Olympus E-P1 'digital Pen' official

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http://www.dpreview.com/news/0906/09061601olympusep1.asp

After a carefully constructed teaser campaign Olympus has officially launched the E-P1, its first Micro Four Thirds camera and the worst kept secret in the photography industry, thanks to a deluge of leaked information ahead of launch. It's a compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that mimics the styling of the company's Pen range that was popular in the 1960s and 70s. The camera is built around an image-stabilized 12 megapixel sensor and incorporates a 3.0" LCD. The E-P1 is available with a 14-42mm kit lens that retracts into its barrel when not in use, much like the lens of a compact camera......

UK prices around £749 inc 17mm f2.8 pancake.
 
Hmm i like the look of that a lot. Any news on when its available id like a play with one of those.
 
the worst kept secret in the photography industry, thanks to a deluge of leaked information ahead of launch.
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Eh? It's been no secret, it was announced at Photokina in 2008.

I must say, I'm surprised to see that this is coming as shock news here. This has been hotly anticipated for months now and has been the subject of much debate on other boards.
 
Available to pre-order from Warehouse Express.
 
Radiohead said:
It's a compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that mimics the styling of the company's Pen range that was popular in the 1960s and 70s. The camera is built around an image-stabilized 12 megapixel sensor and incorporates a 3.0" LCD. The E-P1 is available with a 14-42mm kit lens that retracts into its barrel when not in use, much like the lens of a compact camera......
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Looks lovely.

:thumbs:
Radiohead said:
UK prices around £749 inc 17mm f2.8 pancake.
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[Fx]Sharp intake of breath![/Fx]

:thumbsdown:
 
Going of some of the imgaes on DP looks like the EP-1 has the best 4/3 sensor to date along with the Trupic V processor thingy, images at ISO1600 look very clean.

No doudt the next lot of Olympus DSLR's will use this combo with the up & coming E-5 being the first.

Only thing that really bothers me is why do Olympus keep on using a 230k screen, when nearly all other are now using 920k minus the D5000 or 460k incase of the G1.
 
tbh I wonder whether Oly have the technology to really make this work. The preview suggests the focusing is quite slow and there is no evf. It was the focus speed and evf that reviews say is so good on the panasonic g1. It is a pity that Oly and Panasonic didn't cooperate more on this and even full 4/3 cameras. Oly obviously has the lens technology but are behind on the electronics. It is also a shame that they have each gone with different IS systems.
 
I think it's great :) I've posted about this technology before (is it an interchangeable lens compact, or a DSLR without a mirror?) and got a largely dismissive response. But I think we'll all be using this kind of camera in the future, even if that is several years away yet. The Panasonic G1 and GH1 are similar, and Samsung has promised a major launch along similar lines later this year. Top end compacts and hybrids will all be like this soon, and I think they will take big chunks out of the bottom of the DSLR market.

But I don't think the technology is quite there yet. The AF isn't brilliant and it still has a mechanical shutter. When the AF is sorted, and efficient sensor switching can be used instead of a shutter, then we'll have a solid state camera with features and performance that are on a different level to current DSLRs that are basically a rehash of old 35mm SLRs with a digital sensor instead of film.

Meanwhile, Olympus' packaging in a superbly styled and quality built package is going to do well, I think. It's a 21st century Leica, something in the mould of Pano's acclaimed LX3 (ditto Leica D-Lux 4) but with a decent sized sensor. I want one :)
 
HoppyUK said:
I think it's great :) I've posted about this technology before (is it an interchangeable lens compact, or a DSLR without a mirror?) and got a largely dismissive response. But I think we'll all be using this kind of camera in the future, even if that is several years away yet.
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At least technology is being used to develop camera designs. Some will work - some will fail. That is inevitable. But I think this is a great attempt by Olympus.
HoppyUK said:
Meanwhile, Olympus' packaging in a superbly styled and quality built package is going to do well, I think. It's a 21st century Leica, something in the mould of Pano's acclaimed LX3 (ditto Leica D-Lux 4) but with a decent sized sensor.
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That is how I saw it. Here's hoping that the thing works as well as it looks (and we get some w-i-d-e lenses for it).
 
It is beautiful.

If only it had a viewfinder...... and somewhere to put the film!


(actually, it does look nice with the accessory viewfinder fitted).



Steve.
 
CaptainPenguin said:
as this has no viewfinder I would not even think of giving it house room
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I don't understand the current trend in digi-compacts with no viewfinder. I also find it hilarious to see people holding their cameras at arms length in order to get their shaky, blurred images.

At least this one does have the option of a shoe mounted viewfinder: http://a.img-dpreview.com/news/0906/Olympus/EP1/main2.jpg

If I used digital, I would be very tempted.


Steve.
 
It can have an accessory viewfinder, no?
 
Looking at the size of the viewfinder, you can see why it's not built in. And by the same token, that probably explains why the much smaller built-in viewfinders are so very poor, eg Canon G-series.

