Olympus Pen E-PL1 Digital Camera & Zoom Lens Kit 12.3MP 14-42MM Zoom Lens 2.7IN LCD SDHC Black

Comment:
I won't try and repeat the exhaustive reviews done by DPreview about the various features of this camera. For the money I have been very impressed with it. What makes it an especially good purchase is the fact NCIX price matched both it and the EV-2. I have been very impressed with both the picture and video quality. But since Olympus released the E-PL2 a few weeks ago, the current street price on this unit with the kit lens means you can purchase it, plus the EV-2, for the same price as the E-PL2 w/ the kit lens. Given that the improvements to the E-PL2 are marginal, this makes it very good value. (NCIX also price matched the EV-2 for me). The only better value I found after my purchase was for a kit that included not only the standard kit lens, but also the 40-150mm lens, but that was in the USA only.Why is the EV-2 essential you ask? I work in the field and have used dozens of LCD devices in my work, and none of them are up to bright sunlight. I don't care how many pixels you cram into your LCD screen, shine direct sunlight onto it, especially in snow, and you are going to be challenged. The EF-2 is the best viewfinder you can find today, and it fits this camera. It will also probably fit the E-PL3 if such a model comes out in 2012. That's what makes this unit a particularily good buy.Be prepared to do you homework and read the manual and learn to use this camera. This is not a device for the point and shoot crowd that don't want to invest some time in learning to use it properly.