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Imaging Resource: EP-1 AF slower than most P&S and DSLR on the market

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And ultimately tools suit individual styles. I must stop reading these threads because I can't help but get drawn in :) I love this camera and its what I've been waiting for forever.
 
Taking nothing away from the professional reviews (and I prefer the dpreview ones most) - it's worth a lot to read the honest impressions of early adopters and users we can trust.

Everyone has an opinion, based on how well a camera meets our needs... all I know is, the E-P1 is about the best balance for my needs.

Cheers

Brian
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AdamT said:
As for "slower than any other compact" I never thought I'd read such utter cobblers from the hand of the respected Dave Etchells (IR) .
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Actually, steve's digicams review states pretty much the same thing. They tested it at 1.1 sec. to get focus and take a picture. That's extremely slow compared to most of the compact cameras that range between .2 and .6 tenths of a second. The EP-1 seems to be, at least, twice as slow attaining focus when compared to most compacts.

I seen a video of how the reviewers get the shutter lag time and it's very concise and consistent.
 
First of the difference is very small, but I also do not believe that they are significantly faster. I do not have 14-140, so I would not know. With 45-200, 14-45 there is no big change of speed either. So I am not sure what people are talking about.
--
Eugene
http://picture.stanford.edu/Photo

 
Thanks for the sound clips. They seem to agree with IR's AF lag tests though. The first clip (C-AF with the 14-42mm, IS off, raw) captures a shot every 1.3s. The last clip (manual focus, IS off, raw) captures a shot every 0.3s (at least according to my audio file editor).

Difference is about 1s per frame before the buffer fills. Most of that (if not all) must be autofocus lag. That is slower than most digicams.
Brian Mosley said:
I won't comment on the accuracy of the tests, I haven't read the review yet... but as I've said all along, the focusing speed of the E-P1 has not stopped me getting the shots I want so far.

I did a series of audio recordings, of the E-P1 in C-AF mode shooting a range of lenses here :

http://www.ukphotosafari.org/e-p1-team-review/2009/7/2/how-to-turn-your-e-p1-into-a-speed-demon.html

Don't believe the tripe! lol this is a killer camera.

Kind Regards

Brian
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PDXguy said:
...would still say it's the greatest invention since toilet paper :)
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Wow Steve, your cogent arguments and witty repartee have totally convinced me.

I thought I was really enjoying my new camera, but I guess I am just deluding myself. I have never owned any kind of Olympus before, but I guess it doesn't take much to become a fanboy.

Michael

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Woohoo!! I'm a fanboy! That's a first for me. I must record this in my diary :)
 
IR have arguably the most comprehensive camera tests on the market and I respect their efforts a lot and understand why they do the AF test the way they do,

but ,

testing AF time as they do, with the camera prefocussed to the subject and measuring the time for the camera to confirm focus is benefiting Phase Difference (SLR) AF, since it doesn't have to move the AF group away and back again (like CD-AF has to) to know the subject is in focus.

In actual use, with the shallow DOF of a wide open lens with a big sensor camera, the subject will rarely be perfectly in focus and some small adjustment will be necessary, which will improve CD-AF relative to PD-AF.

That said, Panasonic have shown it is possible to score fairly well even on IR's AF test, so it's disappointing that the E-P1 can't match that, contrary to some early rumours.

Just my two oere
Erik from Sweden
 
Michael Kaufman said:
PDXguy said:
...would still say it's the greatest invention since toilet paper :)
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Wow Steve, your cogent arguments and witty repartee have totally convinced me.

I thought I was really enjoying my new camera, but I guess I am just deluding myself. I have never owned any kind of Olympus before, but I guess it doesn't take much to become a fanboy.

Michael
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I spent a lot of time researching the E-P1 since yesterday and finally concluded that it is the camera I want. This was a BIG decision since I'm selling my XTi and a few lenses - and my G9 to pay for it. I need a small and light weight camera due to back/neck problems. It's hard for me to give up my Canon system after many years, but reading user reviews and looking at the samples convinced me. I'm impressed by the user comments - most people seem very happy with their purchase. B&H told me they have 5,000 requests for this camera and are awaiting another shipment. They said the E-P1 is a "really really hot ticket" so that speaks volumes IMO.

I did read last night about the slow shutter speed and asked about it in another thread. It didn't seem to bother anyone who had the camera for the most part, however. I'm not convinced it's a big problem after reading so many positive posts and some reviews here and there.

Initially I was wavering between the G1 and the E-P1 as I would like to have a flash and VF. However, I did my homework and believe I made the right choice. I've enjoyed reading this thread, btw.

Maria
 
Um, focus at 8 feet, f/8, and you never need AF. I'm just sayin'.
Dave Luttmann said:
...and the shutter lag with the 17mm is more than 1 second, then this camera just became a total writeoff for me. That is abysmally slow for street work. Heck, that's about the same as my 7 year old Canon G3 point and shoot.
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I'm surprised there's a single existing photograph of a moving child from before 1995.

