I have had this E-PM2 for a month, and I’ve taken a few hundred pictures with it.
I think that Olympus started out with some great ideas when they designed and built the E-PM2. There are improvements over the E-PM1, and the camera takes great pictures.
There are numerous problems, though, which significantly sour the experience of using it.
The camera takes great pictures by itself, with just a press of the shutter.
The 7 X 5 grid on the touch-screen is very useful for choosing where in a picture you want the focus to be. I have often told the camera to change what it’s focusing on, and it complies immediately, with perfect results. Perhaps the best part of this touch-screen on-the-fly focusing is during movie recording. You can actually change the focus while the movie is being shot, making intimate conversations or near-far adjustments quick and easy. During movie recording, the focus change is done over a second or so, making a professional-looking change that looks great when played back.
That said, there are design flaws and oversights that make the camera frustrating to use.
The screen on the E-PM2 is even more vulnerable than the E-PM1’s screen. If the camera is laid down on its back, it is laying on the screen. This allows for scratching and other damage. There is no surrounding frame to lift the screen off a surface. Even a protective film would come loose quickly, because there is no way to protect the edge from being peeled up through everyday use. This is poor design. At this price, this isn’t a throw-away camera, even if it is aimed at an entry-level novice market.
Documentation is sparse – there are few or no directions on how to navigate through the menu system to get to many desired settings. For instance, I had to call customer service to find out how to use the “bulb” function, because it was mentioned briefly on one page in the owner’s manual. (It involves getting into the “gear” settings and turning the feature on.)
The camera’s screen has brighter “gamma” than the included computer software; once a picture is loaded onto the computer, some areas appear very dark which were full of color and detail on the camera’s screen. To correct this, “gamma” has to be increased by 2.5 or more, and then the image is still washed out compared to the way it looked on the camera’s screen.
If the optional electronic viewfinder is used on the camera, then a flash cannot be used in any way, because the viewfinder covers over the hot shoe. Since the viewfinder gets its signal and power from the accessory port, it would be nice if Olympus would put a pass-through hot shoe on top of the electronic viewfinder. That would solve this significant design flaw.
The optional remote control cable is less than 3 feet long. For a long exposure, you’ll have to stand beside the camera – there’s no length to sit down with. That is just disappointing.
Olympus wants outrageous amounts of money for these accessories. Talk about short-changing the customer. It would be nice if Olympus would release the technical specs of its “accessory port” so that third parties could sell accessories for a fourth what Olympus charges.
The camera is pretty good for its price, but the documentation is sparse at best, and the necessary accessories are priced to gouge the customer. Make a list of all the parts you’ll need, and take the time to compare prices with other brands. The other guys’ total package may cost less.

i just bought e-pm2 3 days ago...from just browsing to olympus.com .....within 3 days, i can operate the camera with ease....shooting here and there, from ordinary objects to moving high objects, the results.."its superb"....i'm very proud the show it with my friends who has the big ones cameras, DLSR....although my is smaller than them, the verdict their impress that my e-pm2 can level up with them.....specially the color of the pictures and touch screen mode....wow amazing....I'm very very happy, and frankly speaking I know, I bought the right camera for me!, and planning to buy more accessories ....

We bought this camera to replace an awful point and shoot and it is wonderful. I have no photography experience but I wanted to get professional looking results in an easy to use camera. That's what I got. The images look amazing and I am just using the auto setting. Love the art filters! Love the sequential shooting! I am very happy to have paid $500 for a camera that allows me to take beautiful shots of my young kids. Worth every penny.

The camera should ONLY be shot from the screen to avoid camera shake. You don't even have to tap the screen, it will fire with the slightest touch. My main gripe is that you have to re-do the changes to sharpness or brightness if you turn the camera on and off. But it is a minor annoyance compared to the fine pix it takes with any of its kit lenses, including the 14-42. But I have not had the pancake 15mm off the camera in a week. I shoot it on pinhole and put it out there in the rain and then duck it back into my coat.

The multiple shot feature on hi is blazingly fast. The artistic modes work like a charm. I really love the thing and never leave home without it draped around my neck. I just finished a portrait of my uncle who is 92 and my aunt that will be a family treasure. Hand held, natural light. The camera will outshoot anything under double its price.

I have had this camera for about a month and, so far, I'm very impressed! The size is just right, the features are great and the pictures are amazing. The touch screen shutter is fantastic. I thought I would miss a built-in flash (I don't) and a wheel to access shooting modes (i don't) but the included flash works very well and the touch screen is very responsive. Overall, an excellent camera for the money. Great for amateurs moving up to the micro four thirds format. The package lens works well and I added a telephoto that is terrific. Would not hesitate to recommend this camera!

I think this is one fine camera...I have been shooting with Nikon DSLR's over the past few years and in many ways this camera is equal to or better...in many cases better...especially quick focusing and the touch focus and shutter are amazing...sometimes the tracking works and other times not...but I use this to shoot indoor amateur ice hockey with great results...I use the 75 mm 1.8 and the 45 1.8...both really nice lenses...and once the SCP is set up this camera handles almost as fast as a full featured DSLR...I am a man with small pudgy hands and I like how this feels in my hand...also I have been shooting some in high ISO 2500 - 3200 and the detail in the images is still very good...the kit lens is none too shabby either...for a kit lens especially stopped down it is pretty sharp...I don't always use the image stabilization but when I do my images are coming out pretty sharp at 1/15th of a second...I could go on and on...but I won't...but there is a video on youtube that shows how to set up the super control panel...set that up and I feel this camera will amaze you

This is my SECOND Olympus PEN in less than a year. I was a LONG TIME Nikon user since the F3 in 1982. I have owned the F4, FG, EM, EM3, F100, N80, D2x, D200. With children it became difficult to carry a large SLR, smaller Nikons D3100, and D3200 started putting out awesome picture quality. But the last draw was traveling with children in a foreign country carrying the tiniest Nikon D3200 and 18-200 vr it still felt HUGE and HEAVY.

But luckily I had bought my Wife an E-P3 for Valentines Day, OLYMPUS SAVES THE DAY, and I carried it around allover Cancun.

The ONLY problem I had with the E-P3 was using it beyond iso 800 noise. I LOVE street photography and with the Lumix 20mm f/1.7 it was great until nightfall.

And then came the E-PL5 and E-PM2. I love the mode dial and the tilt screen of the E-PL5 but did have the $ at the time.

But I don't regret the little Pen Mini E-PM2. As a camera it is more of an iPhone than an OM-1 or F3! It is a different experience, but am use to it from using my iPhone, same super sensitive touch screen. The image quality is phenomenal, BETTER than my D200, and D3100. The color saturation is better than my D3200, and Dynamic Range is better than any Canon I've ever seen. Super quick AF, and love the touch auto focus. And it's TINY, awesome at iso 1600, and still usable at iso 3200. I love using it with my Wi-Fi memory card, and sharing photos on Flikr and Facebook before getting home!

My wife and I purchased the E-PM2 as a Christmas present to each other in early December. We had seen the commercial on TV, and we investigated further. Everything we read was good. We decided to purchase strongly based on our history with both Olympus film and digital SLRs. We didn't open the package until Christmas morning. After reading the very limited instruction book which allowed me to set the basic system up. It then advised to just shoot iAuto until I was familiar with the camera operations. All I have to do is push several buttons and the camera takes over, but I digress.

There were several references to a Super Control Panel, but absolutely, not instructions as to where it could be accessed. I also learned the the "Semi-Complete" Instruction Book was located on the accompanying CD. For me that means sitting at my computer reading a manual, so I can learn to use the more interesting camera operations. I chose to go to Staples to have the book printed and bound, so I could sit anywhere reading the manual with the camera actually in my hands while learning. After three days of reading the manual, I finally had to call Olympus Technical Support to get an answer as to how to access the Super Control Panel. It's an area sadly lacking in the basic setup manual.

The camera is really very full featured. There are far too many "howevers" for me to give it anywhere near a passing grade. First is the lack of an included optical eye level viewfinder. I have grandchildren and, I find it difficult to follow any action while holding the camera in front of my face effectively blinding me to what's happening except through a small image.

The touch screen is very, very responsive, however, my finger tips are not small enough to easily touch the correct icon on the screen to use it. When I use the swipe function to review images, 3 to 4 frames slide by instead of a single. Fortunately, the <> function on the manual control wheel functions as expected. Same goes for the zoom function. More often the not the image slides forward or backwards, so I rotate the wheel once again.

Shooting in the manual mode is my last and greatest issue. It's the way I use any camera. Once I set all the parameters on the Super Control Panel, it is very difficult to change either the shutter speed or f/stop easily. Even after a great deal of practice using the Control Dial, which is "mini," I can't change either on the first try.

I can't say much about the HD capability because I've only tried it once. Still waiting to decide whether we want to spend the money to buy yet another connecting cable. The only video I shot was some fireworks at New Years. An optical eye level viewfinder would have helped enormously. I got about 7 seconds of good image out of a total of 47.

For the techno geek this might be a fine camera, but to anyone with an extensive photographic background it's little more then a novelty. This is the first Olympus camera we have owned that is a disppointment.