Mirrorless Four Thirds Cameras...any Opinions?

I get on well with the E-PL5, I've been using it for some time and I like the convenience of the small body size and of course the smaller lens sizes. I'm not keen on lcd displays on cameras in general, I always feel I can hold the camera steadier with a conventional viewfinder so I use the addon viewfinder.
My favorite lens is the 60mm f2.8 as its a good macro lens and idea for flowers but I also have the 75-300mm, 9-16mm and a 17mm f1.8 plus the kit lens, all of which I can carry without much effort
My only criticism of this model is its lack of built in flash, it has to be fitted in place of the viewfinder, I'm not sure if this applies to all the Pen models or just this one

I'm using Panasonic; a GH2 and I recently got a GX7. I also have 8mm, 14,20,45,60,45-175,100-300. I haven't regretted switching over; I can get all this in a pretty small bag, and my back is thNking me. Image quality is great - although you can't print the largest images, I'm happy with what I can print. The largest I've printed is a 16x32 canvas, and its great, and someone ordered a 20x30 canvas from FAA.. I haven't seen it, but someone in Australia contacted a printer there, and made a 48" wide acrylic of one of my photos. (They found the image here on FAA).

I should add the 45mm is my favorite lens.

I don't believe that m4/3 cameras are available beyond 16 MP. I'm perhaps the one remaining person on the planet still making money while shooting with the true 4/3 system cameras, I know I am in this area anyway.

I shot stock with a M 4/3s for two years before upgrading to a full frame. I sell shots from my Panasonic G3 on this site all the time. The G3 is/was a mid range camera. Stick to the primes for the best results. Sell off the kit lens.

The 20mm provide a great normal lens and the over all size of the system is tiny. Only problem I had was the camera was too small for my hands.

The size and weight difference is amazing. You can fit the body and a few lenses in the space of just a full frame body with 35mm.

Thank you, gentlemen. Some interesting feedback there. Many, many years ago I used to use mainly Honeywell Pentax equipment - but got involved with the Oly Pen FT - half frame cameras. I loved that camera because I could carry one nearly all the time. I had a prime "normal" lens and a fairly long tele. I was - and still am - a fan of quality prime lenses.

That's what is attracting my interest about the M4/3s. The size and quality combination. My daughter b/f bought her a Nikon 1 J1 for Christmas a year ago and I've been impressed with that camera. However, it has one of the smaller sensors for a compact system and that leads me to believe the Oly, Panasonic (and the like) genre has better quality.

My former experience with the old half frame Oly's has me looking at that brand. So I'll listen (read) anything y'all have to say and keep on with some research.

Does anyone have experience with adapting full size lenses to these cameras?

If you've still got the old OM lenses around you can get adapters for the m4/3 system, as well as adapters for the true 4/3 to m4/3 thru pretty much any online camera store. Olympus makes several of their own for the 4/3 to m4/3, but there are also secondary market adapters I believe.

With a suitable adapter you can put virtually any lens on a m43 system (of course without autofocus and manual aperture). Focus peaking in the newer cameras helps with focus of manual lenses. Apparently Olympus is going to upgrade the em5 shortly and incorporate sensor shift technology to increases resolution significantly (the rumor sites say 40mp equivalent). Interesting times.

For a small camera my next purchase is a FujiFilm x100T. I'm looking for a no nonsense camera that won't get in the way of the photography. The x100t has a fixed lens, larger sensor than M 4/3, manual dials like old rangefinders.

....

Putting a full frame lens on a small camera defeats the size and weight advantage. A big advantage of the smaller camera is the glass is smaller thus the lenses are inexpensive.

"Putting a full frame lens on a small camera defeats the purpose of the size and weight advantage."
True, that.

That x100T looks quite interesting and has some impressive specs. But I think I still want the option of using a couple different lenses.

I have an x100s and its my carry around camera... about half my uploaded photos have been taken with it... I think the sensor is the same between it and the x100t... its a great camera...

Part of the appeal of the x100 is the lack of other lens (although there are a couple). Instead of fumbling around in the camera bag, or juggling lenses, you get the shot.

I bought mine after going on vacation with the family and taking my dslr with me... It was nice having options but it was one more thing to lug around...

I now have a much smaller camera bag the holds the x100s, external flash, small mini tripod, remote shutter release, two extra batteries, charger, some filters and wireless flash stuff... its my man purse...

I have been tempted in the past with a Four thirds, mirrorless camera, but until they can match a full frame and I can attach my lenses I already have, I will hold out.

I have been enjoying a Sony NEX6. It has a aps-c sensor not 4/3s and is 16mb. The newer Sony a6000 has a 24 mb aps-c sensor. I ordered the Sony/Zeiss 16-70 lens and find it makes a good walk around combo for me.

I appreciate all of the information. I like the idea of "portability" and can often get by with just one lens on my Nikon (dx) DSLR - with a preference being the 35mm f1.8 prime. But I also like the (very) wide angle available with my Sigma 10-20 and sometimes the "reach" of a tele zoom.

With all that said, I just pulled the trigger on an ebay deal for an Oly Four thirds. It's only 12.3 MP (But I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my old D50's 6.1MP over the years). The reason I'm trying this as my first MFT is because it comes with a complete underwater housing. That is something for which I have seen a need - but never enough of a need to shell out the $$$. This housing is part of the "deal" - which was priced only slightly more that just the camera (in other ebay auctions).

I should know by next weekend if the deal was a good one. heh

I don't plan to shoot underwater. However, one of my two main niches (where I've been successfully selling prints) is the Delaware and Maryland coast and resort towns. I can envision getting shots on the beach in the edge of the surf (shooting from under the curl - maybe) and even during coastal storms - without risking an expensive piece of equipment.

I'll post again once I see what I've actually bought and have given it a try, although not in the surf at this time of year. Last year I did do some shots on the Ocean City Boardwalk during a couple of nasty coastal storms.