Olympus PEN E-P1 link

[dazedgonebye]

dpreview about the e-p1: 121mm (W) x 70mm (H) x 36mm (D) 4.7" x 2.7" x 1.4"
dpreview about the g-10: 109 x 78 x 46 mm (4.3 x 3.1 x 1.8 in)
dpreview about the A590is:94 x 65 x 41 mm (3.7 x 2.6 x 1.6 in

I am actually using the A590is, and waiting to see the "G-11" as the 10 doesn't satisfy me enough to justify the buck (this is purely personal), although in terms of size the G-10 is the maximum I would go, and otherwise wait.

So, the E-P1 is smaller in 2 out of 3 dimensions. Is it too big for your needs?

 

[mfunnell]

T.O.P. has two posts on this:

http://theonlinephotographer.typepa...us-e-p1-digital-pen-officially-announced.html

http://theonlinephotographer.typepa...her/2009/06/the-olympus-ep1-briefly-held.html

The first from Mike J. and the 2nd from Eamon Hickey. An important (to me) quotation from the 2nd :

My time with the camera was too limited to say anything concrete about the autofocus system, except that it was not obviously slow in any way. More testing definitely needed there.

...Mike

 

[shadowfox]

Part of me wants one NOW!! and part of me wonders if the image quality and functionality will be noticably better cf say the Pana LX3 or Canon G10. Would be nice tu use Leica glass on it though.

I have a Pana LX3 and the Oly E-620. Their sensors are different by the magnitude of 1:4 if not more. Sort of like 35mm "full-frame" compared to a 6x4.5 Medium format negative.

The biggest difference is in the Depth of Field control. I can have shallow or not-shallow (deep?) on the E-620 for non-macro shots. I can't with the LX3.

The E-620 also has a noticably higher dynamic range than LX3.

For those who are wondering why am I keep using the E-620 for this comparison, it has the same sensor (more or less) as the new E-P1.

 

[Al Patterson]

T.O.P. has two posts on this:

http://theonlinephotographer.typepa...us-e-p1-digital-pen-officially-announced.html

http://theonlinephotographer.typepa...her/2009/06/the-olympus-ep1-briefly-held.html

The first from Mike J. and the 2nd from Eamon Hickey. An important (to me) quotation from the 2nd :



...Mike

I'm getting "web page unavailable" for both of those. I'll try later.

While this may not be exactly what many are looking at, it is a move in a very interesting direction.

 

[250swb]

I have a Pana LX3 and the Oly E-620. Their sensors are different by the magnitude of 1:4 if not more. Sort of like 35mm "full-frame" compared to a 6x4.5 Medium format negative.

The biggest difference is in the Depth of Field control. I can have shallow or not-shallow (deep?) on the E-620 for non-macro shots. I can't with the LX3.

The E-620 also has a noticably higher dynamic range than LX3.

For those who are wondering why am I keep using the E-620 for this comparison, it has the same sensor (more or less) as the new E-P1.

Agreed. I use the Panasonic G1 for much work, and which again has essentially the same sensor as the E-P1, and it is head and shoulders above my Canon G10. The G10 has great image quality, for a P&S, but the G1 is right up there with the best DSLR's and there is simply no sense in worrying about the IQ of the E-P1, especially as Olympus don't make bad lenses.

Steve

 

[sirius]

Here are some videos from the camera!

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0906/09061602ep1movies.asp

This camera is giving me a bad case of G.A.S. The worst thing about instant gratification is not getting it.

 

[Tuolumne]

This looks like the direction Leica should have gone in for digital.

/T

 

[photogdave]

If it had a similar EVF to the G1 wedged into the side like a Leica that would be cool.
If it took film it would be even cooler!

 

[sirius]

Here are some test shots...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/realityscans/sets/72157619834252102/

It's looks like a nice size in the hands...

Ha ha, Kudos to Olympus for a brilliant marketing campaign...

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Yeah, the guy really looks cool there holding the camera out 2 ft from his face and squinting trying to see the LCD in the sunlight. 😉

 

[urban_alchemist]

Am I the only one that quite likes the white?!?

