Olympus E-P1

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By Leonard Goh, CNET Asia
Jul 16, 2009

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

From left to right: Lumix DMC-LX3, EP-1 and the PowerShot G9.
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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.

You can't access the command dial from the top because it is recessed into the camera body.
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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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