olympus pen pl1 - pics noisy

I know this might not be the perfect place to ask but i figured people would know here. I have an olympus pen pl1 and and the pictures are coming out very noisy and the quality is poor. The auto-focus makes a lot of noise also. I bought the camera less than 30 days ago so do you think its worth exchanging it for the same model because it might be a lemon or find a complete new model. Any ideas?

I would just return it and get an Olympus OM-D E-M5. >_<" That's what I'm getting for my trip to Asia this summer.

MacAddict. said:

I know this might not be the perfect place to ask but i figured people would know here. I have an olympus pen pl1 and and the pictures are coming out very noisy and the quality is poor. The auto-focus makes a lot of noise also. I bought the camera less than 30 days ago so do you think its worth exchanging it for the same model because it might be a lemon or find a complete new model. Any ideas?

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The pl1 is a great camera for the money. But, it has been long discontinued.

Just because you are getting bad quality pictures doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the camera. It could be technique rather than the equipment. The noisy autofocus is another thing though.

Personally, I would return it a look for something else.
Give us an idea of your budget and what you want to do with your camera and we can make better recommendations.

I think at most 300-350 dollars

I bit out of my price range! Thanks for the recommendation though!

If you want to go mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, in that price range you have very limited choices.
Basically:
1) Get another Oly e-pl1 or similar
2) Go for the Nikon V1
3) Look at the Panasonic Lumix G-series cameras. Have seen a couple at Amazon or B&H Photo priced near that

Or, you could look at advanced compact Digitals. Several choices within your budget. Again, really need to know what you are looking for in a camera.

I mainly dont do alot of photography but I would like to do it more. I film ALOT of video and make alot of short films, I've been using a Sony HDR XR150 but I wanted a camera with a good tight focus during video.

MacAddict. said:

I mainly dont do alot of photography but I would like to do it more. I film ALOT of video and make alot of short films, I've been using a Sony HDR XR150 but I wanted a camera with a good tight focus during video.

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Probably not going to get that from a camera especially for Video. Unless you focus manually. Even the DSLRs from Canon and Nikon can't auto focus all that well in video mode. Nor should you ever use autofocus in movie mode. It's going to be very loud and it's going to keep searching for focus.

Is there anyway to disable auto focus in video

MacAddict. said:

Is there anyway to disable auto focus in video

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Depends on the camera. I don't have any experience with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 or the Olympus Pen EPL-1 in video mode.

Found a video on youtube with someone doing manual focus in video mode though.

Its actually pretty good considering the price from what I saw in the video there. I have not had much opportunity other that some testing at home.

I'm not going to be any help on this as I almost never do video.

FWIW you can pick up a Panasonic GH-2 body fairly cheap right now and that used to be one of the better DSLR like bodies for video.

I've noticed a lot of people recommend Panasonic lumix cameras. Why are they so popular?

MacAddict. said:

I've noticed a lot of people recommend Panasonic lumix cameras. Why are they so popular?

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The same reason most things are popular.
They provide good value for the money, and within their limits perform well.

MacAddict. said:

I've noticed a lot of people recommend Panasonic lumix cameras. Why are they so popular?

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I've had a DMC-TZ3 since launch and it's absolutely smashing .... Leica lens, great weight, feel, balance, and zoom.The presets are good and there is plenty that the user can configure personally. It takes great macro shots and video/audio as well.

The Lumix line is popular because it is licensed from Leica (a fabulous lens maker) but sells for quite a bit less than their own cameras.

I finally found a camera! Its the fujifilm finepix hs30exr. It was 250 and for its price its unbelievable!

FinePix HS30EXR / HS33EXR | Fujifilm Global

Hope you enjoy it.