Olympus E-PL3 with 14-42 Lens $199; Moving from Nikon to MFT?

I saw on 43rumors.com that the Olympus E-PL3 was being sold at Newegg for just $199 with the 14-42 kit lens included.  I checked it out and it was real.

The E-PL3 has been out since 2011.  It has a 12mp Micro 4/3 sensor.  DXO scored it only 499 for high ISO, just around one third of a stop better than the Sony RX100 (which measured 390), and about the same as the RX100 II (483).  Nothing to write home about for an MFT sensor.

 

However, note that the E-PL3 has a tilting LCD, built-in image stabilization, and face- and eye-detection autofocus.  It also has a hotshoe, though the sync speed is a miserable 1/160.

 

I've been curious abut the eye-detection AF of the E-M5 as reported by my friend MShafik, particularly in combination with a tilting LCD (as a waist-level finder) for street shooting.  At this price, this kit was just as inexpensive as a typical compact camera, so I figured in the worst case scenario it would be like a reasonably-priced compact camera with better high ISO capability than most compacts, albeit too large to be pocketable.  So yes I ordered one!  Will I end up migrating from full frame to MFT as MShafik did?  We'll see...

 

BTW I've bought from Newegg before, including two Fuji W3 cameras (one for myself and the other I gave to my brother) and I have no complaints about them.

 

Newegg's price is available only for the black color.  If you want the other colors, they are more expensive at Newegg.  OTOH Amazon has red or silver for around $250 (at least for now).  The white one's around $300.

 

FYI I'm not affiliated with Newegg and receive no commissions from them.  For the Amazon links here, we would receive a small commission at no cost to you.  As always, 100% of what we get will be donated to charity.  Thank you for your support.

EDIT: If you don't need a tilting LCD and would instead prefer a touchscreen, the Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42 II lens is currently available for $220 in silver or $229 in pink from Amazon or Amazon resellers.