Olympus Pen E-P1

The Olympus E-P1 is probably one of the most anticipated cameras this year. Ever since the Japanese company displayed a mock unit at the Photokina tradeshow in Germany last year, professional photographers and enthusiasts alike have been looking forward to its launch. Although the Micro Four Thirds-based E-P1 essentially encompasses the needs of most serious shutterbugs by packing a large image sensor in a small body, Olympus told us this shooter is really targeted at current compact camera users.

While Panasonic already has the Lumix DMC-G1 and GH1, these two snappers retain the traditional dSLR-like aesthetics. On the other hand, Olympus has reverted to the past and borrowed from its Pen-series for a retro flair. Although the E-P1's small footprint and good looks had us hooked, we wished it had more consumer-friendly features such as an onboard flash.

Design

At first glance, you may mistake the E-P1 for a high-end compact camera such as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 or Canon PowerShot G10. This is hardly surprising considering that the Olympus' footprint is only slightly larger than the above two point-and-shoots.

The E-P1 is available in either silver (with black leather grip) or white (with tan leather grip). We prefer the former because it exudes a more classic look and we don't have to worry about dirtying the exterior as we did for the white version. Also, the 14-42mm zoom lens is offered in either black or silver to suit the look of the shooter's body.

We like the overall build of the snapper. In our hands, it felt solidly built, and even though it doesn't have a handgrip, the leathered portion offered added assurance when we were holding the camera. The shooter was well-balanced when we attached either lens to it, but this cannot be said if you choose to use a third-party adapter and fit heavier optics on the Micro Four Thirds snapper.

The command dial can be turned only via the rear of the camera because it is recessed into the body. We had occasional difficulties in operating the dial due to the silver trimmings on the back of the camera, which obstructed our fingers when we tried to turn the dial.

The E-P1 has two scroll wheels on the back, which facilitates navigating menus or making changes to exposure settings. This means you cannot tweak both the aperture and shutter speed at the same time with one hand. Then again, considering that this shooter is targeted at users who are upgrading from a compact camera, this shouldn't be much of an issue.

The major gripe we have with the Olympus snapper is its menu which is imported from its Four Thirds dSLRs. First-time users may not know that in Live View mode, you can press the Info button to toggle between different settings such as adjusting the focus points and histogram. In some of these modes, the four-way navigation buttons may not function until, again, you press the Info button to get to another view mode.

If you look at the main menu, there are initially four default tabs. But if you turn on the Menu Display under the Settings tab, more useful features will be made available. From there, you can map functions to certain buttons. For us, we chose to use the Fn button to turn the LCD on and off.

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Features

Although the E-P1's design is refreshing, its features lack in some aspects. Take a look at the table below for the three Micro Four Thirds cameras available.

Specifications/model	Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1	Olympus E-P1	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
Sensor resolution	12 megapixels	12 megapixels	12 megapixels
Dimension/weight	124 x 83.6 x 45.2 mm/385g	120.5 x 70 x 35mm/335g	124 x 90 x 45mm/385g
LCD size	3-inch, 460k-dot LCD with tilt-and-swivel function	3-inch, 230k-dot fixed display	3-inch, 460k-dot LCD with tilt-and-swivel function
Viewfinder	Electronic	None	Electronic
Max. video resolution	N/A	1,280 x 720 pixels at 30fps	1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 20fps
Audio	N/A	Stereo	Mono
Burst mode	3fps	3fps	3fps
Flash (built-in)	Pop-up	Nil	Pop-up
ISO range	ISO 100 to 3,200	ISO 100 to 6,400	ISO 100 to 12,800
Image stabilizer	Optical (via lens)	Sensor-shift (in-body)	Optical (via lens)
Still image format	RAW and JPEG	RAW and JPEG	RAW and JPEG
Memory media	SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC
Related links	Review		Review

Since the E-P1's form factor is very similar to that of high-end compact snappers, we decided to pit the Micro Four Thirds camera against two other popular advanced point-and-shoots.

Specifications/model	Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3	Olympus E-P1	Canon PowerShot G10
Sensor resolution	10 megapixels	12 megapixels	15 megapixels
Dimension/weight	108.7 x 59.5 x 27.1mm/229g	120.5 x 70 x 35mm/335g (body only)	109 x 78 x 46mm/350g
Zoom range/focal length	2.5x/24 to 60mm	N.A. Dependent on attached lens	5x/28 to 140mm
Viewfinder	None	None	Optical
Max. video resolution	1,280 x 720 pixels at 30fps	1,280 x 720 pixels at 30fps	640 x 480 pixels at 30fps
Audio	Mono	Stereo	Mono
Flash	Built-in	N.A.	Built-in
ISO range	ISO 100 to 3,200	ISO 100 to 6,400	ISO 80 to 1,600
Image stabilizer	Optical	Sensor-shift	Optical
Still image format	RAW and JPEG	RAW and JPEG	RAW and JPEG
Memory media	SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC
Related links	Review		Review

The lack of an onboard flash may make sense if it's to maintain the E-P1's retro design, but its target audience who are primarily users upgrading from a point-and-shoot may not appreciate it. Although Olympus did say that its Micro Four Thirds camera is able to take good-quality pictures even at high ISO settings to compensate for the absence of a flash, we still feel that having an additional light source will greatly sweeten the deal.

