From the moment Olympus and Panasonic announced the new Micro Four Thirds standard we waited for the first Olympus offering. Panasonic made quite an impression with its m4/3 Lumix G1. The G1 looks more like a smaller DSLR. Olympus has chosen a different path. The new E-P1 (P stands for the Olympus tradition of their Pen cameras) is styled like a Rangefinder camera and seems to be even smaller than the G1. The E-P1 looks more like a larger P&S camera. But the E-P1 is not a P&S camera at all:
- Interchangeable Micro Four Thirds lenses (Olympus offers initially the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 and 17mm f/2.8 - in 35mm equivalent you have to multiply by 2x).
- Large 12MP sensor (compared to P&S cameras and not that much smaller than APS-C sensors) that should be close to the sensors in the Olympus E-620 and Panasonic Lumix G1.
- HD movie mode (720p at 30 fps)
- Sensor image stabilization. This is clearly a very strong point as it also helps with all manual lenses that you can attach.
- 3" LCD with 230,000 pixels (maybe one of the weaker aspects of the E-P1)
- Contrast AF. Will be interesting how it compares to the Panasonic G1 which performs really well for a contrast AF.
- Automatic sensor dust removal (Olympus pioneered this technology)
- Provides four different aspect ratios
- Digital Level Sensor
- High quality stereo audio (uncompressed 24 bit/96kHz Linear PCM ). Olympus also produces small high quality audio recorders so they understand this field very well.
- Multiple exposures like in the E-620 and E-30
- Art filters also like in the E-620/E-30
- Records to SDHC media cards (finally Olympus is using SD cards).
- Optical viewfinder for the 17mm lens
- Optional 4/3 to m4/3 adapter
- Optional OM2 to m4/3 adapter
- No EVF which helps to make the camera smaller. We will use our loupe technique with the E-P1.
- No built in flash. But there is an optional flash unit available:
Availability & U.S. Pricing
The Olympus E-P1 will be available in July 2009. It includes E-P1 Body, USB Cable, Video Cable, Li-Ion Battery Pack (BLS-1), Li-Ion Battery Charger (BCS-1), Shoulder Strap, OLYMPUS Master 2 Software CD-ROM, Manuals and Registration card.
Product Configurations
E-P1 Body Estimated Street Price: $749.99
E-P1 Body with ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens Estimated Street Price: $799.99
E-P1 Body with ED 17mm f2.8 with optical viewfinder Estimated Street Price: $899.99
Early Conclusion
Hard to finally judge this camera before we get our hands on one. Overall this may be as or more exciting than the Panasonic G1 (which defined a whole new camera category). The E-P1 could be very close to the ultimate small travel camera. It seems to be small enough and at the same time provides serious image quality. We hope to get a sample camera soon.
We will follow this camera closely.
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