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Olympus Pen E-P1 In-depth Review
July 2009, Simon Joinson 
Review based on a Production E-P1 (Firmware V1.0)
The apex of this miniaturizationwas surely the Pen F and its variants - the interchangeable lensversions of the hugely popular Pen series (over 17 million of thevarious models were sold between 1959 and the mid 80's when half-framefinally died out). A fully-fledged single lens reflex camera that wassmaller than most rangefinders (thanks to its half frame film format),the Pen F was innovative, it was stylish and, in 1963 when it waslaunched, it was universally lauded, and 45 years later enjoys trueclassic status.
The first Micro Four Thirdscamera from Olympus pays unabashed homage to the Pen F; from theclassic styling to the long running teaser campaign running in printand online, the E-P1 doesn't just wear its influences on its sleeve; itshouts about them from the rooftops (and is referred to in some partsof the world as the 'Digital Pen'). There's even a subtle engraving onthe chrome edge of the top plate that reads 'Olympus Pen Since 1959'.
Notthat we're complaining; for years now we've been imploring everymanufacturer who would listen to us to build a non-reflexinterchangeable lens camera around a large sensor, and the E-P1'sstyling (and all metal exterior) harks back to the glory days of themechanical camera in the 60's and 70's, when men were men and cameraswere built like swiss watches (a design trend started by Panasonic withcameras like the LC-1 and LX series, if truth be told). Perfect itain't, but when we first saw the E-P1 we couldn't have been happier,and we just wanted to run off with it and start taking pictures.
| | It'snot hard to see where Olympus got the inspiration for the 'PenDigital'' the Pen FT was an innovative half frame SLR that won manyfans (despite its flaws) and remains a highly collectible classic 40years later. |
TheE-P1 was designed from the outset to be as small as possible usingcurrent components and this philosophy led to the decision (not, I'msure, taken lightly) to leave out both viewfinder and built-in flash.The FL-14 flashgun overcomes the latter, but the optional viewfinderattachment won't help anyone using the zoom lens, and the lack ofanything to peer through, especially on bright days when the LCD getswashed out by the sun, will undoubtedly put some potential purchasersoff. Though, once they get their hands on the camera, I suspect manywill be won over by its undoubted charms.
Key features TheE-P1 is, essentially, an Olympus E-620 (and by extension an E-30 inmost respects) crowbarred into a compact, rangefinder-style body. Asidefrom the changes necessitated by the removal of the mirror and opticalviewfinder - and a slight firmware upgrade (for new live view features,improved image processing) it is as fully fledged as any mid-range SLR.This is quite an achievement.
InterestinglyOlympus hasn't just popped the sensor from the E-30 into a smallerbody; they've been working hard under the hood too, and the 12.3 MPsensor has had a bit of an upgrade to increase resolution and sharpness- plus a few fixes that show they've been listening to reviewers andusers (such as adding the option to apply Art Filters to raw filesin-camera). The image quality boost been achieved by the use of alighter low pass filter and a powerful new processor (the TruePic V),which offers better moiré removal and improved high ISO performance -plus of course the ability to capture HD movie clips. Otherwise the keyfeature list is pretty similar to Olympus's latest DLSR offerings.
- 12.3 Megapixel Live MOS Sensor
- Two new kit lenses (M. Zuiko 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 and 17mm F2.8 Pancake)
- TruePic V image processor
- 3.0" LCD screen (fixed, 230k dot resolution)
- HD movies (720p) with stereo sound
- Linear PCM sound recording
- 3.0 fps sequential shooting
- Built-in IS with max. 4 EV steps efficiency
- Optional Adapters for all ZUIKO DIGITAL & OM lenses
- Newly developed GUI for easier operation via Live Control
- Automatic recognition of common scenes possible with i-Auto
- Dual control dials
- Face Detection & Shadow Adjustment
- Art Filters, multi-aspect ratios, multi exposure
- In-camera raw conversion (including application of Art Filters)
- Small & stylish design
Micro Four Thirds Olympusand Panasonic announced the new, mirrorless format / lens mount basedon (and compatible with) Four Thirds in August of last year. The MicroFour Thirds system uses the same sensor size (18 x 13.5 mm) but allowsslimmer cameras by removing the mirror box and optical viewfinder. Thenew format has three key technical differences: (1) roughly half theflange back distance (distance from mount to the sensor), (2) a smallerdiameter lens mount (6 mm smaller) and (3) two additional contactpoints for lens-to-body communication (now 11 points). Removing themirror mechanism allows this shorter flange back distance, meaninglenses for the new mount can be considerably smaller than current FourThirds designs. The format requires framing to be carried out usingLive View on either the LCD monitor or an EVF. Existing Four Thirdslenses can be used on Micro Four Thirds cameras using an adapter.
Belowyou can see the advantage of Micro Four Thirds; the E-P1 isconsiderably smaller than the E-450, itself no giant (it's the smallestSLR on the market). Shown here with the new collapsible M. Zuiko14-42mm kit lens, it's surprising to think that the E-P1 is actually aconsiderably higher spec camera (with a bigger screen, in-body imagestabilization and a feature set closer to the semi-pro E-30).
Sois this the camera we've been waiting for? After years of hectoring allthe manufacturers to give us what we had in the days of film (a smallcamera that takes pictures as well as an SLR) is the E-P1 a camera we'dactually reach into our own pockets for? Read on to find out.
 | | TheE-P1 shares its nostalgic design philosophy with the Panasonic LumixLX3; a camera popular with precisely the same enthusiast photographersthat Olympus is targeting with the new system. |
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).
Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.
Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window.
To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top.
DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C. |
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