Obviously, every sports photo ever taken with a manual focus lens was posed.
PDXguy said:
Great, turn release priority on and you end up with an OOF kid leaving the frame.
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Let's put an EOS 650 and a 50/1.8 Mk I up against the EP-1. The EOS-1 didn't come along until 2 years later. What you have with M43 is an entirely new mount less than a year old with a grand total of THREE (more like two) bodies and a half dozen lenses. It seems to me that M43 is off to a pretty good start.
Gregm61 said:
Oelph said:
Fair enough Michael, I'll accept that some people will make decisions on and stick with the kit lenses no matter the body. People just seem to be judging the E-P1 overall based on the kit lenses, which I don't think is fair. I wouldn't judge a Canon 500d on its kit lens alone as it sure improves when you stick some L glass on it.
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And there are three advantages for the Canon. There are L lenses you can buy that are meant to be used on that body, they are not compromised by the ability of the body to use them (Af remains extremely fast and the finder does not restrict your ability to keep framed and capture fast moving subjects) and certain ones, like the 17-40 and 70-200 f4 don't dwarf the camera like the closest thing available for the E-P1, a 50-200 f2.8-3.5 Zuiko would.
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but it is on the slow side for sure. In good light it can be reasonably fast.

I find continuous autofocus overall a no go though. It's like it looks, refocuses, then you take one shot, only to wait and repeat/rewash that loop. Makes the lens "dance" constantly in a little range back and forth.

I think anyone looking for fast AF, then yes, they should be warned, the E_P1 isn't for them. To me I was looking into it using MF so that doesn't affect me. That said I don't think it is that slow.

--
Raist3d (Photographer & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'
 
whether it affects the use of the camera or not is going to vary on a case by case basis. People who always want AF will be, people who don't or do MF will not.

It didn't affect me, but I can see maybe someone thinking the Pen is "more dslr" may be disappointed. The real issue I have with the review commentary there on IR or the pro commentary of the E-P1 on issues like this is that both seem to take the stand that this is an "fits everyone" category, when it's going to vary individual by individual and with legitimate reasons for the variance.

As for you Brian, you are going to say that any new Olympus camera is inspiring, great and awesome to take pictures with so..... :-)

--
Raist3d (Photographer & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'
 
The AF (frankly I don't much care what the reviewer(s) say) is just fine for most applications. It is just an amazing little camera to use.















Best regards, Terry.
 
Raist3d said:
but it is on the slow side for sure. In good light it can be reasonably fast.

I find continuous autofocus overall a no go though. It's like it looks, refocuses, then you take one shot, only to wait and repeat/rewash that loop. Makes the lens "dance" constantly in a little range back and forth.

I think anyone looking for fast AF, then yes, they should be warned, the E_P1 isn't for them. To me I was looking into it using MF so that doesn't affect me. That said I don't think it is that slow.
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Hello Olympus friends,

For my use, I did not expect the E-P1 digital PEN to have that "snap-to-it" autofocus of a recent dSLR....heck, I still use the E-1.

Indeed, my initial, very early impression on June 17th remains the same; it glides into focus. In continuous mode, it sorta hunts a little bit back and forth, but, this does depend on the lens, no? So, I have yet to do a lot of tests using the 2 kits lens, and the Panny 45-200, it has just been too early.

However, I did not expect it to have that real fast autofocus, as, I suspect, that may have required a more powerful battery, otherwise, we may a much lower shot-count from the current battery. I respect these Olympus engineers and marketers for sweating out these compromises for us.

In my opinion, this is a camera for those that want a dSLR output quality, but don't want to carry a larger camera. If you own a 620 already, then, in my opinion, you have a little bit of a tougher decision to make, as the 620 is plenty small. However, it just may not be "small enough" for a lot of people, due to carrying weight, size, streetness, single-hand shooting (as in self-portraits!), carrying when bicycling, or the "statdement" carrying a dSLR makes to others.....

OK, OK, I can hear it, regarding dSLR output "but, the m4/3rd lenses are consumer grade!"...well, you can wait for high-grade, in the mean-time I am having fun during the short New York summer, and I have a ton of faith in getting high-grade lenses. Oh, and I got a 45-200 for only $300USD, and it weighs alot less than the 4/3rd 50-200 SWD, though I know, it is not as fast in absolute terms (though, given the higher dynamic range, it may be equivalent in speed) The kits lenses are plenty sharp, especially when done in manual focus.. I seriously doubt we will see super high-grade lenses for the m4/3 product line, unless Olympus comes out with something that has a lot more horse power....but, somehow, my gut just doubts this one, as those that want to spend that amount of money, deserve no compromises.

To have a bit slower autofocus, may be worth it to have the camera with you. If you have much less tolerance, and need 3 frames-per-second, then, I would stay with a dSLR.

just my two bits.

--
'Photos are what remain when the memories are forgotten' - Angular Mo.
 
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