Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

There are plenty of detailed reviews out there that will give you a technical rundown on this camera's capabilities. This isn't one of them. I shoot Nikon DSLRs professionally and, until now, for personal use, too, but am tired of lugging them around in a bag that hurts my shoulder, or even the Spider holster (recommended) on my belt. I wanted a small, portable camera that delivered good image quality. So far, I'd say this little Olympus delivers. I added the 14-42mm EZ lens in order to create as compact a package as possible. (BTW, this is a great little lens and will probably suffice for most casual use. But the emphasis is on "little." For a guy who's used to the usual holding method of cradling a DSLR and working the zoom with my thumb and fingers, this feels really cramped, as the zoom ring is less than a half-inch wide.) One thing I was concerned about with the micro 4/3 system is the low-light/high-ISO performance as compared to full-frame (or even crop sensor) cameras. Again, so far, I am impressed. Olympus seems to do a great job with its jpeg processing, and files even up to ISO 2000 are quite usable. (I haven't even tried shooting RAW yet.) Another great feature of the EM-10 is the in-body stabilization. Just experimenting in my darkened living room, I captured a sharp image, handheld with a one-second (not a typo - one full second) exposure. I'm sure it was a bit lucky, but the best I can usually do with my expensive Nikon VR lenses is about 1/10 sec. As other reviewers here and elsewhere have mentioned, the Olympus menus are kind of confusing, but if you take the time to learn them (use your manual), there are a ton of customization options that will help you adapt the camera to your shooting style. Last, but not least, I am falling in love with the electronic viewfinder. The ability to see exactly what your final exposure will look like *before* you press the shutter button is a revelation. (Yes, DSLRs can do this through live-view, but most such implementations are clunky and handicap the camera's autofocus performance.) So now that I've decided this little camera is a keeper, I'm starting to look at higher quality Olympus and Panasonic lenses. The good news there is that the M 4/3 lenses are MUCH less expensive than their DSLR counterparts.