But it's fixed at 17mm. Would be great if it had a short zoom range.
 
bailout said:
tbh I wonder whether Oly have the technology to really make this work. The preview suggests the focusing is quite slow and there is no evf.
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Preview models rarely indicate how well the final model performs. Olympus has significantly delayed the launched of the EP-1 to make sure that everything works, so I'm confident that it's going to live up to its promise.

I also don't understand why you lament the lack of an EVF? Optical yes, but any EVF in such a small body would pretty crappy IMVHO.

Finally, Olympus has indicated that this is just a single model concept. The EP-1 is a mid range option so there will be models above and below it in the future.
 
looking at the few options i'm thinking of the pancake lens kit... am phoning up our olympus rep tomorrow morning to find out exact dates and numbers coming into the country and if he can bring me one to play with...(what are the chances).

have been waiting so long for this thing almost bought a 420 with pancake lens as my small cam to carry about, glad i saw the rumours 3 weeks ago now. :D happy days
 
Been looking at the teaser shots of these, must say if it has a decent flash sync speed (ie if it works the way the G9/G10 do) then a silver one might replace the G10....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Been looking at the teaser shots of these, must say if it has a decent flash sync speed (ie if it works the way the G9/G10 do) then a silver one might replace the G10....
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They quote the flash sync speed at 1/180 sec.

Not sure how they would implement a viewfinder for a camera with interchangable lenses. Is that possible without an ELF?
i.e. when you zoom, the viewfinder also has to change to reflect the lens.
And how do you design an optical viewfinder that can cope with framing of lenses that will come out in the future?

Pity no build-in flash, that would have been easy to implement. All said, I really want one, and will probably own one (or similar) once the prices come down a little.
 
Lack of built in flash kills it dead for me, could put up with the lack of viewfinder as the IS will make up for the arms length issue but no flash kills it as a social camera.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Lack of built in flash kills it dead for me, could put up with the lack of viewfinder as the IS will make up for the arms length issue but no flash kills it as a social camera.
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There's a flash available, or if you insist then the word is that future models in the MFT range may include built in flashes and/or EVFs.

See the video here.
 
There's no problem making a separate viewinder that zooms in sync with the lens. My Canon G7 has one (same as G9/G10) as do many compacts. It's just not very good.

The absence of a built-in flash is obviously deliberate. Apart from pretty much guaranteeing that owners will be spending extra cash on one, and they are high-margin products, it's in keeping with the Pen-F heritage. The bonus for users is that the accessory flash is better positioned and will be more powerful.

But you can't use the flash gun and optical viewfinder at the same time :thinking:
 
HoppyUK said:
There's no problem making a separate viewinder that zooms in sync with the lens. My Canon G7 has one (same as G9/G10) as do many compacts. It's just not very good.
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With the G7 (and G9/G10, and many others) the optical viewfinder 'zooms' when you zoom the lens, but this is simple to do as the focal lengths of the lens is known.
i.e. if the G7 has a '28-120' equiv zoom, the designers can design the viewfinder to also zoom to match '28-120'.

The difference with a camera with interchangeable lenses is that you could attach an UWA or a huge zoom to the camera, and although you could send lens information to the camera regarding focal length, it's a pretty impossible task to create a viewfinder that would cope with a huge focal length range to cover all possibilities.
Might be wrong, but I would expect that EVF are the only option for cameras without a mirror box and interchangable lenses.
 
springtide said:
With the G7 (and G9/G10, and many others) the optical viewfinder 'zooms' when you zoom the lens, but this is simple to do as the focal lengths of the lens is known.
i.e. if the G7 has a '28-120' equiv zoom, the designers can design the viewfinder to also zoom to match '28-120'.

The difference with a camera with interchangeable lenses is that you could attach an UWA or a huge zoom to the camera, and although you could send lens information to the camera regarding focal length, it's a pretty impossible task to create a viewfinder that would cope with a huge focal length range to cover all possibilities.
Might be wrong, but I would expect that EVF are the only option for cameras without a mirror box and interchangable lenses.
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Oh, I see what you mean now ;) Yeah, I wouldn't expect any viewfinder to cover the full range of lenses you might fit, but it could easily do the majority of popular focal lengths, and let the LCD take over beyond that.

Even the Leica range-finder viewfinders don't go beyond 135mm as that was regarded as the limit for maintaining good alignment with the taking lens. And it would obviously be useless for macro.

In fact, optical viewfinders have quite a few drawbacks, like they don't show the focus point either, but good ones a very bright and easy to view, and are just the job for simple framing. Far better than squinting at an LCD!
 
HoppyUK said:
Oh, I see what you mean now ;) Yeah, I wouldn't expect any viewfinder to cover the full range of lenses you might fit, but it could easily do the majority of popular focal lengths, and let the LCD take over beyond that.

Even the Leica range-finder viewfinders don't go beyond 135mm as that was regarded as the limit for maintaining good alignment with the taking lens. And it would obviously be useless for macro.

In fact, optical viewfinders have quite a few drawbacks, like they don't show the focus point either, but good ones a very bright and easy to view, and are just the job for simple framing. Far better than squinting at an LCD!
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That's interesting what you say about the range-finder viewfinders and restricted focal lengths, didn't know that (thanks!). I guess similar could be possible with the PENS.

