8/4 Correction: I removed what I wrote about the tele, having believed a just-released test that I now think has problems — now having done my own test with my own and a borrowed lens from a friend.

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The following 15 photos were taken with my new compact camera, the Olympus PEN E-P3 on Sunday morning, mostly in downtown Anchorage.

I’ve been waiting for this just-released upgrade of the E-P2 for about a year. In a few areas it’s not quite what I had hoped, but I decided to jump in anyway, and I’m glad I did!

The sensor could still use some improvements, but the color is improved, which is a huge factor for me, and the auto focus speed is now state of the art.

In these photos, I hope you can tell that I was having a lot of fun! The camera is a riot with the lenses that I’ve carefully chosen. I only used the normal lens once in all of these shots — for Towering Motel only.

Incidentally, the Olympus micro 4/3rds PEN cameras are considered compact cameras, but they’re much larger than the compacts I’ve been discussing on this site [upgrades for most should be announced soon]. None of them will go wide or long enough for what is the sweet spot for me. And this camera also has the image quality of being able to shoot fairly large gallery prints if there is adequate light.

The full-sized sensor (and much bigger and heavier) Canon 5D Mark II still blows it away in many categories, and will still be my mainstay for the premeditated, highest quality shots, but this will fulfill the very exciting compact-carry niche.

I hope you enjoy the photos,
and God bless!

Jeff : )