Digital photography since 2002 has really changed in many ways. The entire industry has migrated from film to digital, with many being pulled in kicking and screaming. But I can say now we finally have a camera with something for everyone.

Who is everyone?

Ventura Mission shot w/ Pinhole Filter

When I pick up a camera I always ask myself who would want to buy it. With the E-3, and the 7-14, 14-35, 35-100, 150mm, and/or the 90-250, I am well equipped to shoot just about anything. From weddings, to sports, cover news, and life. It is a fantastic setup in my opinion. I carried this around for a few years now, and can say that it does just about everything that I need. For me the f2 glass is exceptional. The ability to limit the DOF, shoot in nearly any situation, and have nearly all needed focal lengths covered is a huge deal. But the reality is I don't always need that. In fact, I do shoot quite a bit of product photography for clients website (and rarely for catalogs too) So using the 12-60mm or similar standard lens is a bonus.

On the other hand if I am going to the zoo, beach, night out on the town (that doesn't happen much any more) I don't want to carry my E-3 kit. I can even throw a camera in the car, when a client asks can you get a picture of this I can and not have to spend much time setting up the SLR, etc. When I don't want to carry a large SLR I have been carrying a E-420 but that too is just too big. I really don't want a point and shoot camera the overall sub par image quality leaves me always grasping for more. But the E-P1 on the other hand is a treat. It adds very little bulk, fits in a backpack or on my shoulder and I don't even know it is with me. It offers full manual control, HD video, an audio recording device. It is amazing in my opinion.

Downtown Ojai shadow to highlight detail around 90 Degrees on a bright sunny day

How about my wife, Katie doesn't know how to use a SLR, she wants something to take with her, to take photos of the boys playing. She is always getting mad when I won't print the shots from her point and shoot camera. Now we have found a good camera, that not only produces great photos, but also very high quality movie clips. The last thing that she wanted was a video camera to carry around. She would like to have the ability to record those precious moments of our families life, but her bag is already to full. Now she can record movies and very high quality still images, with a camera small enough to fit in her purse or diaper bag.

Now lets think of our parents - my kid's grandparents. They shot with film cameras for years. They even had a Pen or 2. But with all these new digital cameras they were scared to try it. With a SLR they for some reason expected to use the LCD and not the viewfinder, but on the other hand, they wanted a small camera, and never liked the LCD on their point and shoot. So enter the E-P1 and they love the camera, and asked when it would be available to buy.

Really this camera has a large appeal to all the parties in my house, and I can say that is a first. I may have to buy 2 or 3 of these cameras to keep everyone happy. So what is it that truly makes it a camera for everyone? In my opinion it boils down to 5 important factors and in no particular order: Performance, Size, Price, Options and Technologies.

Performance

ISO 3200 snap shot.
Click for 100% crop of the nose area,

a Huge Improvement over the previous generation of fourthirds SLR's. 42mm 1/20 second, f5.6

This camera is not a SLR, nor is it a point and shoot, it really is both of those and a video camera, and an audio device. I really think that the lack of a true zooming viewfinder is a poor choice, but I hope that it is one that Olympus or some party will fix shortly. The camera gives 2 great options when taking photos first you can shoot in RAW mode, and with Studio and Master, you can set in all the same settings in RAW that you would with the out of the camera Jpegs (OOC for short). You also have a bit more latitude when developing images to make them look as good as possible. The camera has a very good built in jpeg engine. Olympus has been working hard to improve it, and even images at ISO 3200 or ISO 6400 are useable, though I would like to keep it personally under ISO 2000 for the majority of my shots. The clarity and sharpness of the images is very good too. Even the dynamic range of the pictures is very good, on par with the most expensive SLRs on the market. In terms of image quality the E-P1 is the best SLR they have released, with great dynamic range, keeping a hold of highlights, and shadows with ease.

In the video arena the E-P1 also is a great camera. It does use AVI which I find annoying at times, and personally would prefer H.264, but on the other hand AVI is a very universal format, and with an application such as handbrake you can quickly convert the files to H.264 quickly if you desire. Also I am glad to see that Olympus didn't offer an inter-pooled 1080i from what I have seen on other hybrid (SLR/Video) cameras it is nearly useless, and way to jumpy. The 30 FPS gives enough data that you are able to quickly import the videos and do something with them. The audio choice of built in stereo sound works alright, but it would really help if their was an external mic jack. I do at times find the Auto focus motor of the 14-42 loud and annoying when recording audio.

In terms of size the E-P1 is very close to that of many point and shoot cameras on the market. In thinking about size, the E-P1 is small enough to take it with you when you don't want to carry a SLR. Even having the 14-42mm lens fold down to half of its size really enhances the portability of the camera. Even though this camera is similar in size to a point and shoot camera it has much better image quality, and no lag like a point and shoot camera. The three major areas of "lag" with a point and shoot camera in my opinion is shutter time, viewfinder, and Auto Focus speed. Shutter lag is when you press the shutter button if the picture takes a button at the same instant or if you have to wait a second for the picture to be taken. The E-P1 has no shutter lag. It in all instances that I have tried been instant. The rear LCD isn't a viewfinder but with the new µ4/3 standard the lenses have 2 additional contacts which Olympus claims speed up the viewfinder. In actuality their is no viewfinder lag either.

