Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP Live MOS Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens (Black)
by Olympus
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: OlympusDigital Camera: Region Code 1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: E-PL1 Black Kit
Color: Black
Product features:
- 12.3-megapixel interchangeable lens digital camera; Micro Four Thirds format
- Includes 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 digital zoom lens; features built-in flash
- 2.7-inch HyperCrystal LCD with Live View function; Continuous Autofocus (C-AF) tracking system
- Capture HD video with high-quality audio; new "Direct Button" for easy recording
- New Live Guide interface simplifies great photography; capture images to SD/SDHC cards (not included)
- Adobe Photoshop CS5 Upgrade [Old Version]
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 [OLD VERSION]
- Serif PhotoPlus X3
- Aperture 3
- X-Rite i1XTreme
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP Live MOS Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens (Black)
Customer Review: great pictures, good value
Summary: 5 Stars
Review of the Olympus E PL1 vs. canon G10:
I'm a 54 year enthusiast and over the years I've owned a Canon Ftbn 35mm with a Hoya 35-105 zoom, a Ricoh point & shoot 35mm, and in the digital era I owned the original Sony Mavica, a Toshiba 2mp camera, and then a series of Fuji's culminating in an F30, F40 fd, F200 EXR, a Lumix FZ28 (clearly inferior picture quality to my F40FD). Frankly and a testimony to my mediocre skills, despite having great cameras the best pics I've ever shot were with the Fuji F30, remarkable low light, fantastic battery life, just impeccable. A few years later I bought a Nikon D40 and then after beginning to date a fellow enthusiast who already owned a G10, I finally realized that her pictures were invariably better (could she just be more talented?) and bought a G10 myself. I, like many enthusiasts, am always in pursuit of the ideal camera and I like the idea of a larger sensor. So I ran into some $$, sold my F30 and F200 and just bought a black Olympus E PL1 with the 14-42 kit lens.
I got it yesterday, and I have shot 100 pics on it, mostly backyard stuff, some close up flowers, and then today went down to Casco bay and took a bunch of late afternoon sunset shots with both camera. I tried to take identical shots with identical settings - wide landscapes with auto, program, and landscape settings, a few closeups, played with some of the variables but each time I took a shot, I tried to match the program, focal length, white balance, etc as best as I could.
There is no question that the Canon is the far more versatile camera. I won't get into fit, finish, and feel, although I am in love with the Canon for those reasons. The Olympus is nicely styled and feels great too. But you can do things with the Canon you can't with the Oly. For example, you can pretty much do "closeup" with almost any program on the G10. On the Olym, if you want to take a closeup, you go to the Scene setting, pick Macro and that is your closeup setting. You can't vary things like white balance when you do that. Similarly, if you pick an art filter like "pop art" you can't put it on a close up setting, bracket it, or change metering. I emailed Olympus and they couldn't/wouldn't tell me how close you could focus, so I have no idea whether you can get a good closeup with that setting. The amount that you can tweak various programs is much better with the Canon, going away....No comparison. On the easy mode settings on the Olympus - Scene, Art, and auto, you pretty much get what the default settings are.
The EPL1 interface takes some getting used to. The pick lists aren't as confusing as some say; it is pretty typical computer type interface and it wasn't that tough to learn. The Epl1 is definitely more of a point and shoot. It doesn't seem nearly as versatile. The kit lens feels a little shaky, physically, but of course the G10 is a fixed zoom, so to speak, not interchangeable, so it is not apples to apples. My Nikon has a Tamron zoom which feels like a rock. So I can't really comment on other lenses for the Olympus. It has the equivalent of a 28-84 zoom on a 35mm. Limited, pretty similar to the kit lens on the Nikon D40, whereas the Canon G10 is a 5:1 zoom.
The basic pictures were comparable. I took a few landscapes then blew up various parts. I could see my car in the lot a hundred feet away, and when I put the pics side by side and zoomed them, the Canon was clearly sharper. I don't know if that is good or bad, knowing that "noise" can make things appear sharper. But I was surprised, considering the fact that you can fit what - 2-3 of the Canon sensors in the Olympus? Now, as a caveat, I can't tell you whether they were on identical focal lengths, although the pictures were similar. And there were a few pics where the Olympus was definitely sharper, including a close up.
These are zooms, Olympus on left, canon on right.
The originals are below. Maybe it is me; I think the Canon is sharper. Materially? I can't tell.
Olympus
Canon
Here's another where the Oly has a slight edge:
Olympus Canon
Olympus Canon
Slight edge to Olympus, although I realize this isn't quite apples to apples. And BTW, I made sure both were on highest pixel and fineness settings. If you blow this up even more, there is just loads of noise on the canon, and the roof and lines on the Olympus blow it away.
Here's one for Canon:
Olympus Canon
OK, I realize that the exposure can affect "sharpness" and resolution etc. Look at the license plates on the zoomed images below:
Close. The Olympus is on the left, Canon on the right. The grill is a little clearer on the E PL1, the license plate #'s are clearer on the Canon. I guess I was expecting to be bowled over by the micro 4/3 sensor. Not. Overall, I think the exposure and color rendition was excellent on both; slight edge to Canon (the color of my car is more accurate on the Canon, although that could definitely be from my tweaking the color saturation on the Olympus on this pic.
