Olympus PEN E-P1 12 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera

I purchased this camera back in July of 2011 in preparation for a a family trip to Sicily. I knew I had made the right choice when people started commenting on the first photos I posted to my blogs. While their are more capable — and more expensive — cameras you can buy, the balance of price vs. quality in the EP-1 is great. The optics and depth of field alone dramatically improve the quality of your photos above a typical point-and-shoot camera.

The Auto mode of the camera allows anyone to pick it up and use it, but with program modes, and even full manual, settings, you can begin to experiment with all the settings of the camera to take dramatic photos. I also use the camera to shoot video for my YouTube/Podcast series. It only shoots 720p video, not 1080p, but the superior optics make it the best 720p possible.

You can see many example of the photos I have taken with the camera — and videos, too — by checking out any of my blogs at DouglasEWelch.com.

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
2. Bulb Planting Tools
3. Blue Snowball Microphone
4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
11. Moleskeine Journals
12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
16. The $64 Tomato
17. Blue Yeti Microphone
18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
20. The Curious Gardener
21. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
22. GoPro HD HERO 3
23. Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
24. The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
25. Microphone Boom Arms
26. The Information by James Gleick
27. Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them (1909)
28. Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas
29. Apple iPhone 5
30. Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
31. Killer Ratings by Lisa Seidman
32. Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon
33. Zoom Portable Recorders (H1, H2, H2n, H4n)
34. Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
35. My Teenager’s Favorite Games
36. The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness
37. In a Mexican Garden: courtyards, pools and open-air living rooms
38. Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it
39. Apple iPad/iPad Mini
40. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
41. Cucina Rustica
42. The Great Potato Book
43. Rode Podcaster Microphone
44. High-Tech Fitness Monitors
45. Books by Douglas E. Welch
46. Tribes by Seth Godin
47. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
48. The Italian Slow Cooker cookbook
49. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need
50. Classes from The Institute of Domestic Technology