EPL-5 and high ISO

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I am a longtime user of Olympus 4/3 cameras and it was not too long ago that I could not have taken this shot. It is downtown Truro, Nova Scotia, at night taken with an EPL-5 at 1/50s with an ISO of 6400. It is a RAW photo simply converted to .jpg with no post processing.

I say this because my first camera, an Olympus E-500, was simply unusable at night and 400 ISO was the reasonable limit. Two years ago I bought an EPL-2 and found it only marginally better than the other 4/3rds cameras that I had although I found that OOC shots required very little post processing and it was a delight when the light was great. But any kind of tricky situation where the light was lacking was a real challenge. Then along comes my recently acquired EPL-5 a camera that has the same sensor as the OMD (and AF) which many reputable camera review sites are calling the best camera of 2012.

There are so many things that are much improved in the EPL-5 as opposed to my EPL-2. Some things I like  are improved sensor, which I mentioned above, retractable LCD screen, touch screen, seemingly better construction, better dynamic range, more art filters, smaller in physical size, an improved kit lens (at least cosmetically) among others. Some things I don't like so much are the smaller viewing screen, and the very confusing menu system though I can live with those limitations.

My wife and I are off to Cuba within 2 months and I expect to be a little more creative in my photography and to use the camera in more challenging situations, night shooting, interior shots and so on. As I have the 45 1.8 as well as the 20 1.7, which take care of low light situations, my next decision is how to cover the telephoto end. My choices are the 40-150 an the 75-300.

However, I now have a much more capable tool to extend my creativity and enhance my enjoyment of photography.

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