Throwback Thursday: Olympus E-P1

It's rare that I'm disappointed by a camera - but this one managed to do it - quickly. The slow focus, the wobbly collapsible lens, the lack of a built in flash, made me quickly realize it was more about being retro than revolutionary. They were playing the "Pen" card too hard. Panasonic did MFT better. There was no retro baggage. That was the end of Olympus for me. Several cameras later I have a GX7. It's what the EP-1 should have been.

I got this camera in 2012, ex-demo for about €180. I decided to buy it for those moments when I really could not take my big heavy DSLR. I considered it 'better than a point and shoot' but no match for my DSLR. It was only in 2015 (3 years after purchasing it and 6 years after release) that I realised its potential after a tour in Norway. The RAW files are really workable and JPGs have a certain look.

Trip in Norway: https://flic.kr/s/aHskjwzPUS

It was the kick-off into M43 land. Soon the EM5 and a couple of primes followed...

This was a very exciting time in camera development. The long development and prototypes for Micro Four Thirds, the promise of high quality images and video in a camera 'you could carry in a jacket pocket', and finally the release of the first cameras. I was all agog when I took photos of it at the Sydney PMA show in 2009. Fun times. Now I don't carry a huge DSLR any more, just a tiny Panasonic GM1 and a prime or two, and a Panasonic LX7.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/archiver/3696201178/in/album-72157620650855624/

I really enjoyed my EP-1 (bought at a great discount sale), but upgraded to the EP-3.
The EP-1 was sold to a friend whose18 year old daughter quickly took 'ownership' as she preferred it much to her Nikon entry level DSLR (a D3200 as far as I remember).
She found it much handier and really loved the JPEG's.
My friend still uses it quite a lot.
My EP-3 on the other hand is collecting dust a the moment

Almost bought an EP1 back in the day. Almost. I could see the potential, but I didn't like the lack of native optics and the camera felt like a "work-in-progress" (AF in particular), like many mirrorless upstarts BTW. I went for the DSLR E620 from the same company released the same year, seemed more well-rounded and you had plenty of glass to choose from.

While I did use it for many years, DSLRs like the E620 soon ceased to be in production and m43 like EP1 continued to be perfected with each new model. The EPL1 in 2010 (which I did get) felt like they were starting to get it right. I also bought an EP3 two years later. Finally settled on an OMD EM5II in 2015. Plenty of glass too. There are still areas they can improve upon, but overall, I like the system.

I still have mine, and it works flawlessly. Still enjoy the jpegs, and the raws can shine as long as you don't clip the highlights, which can happen quite easily. It's patched up with tape and sugru, but it works;)

I must have been the first (or one of the first few) to buy an E-1 in Australia and similarly the E-P1. I still have both and they both work fine.

Also my first mirrorless camera. Since I mostly shoot landscapes, focusing speed was never an issue and Firmware 1.4 took care of most of my other complaints. Best part, I managed to score three brand new bodies on blowout sales from $149 to $175. I still find image quality excellent, and one or more of them usually accompany me on hikes, or when riding a motorcycle. Downside is that I usually have one of my Panasonic/Leica lenses mounted which would be a far more costly accident loss than the camera itself.

My first mirrorless, I was deep into 4/3 when it was released and bought it for two specific tasks: my Leica D Summilux 25mm f/1.4 didn't focus reliably on my 4/3 bodies, but CDAF was always perfect with it; and I was getting into old, manual-focus lenses, and felt that the larger screen was easier to use than the optical viewfinder. I did a fair bit of street walking with the camera and enjoyed it. Still preferred my much larger E-3 for general usage, but the E-P1 had its place.

After just having become a happy owner of the Olympus E-30 DSLR in April 2009, I had the chance to attend a small Olympus event where not only most of the Four Thirds lenses and accessories were available to try out, but also one of the first E-P1 production samples was shown.

As I had already been underwhelmed, to say the least, by what I already knew from announcements and reports, I wasn't really disappointed—I just found my next-to-zero expectations confirmed.

Compared to the E-30, the E-P1 was an expensive toy, a too-big-to-be-compact plastic body wrapped in tin, no viewfinder, no swivel-tilt display, with a cheap-looking plastic toy lens, mediocre AF and a sensor that had already been slightly sub-standard half a year earlier when the E-30 had been announced—the only thing I would have liked to be better in the otherwise great DSLR at the time.

