  The ensemble Kalman inversion is widely used in practice to estimate unknown
parameters from noisy measurement data. Its low computational costs,
straightforward implementation, and non-intrusive nature makes the method
appealing in various areas of application. We present a complete analysis of
the ensemble Kalman inversion with perturbed observations for a fixed ensemble
size when applied to linear inverse problems. The well-posedness and
convergence results are based on the continuous time scaling limits of the
method. The resulting coupled system of stochastic differential equations
allows to derive estimates on the long-time behaviour and provides insights
into the convergence properties of the ensemble Kalman inversion. We view the
method as a derivative free optimization method for the least-squares misfit
functional, which opens up the perspective to use the method in various areas
of applications such as imaging, groundwater flow problems, biological problems
as well as in the context of the training of neural networks.
