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SINGAPORE : The hearts of many photographers were sent fluttering when images of the then rumoured E-P1 with the design reminiscent of the Olympus classic half-frame PEN SLR (single-lens reflex) were circulated on the Internet.
Anticipation soon transformed into delight when the Olympus PEN E-P1 was made available in July. The E-P1 boasts the much-touted Micro Four Third (MFT) format, which eliminates the use of reflex mirror and pentaprism found in conventional DSLRs (digital SLRs). Thus, the E-P1 is lighter, smaller and one can still change lenses.
The camera packs a 12.3-megapixel Live MOS image sensor, a new TruePic V image processor capable of shooting still and 720p high-definition (HD) moving images via a three-inch LCD screen. It is light and compact, weighing 335g without battery and lens.
The E-P1 feels solid and offers a sturdy grip. Button and dial layout is well-placed; You can pick up the camera and start shooting immediately without fiddling much with the controls. Even in manual mode, there are dedicated dials to adjust aperture and shutter speed. This is the one feature lacking in most entry-level DSLRs that always irks me!
On the other hand, the menu interface of the E-P1 is not as easy to navigate, especially when I want to switch off the LCD. And why am I switching off the LCD when the E-P1 does not have an optical viewfinder? It's because the hot shoe viewfinder VF-1 combined with the 17mm (34mm of 35mm equivalent due to 2x crop factor) pancake lens make it an ideal rangefinder substitute for unobtrusive street photography.
In fact, the design of the E-P1 makes it second nature to shoot through a viewfinder rather than an LCD. I hope Olympus will release a hot shoe electronic viewfinder (EVF), like Ricoh's EVF, to complement its 14-42mm (28-84mm of 35mm equivalent) lens or future MFT lenses.
With its contrast-detection auto-focusing (AF) system, the MFT lenses are not as fast as conventional DSLR lenses that use phase-detection AF. It will take a tad longer to lock on to a focus, especially in dim lighting. The AF during video-taking is also slow and you constantly have to manually lock a focus.
In fact, the major drawback of the E-P1 is its lack of speed. Start up takes around 1.7 seconds, while shutdown takes 0.9 seconds. Its shutter lag is better than that of a digital compact but slower than that of a DSLR. If you use Art Filters to shoot, the processing after a shot takes around eight seconds.
Thankfully, pictures taken with the E-P1 are rendered superbly, with sharp pixels and vivid colour. Auto white balance is reliable and accurate. Auto exposure is spot on and handles highlights and shadows evenly.
Noise performance is good, with clean images till ISO 400. At ISO 800, you start to see some noise artifacts in the shadow areas. It is still pretty usable at ISO 1600 but anything above that is not recommended.
While HD video quality is decent, audio quality is not very good, picking plenty of ambient noise that you can hardly hear your subjects at times. This is further exacerbated by the lack of a microphone jack where you can probably isolate the sound recording.
The Olympus E-P1 is not perfect but it is the closest solution to anyone's quest for a digital AF rangefinder. It retails at $1,299 (body with 14-42mm), S$1,448 (body with 17mm pancake lens) and S$1,598 (twin lens kit).
- TODAY/il
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