Latest Gadget
As you probably noticed, the point and shoot cameras are not the most effective ones. However the main advantage of these digital cameras is the pocket sized design. Unfortunately, the point and shoot cameras lacks the interchangeable lenses and the high quality image sensor from the single lens reflex digital cameras. Olympus saw this as an opportunity to bring to life the PEN series (half frame cameras) introduced on the market in 1959 (and discontinued in 1980).
The new Olympus E P1 combines the excellent quality sensor (and changeable lenses) from the SLR, with the small size design of a point and shoot camera. Also the new camera is the first from the re-launched PEN family (standing for half frame film cameras). The E P1 is not just a new product branded with a traditional name; this product provides the old retro style with the latest technology delivered in the smallest design possible. Therefore, the first thing you are going to notice, at a first glance, on the Olympus E P1 is the retro case, with some high tech finish. The overall look is rather intriguing, but by far weird or bad looking.
The E P1 camera uses the new standard, Micro Four Thirds, which allows the new high end technology to be included in an extremely compact camera case. For a better understanding of this new dimensions and looks, you have to hold the E P1, and looks at it in comparison with other digital single lens reflex camera. The E P1 has a height of 69.9 mm, wide of 120.6 mm, deep of 36.4 mm, E P1 weight only 335 g. All the above numbers are excellent values for the specs features included in this gadget. The E P1 sports a full stainless steel case. Other cameras may have matte black plastic on top and bottom, but the E P1 sports great aluminum on both top and bottom. The retro look is kept by making the E P1 rather angular, and also including on the right side of the lens an imitating leather black piece.
Even if the E P1 doesn't sport a unibody case, it sure feels like it would. The build quality is impeccable, and it feels and looks flawless. Internally the build quality is the best on the market in its range. Externally you don't get more buttons and keys than a point and shoot camera. On the top of the E P1 you can find on the left side the mode dial wheel (to select form different modes), while on the right side you can find the power on and off button, and the exposure compensation key. On the back you get a few normal controls, like (from top to bottom) the AFL/ AEL button (auto focus mode, or auto exposure mode), playback key, erase key, menu button, info key, four way click pad with a centered OK function, the Fn button, and the zoom scroll. On the front, E P1 includes beside the Micro Four Thirds lens mount, the lens release button, stereo microphone, and a self timer lamp.
On the left side you the E P1 sport no keys, buttons, or ports, while on the right side you get all the ports you could need, USB port, AV connector and HDMI port, covered to keep the dust away. Therefore on the bottom, Olympus only included the door for battery and memory card, but also a tripod socket (to make a statement, that this PEN camera can easily be used as a professional SLR camera).
Olympus offers a great menu for the E P1, with a user friendly feeling because of the large display which displays most of the features, without any need of sub menus. The camera settings will appear on a see trough background when taking a picture making the filter selection neat. If you don't like complicated products, then you are in luck. The E P1 is easy to understand, making the user manual almost unnecessary.
The E P1 packs an excellent 3 inches Hyper Crystal LCD with an anti reflecting coating. You get an approximate 230.000 pixels from this display, with a brightness control up to + 7 levels or down to - 7 levels. The display enables live view mode, with a high speed live MOS image sensor. The E P1 can display the images in various modes, such as normal mode, magnified mode, grid line mode, comparable view mode, histogram mode, comparable view mode, and other.
The see-trough settings that appear when adjusting the camera settings are aperture value, record mode, ISO, AF confirmation mark, shutter speed, AE lock, AF mode, battery check, white balance, face detection, internal temperature warning, and many other picture settings. The effective pixels number found onboard the E P1 reaches up to 12.3 million pixels, with a total number of pixels of 13.1 million pixels, and an aspect rotation of 4 to 3.
The pictures taken with this camera will be saved with the JPEG file format, RAW (12 bit compression) file format, and RAW + JPEG. You can take pictures in RAW format only with the resolution of 4032 x 3024 pixels, while in the JPEG mode the pictures taken can vary from the 640 x 480 pixel resolution to 4032 x 3024 pixel resolution. A RAW picture with 4032 x 3042 will cost about 13.9 MB form your memory card.
The E P1 can take pictures with so many resolutions and with different scale compressed, which is overwhelming. You get a few compressed modes: ¼ (fine), 1/8 (normal), 1/12 (basic), and 1/2.7 (super fine). For each of these compressed modes you can take pictures in 4032 x 3042 pixels, 2560 x 1920 pixels, and 1024 x 768 pixels. You can also find depending on the compressed mode 3200 x 2400 pixel, 1600 x 1200 pixels, 1280 x 960 pixels, and 640 x 480 pixels.
The camera also records in AVI motion JPEG with 30 frames per second. The E P1 has two video encodings: in high definition (1280 x 720 pixels) with an aspect rotation 16 to 9, and in 640 x 480 pixels, with a 4 to 3 aspect rotation. The video movie recorded is limited to a maximum value of 2 GB (it is limited by the AVI format). Other good features of this camera are, the display of face detection, imager shift image stabilizer, shutter speed range from 2 - 1/4000 seconds, digital IS, ISO sensitivity with AUTO mode (ISO 200 - 6400, with default of 200 - 1600), and manual mode (ISO 100 - 6400, 1/3 or 1 EV steps, and in movies mode ISO 160 - 1600). The white balance is nicely implemented in the Olympus E P1 with eight preset balance, shade (7500K), Lamp (3000K), Daylight (5300K), Flash (5500K), Cloudy (6000K), Fluorescent 1 (4000K), Fluorescent 2 (4500K), Fluorescent 3 (6600K).
Also, by using so many white balance modes, the E P1 offers a large variety of parameters and effects for the pictures taken, from filter effect (yellow, green, red, orange filter), picture tone (sepia, blue, purple, green tone), to four gradation levels (auto, high, low, normal). The only drawback you can find for this product is the built in flash that is missing. However, Olympus offers compatible external flash (six external compatible flashes to be more exact). Olympus ships E P1 with a BLS 1 Lithium Ion battery.
Overall, Olympus E P1 delivers exceptional image quality and good video recording performances. For a pocket sized digital singles lens reflex, the E P1 is a great product with an excellent design and a price tag of $799. Still, it doesn't rise up to the other DSLR performances but it provides a good balanced package.
