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Olympus E-P1 has wonderfull colors

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Peter Nelson

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I have been doing photograpy all my life and I am very impresed with the colors from my Olympus E-P1 and 17mm f/2.8 kit lens and all my Leica M39 and M legacy glass and even a Voightlander color-skopar. I can also use all my Canon L lenses and all my Nikkor AIS lenses. A Pentax K to m4/3 adapter will be purchases soon. I have never seen such good natural life like colors from any of mylenses or any digital camera or film system I own, and it's a long list. I still own and use each and every camera.

Among the various types of oil painting I do Landscap Painting is a favorite so when I look at the landscape photo's from my Olympuse E-P1 I am really very happy with the colors. You just know I will be printing my photographs more now than ever before.

Just look below at all the equipment I have been using and please be made aware that I do not see much use for any of them now that I have an E-P1. Colors are such a very important aspect of photography that I place it at the top of my list in what makes a camera a good camera. With all these lenses I am now seeing the best colors of my life from my own photography.

Canon pro DSLR 1DsMKII with L primes 24L, 35L, 85L 135L, 24-70L, 70-200 f/2.8 IS L, 70-200 f/4 L, 17-40 f/4 L, 24-105 f/4 IS L, 100-400 f/5.6-6.5 IS L, 50mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.8.
Canon 300D (my first DSLR), 350XT, 20D, 450XSi.
Canon G-7, G-10 p&s.

Nikon Pro D1H (an older DSLR) using Nikkor AIS primes 24, 35, 50 85, 105 f/2.5, 135, 200, 300mm.

Seiko/Epson R-D1 using Leica Prime "M" series and M39 lenses, Summilux 50mm f/1.4 comes close.
Kodak p&s DX4800 and DC280 (Kodak has very nice punchy colors).
Pentax K100D with K mount primes 50mm f/1.7 is a good one.
HP C-200 my first diital camera (given to my best friend a few years back)
35mm film cameras:

Leica M5 and 50mm f/1.4 Summilux, 90mm f/4 Elmar, 135mm f/4 Elmar and all my M39 lenses.

Russian made copies of Leica IIIc (Zorki) and IIIg (FED) using Russian made lenses 50mm f/3.5 collapsible Elmar, 35mm f/3.5 Summaron and 50mm f/2 Summitar, 28mm f/3.5 Voightlander Color -Skopar.
Canon 1VHS and Elan 7N
Ricoh KR-5 Ricconon 50mm f/2 (my first slr and still used)
Nikon FM2 and the above Nikkor AIS primes

Kodak Brownie (my first camera at age 5 years old used till I was around 15 years old). 120/124 film
-Peter
--
Life as an artist has had some unusual times to say the least.
visit my web site http://www.flickr.com/photos/artist_eyes/
Remember to click on 'All Sizes' for better viewing.
Artist Eyes
 
I already have 4 adapters to m4/3 so I can use Caon EOS, Nikon, and Leica M lenses. Since I also have other adapters to EOS I can mount M42 and Nikon to the EOS adapter, and M39 to the M and then to m4/3 adapters. I'm only missing the Pentax K mount to m4/3 adapters. But I do have K mount to EOS hence I can still mount them to m4/3 vis my EOS to m4/3 adapter.

I already use Canon EOS, Nikkor AIS and Pentax and Leica M and Leica M39 lenses on my E-P1. Just to say it again since even in my OP I thought I said so, even saying the lenses are all being used on m/43 and I like the colors from all.
That's my real point, the Olympus colors are the very best I've ever seen.
-Peter
chuckielpn said:
get yourself some adapters and put those lenses to use.
Click to expand...
--
Life as an artist has had some unusual times to say the least.
visit my web site http://www.flickr.com/photos/artist_eyes/
Remember to click on 'All Sizes' for better viewing.
Artist Eyes
 
I AGREE! Olympus has always been great in term of colors and I think it's their main selling point, for me that is. Have been happy with the brand since my E300 in 2005. Now on my 5th Olympus camera, the EPL-1. Yes, you may consider me an Oly-color-fan-boy, LOL!!!

E300(√), E-500(x), E-510(x), E-3(√), EPL-1(√)!
√ means I still have the model with me! :D
--
I just can't seem to leave Olympus... :D
 
Whilst I agree that Olympus has excellent colour out of the box due mainly to a very good jpeg engine, adjusting the colour output from any camera from any maker is straightforward. And a pleasing colour output may not be all that accurate, if you look at the imatest results which actually compare colour fidelity the difference between cameras is not that significant and generally down to saturation levels of specific colours.

I use Nikon for work, and have some Canon and Olympus gear, and if you only shoot jpeg then Olympus is probably the best choice to get great results with no tweaking, however shooting raw or adjusting the many image parameters to get whatever look you like is easy. I would say that as with most things which colour output one person loves another may not, and it is more a matter of subjectivity than absolute objectivity.
Jim
 
I agree about the good Olympus colours and especially like the skin tones. They are top imo.
--
What´s that noise?

From one of the Canon Forums:

'I just came back from my first holiday with the 5D II (I think my wife was there as well). '
 
Thanks for making my point. My day's of shooting Raw for casual personal photography are now over because of the Olympus excellent color JPG's. Olympus has eleminated a lot of unneccessary work by eleminating the requirement to shoot Raw so then I can spend more of my precious time correcting the colors and saving a corrected jpg. image along with the original raw image.

