Olympus SEMA-1 Mic Adapter Set for Olympus E-PL1 Micro Four Third Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera

The SEMA-1 adapter is something that adds a feature that should have already be built into the E-P2 and E-PL1 - audio input. Even though the camera shoots fantastic video, the audio has always been lacking. With the SEMA-1, you can add audio using the included Olympus mic, or use any third party mic.

The increase in quality is astounding. If you want to record video in a windy environment, you'll want to upgrade to something with a wind cover, as the included mic isn't bad - but not great either. Ideally, the kit would come without a mic and drop in price because $67 is a little steep.

Of course, when the audio adapter is plugged in, you will lose access to the hot shoe - so you'll need to pick what is more important.

If you're shooting video on a PEN without this device, you've no doubt noticed the noise of focus and aperture adjustments. There's just no getting around that with the internal mic - if you're serious about video, you really have to have this thing.

There's not much to it: an adapter that sits on your hot shoe and uses the accessory port to add a mic port. The included mic itself is a dramatic improvement on the internal E-P2 mic, but it's still basically a freebie; the real reason this item is so important is that you can use any mic you desire, and situate it away from the camera. The kit includes an extension cable, and you'll see an immediate reduction in background noise if you decide to use it.

In addition, there's also a little alligator clip which attaches to the extension cable, so you can attach the mic to e.g. a person's clothing.

This accessory shares an annoying quality with the Olympus VF-2 Electronic ViewFinder, which is that it blocks the hot shoe from other use. That means that you won't be able to mount a light or the aforementioned VF2 while using this device, so you'd better be happy with the rear LCD and off-camera lighting when you use it.

I'm docking it a star because of this, and because it's silly that you need to buy this unit at all. While it does get the job done, the price is too high for functionality that really should be included in the body itself.

The microphone adapter is a great tool. Five stars on that.

I wish it could be had without the mic as well. It's not that the microphone is bad, but it's no better than the onboard one on any standard voice recorder.

For my purposes, I would have rather just bought the adapter by itself and used my own mic. Now I have more stuff sitting in my desk that I don't want to throw out, but probably won't ever find a use for.