Local art at a fair,
shot with the Pop Art Filter

The third area of lag with may be noticeable is with auto focus speed. The E-P1 does have a few annoyances in many cases the lens seems to focus all the way to infinity and back to its closes point of focus. With a lens such as the µ14-42mm the zoom in and out isn't a big deal, but if you get the itching to use a lens such as the 35-100mm (which I personally think would be odd to do, the camera is little more than a lens cap for such a large lens) its focus speed will be slow. One great feature of the E-P1 is that with all 4/3 lenses with the adaptor do focus, and I definitely see a place to attach a wide angle (WA) lens such as the 8mm fisheye or 7-14mm. But in my opinion I do not have the desire to run long lenses on this body. Without a viewfinder to offer the additional stability of your head on the camera, once you get over 75mm (150mm 35mm terms) you will have a lot of vibration and hard to focus. In my opinion this camera is desired for everyday shooting, not a birder replacement camera, or sports shooter. But for casual shooting the AF lag should not be that noticeable. All in all for what this camera is design for the AF is very good.

Size/Price

Palm Trees in the setting sun

Overall enough cannot be said about the size of this camera. One of the few things that I never liked about the move from film to digital was the lack of a rangefinder sized camera. Now with the E-P1 we have the first and only true answer to a camera in this size. In the film age telecentric lenses were not as important to have as they are in the digital age. For digital sensors to correctly absorb light, it has to travel nearly square to the sensor. This has ended up making lenses larger. The E-P1 does have a very small lens, even the diameter of the 14-42mm is quite small the front element is 40.5mm. Its overall length with expanded is as long as the 14-42mm lens, but collapsed down it is quite small. I am very happy with the overall size of the E-P1 and the lens. Olympus even taking this a step further has released the FL-14 flash which takes 2 AAA batteries. Overall the camera is not only styled in a trendy classic look, but it really is a good step back to a portable camera to carry with you.

I have said this before, but I will say it again, this camera will not replace a high end SLR. But it is not designed too. Second it will not replace a cellphone camera in terms of size, but the image quality and versatility is much greater than anything you will get from a cell phone / small point and shoot camera.

As for price $800 is a bit steppe for some, but to capture extremely high quality images that you will keep for your life time, it is a steal. I have spent nearly 10 times that amount on a SLR lens alone, so in that case $800 is in my opinion a bargin. I would have like to see it at $600, but with all the new technologies and the image processor alone, I think it is priced about right for its opening bid. A sub $1000 dollar pen, when compared to other entry level SLR it is priced about right.

A Camera Full of Options

Grainy Film Filter

This is a camera full of options. When Olympus added scene modes and Art Filters, I was against these functions on a SLR. In reality I shoot either shutter priority, or manual 90% of the time (If I am shooting on a light table than Aperture Priority). However, this camera is quite different, it offers not only Art Filters, Scene modes, and a smart fully Automatic (iA) mode, it also offers fully manual controls. So you have the ability to use this camera how you want. This camera you also have full control over metering modes, and frame rates. This camera can be as advanced as any user wants. Take for example, last weekend, I was shooting the camera and asked a stranger to take our picture I just popped the camera into iAuto mode, and handed over the camera. The person didn't even look for a viewfinder, and commented that the camera was very nice. They could even see in the LCD us with no problems. Really for a little camera it is full of options. To have all the various levels of functionality offers a lot to nearly everyone.

Packed full of technologies

This camera is full of the technologies that Olympus has been busy with for years, and even some new ones. I have gone on for to long about size and responsiveness. But the new scene mode of E-Portrait is quite impressive, and iAuto is a very good automatic mode for the camera. The camera holds nearly every other unique technologies that they have released. The built in IS works very well, as does the SSWF, and I have always liked the Leveling gauge. Having the choice to use lens adaptors such as the 4/3 adaptor and OM adaptor will really give the camera a lot additional users. Even IS will work with non dedicated lenses found in the system. The only technology which is missing is the Wirless TTL flash system, which is because this camera doesn't have a useless built in flash, so in my opinion it is no loss.

In movie mode the camera has a image stabilization ability. Basically the sensor attempts to map the pixels to reduce blur. Unlike with still photos the sensor itself moves around. I assume that it works, but I need more information to really understand this technology.

What's Missing?

E-Portrait filter in Action

As I stated in my preview the 2 areas which this camera falls short is first a Viewfinder, and second a properly designed video lens. I was talking with a marketing guy from Olympus last week, and told him those are the only things which I can really felt missing on the E-P1 of substance. His response was that when they removed viewfinders from point and shoot cameras that at first a lot of people complained, but now no writer even mentions that. I assume it is because I am coming from a SLR world, and he from a point and shoot background. In my opinion the LCD is very good, but a real viewfinder, would help for bright days, personal preference when shooting, and lastly a stabilizer while shooting. The lack of a viewfinder is a big deal to me. However, this camera is still very useable without the viewfinder. The second area that I really wish they had addressed was a quiet kit lens. In videos the AF motor of the 14-42mm sounds horrible. This camera really needs a lens to match. (Maybe even a 12-60mm µ4/3 lens built to be silent - I know it wouldn't be cheap though). The lens is easy to fix, and even if they released a better viewfinder wouldn't be hard to add on. Right now they have a viewfinder for the 17mm, if they just produced a viewfinder with crop marks built into it, that would go along way to remedy the issues.

All in all this camera will not replace my E-3, but I believe that Olympus has a very good camera here, which should appeal to nearly everyone. It is the first SLR quality camera in a point and shoot size. I imagine in the next 6 months we will see other manufactures attempting to follow this trend, like we have seen before. And some columnist will declare their copy as innovative. All in all I hope the best for Olympus with the product, and ing my opinion Olympus has raised the bar, with a very fine product.

For More info:
Full Preview
E-P1 Sample Image Galleries
Video Comparisons with Standard and all 6 Art filters in video

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