[cont'd]

First mirrorless camera here, too. Really enjoyed using the E-P1, but then again, I'm not a sports or action shooter. It churned out plenty of awesome photos, and was great for traveling and road trips. You just had to be prepared ahead of time with a couple of charged spare batteries!

Small correction - the E-P1 was not ".... the second MFT camera on the market...", but the third. Panasonic introduced the G1 in 2008, and followed with the GH1 video-capable version in 1Q 2009. I remember this clearly because I attended the PMA show in Las Vegas early that year with my G1, and played with the GH1 and its "HD" video superzoom (th original 14-140 Mk 1 lens). At that point, the Olympus camera was an untouchable mock-up in a glass case.

The "rangefinder-styled" E-P1 came in the summer, and Panasonic's GF1 in that shape about 3 months later - both unfortunately still lacking a built-in EVF, but both very appealing to people who didn't resonate with "mini-SLR" styling.

Never had the Olympus PEN E-P1, but added the successor PEN E-P2 to my digitalcamera collection. Enjoy my big report about the PEN E-P2 containing a lot of Olympus PEN stuff, even some analog PENs. Please use Google Translate.

https://www.digicammuseum.de/geschichten/erfahrungsberichte/olympus-dslm-pen-ep2/

I even took the E-P2 beside my Nikon D800 to the grand opening of the exhibition: „Finding the Unexpected“ – Sam Shaw – 60 Jahre Fotografie“. Sam Shaw was the photographer who shot the iconic Marilyn Monroe Photo 1955 as Marilyn stood right over the ventilation shaft of the New York subway letting her white plissé cloth fly.

The simple EP1 appeals in much the same way as simple cameras always have, sometimes less is more. That is why the design is still loved and admired to this day. Just put in a nicer sensor into the same body and re-sell it. Keep it paired down to basics, much in the same way as rangefinder philosophy. There are plenty of photographers that want a simple no frills camera without a ton of distractions that gets you involved in the photographic process that much more. Do it Olympus, less is more.

I still use my E-P1.
It's old tech and slow AF, but the files are gorgeous until ISO400.
With the 45mmf/1.8, it's still an excellent portrait camera, thanks to its beautiful jpeg colors (IMHO, unrivalled by modern m4/3).
E-P1 and E-M5 were the two "milestones" of m4/3.

I still have my EP1 but rarely use it. It's funny how perceptions change. When I got it, it felt genuinely tiny. Now, after using an EM1 for a few years, the EP1 feels heavier than expected. The EP1 is nice and compact though and the build quality is nice.

The screen options were frustrating, menu less of a hassle than the EM1 but maybe more than the E3 I had at the same time. It did autofocus my 4/3 lenses, though terribly! Much quicker and quieter with m4/3 lenses.

The thing that absolutely killed it for me was a feature it didn't have. No (proper) viewfinder! There were times of utter frustration because of that. Never again. (I still have the totally inaccurate and therefore useless VF1. Even that only worked at one little-used focal length.)

It's a shame. The EP1 is a camera which feels nice and you want to use it but, ultimately, it just wasn't that easy to use. A trick missed there.

One of the worst cameras ever made. All style no function. Thank heaven it is in the rear view mirror.

It was a visionnary camera !! Offered so many new technologies !

I got one.. and for me it was faboulous.. A true liberation after lugging around the heavy outfit of the Canon EOS 5D..

Apart of the weight, I enjoyed the electronic VF a lot immédiately..

Obviously, I was a slow shooter. And didn't need a fast AF.

my first mirrorless.... always dear to my heart

a beautiful machine .... far from perfect ... but great

everyone who saw the silver version was mesmerized by its form and metallic beauty

http://www.kenrockwell.com/olympus/e-p1.htm

kens gushing but honest review

Despite some its shortcomings the EP-1 was a game changer for me. I picked one up at the last minute before an Appalachian Trail hike. It quickly became the family camera soon after. We still use it today! And I became a full convert to the m43 system. The magic of m43 is in the small size of the lenses, not just the camera bodies. I can carry a full range of fast glass with less size and less weight than any other interchangeable system more easily on all types of adventures around the world. Thank you Olympus and Panasonic!