Perhaps for some indoor paid work with difficult artificial lighting and to be on the safe side of things Raw is still the way to go, however I no longer do photography for work and I bet most people who are into photography are also not doing it as a job. So if they only knew about Olympus getting the colors to look so good as they do, those still shooting raw could now just shoot jpg. I hope the word continues to get out.
jim stirling said:
Whilst I agree that Olympus has excellent colour out of the box due mainly to a very good jpeg engine, adjusting the colour output from any camera from any maker is straightforward. And a pleasing colour output may not be all that accurate, if you look at the imatest results which actually compare colour fidelity the difference between cameras is not that significant and generally down to saturation levels of specific colours.

I use Nikon for work, and have some Canon and Olympus gear, and if you only shoot jpeg then Olympus is probably the best choice to get great results with no tweaking, however shooting raw or adjusting the many image parameters to get whatever look you like is easy. I would say that as with most things which colour output one person loves another may not, and it is more a matter of subjectivity than absolute objectivity.
Jim
Click to expand...
--
Life as an artist has had some unusual times to say the least.
visit my web site http://www.flickr.com/photos/artist_eyes/
Remember to click on 'All Sizes' for better viewing.
Artist Eyes
 
Please put me on the same list as I'm now an Olympus Color Fan boy. Too bad I had to work through all those other very expensive camera systems before I found Olympus.
-Peter
Chris Alcala MD said:
I AGREE! Olympus has always been great in term of colors and I think it's their main selling point, for me that is. Have been happy with the brand since my E300 in 2005. Now on my 5th Olympus camera, the EPL-1. Yes, you may consider me an Oly-color-fan-boy, LOL!!!

E300(√), E-500(x), E-510(x), E-3(√), EPL-1(√)!
√ means I still have the model with me! :D
--
I just can't seem to leave Olympus... :D
Click to expand...
--
Life as an artist has had some unusual times to say the least.
visit my web site http://www.flickr.com/photos/artist_eyes/
Remember to click on 'All Sizes' for better viewing.
Artist Eyes
 
It's not just the colors. It's also the "texture" of the images, for lack of a better word, and the way it deals with digital noise is very pleasing.

I still have Nikon and Panasonic cameras, but leaning more toward the E-P1 for "memory" pictures.
 
Opinions do not require laboratory testing.
Who wants to get all the gear and prove it for themselves?

It's quite self evident for those who own a PEN camera and have a long history of using digital.

No tests or proofs change the colours of my cameras.

An even better challenge is proving the monitor being used is not altering your impression of the colors you are seeing due to feature settngs and defaults of LCD and video card.

I'll take it at face value since I have my own gear to be more concerned about.
Brian Mosley said:
I'm afraid your view will have little support around here. ;)

I agree with you, but opinions will differ.

Cheers

Brian
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Torch
 
The deltaE of the EP-1 is equal and or beats some of the top SLR models on the market today from a very trusted source. My eyes agree with his measurements.

You are not the only one. ;-)

--
Charles
My family images are at http://www.stakeman.smugmug.com
Be sure of your subject.
Never, force the shot.
 
I have heard of delta-e, but can you elaborate on what you mean by the delta-e of one camera beating that of another?
Thanks
 
its an average deviation from what hue and saturation colours should look

the lowest the number more accurate are colours even with raw (but olympus has the score in the 6 something while our eyes know difference when there are deviaton of more than 3 so even olympus has some problems with reds and blues mostly.. skintones are good
 
Peter Nelson said:
Thanks for making my point. My day's of shooting Raw for casual personal photography are now over because of the Olympus excellent color JPG's. Olympus has eleminated a lot of unneccessary work by eleminating the requirement to shoot Raw so then I can spend more of my precious time correcting the colors and saving a corrected jpg. image along with the original raw image.

Perhaps for some indoor paid work with difficult artificial lighting and to be on the safe side of things Raw is still the way to go, however I no longer do photography for work and I bet most people who are into photography are also not doing it as a job. So if they only knew about Olympus getting the colors to look so good as they do, those still shooting raw could now just shoot jpg. I hope the word continues to get out.
Click to expand...
Hi Peter,

glad to help you make your point :) , the quality of the out of camera jpegs was the first thing i noticed on getting an Olympus camera , and the gains from using raw are in my opinion not that great . However the colour output is just a result of a smart jpeg engine, no more no less. And with other makers cameras ,it is very simple to adjust either the in camera image parameters or the raw output to get a pleasing "look" , setting the camera up for how you like is a one off procedure and a number of cameras have shooting banks to save preferred settings for a selection of uses { i.e. landscape or action }. So i would agree if anyone is looking for the best results straight out of the box Olympus is indeed an excellent choice, with the proviso that similar results are achievable in most cameras with just a little effort.
Jim
 
I have to agree with you Peter, that Olympus colours are great. I went to Olympus about a year and a half ago with the E-420, 25mm f/2.8. Now am considering moving to an EP. I do like your posts on the EP-1, 17mm f/2.8 with VF-1 and agree on this simple approach. Do you think that the EP-2 with EVF has any advantage for focus over the EP-1 when using the 17mm and 25mm?

Peter
 
jim stirling said:
Whilst I agree that Olympus has excellent colour out of the box due mainly to a very good jpeg engine, adjusting the colour output from any camera from any maker is straightforward.
Jim
Click to expand...
It may be straightforward for you and others, but for many I guarantee that it is a journey into 'un-certainty'.

The reason I use that word is I know how to use Lightroom as far as all the motions, but often what I see is not the best it can be when others view it.

That is one reason I really applaud Oly. The ability to get it right - OOC .. for most who might be viewing is fantastic. It really takes the guesswork out.

IMO :)
 
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