Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Camera (14-42 mm Black Lens Kit) - Silver

 

 

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This is an inspiring camera for keen photographers who have a good technical knowledge of photography and of camera operation. If you want a small camera with some a level of semi-manual or full manual control that takes good photos straight from the camera with no post processing required then I would look elsewhere. Knowing what I know now I would pay the same for the Pen as I would for a good quality prosumer DSLR and if you are a keen photographer in the market for a second camera then it is highly recommended (see my detailed review).

Overall
This is a camera that I want to use and I have never taken so many photos with any other camera (I have four cameras at present). It is like using a 'proper' camera from the 70s but with all of the advantages of digital. The EP-1 does have some limitations and it requires a level of technical knowledge of photography to get the best out of it. However I very quickly started to produced images that are at least as good in terms of image quality as my Nikon D80. The size of the Pen means it becomes easy for me to have a high quality camera with me wherever I go and that means that I am taking more images and hence becoming a better photographer. If you want a highly technical review then try the DPREVIEW website.

Purchasing
I paid around £388 for the body and 14-24mm kit lens. I think it was a German import as the camera arrived with a German manual and an adapter plug for the two pin lead on the battery charger. I was a little worried about the warranty but managed to register the camera online with Olympus, however you may want to check to see if it is still covered under UK warranty.

Look and Feel
To a more mature photographer the retro styling of this camera makes it a thing of beauty. It feels like my first 35mm camera way back in the 70s. For some reason it feels more 'mechanical' than my other 'sterile' digital cameras and it isn't just a tool, but something I like using.

Build quality
The look and feel are helped by a generally good build quality. The Pen feels weighty and solid and the buttons and dials are all of good quality, however the Pen is not shower proof, which is a shame for such a good camera. The M.Zuiko 14-42 kit lens lets the side down a little. The casing is made of plastic and feels a little flimsy when the barrel is unlocked. There is also significant play in the barrel and I can't imagine that this is a good thing. The lens does not come with a lens hood. Knowing now how good the Pen is I would have purchased the body and a separate higher quality lens.

Ergonomics
The camera size and button placement is pretty good for shooting and the camera can be held in a similar fashion to a standard SLR. The only fly in the ointment is the rear dial which is easily touched when lining up a shot and causes the camera to activate one of several functions. This problem can be reduced by a set-up option to change the operation of the dial but it remains a small niggle. Also those with large or stubby fingers may find some of the buttons a bit difficult to use.

For me, one of the advantage of the Pen is that it can be held more comfortably and stably then a larger and heavier DSLR and this can reflect in the sharpness of the images. Whilst on this issue because the Pen is a four thirds design and has no mirror to move out of the way this should also reduce vibration and improve sharpness. There is no doubt that when hand holding a camera I can take sharper images with the Pen than with my D80 and seemingly regardless of the quality of the lens on either camera.

In manual or semi-manual mode, aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation are all controlled by a thumb wheel and a small button and it doesn't take long before this is done through touch. There are also a couple of programmable buttons that allow certain functions to be available at your finger tips. One issue for me was that you cannot assign bracketing to one of these buttons, which again is a bit of a niggle. All other functions can be accessed through the menu navigation wheel and the shooting menu is highly configurable and can be displayed in one of three ways. Yes I do prefer the ergonomics of my D80 but the Pen is still very useable in manual mode.

The menu system takes some getting used to with some items duplicated on different menus but if you have a reasonable knowledge of the usual functions of a DSLR then it doesn't take long to get used to, so again, only a minor niggle.

Two of the big limitations are the lack of a viewfinder and of an internal flash. I have to say that the lack of a viewfinder is less of an issue that I expected. The screen is at least adequate to compose a shot and because of the lightness of the camera I find that I hold it quite close to my eye and in some ways it feels like an eyepiece. The only real limitation is in very bright conditions when the screen can become washed out, but I spent a few days with the Pen in the south of France on bright, blue sky days and there were only a couple of times when I couldn't compose the shot due to a washed out screen.

The screen is low resolution and can only be judged as adequate. I found that the displayed live view image was underexposed compared to the captured RAW image (could this be because the live view is showing the JPEG image) as with the histogram. The screen also restricts the ability to use manual focusing. When you try to use the focus ring the screen magnifies the display to aid in focusing but the screen needs to be of higher resolution to get this right and so there is a limitation in manual focusing. Don't get me wrong, you can focus manually but it can be a bit of a hit and miss affair. Also because of a slow screen refresh it becomes difficult to track anything moving at greater than running pace and this is can be frustrating so it is not a camera for capturing fast action. All in all the EP-1 could really benefit from a higher resolution screen.

