BG454
Veteran Member
A noticeable lack of "Standard" 17mm lens shots in the samples gallery.
At least Olympus finally dumped the Xd card.
At least Olympus finally dumped the Xd card.
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Olympus E-P1 'digital Pen' - in depth preview + samples
- Thread starter BG454
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Phil Askey
Guest
Because we didn't have one with the production camera. It's difficult to shoot with something you don't have.
Phil Askey
Editor, dpreview.com
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Phil Askey
Editor, dpreview.com
KEITH-C
Forum Pro
I feel that the Olympus E-P1 is slightly schizophrenic it has a low grade LCD, no viewfinder or internal flash, it has scene modes but also has an appeal for current DSLR users who want a high quality compact. It seems to want to please both camps , upgrading P&S & more adavanced users , but has compromises which weakens its appeal.
The new external flash is OK but has no bounce mode , a model similar to the new Sony small flash would be more flexible. The LCD is not shielded & is of a lower resolution than might be reasonably expected. The add-on viewfinder is not sufficiently versatile for a wide variety of lenses & gives the impression of being an afterthought.
In addition it does not appear to have the faster focusing mode of the Panasonic G-1. I get the feeling that if discerning buyers have a second thought they may be persuaded to wait for the Mark 2 or alternative offerings from Panasonic or Samsung. However the access to excellent Olympus lenses ,especially those which can take advantage of the adaptors is tantalising & presents an interesting dilemma.
Keith-C
The new external flash is OK but has no bounce mode , a model similar to the new Sony small flash would be more flexible. The LCD is not shielded & is of a lower resolution than might be reasonably expected. The add-on viewfinder is not sufficiently versatile for a wide variety of lenses & gives the impression of being an afterthought.
In addition it does not appear to have the faster focusing mode of the Panasonic G-1. I get the feeling that if discerning buyers have a second thought they may be persuaded to wait for the Mark 2 or alternative offerings from Panasonic or Samsung. However the access to excellent Olympus lenses ,especially those which can take advantage of the adaptors is tantalising & presents an interesting dilemma.
Keith-C
BG454
Veteran Member
Thanks Phil,
That's a pity, I would have thought that would be the most used combination. I look forward to the final version of the review. I really want to try this camera but I fear the price takes it out of my affordability range.
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Slower focusing than panasonic was probably expected since this is one of pana's strong areas. However, some of the slow AF performance might be due to the lens. According to imaging resource the AF is much faster with the 17mm than the kit zoom.
I wonder if this a case of Pany not wanting to license out the AF bits or Oly not wanting to pay? I hope at least it is the latter so there's a chance to remedy that.
Another thing I don't like is that all the SKUs come with a lens. No body only.
Another thing I don't like is that all the SKUs come with a lens. No body only.
Body only: $749 RRP.
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Phil Askey
Guest
We asked, it wasn't available, we're hoping to get one in the next couple of days.
Phil Askey
Editor, dpreview.com
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Phil Askey
Editor, dpreview.com
Pen look-alike but no adapter for Pen lenses ?
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Ernst Dinkla
Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/
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Ernst Dinkla
Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/
The EP-1 looks like the ideal carry-along digital camera for me, even though the external OVF is a must.
The price is way up there, though, so this camera will likely remain an object of desire for me for quite some time.
The price is way up there, though, so this camera will likely remain an object of desire for me for quite some time.
rocklobster
Senior Member
Remember that this camera was made as small as possible to make it reasonably portable - smaller than a DSLR but not much bigger than a larger compact. So, some things had to go like the flash and an EVF.
Also, everyone is assuming that the LCD is poor in bright sunlight. The preview does not say it is any better or worse than what is currently on offer from other manufacturers. But I would prefer speed, refresh rate and viewing angle to fine resolution when I am taking pictures as I seldom review on the camera anyway except to dump obviously bad shots.
My only gripe is focusing speed but as the review says, this may improve with released versions.
Looking at the samples I would say that Olympus has a winner.
Cheers
Also, everyone is assuming that the LCD is poor in bright sunlight. The preview does not say it is any better or worse than what is currently on offer from other manufacturers. But I would prefer speed, refresh rate and viewing angle to fine resolution when I am taking pictures as I seldom review on the camera anyway except to dump obviously bad shots.
My only gripe is focusing speed but as the review says, this may improve with released versions.
Looking at the samples I would say that Olympus has a winner.
Cheers
VladimirV
Veteran Member
The camera is almost perfect, I don't care about a OVF/EVF and even less about a flash but the AF speed could be a deal breaker for me so I hope it will improve with the final version.
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GideonW
Leading Member
There's a long thread about the DPR preview of this camera on the Oly SLR talk forum. DPR crew mentioned there that the CDAF speed on the v1.0 firmware (which they received only very recently) had improved already. In addition, they mention there that CDAF is much faster when one of the Panasonic mFT lenses is mounted, which means that the CDAF speed is largely dependent on the lens (and its firmware). The preview from Imaging-Resource seems to confirm this, they noticed the 17/2.8 kit-prime (which DPReview wasn't able to get for their preview) focussed alot faster than the 14-42 kit-zoom.
morey000
Veteran Member
I guess I would have expected the lineup body shot on page 5 to have included the most direct competitor- the Panasonic GH1.
And a compare/contrast of specs and features.
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And a compare/contrast of specs and features.
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I didn't mention LCD brightness but its poor resolution. Have you ever seen a 230K LCD next to a 460K or 900K used in most top of the line compacts like LX3, G10, CX1?
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Please excuse my poor English
RBellavance
Senior Member
They were thinking the "retro appeal" and compact size would be really attractive to a lot of people. And from the general reactions, it looks like they were right.
Personally, I don't find it all that interesting as a main camera (no viewfinder, "compromised" ergonomics), and it is way too expensive as a backup for me.
You can buy the body only, but apparently you cannot buy the 17mm kit without the ovf which I don't need..
"Retro appeal" and compactness doesn't necessarily means "limited". Olympus has obviously decided to include a low-res LCD not because it adds something to E-P1 retro concept but purely for economic reasons.
Also, most old timers know that retro means inclusion of an optical viewfinder. Unfortunately Olympus ignored that fact too.
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Please excuse my poor English
Theo Keijzers
Leading Member
Built-in flash, never used it, never will. You can buy that sweet little flash if you want. And the screen, though not top, looks fine. Did you see that 'ridiculously low res screen' is of the same reolution and bigger that what's in a Pentax 20D?
I think they have a winner with the E-P1,
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