EP5/Poor man's Pen F

OutsideTheMatrix wrote:

Guy Parsons wrote:

Ariunbold wrote:

I've bought this gem for around 100$. Only has 7000 shutter actuation and both control wheels working perfectly. Paired with 14-42mm ez, 42.5mm F1.8 YI M1 lens(now costs around 60$ and actually very sharp and very underrated lens IMO) and 40-150 R. All of it costs around 200 bucks lol. And with Aki Asahi's custom leatherette skin it looks stunning and very retro. Is anyone still using EP5?

Yes. Nothing since then appeals to me.

Wow he got it for only $100?!

Amazing bargain.

Ah, but no electronic shutter eh?

No, only has the EFCS for zero second antishock.

It needs the later TruePic chipset to enable electronic shutter use.

And doesn't use the same battery as my EPL6?

No, uses the BLN-1, batteries shown on my timeline page http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/olyepl1/80-Oly-timeline.html

OutsideTheMatrix wrote:

Guy Parsons wrote:

OutsideTheMatrix wrote:

Guy Parsons wrote:

Ariunbold wrote:

I've bought this gem for around 100$. Only has 7000 shutter actuation and both control wheels working perfectly. Paired with 14-42mm ez, 42.5mm F1.8 YI M1 lens(now costs around 60$ and actually very sharp and very underrated lens IMO) and 40-150 R. All of it costs around 200 bucks lol. And with Aki Asahi's custom leatherette skin it looks stunning and very retro. Is anyone still using EP5?

Yes. Nothing since then appeals to me.

Wow he got it for only $100?!

Amazing bargain.

Ah, but no electronic shutter eh?

No, only has the EFCS for zero second antishock.

It needs the later TruePic chipset to enable electronic shutter use.

And doesn't use the same battery as my EPL6?

No, uses the BLN-1, batteries shown on my timeline page http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/olyepl1/80-Oly-timeline.html

Thanks, Guy, it seems to have an amazingly durable shutter, as the user mentioned he has used it for over 100,000 actuations! Can it be connected to AC/mains power for study use?

The E-P5 has the 1/8000 sec shutter which appears to be the "pro" model with a longer life, my guess rated at maybe 250,000 clicks.

No mains adapter available, some people make a dummy battery as a connector and feed it from a subtable supply.

As previously written, the 1/8000 shutters is more 'pro' grade mechanics, so nothing wonder on 100-150k+ shutter count, as they designed at least for 250k+ or more (not uncommon to see grade shutter mechanic to designed around to 300-400k+).
May a few company design and manufacture shutter mechanic (example: seiko), so, practically all camera manufacturer get the shutter mechanism form a few 'common' manufacturer.

Peter Del wrote:

In my own experience........

No, it would have been more sensible to put that money towards a good S/H PEN F,

No.

which has a built in viewfinder,

In my case no problems with only ever using the E-P5 screen for the last four years or so.

four mysets on the top plate,

I have four MySets assigned to my mode dial, in fact I can assign them anywhere on the mode dial and not just to fixed locations.

a clever nob on the front

Post process options allow to play at leisure and not make artistic decisions on the fly.

and an articulated screen ......

Now that is what kills it dead for me and also about 40% of potential buyers. No wonder it failed to meet sales expectations.

Guy Parsons wrote:

Dezz7 wrote:

I love this camera, it's built like a tank, but very compact. It misses a viewfinder though, and i'm searching for an VF4 EVF, but it's expensive.

In my case I hate EVF/viewfinders so live with using screen only. Yes, sometimes it is hard to see, but the tilt screen plus shading with a hat does help. I simply hate having a camera pushed up against my face. The screen use certainly works better for travel and street scenes as screen use often does not make it obvious that you are taking a shot and I possibly get more natural poses.

I did early on buy the VF-2 for my E-P5 pair but have not used it now in possibly 4 years, maybe it still works. I sometimes carried it just in case, but never found that I needed it.

Not sure if it works on E-P5 screen but polarized sunglasses do wonders for my E-PL5 and Pen-F screens. With such glasses you can see the image even in full sun. Vertical photos require you tilt your head as well as the camera in order to see though.

Peter Del wrote:

No, it would have been more sensible to put that money towards a good S/H PEN F, which has a built in viewfinder, four mysets on the top plate, a clever nob on the front and an articulated screen ......

Peter Del

That would be a step backwards.

The Pen F is no EP5

Allan

THKPIC wrote:

I've tried the PEN-F, I wouldn't say it's better. Clearly it has a rez bump, better video and high rez mode.

In terms of functionality, I thought it was a step backwards. First off, the EVF is smaller than the VF-4 and no longer tilts. The fact that the VF-4 sits above the E-P5 means it can easily be used for low angle shots or even close to the ground in bright sunlight without having to get on the ground (assuming the back screen is washed out). It's incredibly easy to execute when taking shots from odd angles.

Back screen tilts instead of flips on the E-P5. Much easier to execute for low angle shooting. Some people have found the front knob of the PEN-F to rub up against their finger as well (seems less a problem if using the grip) but still noteworthy.

My main issue with the Pen F compared to the EP5 is the poorer focusing ability of the F.

The tilting screen makes the EP5 a better street camera. I also have an EM5 II which has the articulating screen.

What would be good is a camera that can do both - like an EP6

Allan

Peter Del wrote:

Allan Brown wrote:

The tilting screen makes the EP5 a better street camera. I also have an EM5 II which has the articulating screen.

What would be good is a camera that can do both - like an EP6

I could not find an EP6, but did find an EPL6, which has a tilting screen. Could you kindly provide a link to an EP6, I'm curious.

Peter Del

There is no E-P6, It's just something that the E-P5 enthusiasts would like to see.

The Pen-F was the experiment to see what the market could stand with a higher price bracket, that was made instead of the E-P6 is my guess. It failed to gain the needed sales in the world of collapsing camera market plus the general move to the clunky old SLR shape cameras as being seen as "real" cameras.

The Pen line is dead apart from a distinct possibility of some Pen Lite continuing for a while in the Asian market.

OutsideTheMatrix wrote:

that dummy adapter is what I have for my EPL6!

Then you are half-way here.

ah the better shutter explains why the EP5 can rack up so many actuations. How many do you have on your EP5 and your EPL5?

Don't know, only randomly check, nowhere near life expectancy anyway.

And how does one check? I couldn't find it in the menus, I assume it can be found in the EXIF somewhere?

It was an Olympus "secret" that escaped early in 2011, find the method on my page at http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/olyepl1/12-epl1-shotcount.html

I need to fix a few things as Helen noted in another thread, the latest bodies have altered the R count to MS to indicate that now they only record the mechanical actuations whereas at some stage the R count was both mechanical and electronic shutter so was rather non-informative for those models.

The links on my page to other shutter count info sites may be more up to date.

Regards..... Guy