 

[RayPA]

I don't know. It looks cool. It has some nice features (in-body IS, etc.). I love the Pen design, but the lack of a VF or an EVF or an articulated LCD is a tough line to cross for me.

oly site

 

[shadowfox]

Yeah, the guy really looks cool there holding the camera out 2 ft from his face and squinting trying to see the LCD in the sunlight. 😉

Really?? wow, I didn't know that photography is all about looking cool.

I thought it's about making cool images 😉

 

[reala_fan]

The IQ from the new Olympus looks good. The engineers said they improved the Image processor and were able to use an a 'less strong' AA filter as a result.

Good.

But, I must have an EVF. I want an EVF as good as the one in my Konica-Minolta A2, which was 1 mega pixels. It was a real pleasure using that EVF. I was astounded when there was no progression in the march of the EVF. No one made a 2 or 3 million pixel EVF...

The EVF, once gotten used to....is a heck of a nice feauture to have. All the info, the composition grids, the 2 or 3 second playback without removing your eye...all really wonderful.

I will wait to see what the next OLY brings and I will be watching the upcoming Samsung NX series as well.

I love my EVF cams from 2004 - the OLY C-8080WZ and the K-M A2 with 28~200 with manual zoom ring.

Most of the A2's are failing now, (as mine has) due to the movable EVF, it wears out a thin flat cable that connects the EVF to the main innards.

Sony wants too much to fix.

Olympus - if your reading...Premium EVF...Premium EVF...Premium EVF...

 

[mfunnell]

But, I must have an EVF.

And I must have an optical viewfinder. Somebody else must have a tilt/swivel LCD.

It sure can't be easy being a camera maker, especially when trying to set out a new type of camera where there appear to be no "generally accepted parameters" for a market segment (or segments?) that's not yet established. While I'm unlikely to buy any of 'em just yet, I'm happy at the recent release of the non-SLR Sigmas and Panasonics and now Olympus with large(r) sensors. (Of course I'm also glad of the Epson and Leica DRFs and even, if I recall correctly, a now-defunct Sony with APS-C sensor and EVF.)

Perhaps with a bit of R&D and market-research by product release we will all end up with a bunch of cool cameras to use.

...Mike

 

[jke]

For those who are wondering why am I keep using the E-620 for this comparison, it has the same sensor (more or less) as the new E-P1.

Evidently, according to DPreview, it has more than just a similar sensor.

The E-P1 is, essentially, an Olympus E-620 (and by extension an E-30 in most respects) crowbarred into a compact, rangefinder-style body. Aside from the changes necessitated by the removal of the mirror and optical viewfinder - and a slight firmware upgrade (for new live view features, improved image processing) it is as fully fledged as any mid-range SLR. This is quite an achievement.

The images look pretty terrific at 100ISO. I'm not so concerned by the absence of an EVF. If I want one, I'll buy a Panasonic G1. If I don't care, then I'll look at this camera. The sort of shooting I'd do with this camera is all about superwides anyway, so scale focusing is plenty of control. AF for anything else.

 

[ZeissFan]

No kidding. Trying to satisfy every little whiny SOB. That's a hopeless task.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Are there any superwides for this camera?

 

[Smack]

Are there any superwides for this camera?

Panasonic makes a Micro FT 7 – 14 mm / F4.0 (14-28mm).

Regards,

Steve

 

[Tom Diaz]

Sweet! This camera looks amazing!!! Any word on prices in North America?

I was just about to sell my lovely 28mm f2 OM lens because I wasn't using it. You can buy an adapter for this camera!!

Yeah, the dpreview article has prices at the end, and B&H already has several of the kits listed. For instance, body only for $750 and kit with 17mm and viewfinder and body for $900.

I'm very impressed. I admit I wish it had an EVF like my Panasonic G1. However, it has in-camera image stabilization. So, I can use my Leica lenses on it and get IS.

My G1 does a wonderful job with manual focusing with a maginified image on the EVF. I hope the E-P1 has a similarly good, or better, system, because the arms-length live view thing will not be the greatest. However, the IS may make up for some of that inconvenience.

Maybe a later Olympus model will have an EVF, but I'm not likely to wait for that.