Other "pluses" for the Canon, of course, are the flash - if on auto, it will go off as needed whereas you need to "pop" it on the Olympus. I think the Canon's art filters, Color Swap, Color Accent, and the manual dials give you not only more flexibility, but easier and more intuitive use. I haven't quite figured out some of the settings on the EPL1 yet, like after you take a shot, the pic stays on the screen until you depress the shutter button again, but I think that might change as I get to know it better. And I like the fact that it has interchangeable lenses. Canon has the viewfinder, a plus for it, and I do use it, although with the Fuji's I never missed it and am quite used to shooting just with the LCD. The Oly has the instant video button and HD, the Canon does not. Although I haven't used it, it seems the video capabilities, Image stabilization, and multiple exposure settings on the Olympus are nice pluses, perhaps better than the Canon. There are a few more settings, like more bracketing choices (focal length) on the Olympus. At this time, I think I understand the choices for bracketing and exposure control better with the Canon. The Canon's LCD is clearly superior to my eye than the Olympus'. A couple other things? Can't put a protective filter on the Canon, you can on the Olympus, and the grip is better on the Canon.
It is too early to tell, but I was clearly more impressed with the flexibility, build, versatility, and ease of use with the Canon. Initially I expected to be wowed with the picture quality of the Olympus, considering the sensor size and I was, but not when I compared them side to side. I knew much of this up front from reviews, but the reviews uniformly raved about the picture quality of the Olympus, comparing it favorably to the Panasonic GF1. I figured that was the bottom line, and if I was going to get better pics I'd be happy regardless of ergonomics and specs. Bottom line for me is picture quality. I'm not disappointed in the Olympus, just surprised how extraordinary the Canon is.
Right now, day 1, if I only had to pick one, I'd go with the Canon. Price was roughly the same - $500 for the Canon, $550 with kit lens for Olympus. Perhaps I will change my mind after using it, and after getting a replacement lens. Then it'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against my 6mp Nikon D 40. But if I could get over my affection for coolness, gadgetry, versatility, and heft, I'd probably kill to get a new in the box F30 again.
UPDATE: Well. I've had this Olympus for about 3 months, I guess. I just came back from a week long trip to Belgium and shot over 1000 pics, about 600 with my Canon G10 (because it was more compact and I had spare batteries for it) and 400 on the Oly. Before I went, I reviewed a dummies book for the EPL-1, and it really helped. I learned a lot more about the controls and features. I also brought my beloved Canon G-10. Here's the con on the Olympus. IT doesn't sync flash greater than 1/160. That's it. I bought the 14-150 Olympus micro 4/3 lens. I am in awe of this camera. Only other con is that the screen isn't quite as remarkable as the Canon.
So I took pics with the P setting, the Auto setting, used the scene settings mostly on night time, night portrait, landscape. Loved the one touch video function. Loved it (once I figured out how to do it) getting the super screen that gives you ALL the attributes of each modality. Flash was fine. And the pictures. Oh, man, the pictures. Night pics on a tripod. Indoor cathedrals hand held at 1/8 sec. Low light shots. Restaurant and food pics. Pics while driving. landscapes. Self portraits. They are so sharp, so brilliant. This will become my primary camera. The G 10 is of course more compact, and has a few features I really like, like color accent. They are really complementary, the Canon I think has more features, but with the zoom and the bigger sensor, the Oly pics were slightly better. Also, for night shots, the Olym just goes to at least 6 seconds. I got amazing shots of Brussels in the middle of the night with a tripod and very long exposure, at ISO 100 with almost no noise. Canon only goes to a max of 1 second without a real complex workaround. The real answer is that this just about has sealed the fate of my Nikon D40. I would have no problems recommending this camera, and in fact am trying to convince my girlfriend to forego her SLR dreams and just go to this format. Would I like a more powerful flash? Yes, but it wasn't an issue. Not once. Would I like a viewfinder? Yes, but it wasn't an issue, and in fact I had a viewfinder on the Canon and never used it. Of the 400 pictures i bet maybe 10 were disappointments. I persoally would spring for the 14-150 lens, but quality wise, the kit lens is terrific (although I just personally don't see the value of a 3x zoom). Whether or not this is a price performer when you spend $900 for the lens & body is beyond me, but I can tell you, these are easily the best quality pictures I have ever taken (with the exception of my beloved Fuji F30). If the flash/viewfinder and some of teh bells & whistles are not an issue do not think twice about buying this. Just make sure you read how to maximize its capabilities.
More Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP Live MOS Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens (Black) reviews:
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Description of Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP Live MOS Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens (Black)
OLYMPUS 262856 12.3 Megapixel E-PL1 Pen Camera (Black with M. Zuiko 14-42mm lens)Digital Cameras
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