Olympus E-P1

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 | 0 comments

After an intense media blitz about two weeks ago, it would seem that everyone is still quite lathered up about the new Olympus Pen.

As am I.

I’ve got to admit, it sounds like the folks at Olympus have really hit the nail on the head with their new little camera. The words versatile, stylish, and capable come to mind right away. There’s also something about the semi-retro look that is irresistible. Reminds me of the "real cameras" I used to see and play with as a child. I find myself inexplicably drawn to it like a moth to the flame. Techno lust at it’s finest.

For almost four years now, I’ve been looking for the perfect complimentary "small(er) camera". A camera that I could take with me when I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) lug a full blown SLR kit along. From reading endless pages of forum posts and speaking with other photographers in person, I can honestly say that probably 99% of my fellow SLR shooters have also been looking for this same type of camera. The holy grail of compacts. A camera you can feel comfortable leaving the house with, without having that sinking feeling of "Dammit, what if I come across something spectacular, and I miss capturing it because I’m using a dinky point and shoot?"

For a while, I settled with the Canon digital Elph point-n-shoots. I owned an SD400, SD600, SD800 etc etc.. Then I tried out the G9 for a year or two. Like all cameras, they had their faults and were all about compromise. My main gripes were the long shutter delays, high ISO noise, and all around image quality. Don’t get me wrong, they did their duty faithfully and were pretty darn good for point and shoots – more than enough to send snapshots of parties and vacations to friends & family or post on the web. But they’d never come close to what I could produce with my SLR’s. So I’ve been waiting, cautiously and compact-less for the better part of a year to see what kind of cameras materialized.

At first I considered the Canon G10, the Panasonic LX-3 and the Leica D-Lux 4. All fine cameras, all in roughly the same class but more of the same – point and shoot, point and shoot. The same problems I had encountered with their predecessors would obviously be apparent in them: shutter lag, high iso noise, and generally average image quality. So I heard about the E-P1, and my ears perked up. Here’s a camera that has a real shutter, a half frame sensor, and interchangeable lenses while keeping the size pretty close to the cameras mentioned above. So I read, and read, and then read some more. The only real downside to the camera that I could find was price, the basic kit with the 14-42mm lens will set you back $799. Eventually I ended up placing a pre-order at amazon.com, and my Pen is scheduled for delivery on Tuesday.

Now, I’m in no way claiming (or hoping) that the Pen will produce images that will ever rival my 5D. But I am expecting the half frame sensor on the E-P1 to afford me just a bit more dynamic range, much less noise, and a decent resolution to work with if I ever choose to print out the images I’ve captured with it. More than all of that though, I think the biggest selling points for me were the actual shutter and the interchangeable lenses. Granted, there aren’t a whole lot of micro four thirds lenses available at the moment, but with an adapter ring, you can use any of the regular four thirds lenses just fine. I’m really looking forward to Tuesday, and I’ll have to post some pictures and thoughts after it’s been out of the box for a few days. Here are some links for anyone who might be interested:

Mix and match the E-P1 with available lenses:

A quick rundown and some test shots:

A nice 14 minute video review: