Olympus PEN EP-3

That's a very odd view.
One of the recent panasonic EVIL's (GH2 I think) was specced as having the fastest AF of any interchangeable lens camera, and I'm sure it's a great camera but it's hardly been "the end of crop sensor DSLR's as we know it".
 
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My D300 and 24-70 is no slouch!! If it is faster, who really needs it?
 
cambsno said:
My D300 and 24-70 is no slouch!! If it is faster, who really needs it?
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I don't need the speed but it's nice to see the critisisms of MFT answered and it's good to know that the system is capable of speed as it might just be the system that all SRL type cameras will end up using once mirrors, tiny hidden away focus sensors and micro lens adjustments are no more.
 
Camera PEN E-P3, or just PEN, has the fastest autofocus among all cameras with interchangeable lenses.
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I can see someone having a word with the ASA if that's quoted in an advert in this country!
 
A pro grade 12mm f2 and a consumer 45mm 1.8 has also been released at the official conference.
 
There's only so much you can do with contrast detect AF though, sure it can focus really fast on a given point, but it's never going to be able to do 3D tracking and the like.
 
DemiLion said:
I can see someone having a word with the ASA if that's quoted in an advert in this country!
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To Quote The Official Olympus website:

"SUPER-SPEED AUTOFOCUS

Get used to handling some world-class speed: This model will focus your shots faster than any other camera on the market.* That’s ultra-fast in real terms, giving you shots that maximize your reaction times.

* Based on the results of internal Olympus testing carried out in June 2011

Fast AF"

Does sound a little fishy, but then we haven't played with it yet have we?
 
CaptainPenguin said:
Still hasn't got a viewfinder so its not a proper camera
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Oh please. It's that sort of attitude that causes a lack of respect amongst people around here. Next you'll be saying without a film it's not a proper camera.

Anyway there's a beautifully made, bright and large viewfinder that attaches to the accessory port, its comparable if not better than a FF viewfinder.
 
dd1989 said:
Oh please. It's that sort of attitude that causes a lack of respect amongst people around here. Next you'll be saying without a film it's not a proper camera.

Anyway there's a beautifully made, bright and large viewfinder that attaches to the accessory port, its comparable if not better than a FF viewfinder.
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I know I was being a bit glib with that comment but having used compacts with the facility to compose on the screen as well as the viewfinder I find that composing at arm's length is not as easy or comfortable as through a viewfinder and It cannot be held as steady as with a viewfinder to your eye.Re the accessory viewfinder that's another expense on top of what is already a rather expensive piece of kit
 
TBH, it looks nice....will I be selling my D700 and lens's because this camera apparently is
Driven by the new powerful Olympus TruePic VI processor and its FAST AF system focuses faster than any other camera with interchangeable lenses.
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....probably not.

It looks like a decent system to have on holiday but even then its still not as pocketable as other compacts on the market and is a lot more expensive, it may be an alternative to someone who doesn't want a "bulky" entry level DSLR but I cant see it challenging the pro-sumer ranges.

This bit made me giggle though:
Even professionals will now be satisfied, because the Live Guide is now available in P, S, M and A
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mid_gen said:
There's only so much you can do with contrast detect AF though, sure it can focus really fast on a given point, but it's never going to be able to do 3D tracking and the like.
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On of the great things contrast-detect AF can do, or should be able to, is track subjects with amazing reliability. In theory, contrast-detect is capable of recognising a target and locking on to it wherever it moves around the frame.

It's the same technology as face-detect on compacts, but as we all know that has a little way to go yet. I borrowed someone's compact at a party recently to take their picture and the face-detect locked on to their boobs! Maybe it can mind-read :D :LOL:

Claims for faster ever AF speed with this new Olympus are highly qualified, almost bordering on dishonest.

Basically it's the fastest MILC, when used with the new kit zoom. It's actually only fractionally faster than the Panasonic G3, which is entry-level DSLR speed. Which is pretty good, and great progress where it badly needs to be made with this type of camera, but DSLR owners shouldn't panic just yet.
 
