Olympus E-P1 Sample Photos and Reviews

DPReview have an in dept review of the Pen, if you want to buy the Pen I suggest that you read the entire 37 page you get to see sample photos and learn technical aspects of the products and how it compared to other similar digital cameras.


After reading the entire review It all goes down to the PROS and CONS.

The Pros

  • Excellent resolution, tons of detail in the shots
  • Appealing, bright and punchy out of camera results and well optimized JPEGs
  • Very clever collapsible kit lens that’s small, but offers decent quality
  • Unique retro design puts SLR quality into a compact body
  • Good high ISO performance up to ISO 3200 and lots of control over noise reduction
  • Superb build quality
  • Decent handling
  • Dual control dials – unusual design that works well
  • Lots of external control, easy access to photographic functions
  • Comprehensive feature set and impressive level of customization
  • Reliable metering and white balance (in natural light)
  • Lots of stuff to play with; art filters, aspect ratios, multi-exposure and level gauge
  • In body image stabilization
  • Easy to use, high quality video mode

and The Cons

  • Slow focus requires a more considered approach to shooting
  • Some highlight clipping (and poor dynamic range at ISO 100)
  • Low resolution screen that’s hard to see in bright light
  • No viewfinder
  • No built-in flash (and the optional flash is expensive and pretty basic)
  • Complicated menu system not that easy to navigate
  • Preview image brightness doesn’t always match the captured image brightness
  • Poor focus, slow lens and jerky live view image make shooting in very low light frustrating, to say the least
  • No AF illuminator
  • The most interesting Art Filters slow down operation (and make the movie mode virtually useless)

The Olympus E-P1 is the first micro four thirds Olympus made and although they made it so good that everyone will sure to like the the PEN. Looking at the Cons DPreview listed I think there are still room for improvement and I beleive it’s worth the wait. Perhaps Olympus will fix the issues in the next Pen the Olympus E-P2.

Right now there’s no better pocket-able four thirds than the E-P1 (the Panasonic GF1 is still unconfirmed) and the Olympus E-P1 PEN already recieved an EISA Award.

Only shortly after its worldwide launch Olympus’ first Micro Four Thirds camera, the E-P1, is able to convice the EISA jury as being the best ‘European Camera 2009-2010′. Confirming the groundbreaking benefits of the E-P1′s key features, they noted:”The Olympus PEN is an elegant camera with an appealing retro design. The camera utilises the new mirror- and prism-less Micro Four Thirds system, which allows the E-P1 to be very compact and lightweight. Besides the compact Micro Four Thirds lenses, users can fit existing Four Thirds, OM and Leica M mount lenses to the body via an adaptor”.
And in recognition that the image quality of the E-P1 matches D-SLR results, the esteemed EISA jury summed up by saying: “As the sensor is larger than that found in compact cameras better image quality and lower noise levels can be achieved”. With a range of features to choose from, the Olympus E-P1 is also a dream for anyone with creative ambition.E-P1_EISA_2009-08

And Highly Recommended by DPreview

dpreview.com was impressed with the overwhelming key features of the E-P1. They stated: ‘You have to take your hat off to Olympus for getting so much right with its first Micro Four Thirds camera.’[...] For years now we – along with many of our users – have been pleading with SLR manufacturers to produce a camera like this [...] The combination of a compact body, large sensor and interchangeable lenses is an appealing one for the serious photographer.’ Thanks to the new mirror- and prism-less Micro Four Thirds system, the Olympus PEN faces perfectly these needs providing the image quality of a D-SLR. dpreview.com sums up: The PEN is a camera that ‘pretty much completely lives up to the hype surrounding it’. It’s a camera that ticks an awful lot of boxes and fills an awfully big hole in the digital camera market. And it’s also a camera that is, literally, in a class of its own – at least for now.’.DP review logo

If you’re not satisfied with DP review’s Review you can visit Imaging-Resource and DPhoto Journal for more reviews and I bet that you’ll learn the same thing.

Here’s some samples I found on Flickr.

Visit the Olympus E-P1 community on Flickr for more stunning samples

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