I watched the interview that 'NorthernNikon' posted. Thought it was very interesting and the guy from Oly came across well IMO, but I must say it's a very large compact (not that he was hiding this fact at all)
But from what he has said, it seems that the E-P1 is probably as small as they can make this type of camera, and if you add anything - it gets larger.

Hmm, I want one. I can see myself on holiday, taking some coastline shots with the E-P1 on a tripod and a set of ND Grads attached to the front. Whatever next, hey :)
 
Here's an idea for a retro flash gun, a modern version of this: http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/ticky-FLASH-...ZViewItemQQitemZ390046233444#ebayphotohosting

Obviously an electronic version, but with one of those fold-out fan-shaped reflectors, fitted to a quick-mount on the side of the camera, like Olympus did with the accessory flash on the beautiful XA - the original 'shell' camera. It need be no bigger than the one Olympus is making now. It could at least be an option.

Apart from looking the absolute bizniz, it would give really good light, much softer than normal flash, and with no red eye. And you could still use the spearate viewfinder.
 
springtide said:
Hmm, I want one. I can see myself on holiday, taking some coastline shots with the E-P1 on a tripod and a set of ND Grads attached to the front. Whatever next, hey :)
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Is this you? :D

G.H-by-Henry-Lane_web_1.jpg
 
I think it's a very attractive camera, esp when fitted with the prime 17mm. I like the white and tan version myself (not that I'll be swapping my Niko D300 for one anytime soon).

that said, I'd love to see olympus or someone use the micro 4/3 format to make a proper rangefinder, with a proper rangefinder viewfinder and focussing style, ie manual with the superimposed boxes.

I've always loved the epson RD1, and the leica M8 but something like this could become a more modern and cheaper version of it.

:)

dave
 
fyonn said:
I think it's a very attractive camera, esp when fitted with the prime 17mm. I like the white and tan version myself (not that I'll be swapping my Niko D300 for one anytime soon).

that said, I'd love to see olympus or someone use the micro 4/3 format to make a proper rangefinder, with a proper rangefinder viewfinder and focussing style, ie manual with the superimposed boxes.

I've always loved the epson RD1, and the leica M8 but something like this could become a more modern and cheaper version of it.
:)

dave
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This is a modern and cheaper version of it. It's conceptually close to Leica rangefinder, but done properly (unlike the embarrasssing M8).

Surely nobody wants a true rangefinder these days. There are no advantages. And let's be honest, the skids have been under Leica M-series every since Nikon launched the F with reflex viewing, and that was 1959!
 
HoppyUK said:
This is a modern and cheaper version of it. It's conceptually close to Leica rangefinder, but done properly (unlike the embarrasssing M8).

Surely nobody wants a true rangefinder these days. There are no advantages. And let's be honest, the skids have been under Leica M-series every since Nikon launched the F with reflex viewing, and that was 1959!
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If only no-one wanted a rangefinder anymore, then I could score a 5 year old R-D1 for peanuts. sadly they still seem to be worth about £1000 or so (so being a better investment than many shares). and that's not money I'm about to spend.

dave
 
fyonn said:
If only no-one wanted a rangefinder anymore, then I could score a 5 year old R-D1 for peanuts. sadly they still seem to be worth about £1000 or so (so being a better investment than many shares). and that's not money I'm about to spend.

dave
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Dave, Epson R-D1 was around $3,000 new! For a 6mp rangefinder camera. Not the best investment ;) I've never even seen one. Can you get them here?
 
HoppyUK said:
Dave, Epson R-D1 was around $3,000 new! For a 6mp rangefinder camera. Not the best investment ;) I've never even seen one. Can you get them here?
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heh, it's still doing better than some investments :)

I've not seen one in the flesh either I must admit. and I don't think epson ever officially sold them here, so any that do exist on these shores are imports.

that said, they've just recently released an "updated" R-D1x. I think the update is that it's now available in all black :) anyways it's japan only I think.

One wishes they'd find a way to put a nikon D3 sensor in there and make it work.

dave
 
i had a brief chat with our rep and these things don't seem to be imported at any great numbers to well into august which is a bit of a shame, its going to be very much just dribs and drabs for the next 3 months... shall i wait that little bit longer for one, or just bit the bullet.
my boss won't be happy if we just get one and i buy it with pretty much no profit where as someone else can get it at no profit because of dodgy internet prices ,hmmmmmmmm
 
I bought the E-P1 with the 14-42mm kit yesterday and it's a very nice little unit. It's MASSIVELY smaller, lighter and more discreet than my D700 let alone my D3's. They felt enormous this afternoon.

I'm off to the Tour de France next week for 5 days and I'm taking this, and this alone. Small light and compact. Perfect for travelling.

I absolutely adore the look and style of it as well.

Quick snap this morning of my daughter (I'm swamped for time right now)

3678002715_02f2eb8b8e_o.jpg


Not currently supported for RAW in Lightroom so this is OOC JPG.
 
That's a great picture, but it leads me to ask, how do you get colours like that?
 
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