Frustrations with the Olympus E-P2

On the one hand, I’m enjoying the Olympus E-P2. The image quality is beautiful; it is like using a grainer film than my EOS 5D. Just as one can choose Tri-X over TMAX, I sometimes want to use the E-P2 instead of the 5D to get that grain.

However, I’m feeling more and more frustrated with the questionable user interface of the camera! The biggest problem is that when I use a Leica lens, it is hard to switch to the “zoomed” focus. They could simply have allowed the function key to be a quick “zoom” key, but they didn’t. Instead, you have to set the viewing mode to the “zoom” mode, then press a hard-to-feel center button on the back. If, by any chance, you want to see any information on the screen — aperture, for example! — you have to switch out of the zoom mode! It’s ridiculous!

I still can’t justify the cost of a Leica M9, however. So, until Olympus fixes the designs, I’m stuck.