Olympus E-P1 Unveiled and Previewed

The pocketable Olympus E-P1
The pocketable Olympus E-P1

Now the waiting is over! Olympus has finally revived it’s famous PEN camera line with a Digital PEN known as Olympus E-P1. I’m not much surprised with the final release specs and look since a few days before, there had been image and specs leaks. A large part of those leaks are true but there are some surprise features as well and getting official word shuts all other speculations down. So here it is. It’s not a DSLR. It’s not a compact camera. We can simply say, it’s a PEN.

The Olympus E-P1 has retro looks which hankers back to it’s old PEN line styling. Since I don’t have the actual camera yet to test I’m basing my opinion based on some in-depth previews of several sites. Basically the specs are hand down from Olympus recent DSLRs the E-30/620 but with new features to booth:

The Olympus E-P1 with attached viewfinder and 17mm beside the 14-42mm zoom
The Olympus E-P1 with attached viewfinder and 17mm beside the 14-42mm zoom
  • 12.3 Megapixel Live MOS Sensor
  • Two new kit lenses (14-42mm M.Zuiko 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
Olympus E-P1 vs Lumix LX3 size comparison
Olympus E-P1 vs Lumix LX3 size comparison

So with the given design, specs and features let me just rundown the things that interest me on Olympus E-P1

The Retro Styling and Size. I’ve read on forums that some people find a love-hate relationship with the design. Personally I like it. It has a stainless steel body which looks slick and a very compact size (just a tad bigger than Canon G10 and Lumix LX3) that I can certainly take around everyday.

The TruePic V processor and New Sensor. Having been an Olympus User for quite some time now, I know the 4:3rds sensor is a bit lagging on the high ISO noise department. But for the E-P1, they promised better noise handling which now can go as high as ISO 6400 which is a first for Olympus and lighter Anti-Alias Filter to render more details and sharper images. I’m very interested to see how this fares.

Collapsable 14-42mm 3.5-5.6 zoom
Collapsable 14-42mm 3.5-5.6 zoom

The New M.Zuiko Lenses. Zuiko lenses are excellent and I’m hoping to see the same quality on the new lenses like the pancake prime 17mm 2.8 and zoom 14-42mm 3.5-5.6. The zoom is quite surprising as it’s collapsable much like how digital fixed lens compacts does it. It’s a first one I’ve seen and quite an amazing feat for Olympus to keep the zoom lens as compact as possible.

HD Movie Capabilities. I guess it’s getting to be a standard feature on most cameras lately. While I still shoot still I sometimes use the video features of my cellphone so this is a welcome feature for me.

SD/SDHC Storage. Another hurray for me. It’s about time they scrap the slow and expensive XD memory cards.

Olympus E-P1 back panel and controls
Olympus E-P1 back panel and controls

I’m really liking the Olympus E-P1 on paper, but there are still things that I find less appealing and questionable like:

Lack of built-in viewfinder. Though there’s an attachable viewfinder, it could turn off traditionalist.

Lack of buil-tin flash. I’m not really a flashy person (no pun intended) but for compact camera users it’s very handy for them. The attachable flash FL-14 doesn’t have a hinge to change position and bounce in some light.

Low Resolution LCD Screen. I think this should have been much better than the 230,000 dot resolution which is getting outdated. Since this is mostly a live-view camera, they should have given it more importance.

With that said, I’m very interested with this camera and am looking forward to handling one. It’s a new breed camera that could make or break the future of digital imaging.

For more detailed in-depth previews of  Olympus E-P1 check out the following sites:

The Olympus E-P1 will be available in three kits: body only (US$750), the body plus the 14 – 42 mm lens (US$800), and the body plus the 17 mm pancake lens and its optical viewfinder (US$900). The camera will come in two colors (brushed metal and matte white), and the lenses come in two colors (silver and black), as well. A bit lower than the rumored prices which is good. Hopefully here in the Philippines, they price it more competitively when it’s launched.


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