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That's the point though Hoppy, they haven't qualified their claims in the slightest. The exact wording is as above, ie "The PEN E-P3, or simply ‘PEN’, has the fastest* auto-focus of any camera with interchangeable lenses." , the caveat being "as of June 2011. Olympus Inhouse test."

They are stating categorically that this will focus faster than a top spec dSLR + appropriate lens. I find that very very hard to believe!
 
DemiLion said:
They are stating categorically that this will focus faster than a top spec dSLR + appropriate lens. I find that very very hard to believe!
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Very soon you may have no choice but to believe it :)
 
CaptainPenguin said:
Still hasn't got a viewfinder so its not a proper camera
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It's hard to believe now that years ago many film cameras didn't have a viewfinder and weren't proper cameras isn't it? :) How times have moved on, now even cheapo cameras at least have a screen if not a viewfinder.:)
 
woof woof said:
It's hard to believe now that years ago many film cameras didn't have a viewfinder and weren't proper cameras isn't it? :) How times have moved on, now even cheapo cameras at least have a screen if not a viewfinder.:)
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I did intimate in a previous post that this was a tongue in cheek comment,but I doubt that those cameras were purporting to be Pro cameras,anyhow I have a camera from WW1 that was my wife's grandfathers and it has a viewfinder,I have a Box Brownie that has a viewfinder and the Zeiss 6x6 my Mom bought my Dad as an engagement present in 1938 has a viewfinder so how many years are we going back
 
Personally I really like what Olympus have done here. ISO3200 shot I saw looks detailed enough so that scrubs off my GF1 dislike. The new lenses look nice and fast however for me the real gem is the flash unit. From the description I read it seems Nikon CLS-like which is brilliant news letting me hand hold the flash for a more pleasing light.

I'll likely upgrade my GF1 to the Olympus (and I'm assuming the Olys have in built IS) and perhaps pick up a lens and deffo the flash.

I won't be giving up my Nikon anytime soon simply because the quality of the lenses, images, and bodies are much higher. Bokeh sucks on m4/3rd sensors and always will (at what I find to be useful focal lengths).

m4/3 is a nice toy to have and a great "go anywhere" package but (for me) won't replace my DSLR!
 
CaptainPenguin said:
I did intimate in a previous post that this was a tongue in cheek comment,
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I know, as was mine.

I was thinking about some Leica's and others of the same type with no built in viewfinder of any sort and of course some only had a wire frame to help you.
 
DemiLion said:
That's the point though Hoppy, they haven't qualified their claims in the slightest. The exact wording is as above, ie "The PEN E-P3, or simply ‘PEN’, has the fastest* auto-focus of any camera with interchangeable lenses." , the caveat being "as of June 2011. Olympus Inhouse test."

They are stating categorically that this will focus faster than a top spec dSLR + appropriate lens. I find that very very hard to believe!
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TBH I think those unqualified claims will come back to bite them. It detracts from what appears to be the best yet compact-system-camera, with much to commend it.

It looks like the AF speed of these things (one of the two key drawbacks IMHO, along with the poor electronic viewfinders) is now 'good enough' for most subjects, but that's still a long way off being the fastest ever full stop! Fastest in it's class is a little different.

I found this review http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=4779&p=3 Press-to-capture time is fairly a pedestrian 0.22secs, even if that's much faster than most compacts. It's only 1/100sec faster than the Panasonic G3, and it only manages to lumber along at a max of 3.3 fps. I think the fastest ever is the Canon 1D4 which hurtles along at 10fps, focusing every individual frame as it goes. That's fast!
 
Certainly looks like an attractive camera, more so than the g3 I was planning to buy. I'll stick with my gf1 for a bit though until the review sites have time to bed in. I must say though the pen bodies are really growing on me.
 
DemiLion said:
I can see someone having a word with the ASA if that's quoted in an advert in this country!
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I got invited by Olympus to try one last week and b*gg*r me it's FAST. In fact it's not just fast, it's instant! Whether it's the fastest is hard to say, not having anything else to compare it with, but those claims could well be true.
 
DemiLion said:
All that does is prove how slow the D7000 is.

