New Camera - Olympus E-PL1 - finally I can get some action shots of the boys

I think I wrote early on in the blog about my love for Olympus cameras ever since buying an OM-1 (fully manual 35mm film) second hand many many years ago when I was at University.  I took it with me everywhere for about 10 years.  Well now I have the E-PL1 a digital fully auto SLR Micro four thirds Camera and I am over the moon.

My thoughts up to now on taking pictures had been that it is better to get 'the best you can' than worry about getting the best photo every time. While I also love my Olympus Tough and even the C-8080WZ which has given us all the best photos of the boys in the last four years, they don't work as well as I would like them to in failing light or out of the sun, especially with fast movement, which is pretty much always the case in the UK, and running around after Harry, Charlie and Jasper. 

The E-PL1 gives me all I have been after for ages in a camera.  Can't praise it enough :)  It even shoots HD video which I have still to experiment with fully.

Here some photos with it.  It was just me with Harry, Charlie and Jasper so I was not able to get any group photos.  I was lucky to get any photos with all the running around and associated dangers of climbing on ropes a metre from the ground

I took these of Harry and Charlie on sequential shot.  Something that has never given me good results in the past but I am very happy now.  I think the camera takes about 3 frames per second.  I even got photos of the boys coming down slides, something I have not managed before despite many attempts

The funniest one of Jasper was of him drinking out of a water bottle but I just love his expression and light in this one.

As this blog entry has turned into a bit of a review, it is only fair to point out a couple of things that perhaps I would like to have seen in the E-PL1 and that is a more robust body. I worry it will not take as much knocking as it may get over the years but I had planned to get a leather case for it anyway.  But I chose it over the PL2 which has a metal body for it's amateur features, i.e ease of taking video, built in flash and price so it is only fair there are some compromises.  The 10x zoom will go on my Christmas list for when the boys get a bit older and are enjoying activities further away than arms length.  First on my list of upgrades will be the electronic view finder as I much prefer framing pictures through a view finder than on the LCD screen.

I look forward to experimenting more especially on our holiday in France.