Olympus E-P1 Review
In 1959, Olympus has changed the world of photography to pursue a very simple idea: create a camera that is so easy to carry and easy to use as a pen. Developed by the prestigious engineer Yoshihisa Maitani, camera Olympus Pen sparked a furor by cameras that lasted until late 70s. Today the legend lives on in digital format with the launch of the E-P1. This first model of the innovative standard Olympus Micro Four-thirds is a camera that comes at a time when the mirror is no longer an essential component for the interchangeable lenses of digital cameras. With an incredibly small size, a retro style and easy handling, is inspired by the philosophy of the pen of the past. However, the quality D-SLR and a lot of features put the E-P1 in the lead of innovative technologies from Olympus to imagine the future. Now anyone can have the best of both worlds: a modern design and high quality D-SLR.
Image quality
The Olympus E-P1 Pen uses a Live MOS sensor 12 Mpix (13.1 Mpix total) photosites which are about 4.3 m. With this small size, which in theory should be less sensitive in low light (presence of noise in high sensitivity) and present a phenomenon of diffraction (alteration of images should start from f /8) .
On our test scene, the Olympus E-P1 behaves fairly well up to ISO 800. By examining the images to 100% on a screen, there is a sheep from the lower sensitivity of the device. At 400 ISO, the grain is already visible on a print run A3, but is very discreet on printing A4. With higher sensitivity (ISO 1600 and 3200), the grain is increasingly present, but the noise is chromatic content: there is little colored pixels and granulosité is rather pleasant. At a proper viewing distance, an A3 + is acceptable, but it will process the file for the best. We eagerly await the first results of the algorithms of DxO Optics Pro (soon it should logically take into account the Olympus housings) for high sensitivity. At 6400 ISO, the grain is very pronounced, the details highly diluted and there is a color drift and the emergence of colored pixels. A reserve for extreme cases so …
Note that the smoothing of images is somewhat restrained in ways standard Reliable and reduction of electronic noise. The method is high for my taste too much and I have a preference for the low mode which provides a good compromise between noise smoothing and detail preservation. You will notice that the automatic correction of the brightness does not change the situation and the noise is almost the same as the function is activated or not.
The Olympus E-P1 Pen – main benefits:
Compact and stylish design
- Standard Micro FourThirds extremely compact and lightweight
- Stylish design with metallic finish
- Two colors: silver and white
SLR image quality
- Live MOS sensor 12.3 megapixels
- TruePic image processor V
- Image stabilizer integrated with maximum efficiency 4 EV steps
- Adapter for all ZUIKO DIGITAL & OM
Easy handling
- New GUI for easier handling with Live Control
- Automatic recognition of scenes with any i-Auto
- Skin and perfect thank-Portrait
- Two dials for easy handling
- Face Detection and Shadow Adjustment Technology
- 20 shooting modes (5 modes of exposure, i-1 Auto mode and 14 scene modes)
Creativity and high-definition video
- HD video with stereo sound that shows great depth of field and Artistic Filters
- Artistic filters, formats multiaspecto
- Function Multiexposición
- The Artistic Filters can be applied to RAW images taken with the camera prior to the Olympus software
- Enhanced Creativity special purposes, eg Fish Eye lens adapter is available with the FourThirds
Additional features of the Olympus Pen:
- HDMI interface TV
- Linear PCM Audio Recording
- Level measurement
- USB 2.0 high speed
- Three frames per second burst shooting (max.14 RAW mode)
- ISO 100-6400 for more sensitivity
- Fork versatile functions for white balance and exposure
- Reliable system for reducing the dust, the Supersonic Wave Filter
- Based on standard Micro FourThirds
- Wide dynamic range in highly lit areas
- Shooting in RAW and JPEG simultaneously
- SD memory card (SDHC compatible)
- Writing high speed and lossless RAW compression for quick processing
- Large 3-inch LCD HyperCrystal
- Function lock AE / AF
- Setting the automatic grading to prevent glare and shadows
- Possible remote shooting with the optional remote cable RM-UC1
The Olympus Pen E-P1 is available in the following formats:
• E-P1 Kit Silver / Black
(Silver body of the E-P1 objective in black & M. ED ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42 mm 1:3.5-5.6)
• E-P1 Kit Silver / Silver
(Silver body of the E-P1 & M. Silver goal ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42 mm 1:3.5-5.6)
• E-P1 Kit White / Silver
(Body in White of the E-P1 & M. Silver goal ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42 mm 1:3.5-5.6)
• Pancake Kit E-P1 Silver
(Silver body of the E-P1 & target ultra compact M. Silver 17mm 1:2.8 ZUIKO DIGITAL & VF-1)
• E-P1 Pancake Kit White
(Body in White of the E-P1 & target ultra compact M. Silver 17mm 1:2.8 ZUIKO DIGITAL & VF-1)
• E-P1 Kit Dual Purpose
(Silver body of the E-P1 & M. ED ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42 mm 1:3.5-5.6 objective ultra compact & M. Silver ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 & VF-1)
New accessories:
- Aim M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42 mm 1:3.5-5.6
- Ultra Compact Target M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8
- MMF-1 Adapter for all objectives FourThirds
- MF-2 Adapter for all objectives OM
- FL-14 Flash
- Optical viewfinder VF-1 external
- white leather belt and brown
- Case in white and brown
* 35mm equivalent
Incoming search terms for this post
Comments
Leave a Reply
