E-P1 at Australian PMA

[Johnmcd]

Just got back from the PMA in Sydney Australia. I really went there for one reason and one reason only - to handle the new E-P1.

And I wasn't disappointed!

Olympus had a very large stand and I reckon at least half of it was devoted to the E-P1. In fact every rep had one around there neck. Mind you, none of them really had much idea about the camera itself.

My main mission was to see how it manually focused with an OM lens. None of the reps had any idea but they did have a E-P1 with a 50/1.8 attached in a show case along with an original Pen and they allowed me to use it.

With that lens on an using the LCD without magnifying, it was very easily evident when it was sharp just as it would be focusing with a matte screen and no split image aid on my old OM1. Couldn't try it outside, but inside it was VERY usable in my opinion. I found I could rotate the familiar OM lens and have it visually snap into focus on the screen and that was wide open.

Could not access any manual focus confirmation and the reps did not know.

But, for me, the most important question was it's usability with the OM adapter and I'm pretty happy because that is what I hope to use quite a bit.

Hope this helps. It was the buy or not buy test for me and it just cost me $1399 Aus 🙂

Cheers - John

 

[Avotius]

I never did understand how you could go to a show and the people showing off whatever most of the time know less about the thing in question then you do. One would think they would be slightly informed whate they were showing off besides how many megapixles it had and.....oh yeah...its small.

 

[__hh]

It was the buy or not buy test for me and it just cost me $1399 Aus 🙂

Cheers - John

What's the US retail price for this camera?

 

[Johnmcd]

What's the US retail price for this camera?

$799 US

Cheers - John

 

[Johnmcd]

I never did understand how you could go to a show and the people showing off whatever most of the time know less about the thing in question then you do. One would think they would be slightly informed whate they were showing off besides how many megapixles it had and.....oh yeah...its small.

Yes that was disappointing and VERY frustrating!

 

[Pickett Wilson]

To be fair, I doubt the folks working in exhibit booths at these things get many questions about using old lenses on these cameras. Olympus, despite the retro nod, is trying to sell a modern digital camera to the masses, not to a few people who want to put out of production OM lenses on them. So these exhibitors are unlikely to be trained in that aspect of the camera.

They should hire photo enthusiasts to man booths! 😉

 

[wongyboi]

I found indoor shots were very good and usable, handled the light pretty well. I was also frustrated with the focusing. Not a fan of going through menu's for manual control though but I must admit I was surprised by how well it handles. All shots were quite sharp from the LCD screen.

 

[1948nikon]

I never did understand how you could go to a show and the people showing off whatever most of the time know less about the thing in question then you do. One would think they would be slightly informed whate they were showing off besides how many megapixles it had and.....oh yeah...its small.

I guess that is just an indication of the times we are living in when the sales rep knows nothing about the product apart from market share and turnover rebates . Having sold Olympus for three different wholesalers over a period of forty years I can tell you we had to know every facet of operation of each and every model and still retain market share.
I also had the pleasure of spending a week with Yoshihisa Maitani on his trip to Australia for the release of the OM4.

 

[Trius]

I also had the pleasure of spending a week with Yoshihisa Maitani on his trip to Australia for the release of the OM4.

Please start a separate thread on this, and anything you know and care to discuss on Maitani. :angel:

 

[helen.HH]

CONGRATS John !!!
Please post some Pixs
and how much was the adapter for your OM lenses ?

BTW, I am LOVIN the OM1

Best to YOU - 🙂 Helen

 

[Johnmcd]

John, not wishing to rain on your parade as they say, but just genuinely interested, was that $1399 as a kit with a lens or not i.e. the same camera that sells for US$799 , i am thinking it would work out much cheaper to buy OS's if its the same camera/kit (about A$1000)

Chippy,

That was with kit lens and as you suggest, I will be probably buying from B&H rather than locally. Unfortunate for the local supplier but the price difference is just too great. I have bought from B&H before - $1600 for a Canon 300mm F4 rather than $2,200 for the same in Aus.

John

 

[Johnmcd]

CONGRATS John !!!
Please post some Pixs
and how much was the adapter for your OM lenses ?

BTW, I am LOVIN the OM1

Best to YOU - 🙂 Helen

Hi Helen!

Not sure how much the OM adapter is but I will purchase it with the camera. Not available yet for 2 weeks in Australia. But I'll probably go the B&H route.

Glad you're lov'n the OM1 - it was and always has been (except for my recent OM2) my only SLR since I was a teenager. Tha's why I'm so keen to get the lenses out again via the E-P1.

John

 

[Avotius]

Im sure Panasonic did not consider that so many people would be interested in using adapted lenses on their camera and yet thousands of adapters from dozens sources and sold out for months everywhere etc etc..... Olympus should have at least known about the manual focus magnification or at least as said in the beginning, they all had them around their necks and didnt really know anything about them...

I have a friend here who used to work for the people who published 3D studio max (whoever they were back then) and he had to go to companies and schools and give full presentations and such and such about every new thing and what not involved with the program. Can you imagine what it would have been like if he couldnt tell the difference between a skelagon and a hyper voxel and stood there just saying I dont know all the time?

How low the standard has become.

 

[gavinlg]

Im sure Panasonic did not consider that so many people would be interested in using adapted lenses on their camera and yet thousands of adapters from dozens sources and sold out for months everywhere etc etc..... Olympus should have at least known about the manual focus magnification or at least as said in the beginning, they all had them around their necks and didnt really know anything about them...

I have a friend here who used to work for the people who published 3D studio max (whoever they were back then) and he had to go to companies and schools and give full presentations and such and such about every new thing and what not involved with the program. Can you imagine what it would have been like if he couldnt tell the difference between a skelagon and a hyper voxel and stood there just saying I dont know all the time?

How low the standard has become.

Without trying to insult Australia, I've found sales guys down here are somewhat out of the loop with a)the rest of the world and b)product knowledge - that goes for a lot of stuff - even luxury cars. There are a few very good Olympus reps here but the rest are just sales reps with no knowledge or interest.