Digital Camera: Olympus Pen E-P1 Review

Olympus goes retro with the Pen E-P1 and comes away with some good results.

A WHILE back, I postulated (as did several camera enthusiasts) that with the current saturation of the compact and DSLR market, the time was ripe for a digicam that was small enough that it could be carried anywhere and yet offered an interchangeable lens system and all the features of a DSLR.

As predicted, that day is here with the Olympus Pen E-P1 — conforming to the new Micro Four Thirds system, Olympus’ entry is certainly unlike anything currently on the market, even when compared to Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds camera.

The reason is that unlike Panasonic’s G1 and GH1, which tend to look like smaller DSLRs, the E-P1 follows another design philosophy altogether, with a design reminiscent of Olympus’ old Pen series half-frame rangefinder cameras.

So what I get is a super-sleek and super-chic metal-bodied camera not much bigger than a standard compact digicam that turned heads wherever I brought it to. Looks are one thing, of course, but how does it perform?

Look and feel

The Olympus Pen E-P1 comes as a package with a choice of two colours (brushed stainless steel or white) and two kit lens choices.

The basic kit comes with the standard black and stainless steel finish E-P1 and a 14-42mm f/3.5-f/5.6 zoom lens.

There is also a more premium package which comes bundled with a 17mm f/2.8 “pancake” lens (a term used to describe a very compact lens) and an add-on optical rangefinder made for the 17mm. This is the kit I got for review.

The white-bodied version with tan leatherette accents comes with the same combinations as above — whichever one you like is a matter of taste, but I generally prefer the brushed stainless steel look.

I have to reiterate here just how nice the camera looks — the retro styling and the detailing is impeccable on this camera and it really feels and looks like a more expensive camera than it is.

The E-P1 itself is, as I said, not much bigger than a compact digicam, which means it’s really small — the lens, though small, still juts out quite a bit, which means that the E-P1 still isn’t quite pocketable. However you can fit it into your cargo pants pocket if you tried.

The camera is also light enough that you won’t notice the weight when you have it slung around your neck or shoulder.

LONGER THAN YOU THINK: The E-P1's lens extends to
about double its length when extended to its usable state.

The 14-42mm kit lens (equivalent to a 28-84mm lens in 35mm format) is actually very compact — when not in use, the lens can be shortened to about half its length (by holding a sliding button and twisting the lens past the 14mm marker), although it cannot be used to shoot pictures in this “folded down” state.

There are a couple of compromises that Olympus had to make to get the E-P1 as small as it is — for one, there is no optical viewfinder of any kind (whereas Panasonic has an electronic viewfinder on the G1 and GH1) and all framing can only be done using the 3in built-in LCD.

The other thing is that the camera has no built-in flash — the camera has a TTL-flash hotshoe for adding any of the Olympus E-system external flashguns. Additionally, you can buy the tiny add-on flashgun specifically designed for the E-P1.

For some people, the lack of a built-in flash may be a deal-breaker, but since I don’t normally shoot with flash outside of work, this shortcoming isn’t that big a deal for me.

Of course, the big thing about the E-P1 that sets it apart from a compact digicam is that it has a sensor way bigger than any compact and an interchangeable lens system.

The camera has a new Micro Four Thirds lens mount, which will accept any Micro Four Thirds lens (including ones from Panasonic), as well as any Four Thirds lens with a special adapter.

Now that might not sound like anything but think of it this way — with an adapter, you can mount Olympus’ entire range of E-System lenses, such as the huge 300mm f/2.8 lens on the tiny E-P1 for a really long reach, or put on an extreme wide-angle one like the 7-14mm f/4.0 and take in the ­maximum amount of scenery.

And all on a camera that is only slightly bigger than a standard compact digicam. Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to try other Olympus lenses on this baby, but you get the idea — it may look about the same as a compact camera, but the E-P1 is very much a DSLR at heart.

Shooting and performance

Did I mention how good the E-P1 feels in the hands? If you’ve ever held a Leica rangefinder or some similar camera, the E-P1 feels just like that.

I can’t say this of many cameras but I can with the E-P1 — just having it in the hands makes you want to go out and shoot some pictures!

The camera is actually quite easy to use — most of the important controls, like ISO , AF and Exposure Compensation, fall easily under your thumb or forefinger.

Exposure compensation for example, has a dedicated button which sits right next to the shutter release, while the other important settings can be accessed by clicking on the four-way directional pad.

MINIMALIST, YET FUNCTIONAL: Don't let the 
relatively minimalist controls fool you - the 
E-P1 has as much customisability and 
control as a DSLR

Olympus has also redesigned the E-P1’s menu system to make it a lot easier to access the other settings — most changes can be done by pressing the OK button, then scrolling down to the menu item and then clicking left to make the changes.

Navigation in the menus is mostly achieved using the little “thumb bar” on the back of the camera and also via the clickable scroll wheel on the back.

What I really liked was that the E-P1 has loads of custom functions which allow you to change the behaviour of the camera’s autofocus, metering and even map certain buttons to other features.

This is great and means that like most modern DSLRs, you can really customise the E-P1 to work the way you want it to.

Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the work Olympus has put into designing the interface of the E-P1 — it’s easy to figure out, yet if you dig deeper, it offers you loads of advanced features normally found in top-of-the-line DSLRs.

By the way, autofocus performance to me, was pretty good in bright light. It focuses about the same as most DSLRs, although when light levels fall, the camera really starts to struggle.

The only thing I found a little wanting was the battery life — the E-P1 falls a little short. While you’ll certainly not have a problem shooting an entire party or event, you’ll probably have to charge the camera immediately after.

Quality

In pure picture quality terms, the E-P1 is about the same as the E-620 — that is, sharpness is very good at low ISO settings, and detail is about as good as any DSLR.

Olympus’ ESP multi-pattern metering also generally produced well-exposed shots, even in tricky backlight situations.

However, I did notice that even at the lowest ISO setting, there was still some noise reduction going on, although not at the expense of detail — the noise reduction is only really noticeable in plain areas with little or no detail to begin with.

In this respect, Olympus’ noise reduction engine seems to work quite well at minimising noise while keeping important details intact.

Realistically, the usable ISO range of the E-P1 is from ISO100 to ISO800 — at ISO1600, the noise is still low, but the noise reduction has kicked into higher gear and there is a noticeable loss of detail at this point.

As for video quality, it produced reasonably good (but not outstanding) video at 720p in MotionJPEG format.

However, when compared to some lower-priced compact digital cameras with 720p HD video capability, the E-P1 came up a little short — the amount of detail captured was just not as good as those cameras.

On the upside, the E-P1 had very good audio recording quality — not only was the compression low on it for the highest audio quality, but the camera even has a pair of microphones and recorded audio in full stereo.

There is a catch though — while autofocus is possible in video mode, the built-in microphone will unfortunately also pick up the sound of the servo motor in the lens as it focuses, so again, it’s best to either manually focus or be prepared to edit out the buzzing sound of the autofocus motor.

Conclusion

Sometimes, a camera comes along that gets you hooked not just because of its features, but because it’s just so gosh-darned attractive.

The E-P1 is just such a camera — in terms of features, it’s about the same as the Olympus E-620 or E-30, but the fact that the company managed to fit all that into a camera this small and this stylish is what makes it special.

Let me put it this way — for a professional, the E-P1 is probably the closest thing on the market to a perfect tiny, backup camera for inconspicuous shooting.

For the advanced amateur who perhaps likes street photography, the E-P1 is possibly the most versatile tiny camera you can buy right now.

As such, minor niggles about picture quality and ISO performance seem a little moot at this point, because what the E-P1 offers in terms of versatility and quality is better than any compact digicam can offer right now.

Yes, the price is a little steep if you compare it to a compact digicam, but don’t let the size fool you — this is as powerful as a DSLR and when you compare the price of the E-P1 to other DSLRs with similar specifications, it really isn’t that expensive at all.

Pros: Small; feels more expensive than it is; loads of features; extremely customisable interchangeable lens system.

Cons: Battery life could be longer; 720p video is only soends-so.

Interchangeable lens digital camera
Manufacturer: Olympus Corp
Sensor: 12.3 megapixels (4,032 x 3,024-pixels)
Lens: Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens mount
Shutter: 60sec – 1/4,000sec
ISO range: 100 – 6400
Exposure modes: iAuto, P, S, A, M
Viewfinder: 3.0in external LCD
Battery: 1,150mAh lithium-ion
Storage: SDHC
Interface: USB 2.0
                                   Other features: Built-in image stabilisation
                                   Dimensions: 12.1 x 7 x 3.6cm (w x h x d)
                                   Weight: 335g


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