Olympus is officially marketing the E-PL2 as a 'step-up' model from the E-PL1 rather than a replacement. However, experience tells us that in such scenarios the older model is likely, sooner or later, to vanish from retailers' shelves when stocks are depleted.

Having said that, despite both cameras featuring the same sensor unit, the differences between the E-PL1 and E-PL2 could just be significant enough to justify retaining both models side-by-side in the Olympus line-up. Some differences, like the modified control layout and the improved build quality, become immediately obvious when you pick up and use the cameras, but most of the new features are a little harder to spot. Here we have listed the most important ones: