Olympus PEN E-P5 review - just how mighty is the latest PEN?

Something I'm curious about...
In the studio scene the E-P5 seems unable to resolve the king of club's hair, something which the E-M10 does easily (and the GX-7 too), and in fact the image seems slightly soft throughout. I've not noticed this softness in other images from this camera, but since I'm trying to decide whether to buy one I'd like to know if there is any other explanation!
Thanks

Firmware 1.5 is available !

http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

Well, it's good to hear Olympus got around to trying to fix this issue in the E-P5. I wonder if the same will happen for their other cameras. I got an E-PL5 around Christmas, but the image blur/shutter shock problem presented itself so frequently that I had to return the camera after a few weeks.

Olympus have now posted this firmware upgrade for the OM-D E-M10 here:

http://www.olympus.co.uk/site/en/c/cameras_support/downloads/e_m10_downloads.html

Perhaps consumer pressure does work!

Sadatoni - it's a 4/3rds sensor, 18 mm x 13.5 mm

Pen F half-frame is 18 mm × 24 mm (vertically oriented).

Is it half-frame like the old Pen F's it looks like?

New firmware a definite improvement, particularly with the 75-300 lens, which always seemed to settle at the critical 1/160 second. However Olympus could have made the menu implementation of the anti-shock simpler and lamentable documentation of the feature much better. Thank goodness for various reviews which documented and illustrated how to implement. The menu system for this camera must be the most convoluted and obscure ever. Wilson

I have never "road tested" the EP5 - but what is significantly different in its mechanism than the EP2 that causes this blurring? I've NEVER seen blurring with the EP2?

Sadly, "[♦] 0sec" does not work with sequential shooting.
Sequential shooting [♦]H & [♦]L cannot be switched.
That means the shake problem cannot be fix when sequential shooting.

... and the second issue I experrience after updating to firmware 1.4:

2) As it says, with firmware 1.4 and "0 second anti shock" active, the camera should switch to electronic first curtain at 1/320 and slower. In contrast to this, I cannot HEAR any difference between anti shock on and off and speed below and above 1/320. In any case there seem to be still 2 shutter movements. One before and one after the exposure.

Side remark: Despite of extensive testing I have never been able to find clear evidence of shutter induced blur with FW 1.2. And I don't see a clear improvement in this respect with FW 1.4 either.

I have no clue, what happened, and what the firmware REALLY does. Any Ideas or observations? Thanks, Paul

Good God... Based on the positive assessment of dpreview I updated my E-P5 from firmware 1.2 --> 1.4
Two problems now (see this and the following post):

1) It seems firmware 1.4 introduced a severe metering display bug:

The metering is FROZEN on the lcd. E.g. in "A" mode the S value is not being updated, in "S" mode the F value and in "M" mode the metering bar.
An update to the actual value can only be forced by a user interaction like pressing a button on the camera, a user interaction on the lens (if that forces a display update like changing the focal length or bringing up the magnified view when changing the focus) or if the "live histogram" display is active.

BTW: I like the new wifi remote control much more than the first implementation and ironically the metering update works on the smartphone app - but not on the camera itself - the former one being a nice-to-have, the latter one a must-have.

Can anybody reproduce the above issue?
Kind regards, Paul

It is ideal to just leave the -0- antishock on all the time. It only engages at 1/320 second and below. At higher speeds it's not used, even if turned on.

So, Oly made a less than stellar camera. It will be interesting to see if they can actually fix this problem.

Regardless, Oly's performance and product development over the past decade, or so, has been first class.

For the sake of the good will the company has developed, I hope there is a fix. If there isn't, I hope Oly is treated no more or less harshly than the big two.

I wonder if such a work-around would apply to the Sony A7 shutter-slap issue?

Hello,
A friend of mine is willing to buy my PEN E-PL5.
I'm not sure if buy E-PL5 again or go to this beauty with the extra cost.
I have 17mm f1.8 and 45mm f1.8 lenses.
My wife will love photo story and wifi connection for her whats app groups (she does not have facebook) will it work straigthforeward?
is it worth the change?
Thanks

What lens was used for the studio scene test?

On my E-P5, focus peaking seems to work with dedicated m4/3 lenses only, not with mf lenses that are attached via an adapter (zeiss zf.2 lens and metabones speed booster). Does focus peaking require electronic coupling between camera and lens??

I absolutely LOVE my E-P5. Just an amazing camera. (Mine is in for repair right now as the main dial was not changing info on every click...). I have no shutter shock issue that I can find, tho. Tested in all the modes, shutter speeds with MANY lenses...cannot observe the phenomenon. I believe this may be a manufacturing or a batch issue....many posters here are not having the issue (but I do believe there is an issue.)
I think Olympus needs to be responsible to its loyal customers and issue a statement (or fix?), regarding this situation and also the shearing off of the lens mounts on the new 12-40mm Pro lens. BOTH of these situations are widely documented on the web...especially this open discussion about the shutter shock issue here throughout DPR's review of the camera. C'mon Olympus...step up!

DPreview editors, could you please enlighten me (us) how to activate the tone curve settings? I haven't been able to get to the secret chamber...

I am still struggeling. The camera was at Olympus for the second time. They changed the complete CCD unit this time. But the issue is still there. Sometimes I shoot 10 to 20 pictures without any fault. Then out of the next 10 pictures 5 are completely blurred. All with the same lens and settings (17mm 1.8) Sometimes I can even see on the screen that the picture will be blurred. The camera focusses, I get the green focus frame and light in the upper right corner, confirming focus (set to focus priority of course), I hear the IBIS working as usual, but the picture is not sharp. The performance of the IBIS is generally poor compared to my EM5 or EM1. With the 17mm I need a minimum of a 1/20 to get a decent sharp picture.
Check these pictures, the were shot in a sequence within a few minutes:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s1rjtnd7t93xojg/XFqWWI1_n1

I am not sure if this is 'shutter shock' or another fault during taking and processing the picture.

My test at 42mm (84mm ff eq.) on a firm surface revealed no blur issue. A far more comprehensive test in the following link also revealed no such issue whatsoever:

http://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=54504

I think DPR's interpretation is subjective at best.

Any news from the shuttershock issue cameras? I own the camera for 3 months now, but I don't have a telelens. Till 60mm I don't have the shuttershock issue when using the right technique of making images.... that has to be said. That was a lot easier with my nikon D600 and D800 ;-)
But on the other hand, try to make a nice shot with the D800 and the 105mm macro attached! With a shutter speed of 80-160 it will be quite difficult to make a sharp image. And have you tried it with a 600mm handheld? No chance @ all of making a sharp image with shutter speed 80 or so.
I'm getting used to the EP-5 now, and to be honest I like it more and more! 4 lenses (9-18, 45 and 60mm) Waiting for the ply 2.8 telezoom ;-)

Have used the EP5 for a couple of months now and have not experience the shutter shock issue some users have reported. I even set the camera on Shutter speed priority and set it on 1/80s and can not produce the blur that some users have reported. I am wondering if the issue reported may be batch dependent?

Owned an E-P5 for a fortnight now, no sign of shutter shock for me.

Having had the E-P5 for three months, I've re-read your review and make the following 2 comments. (1)Your review states you used the IS Auto setting for the stabilizer. That setting is for Landscape Panning. eg Panorama mode. For the photos in your examples, the general IS-1 would be appropriate. If your problem is vertical use IS-2. If horizontal use IS-3. (2) When I turn on my machine and press OK the focal length 15mm is shown at the bottom right of the screen. (The last length I entered.) If I mount a Sigma 30mm, 30mm appears at the top right of the screen. The stabilizer setting remains at 15mm. Which is why I change the stabilizer setting the match the lens. I don't suppose this would be relevant, unless pixel peeking is practiced, but if the stabilizer automatically recognizes a native lens, why does the recorded stabilizer setting not change automatically?

3 weeks with 3- and 5-axis stabilisation on my SH-50 convince me of its necessity - and the P5 has 5-axis stabilisation. So I read the review. Double exposures at 1/80 second and thereabouts are indeed worrying. Are you sure that is not caused by Parkinsons? The stabilisation should take care of any roller blind shutter slap. The first of the sample videos is plain over-exposed (not uncommon in that kind of setting). The second sample has no bass in the sound (when compared to my SH-50 videos), suggesting the wind shield setting was at its highest. I get the impression the reviewer does not like video anyway. The level of customisation possible is stupendous indeed, yet the P5 does not look as knob-encrusted as my SP-570UZ.

hi,

a request by TN ARGS a month ago for any updates by DPreview is mothballing... anyone official statement?

There's no statement from Oly Singapore as of today after my communication with them but so far the I've tried at least 4 sets of the Pen but i've not experienced the said shutter shock issue. I really hope to see the phenomenon (yes, in a warped sense)