OK, enough talking.
Let’s go and take some pictures with this little beauty and tell you what’s good, and what’s not.

So, I started off using the PEN, from the point of view of a eager, entry-level DSLR shopper. That meant rotating the top dial to iAuto, and letting the camera take care of everything. That means the the automatic scene recognition feature, and the iEnhance feature, which takes care of colour and contrast zhoozsh-ing, to deliver crisp, punchy images. Settings junkies, don’t despair. Even in this mode, there’s the excellent Live Guide, which is a really simple, easily-operated adjustments dialog, available.

First up, there was a “First swim of Summer” event going on at a local beach, so the little Olympus got straight into the action. The controls and LCD were immediately notable for their clarity and speed, and ease of use. Even the slide-switch-and-rotate-until-it-clicks lens-parking mechanism only took one or two tries before it seemed quite natural. LCD brightness was great, even in bright sunlight. The only mild irritant, was the (really handy) shoot-video-now button, which conspires to be under your right thumb, in a natural grip, making it all too easy to hit by mistake. On the plus side, there is NO argument. Press that button, and BOOM! Video time. Great if you feel the need to switch to video quickly to catch a moment in HD. Here’s a sample:

Now onto some stills, taken during the review period. The camera handles comfortably, even if you’re used to a DSLR with a viewfinder. The Live Guide is always right there for an adjustment or two, and even the shutter sound has a solid, satisfying timbre.

Some example pics:

In summary then, has Olympus done enough? Cut smartly enough? Used in this mode, as an alternative to an entry level DSLR, yes please. Well recommended.