To keep up with trends, the E-P1 has an HD video-recording capability as well. What is really interesting about this feature is that users are able to incorporate Olympus' Art Filters into the clips. Effects such as Pinhole, Grainy Film and Soft Focus can be applied to the recordings and this delivers interesting results. But do note that filters such as Pinhole and Grainy Film will reduce the frame rates drastically and clips generated will appear jerky. Videos can be recorded up to a maximum of 7 minutes per movie in AVI format, which roughly equates to a 2GB file.

What we consider the biggest overhaul for Olympus is the use of SD/SDHC media for storage in the E-P1. Traditionally, the Japanese firm employed xD-Picture Cards for its point-and-shoots and CompactFlash media for its dSLRs. However, due to the petite chassis of the E-P1, Olympus opted for the more popular SD/SDHC format.

The 14-42mm zoom lens is also an interesting innovation. The optics is retractable, and when not in use this glass stands a mere 1cm taller than the already-slim 17mm pancake lens. The camera will automatically remind you to extend the lens when you power it on.

Regarding lenses, there are plenty of adapters which allow you to attach different lenses from other brands onto the E-P1 and other Micro Four Thirds camera. We tried the Four Thirds adapter (with Olympus 14-42mm lens) on the shooter and found that although focusing was a little bit slower, it was accurate. But do note that some of these adapters do not allow functions such as aperture priority or autofocus due to the different electrical contact points.

Performance

The E-P1 took under 2 seconds to start up and we think this is pretty reasonable. Shutter lag measured slightly over 0.1 second and the time-to-first-shot clocked 2.5 seconds (including autofocus).

A lot of photographers voiced concerns over the contrast-based autofocus because such a system is typically used in compact cameras and known to be slower than phase detection which is employed in dSLRs. But we didn't encounter issues with the E-P1's autofocus. It was very fast in locking onto subjects under bright daylight and even in dim conditions. There are, of course, minor differences in focusing time between the E-P1 and entry-level dSLRs such as the Canon EOS 500D, but most consumers probably won't notice it.

The E-P1's burst mode is rated at 3 frames per second (fps), and when we shot in best-quality JPEG settings, it snapped nine shots before it slowed down to about 1fps. We used an 8GB Class 4 SDHC card. After snapping a sequence of pictures in RAW+JPEG mode, the camera took quite a while to write the images to the flash media.

The 1,150mAh battery lasted about 200 snaps, but this figure varies depending on your usage pattern. For us, we used the optional optical viewfinder and turned off the display (except for playback), but employed the Art Filter function a lot, which crunched the cell. Also, we recorded about 30 minutes of HD video clips.

Image And Video Quality

The E-P1 utilizes a new imaging processor, the TruePic V, which Olympus claims will deliver better-looking shots with less noise even at high ISO sensitivities. The new engine also promises to render the color purple more faithfully. When we paced it through our Lab tests, we did notice that purple hues were quite accurate and vibrant.

With regard to noise, we found the E-P1 performing at about the same standard as the G1 at ISO 1,600. But the GH1 delivered significantly sharper and less noisy pictures at this sensitivity setting, and we can attribute that to the slightly larger image sensor.

At ISO 100, the E-P1 delivered very clean-looking shots without any hint of digital artifacts. Fine details were well-rendered and edges looked crisp. Gradation of colors was also smooth. It was only at ISO 800 that we noticed noise dotting our pictures. However, it was pretty insignificant and will probably take a trained eye to notice. We did see fine lines starting to look slightly smudged. We recommend users not to venture beyond ISO 1,600 because photos taken at sensitivity settings of ISO 3,200 and 6,400 had much fewer details. The digital artifacts also looked more prominent even when we didn't zoom in to inspect on the computer.

The E-P1's HD-quality video clips were quite impressive. We liked the color rendition which was natural and the stereo audio really made our clips more lively. There is a continuous autofocus function to keep recordings sharp even as you zoom in and out, but we found this to be quite slow and inaccurate on several occasions. You would be better off using manual focusing.

Conclusion

Some shutterbugs have commented that the E-P1 is a repackaged E-620, but we think this is an unfair statement. Although both models have almost similar shooting specifications, the latter doesn't have a video-recording function.

We really like the design of the E-P1 because it is a deviation of the traditional dSLR. The retro aesthetics will appeal to youngsters seeking a different-looking shooter, while older shutterbugs may feel nostalgic about the E-P1's facade. Looks aside, the Olympus snapper offers plenty of creative options for enthusiasts. But the lack of an onboard flash may put some users off, so this is something Olympus may want to look into this for future models.

The E-P1 is available with the camera body and 14-42mm lens at S$1,298 (US$868.63). If you prefer to use just the 17mm pancake optics, the E-P1 will retail for S$1,448 (US$969.02) with this glass. Shutterbugs who want both lenses will have to fork out S$1,598 (US$1,069.40) for the dual lens bundle. The S$1,448 and S$1,598 packages will also come with the 17mm optical viewfinder.