I took my new toy (discussed in yesterday's PAD shot) out for its first out of doors excursion today. Some other E-P1 owners look wistfully at the 17mm (34mm equivalent) f/2.8 prime lens, known colloquially as the "pancake" for its shape. I almost feel guilty that my package, one of the last of the E-P1's available, was a twin lens kit which included that one along with the standard 14-42 lens.

Almost.

The exposure is rather darker than I'm used to with the Canons, but the result is certainly acceptable. I'm glad that I didn't go for the cheaper option of the E-PL1, because based on my experience with my Olympus mju the constant searching for menu items would have driven me around the twist. I find the E-P1's controls to be extremely easy to use and very intuitive.

The pancakes weren't specifically in honour of the Olympus' lens. I regularly have them (though I leave the cream and ice cream to one side!) as a poor substitute for being in British Columbia or Alberta. Or Saskatchewan. (Yes, I know that there's supposedly nothing there (aside from wheat), but I really want to visit a place named "Saskatchewan".) Alas, my assistant has resigned and I won't have full time backup for the remaining year before the system that I run is phased out, which means that I won't be able to take more than a couple of days off at a time. Consequently Canada is looking increasingly far away.

My PAD gallery, on the other hand, is showing signs of life again.