice imparted). We even get tips, as a bit of closet advertising, for attaching Olympus accessories, such as lens converters.

Press the power button and if you haven't first manually extended the bundled retractable zoom lens, an on-screen text message prompts you to do so. So getting ready for the first shot is a two-tier process: either extend the lens first then press the power button or vice versa. Once the lens has been unfurled the camera is ready for its first shot (or video) in just under two seconds. A half press of the shutter release and there's a very brief wait while the focus visibly resets. Go on and take the shot and with no discernable shutter delay, a Fine quality JPEG and Raw file are committed to memory in two to three seconds, which is nothing to complain about.

The rear of the E-PM2 is where most of the design changes have been made. There are two new self-explanatory buttons on the left of the accessory port for image playback and deletion. Over to the right there's a dedicated video record button positioned where it ergonomically falls under the thumb as the camera is gripped in the right hand, so ergonomically that on a couple of occasions we inadvertently started recording a video without noticing. Hit this and recording begins no matter what alternative stills shooting mode might be in play at the same time, the black bands cropping the left and right of the screen when shooting in default stills mode disappearing so that the entire screen is taken up with the image being recorded.

The E-PM2 now a touch screen like the one on the E-P3. You can for the most part get away without using it much at all, as there are enough physical buttons which are either dedicated to specific functions or can be customized to suit. Indeed, the screen's implementation here hasn't led to a cleaner or more pared-down minimalist look for the Pen, as say the touch screen on Panasonic's latest GF5 has.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

An info button and separate menu button sit above and below a standard multidirectional control pad, encircled by Olympus' love-it-or-hate-it scroll wheel set up. At 12 o'clock on the control dial is an exposure compensation control (+/- 3EV), at three o'clock a compendium of flash settings (auto, red eye reduction, fill in flash, flash off, red eye slow sync, slow sync, 'full' flash and incremental adjustments running from ½ to 1/64th strength), at six o'clock we get self timer/drive modes, and at nine o'clock the ability to manually specify the AF point by selecting a point on a 35-zone grid that is overlaid on the real-time image.

Dragging a finger, and so the AF point, around the touchscreen will achieve the same end, though inadvertently subsequently taping it will cause the shutter to fire. Yes, this facility can be deactivated by prodding the relevant shutter button icon on the touch screen, but it's just as easy to accidentally turn it on again; even via an action as incongruous as the button of your shirt connecting with the screen as you're wearing the E-PL5 on a neck strap, or the thumb of your left hand straying as you handle the camera.

While chunky lugs for attaching the shoulder strap hang at either side of the camera, thankfully out of the way of fingers and controls, on the right hand flank, if viewing the camera from the back, we find a pair of covered ports for joint USB/AV output and mini HDMI output respectively. This cover, being a weaker plastic element amidst the surrounding brushed metal, is one of the very few flimsy points on the outwardly covetable camera. Again, we leveled the same criticism at the E-PM2's more expensive siblings.

Also plastic-y, but more reassuringly chunky, is the flip-open cover protecting the joint battery and card compartment at the E-PM2's base. The PS-BLS5 rechargeable lithium ion battery supplied with the E-PM2 is good for around 330 shots (the exact same performance as we got from the E-PM1). There is the option here to use all varieties of SD media card too, up to and including SDXC cards. Dead centre, but slightly off-centre of the lens, is a metal screw thread for attaching a tripod.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 7Mb.

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 produced images of excellent quality. In the Natural picture mode, colours are vibrant without being garish or over-saturated, while dynamic range is very good. From ISO 200 through to ISO 1600, noise is virtually undetectable, not becoming an issue until ISO 3200, which is an excellent result for a Micro Four Thirds sensor camera. ISO 3200 and 6400 are still eminently usable, with only the two fastest settings of 12800 and 25600 really suffering.

The supplied flash unit is more than powerful enough for fill-in use, while long exposures are easily achieved. The image stabilisation system works very well even when hand-holding the camera at slow shutter speeds. The Art Filters produce special effects that would otherwise require you to spend a lot of time in the digital darkroom.

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Olympus E-PM2. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and the RAW equivalent on the right:

JPEG	RAW
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Olympus E-PM2 offers two JPEG quality settings - Fine and Normal. You may also opt to save your photographs in the camera's raw file format (ORF). Raw+JPEG shooting is available.

