In praise of the E-P5

In my case two E-P5 to even out the wear, swap over maybe 6 monthly. It helped that they were heavily discounted at the time so basically two for the price of one.

Home stitched custom fitted 1/2 inch cotton tape wrist straps and the unused other side rattly ring thing removed.

Home made dial top to show 1/2/3/4 as the assigned MySets to make life out and about easier. Hot shoe cover removed when I took it out of the box, never used it and never needed it.

Occasional use of the little Olympus FL-300R as the pop-up flash gives hopelessly large shadows with the f/2.8 zooms.

The Red button is assigned to be 2xDTC in lever position 1 to prevent the usual feet videos, in position 2 it becomes the video start stop button.

Usually used with f/2.8 zooms but has been known to use 7.5mm fisheye and the 45/1.8 portrait lens at times.

File names edited to be EP5Axxxx and EP5Bxxxx so no confusion.

The black one front and rear dials failed early but fixed under warranty and still OK, the silver one gave no problems with the dials.

To make life easier for myself I condensed the menus into a web page and made some of the notes more sensible than the manual. One day I will get around to make it neater and tidier. Maybe. http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/olyepl1/56-ep5-custom-menus.html

The E-P5 garnered many votes in the recent thread suggesting that posters cast their ballots for the "prettiest" m43 camera model(s).    Mine was among those votes.    I adore this camera and purchased two mint/NOS examples during the pandemic lockdown period, which was a great way to self-medicate.      For night shooting I'd probably put a different arrow in the quiver.  But that aside, P5 is still a fully viable producer of beautiful images.   I'd rather have 2 of these than one PEN F, really.    Yes, a camera can be "merely a tool."  But it's so much more delightful when the camera is an object of beauty too.

Guy Parsons wrote:

In my case two E-P5 to even out the wear, swap over maybe 6 monthly. It helped that they were heavily discounted at the time so basically two for the price of one.

Home stitched custom fitted 1/2 inch cotton tape wrist straps and the unused other side rattly ring thing removed.

I am another huge fan of the Pen E-P5 but foolishly sold my silver & black version along with the VF-4 EVF accessory in the misguided belief that It would lead to more frequent use of my Pen-F.  It didn't take long to realize my mistake and address my seller's remorse.  I now have two E-P5s (black and silver & black) and even added the over-priced VF-4 EVF a couple of months ago.  I also use a wrist strap (Gordy's custom leather).

The Pen-F and two other MFT cameras are safely tucked in camera bags but the two E-P5 cameras are kept out and ready to use at a moment's notice. 

Jim

MiguelATF wrote:

I realize many Mu-4/3 photographers have been recently singing the praises of the newest camera to bear the Olympus name, the OM-1 -- but for some of us, some older Olympus cameras still rock. High on my personal list is my favorite digital Pen model, the E-P5. Quite a few EP5 users have already commented in thoughtful detail about its many virtues and capabilities, but one of the things that has always truly drawn me to the E-P5 is: it looks good.

A modern evolution which would bring a smile to the face of Yoshihisa Maitani, designer of the original analog Olympus Pen, who once famously said, “the object of photography is to express what is in your heart and mind.”

Please feel free to contribute to this thread with other E-P5 tidbits.

The Pen E-P5 definitely looks good and more importantly to me, it is a good match for the way I like to use a camera from the tilting screen to the switchable dual control wheels.  It's the first camera that I reach for when I want to take a photo.

Jim

tedolf wrote:

I consider the E-p5 the spiritual successor to the E-pl1. It has the built in flash (very convenient for triggering off camera flash, puff of fill flash) and the EVF port for use with long lenses. I wish that it was a bit lighter, and also I find it somewhat complicated.

Hi Tedolph,

I must launch a "please explain" about your 'complicated' rating.

In my case the E-P5 has just enough buttons and dials to make it nicely functional and easy to remember how to use if out of use for a long while, and without all the extra buttons that later bodies like OM-D series where people must get confused at times about what button does what.

tedolf wrote:

Guy Parsons wrote:

tedolf wrote:

I consider the E-p5 the spiritual successor to the E-pl1. It has the built in flash (very convenient for triggering off camera flash, puff of fill flash) and the EVF port for use with long lenses. I wish that it was a bit lighter, and also I find it somewhat complicated.

Hi Tedolph,

I must launch a "please explain" about your 'complicated' rating.

It's really just a personal problem with the selector switch that changes the functions of the two dials. I often forget what the dials are doing and wind up messing up the White Balance when I am trying to change the shutter spreed, etc. I just wish we had a set up like Fuji, simple dedicated aperture and shutter speed dials with an A setting on each one. Set both to A and you are in program mode. Also, you can see what your settings are from the top plate with the camera off.

I am sure that if I used the camera every day I would get the muscle memory, but I only shoot a occasionally.

Managing off camera flash can get complicated too.

I kept it simple by using the 1-2 lever to be Red button = 2xDTC in position 1 and in position 2 the Red button is video start/stop. The 4 useless positions of the mode dial are now MySets 1,2,3,4. The Fn button is AEL and everything else is as it came out of the box.

The MySets 1,2,3 are for good to dim light, dim to bad light, and impossible light. MySet 4 is usually M mode for flash use, which is relatively rare for me.

In my usual out and about with MySet 1 if I end up in a dim building and then hear that the shutter speed was too low, I swap to MySet 2 and try again. Usually the first one was good anyway due to the well behaving IBIS.

Basically, I've made my E-P5 easier to use than a point 'n' shoot.

I am now using a Leica C type 112 for travel/casual shooting. It is a 1/1.7 sensor 12mp. I need some new 16x20" wall prints and I will see how it does. With RAW conversion it should be OK?. Not enough DOF control for portrait/boudoir work though.

4000 pixels wide at 20" is 200 camera pixels per inch of print and that for me is my safe low limit for a print that may be viewed fairly closely. Just don't crop the image as below 200 ppi then softness may distress any pixel peepers attending your wall.

For quality in a compact I now use the Sony RX100M6. My conclusion is that the Sony Zeiss lens efforts are better than the Panasonic Leica lens efforts.