Will_B
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2001
- Messages
- 4,730
I truly believe this is the beginning of a revolution in compact cameras, so pardon what may seem to be my unbridled enthusiasm for the new Olympus E-P1 "Pen" camera.
The Olympus E-P1 is the first of the new "micro-four-thirds" standard camera with interchangeable lenses (another company produced one earlier, but it wasn't flexible).
The concept is that a large, nearly-DSLR-sized sensor is now within a compact camera body. The body itself essentially started with a DSLR and then had the mirror assembly deleted. Depth was depleted per specs that the new micro-four-thirds standard has developed, as well. Even the lenses are smaller, per the micro-four-thirds standard (which I should add is not an Olympus exclusive standard, other companies will be making micro-four-thirds this year and next also).
Olympus President Kikukawa earlier stated the E-P1 carries forward the philosophy of the original “PEN” compact film camera from the 1960s -- a full featured camera is a compact size. Mr. Kikukawa explained, “Among users of compact digital cameras, more than 30% want to use a DSLR. However, many do not step-up to the DSLR due to the price, size, weight, or difficulty of use. We are aiming for these users. We intend to revolutionize the picture business through our advancements in the MicroFourThirds system.”
In keeping with the retro associations, the E-P1 is being launched amid an advertising campaign that is wonderfully late-1950s/early-1960s (see images below), and the camera itself will be available in a chic white as well as the more traditional silver. If you search flickr you'll see that at the launch event, they gave out the camera and had many models dressed similarly, and antique vehicles, and other fun stuff to help drive home the point that this camera both looks cool and is cool.
My personal fave is the white body with silver lens. Some say it is too feminine but I don't care.
There's even white straps available to match! Party doll a go-go!
Notice that there is no viewfinder; since the intent here is to make a large-sensored camera in as small a body as possible. Olympus appreciates that many people don't use viewfinders anymore, indeed, it is sometimes seen as a bit rude to hold a camera in front of your face. There's a 3" LCD on the back with live-view. An add-on viewfinder is available, in any case.
The large sensor is a 12.3 Megapixel Live MOS imager, to provide nearly-DSLR quality images (their promo materials says "DSLR quality images" but I'll say "nearly" because the sensors in, say, a Canon Rebel XSi are a bit larger still). The E-P1 has three modes of In-Body Image Stabilization. It has video, 720p, if anyone cares.
The two lenses available now for the launch are the M.Zuiko 17mm f2.8 -- which should be the choice of serious photographers who want the faster speed --- or the 14-42mm f3.5-4.5 zoom. If you get the 17mm, there's an optional clip-on viewfinder (very old fashioned!).
A large gamble Olympus took (which I disagree with) was trying to accentuate that this camera works well enough in low-light to not need a flash. Either that or they just couldn't cram it in there without causing red-eye. In either case, if you want a flash, you need to attach a high quality one -- the FL-14 Flash is made for the E-P1, and it is nice and small, but still, from a marketing perspective even a cell-phone-sized flash in the corner of the camera for emergencies would have been nice. Granted, people will get much better flash quality with this hot-shoe mounted flash, but, it's another gizmo. Fortunately, the sample pics of low-light are impressive.
Lastly, here's the configurations available now (or in a matter of days):
The Olympus Pen E-P1 is available in the following configurations:
• E-P1 Kit Silver/Black
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens black)
• E-P1 Kit Silver/Silver
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens silver)
• E-P1 Kit White/Silver
(E-P1 body white & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens silver)
• E-P1 Pancake Kit Silver
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens silver & VF-1)
• E-P1 Pancake Kit White (harder to find)
(E-P1 body white & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens silver & VF-1)
• E-P1 Double Lens Kit (not available in the United States)
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens silver &
VF-1)
The Olympus E-P1 is the first of the new "micro-four-thirds" standard camera with interchangeable lenses (another company produced one earlier, but it wasn't flexible).
The concept is that a large, nearly-DSLR-sized sensor is now within a compact camera body. The body itself essentially started with a DSLR and then had the mirror assembly deleted. Depth was depleted per specs that the new micro-four-thirds standard has developed, as well. Even the lenses are smaller, per the micro-four-thirds standard (which I should add is not an Olympus exclusive standard, other companies will be making micro-four-thirds this year and next also).
Olympus President Kikukawa earlier stated the E-P1 carries forward the philosophy of the original “PEN” compact film camera from the 1960s -- a full featured camera is a compact size. Mr. Kikukawa explained, “Among users of compact digital cameras, more than 30% want to use a DSLR. However, many do not step-up to the DSLR due to the price, size, weight, or difficulty of use. We are aiming for these users. We intend to revolutionize the picture business through our advancements in the MicroFourThirds system.”
In keeping with the retro associations, the E-P1 is being launched amid an advertising campaign that is wonderfully late-1950s/early-1960s (see images below), and the camera itself will be available in a chic white as well as the more traditional silver. If you search flickr you'll see that at the launch event, they gave out the camera and had many models dressed similarly, and antique vehicles, and other fun stuff to help drive home the point that this camera both looks cool and is cool.
My personal fave is the white body with silver lens. Some say it is too feminine but I don't care.
There's even white straps available to match! Party doll a go-go!
Notice that there is no viewfinder; since the intent here is to make a large-sensored camera in as small a body as possible. Olympus appreciates that many people don't use viewfinders anymore, indeed, it is sometimes seen as a bit rude to hold a camera in front of your face. There's a 3" LCD on the back with live-view. An add-on viewfinder is available, in any case.
The large sensor is a 12.3 Megapixel Live MOS imager, to provide nearly-DSLR quality images (their promo materials says "DSLR quality images" but I'll say "nearly" because the sensors in, say, a Canon Rebel XSi are a bit larger still). The E-P1 has three modes of In-Body Image Stabilization. It has video, 720p, if anyone cares.
The two lenses available now for the launch are the M.Zuiko 17mm f2.8 -- which should be the choice of serious photographers who want the faster speed --- or the 14-42mm f3.5-4.5 zoom. If you get the 17mm, there's an optional clip-on viewfinder (very old fashioned!).
A large gamble Olympus took (which I disagree with) was trying to accentuate that this camera works well enough in low-light to not need a flash. Either that or they just couldn't cram it in there without causing red-eye. In either case, if you want a flash, you need to attach a high quality one -- the FL-14 Flash is made for the E-P1, and it is nice and small, but still, from a marketing perspective even a cell-phone-sized flash in the corner of the camera for emergencies would have been nice. Granted, people will get much better flash quality with this hot-shoe mounted flash, but, it's another gizmo. Fortunately, the sample pics of low-light are impressive.
Lastly, here's the configurations available now (or in a matter of days):
The Olympus Pen E-P1 is available in the following configurations:
• E-P1 Kit Silver/Black
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens black)
• E-P1 Kit Silver/Silver
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens silver)
• E-P1 Kit White/Silver
(E-P1 body white & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens silver)
• E-P1 Pancake Kit Silver
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens silver & VF-1)
• E-P1 Pancake Kit White (harder to find)
(E-P1 body white & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens silver & VF-1)
• E-P1 Double Lens Kit (not available in the United States)
(E-P1 body silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens silver & M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens silver &
VF-1)