I suppose it depends upon what you like photographing but for me the lack of an internal flash is not a big problem. If I need to use flash then I would prefer to purchase the external flash, but I don't take many portraits or macro shots that require flash. Usually if I need flash then I am happy to use my compact camera for snaps or my DSLR for 'proper photographs'. However because I love using the Pen so much I have no doubt that I will end up buying the external flash. Once again, for me this is a minor issue.

Functionality
In terms of functions, the Pen has all the operations of a DSLR either at the touch of a button or on the shooting menu and there are many other reviews that are far better at describing them than I could ever do. Suffice to say that I miss nothing in terms of configurability and function when moving between my D80 and the Pen, except a couple of issues already mentioned. Below are a few comments on specific areas of functionality.

Auto Focus
There has been lots of criticism over the speed of autofocus with the Pen, so the first thing you need to do is ensure you are running version 1.4 of the firmware. This can be updated through the supplied Olympus Master 2 software. Olympus have stated that this should improve auto focus and as far as I am concerned the focusing speed is similar to any other camera that I have. It also helps if you make some changes in the set up to stop the lens seeking, and stick to single point focusing.

The displayed focus areas are quite large and it is difficult to focus precisely on a small area of an image and this is also true of metering where it is also difficult to spot meter on a small area. One can use the cross wire display to help but off centre focusing or spot metering is more problematic.

Burst Mode
I have to mention this because I am so impressed with the EP-1 burst mode. In good to reasonable lighting I always get 2 to 3 frames per second, whereas in the same conditions my D80 struggles to get anywhere near the same shooting speed. Again this makes it easier to get a sharp image when hand held. Very impressed.

Live View
As an amateur photographer who is still learning I found the live view a revelation. As I understand it, the image that is displayed on the screen is taken directly from the sensor. This is particularly useful when using spot metering and/or exposure compensation because you get a better view of what your exposure will be like before taking the shot. This means that I take better exposed shots with my Pen than with my DSLR, although I am starting to internalize the zone method through feedback from live view and this is paying dividends when using my DSLR. For me, this is a major improvement in the consistency of getting the exposure that I want.

White Balance
I have generally found that when processing a Raw image from the Pen I need to do less tweaking of the white balance than with RAW images from the D80.

Battery Life
Battery life is good at 250 to 300 shots per charge and additional batteries are relatively cheap. I purchased an extra battery for less than £10.

Image quality
I virtually always shoot in RAW and I am gob-smacked at the quality of the images straight out of the camera when compared to my D80. At the moment I use Adobe Camera Raw for the D80 images and Olympus Master 2 for the Pen images and this does make a difference to the default image settings but when I look at the untouched images the Pen wins hands down. I would have to say that after processing a few hundred Pen RAW files and a few thousand D80 Raw files the Pen is capable of at least matching the quality of images that can be generated from the D80 and in many cases exceeding it. Make no mistakes this is a... Read more ›

Too early to for this to be a photography review - and you'll plenty of those anyway. Beautifully made object, reminiscent of photography when it was film, chemicals and mechanical shutters. My wife said "looks like my Dad's camera from when I was a kid".

And it obviously takes great photos. Moving up from a compact you'll find it very high quality, and the "slow auto focus" won't seem too slow (it is a bit pedantic, going to infinite every time but you can trigger it manually to avoid that). It's great to take back control of aperture, depth of field, shutter speed. Personally I think the art filters are superfluous (you can do it on the computer better I guess). 720p video with image stabilizer is a wonderful bonus.

Like rediscovering my earliest experiences in the 1970s with my first simple SLR. Except way better results.

Well its not a DSLR, but I can live with the images it takes. Not really a pocket camera, but It is more portable than my D3 or H3D.
I use it with pocket wizard for flash photography. I could not use it for wedding photography, but i could live with it if i was a guest at a wedding

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5.0 out of 5 stars EP1 classic in the making ?
Purchased this camera very cheap recently from high st retailer to compare to an EPL-1 which i already own and love to bits, reason being i love the image quality and size of the... Read more

Published 17 months ago by Sn Baines

5.0 out of 5 stars Believe the hype.
So the ad says: Not a compact. Not an SLR. It's a PEN.

And this aptly describes the PEN experience. Read more

Published 22 months ago by Newman

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