Have a look at some cameras who's sole objective is to 'get the shot' such as the D3s, 7D, Canon 1DmkIII & IV and even the full frames such as the D700 or 1Ds and the PEN gets stomped on, by over a factor of four in some cases.
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Not this Pen! :D
 
HoppyUK said:
TBH I think those unqualified claims will come back to bite them. It detracts from what appears to be the best yet compact-system-camera, with much to commend it.

It looks like the AF speed of these things (one of the two key drawbacks IMHO, along with the poor electronic viewfinders) is now 'good enough' for most subjects, but that's still a long way off being the fastest ever full stop! Fastest in it's class is a little different.

I found this review http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=4779&p=3 Press-to-capture time is fairly a pedestrian 0.22secs, even if that's much faster than most compacts. It's only 1/100sec faster than the Panasonic G3, and it only manages to lumber along at a max of 3.3 fps. I think the fastest ever is the Canon 1D4 which hurtles along at 10fps, focusing every individual frame as it goes. That's fast!
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It certainly doesn't have a fast frame rate, granted. And the fast AF is only with certain lenses, like the new 12mm f2 (which I also got to try), the 45mm f1.8 and the new kit zoom. Other Micro 4/3 lenses are faster to focus than they were, and no doubt will be made just as fast as the new lenses through a firmware upgrade, but unfortunately the Four Thirds SHG Zuikos (used with an adapter) are still pretty slow.

But yes, from personal experience with the 12mm the E-P3 is astonishingly quick and amongst this limited range of lenses the claim might well be true. However, it's not ready to replace your DSLRs just yet. But as the technology improves in the future, who knows? :)
 
Does the OP have shares in Olympus?

That test is a static object, where focusing speeds are null and void.

I'd like to see it against a fast moving target, such as an F1 car at race speed. Thats a focusing speed test, not a portrait on a tripod!
 
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I love when people get determined to fight against change.

This technology will remain compact but will very quickly become the standard choice for every level of photographer. It's an inevitability.
 
I'm not fighting against change, I'm all for it if the technological advances improve photography.

I'm just highlighting the inconsistencies in your arguments!
 
dd1989 said:
I love when people get determined to fight against change.

This technology will remain compact but will very quickly become the standard choice for every level of photographer. It's an inevitability.
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Not with a m4/3 sensor in it won't.
 
DemiLion said:
Yup that PEN. Read the facts on the analysis from the site that dd1989 first posted.
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I don't believe anything was stated about test conditions for their AF tests except that it was with EP3 and kit lens. Evidently they are not the same conditons as Olympus' in house tests. We are still to see a definitive test.
 
dd1989 said:
I love when people get determined to fight against change.

This technology will remain compact but will very quickly become the standard choice for every level of photographer. It's an inevitability.
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What fast telephotos does this camera have?

I cant see them producing a 100-400mm, 600mm prime or even a 70-200 f/2.8 for it somehow!

To say itll be the "standard choice for every level photographer" is wide from the mark.

No fast tele's, and none in the near future, shutter lag, EVF... This thing is not persuading me!
 
odd jim said:
What fast telephotos does this camera have?

I cant see them producing a 100-400mm, 600mm prime or even a 70-200 f/2.8 for it somehow!

To say itll be the "standard choice for every level photographer" is wide from the mark.

No fast tele's, and none in the near future, shutter lag, EVF... This thing is not persuading me!
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This is a new system compared to the established systems already out there. Just look at how quickly Olympus developed Four Thirds lenses from absolutely nothing, and what they did produce was top notch. There's a 300mm f2.8, a 150mm f2, a 35-100mm f2, a 90-250 f2.8, a 14-35mm f2, a 7-14mm wideangle....and so on....the lenses will come, but they won't just chuck out crappy lenses to speed things up. Also note any of the above lenses can be used with an adaptor and keep AF - although none of them are micro so it sort of seems pointless.


Regarding menthel's comment about why it can't succeed with 43 size sensor...why not? Unless you're truly in to shooting with high ISO the four thirds sensor is a great system. Of course, if you're also in to getting f1 style DOF then forget it...but you know...if you're talented you can get the desired results. The older sensor in the E-5 was found to resolve more detail than some full frame cameras, according to DPreview, so the sensor is good, just need to wait on micro glass to become more abundant.
 
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