16M Fine (7.01Mb) (100% Crop)	16M Normal (3.30Mb) (100% Crop)
16M RAW (13.5Mb) (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are just a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes by changing the Picture Modes.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Flash

The Olympus E-PM2 features a flash that has multiple modes including Auto, Red-eye reduction, Slow synchronisation, 2nd curtain and slow synchronisation, Fill-in for exclusive flash and Manual. In addition to the on-board unit, the Olympus E-PM2 also has a hot-shoe for system flashes. The pictures below were taken of a white wall from a distance of 1.5m, with and without the built-in flash.

Flash Off - Wide Angle	Flash On - Wide Angle
Flash Off - Telephoto	Flash On - Telephoto

And now for some portraits. The pop-up flash of the Olympus E-PM2 did not really cause a red-eye effect, so the only noticeable difference between the Forced On and Forced On with Red-Eye Reduction settings is that the second causes the subject's pupils to contract.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Olympus E-PM2 lets you dial in shutter speeds of up to 60 seconds and has a Bulb mode as well for exposure times as long as 30 minutes, which is very good news if you are seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 5 seconds at ISO 200.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Image Stabilisation

The Olympus E-PM2 comes with a double-axis sensor-shift image stabilisation (IS) system, which allows you to take sharp hand-held photos at slower shutter speeds than with cameras that lack this feature.

Focal Length / Shutter Speed	Off (100% Crop)	On (100% Crop)
28mm / 1/3 Second
84mm / 1/2 Second

Art Filters

The Olympus E-PM2 offers 12 different Art Filters, which allow you to quickly apply an artistic effect to a photo before taking it (JPEG images only). The most useful of these is Soft Focus, because the FourThirds system lacks a dedicated soft focus lens, and the effect would require advanced knowledge of layers, blurring methods and blending modes if you were to reproduce it in post-processing. Note that applying the Art Filters slows the camera down somewhat as the camera takes several seconds to process and save the image.

Pop Art	Soft Focus
Pale&Light Color	Light Tone
Grainy Film	Pin Hole
Diorama	Cross Process
Gentle Sepia	Dramatic Tone
Key Line	Watercolor

Picture Modes

Olympus' Picture Modes are essentially pre-set combinations of saturation, contrast and sharpness, except for the i-Enhance mode that aims to optimise each photo individually. You can tailor each Picture Mode to your needs. The following examples demonstrate the differences across the available Picture Modes.

i-Enhance	Vivid
Natural	Muted
Portrait	Monotone

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Olympus E-PM2 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Olympus E-PM2 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Olympus RAW (ORF) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Lens Attached

Front of the Camera / Flash Attached

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / OK Menu

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The E-PL5 essentially offers the heart of the flagship OM-D model inside a the smallest, lightest and crucially cheapest PEN body. If you can live without the OM-D's built-in electronic viewfinder, dust- and splash- proof body, 5-axis gyro image stabilisation system, and more hands-on interface, or the E-PL5's tilting LCD screen and more traditional control layout, the E-PM2 delivers the best image quality from an Olympus mirrorless camera in the smallest package at the most affordable price.

This new model also addresses some of the concerns that we had about its predecessor. Whereas the E-PM1 felt a little bit too pared down at the expense of overall usability, the new E-PM2 is a more well-rounded and easier-to-use offering, with the new handgrip, extra physical controls, Flash Air memory card, touchscreen interface, expanded ISO range, faster 8fps burst shooting and more Art Filters all contributing to a maturer feeling camera. It still doesn't have a built-in flash, though, something that the supplied clip-on flash can't quite make up for.

Image quality is where Micro Four Thirds cameras have traditionally lagged behind their APS-C sensor rivals, but the E-PM2 carries on where the OM-D E-M5 left off by equalling the results from other leading cameras. Noise doesn't rear its ugly head until ISO 3200 for JPEGs and even the faster settings prove eminently usable, although the E-PM2 does apply some pretty aggressive noise reduction to keep the files clean as shown by the noisier raw images. We never longed for a camera with a bigger sensor, and you'd have to step up to a full-frame DSLR to see an appreciable leap in image quality.

In summary the Olympus E-PM2 is a much more intriguing camera than its entry-level price and bottom-of-the-range positioning in the Olympus compact system camera lineup would first suggest. Not many manufacturers offer the same image quality as their flagship camera throughout their entire range, but that's exactly what Olympus have done with the release of the E-PL5 and now the even smaller E-PM2. The new Olympus E-PM2 therefore comes Highly Recommended as the smallest, simplest to use and most affordable alternative to Olympus' best mirrorless camera...

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	5
Value for money	4.5

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Reviews of the Olympus E-PM2 from around the web.

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