I found an interesting post inside the dpreview forum:
“Dear all,
Manual focus on E-P2 works a bit different than on E-P1 – at least in case of m4/3 and 4/3 lenses.
Moving focus ring automatically brings up magnification view (it is by default, but you can change it through menus). That part is the same as with E-P1, but the difference is that when you stop with focus adjustments (when you stop moving focus ring), E-P2 automatically closes magnification view, and you can see the whole scene.
You can check video sample at:
http://www.mah-productions.com/pics/E_P2_ManualFocus.mp4 (approx 8MB)
and the result photo is available at:
http://www.mah-productions.com/pics/E_P2_ManualFocus.JPG
http://www.mah-productions.com/pics/E_P2_ManualFocus.ORF
Best regards,
Boris”
– The E-P2 is available for preorder at Amazon US
5 Responses
Maybe I’m overoptimistic, but this sounds like a really nice improvement to me–it could make using manual focus (legacy) lenses entirely practicable except for rapidly moving subjects?
It’s making me think about ordering an OM adapter ring along with my preordered EP-2.
Yet another feature that the E-P1 could easily get with a firmware update. I wonder if Olympus will do this for early adopters. Sort of a stab in the back if they don’t.
Actually, the E-P1 does this too, it is nothing new. This is the “MF assist” feature. And it does NOT work or help at all with manual focus lenses. This is explained in the rest of the linked thread.
The ONLY thing that is different about the E-P2 and manual focus is that if you are manually focusing a lens that the camera can autofocus that is focus by wire, the camera returns to the normal view from the magnified view when you stop focusing faster than the E-P1 does. That is nice. Again, this does not apply to legacy manual focus lenses.
Yes, this is not upgrade for manual lenses, but a major upgrade for digital lenses…. especially ones with a large aperture like the 1.7 panasonic (shallow dof) that can come out of focus with the additional press of the ok button. It is annoying to have to press the ok button to get the full frame back or to just start continuous shooting where you don’t have the full scene framed.
I am more interested in manual video controls as a firmware upgrade, and again most of the E-P2 upgrades to me are software updates, so firmware update for E-P1 would be nice. Let people buy the E-P2 for its attachment ability and black color.
This is NOT an improvement, at least not as far as I’m concerned. With the E-P1 you can fiddle with the manual focus, get it to the position that appears sharpest, and it does not instantly drop back to non-magnified view just as you are checking that it is really sharp. It stays magnified, and is easily (when using AF lenses) returned to normal view by a half-press of the shutter release. The E-P2 drops back to normal view so quickly that I, at least, am never sure whether I really have hit the best focus. I’ve searched the menus for a way to turn this off but have not found one. It’s extremely annoying, the one major downside I’ve found so far to E-P2 versus E-P1.