Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 11-15 of 41
 Fantastic Camera March 11, 2010
John N. Marzich (arroyo grande, ca United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Was tired of my big canon 40d and big lenses. Great pictures but too large hour after hour. This camera took an indoor shot with no flash at over 1000 iso and looked excillent!
Very portable and the depth of field looks more 3d than just a flat sharp picture. I have owned an e-300 and e-510 and new olympus had a major idea with the high end Zuiko lenses.
Have 2 panasonic lenses and they are excillent also and made in japan.
World class camera minus a built in flash.
This little gem has converted a skeptic May 24, 2010
Chris Cunningham (Lexington, KY USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this hoping it would be a barely acceptable DSLR substitute, expecting I would end up not liking it and sending it on it's way back to the retailer or to someone else by reselling it. I've been using film and then digital slrs for 20+ years, so I'm used to an SLR. I actually LIKE SLRs, especially sturdy, hefty and fast DSLR's such as Nikon's D200.
The e-p1 seemed very......different.
As it turns out, vive le difference!
While I was pretty skeptical, I figured I wouldn't lose too much if I took a chance on one to try it out. I'm now glad I did since mine has really changed what I think about this type of camera (bigger sensor, no mirror).
I was never entirely satisfied with the limits of the all-in-one digicams out there, although I had resigned myself to getting something like a DP2, LX3 or G11, so that I could travel lighter when I didn't really need the D200. Basically, when I might be headed somewhere where I MIGHT want a camera, but wasn't planning a trip explicitly for the photo opps.
True, there is no eye-level finder(addressed in the e-p2 and e-pl1 with the addon VF), so you have to compose using live-view. And yes, I'm still getting used to it. But I've found it gets more comfortable and less "unacceptable" the more you do it, so I'm making that adjustment. Pretty happily in fact given all the positive qualities of the e-p1.
I also thought that the AF would be unacceptably slow from the reviews I read, but I haven't found that to be the case. Yes, it is slower than my D200. But it turns out not to be a problem for me, even though I haven't upgraded to the latest firmware, which is supposed to provide even faster AF. Of course I'm not trying to shoot fast moving action with it either, so if you're into that you wouldn't be happy with the AF speed, since there are plenty of DSLRs that are quite a bit faster.
So what are the good qualities?
Great image quality for a start. It is really excellent for jpegs, but if you like to shoot RAW and cook the output however you like, you can do that too. I've started shooting more jpegs, since I hate sitting around in front of a computer (since it's what I do every weekday already). And the e-p1 really does output a great jpeg. Of course, the good lenses that are available help as well. As does the built-in IS.
And even though the AF is slower than an SLR, the e-p1 still seems more responsive than most compact digicams I've tried. Part of the reason that it feels responsive is just the camera's speed, but also the controls work well, which makes changing settings a breeze (for the most part.) And you can control pretty much everything, which makes the camera configurable and flexible.
Speaking of flexible, there are more options for a little camera like this than for a small digicam. You can good telephoto zooms, normal zooms (like the kit lens), wide-angle and wide-angle to tele zooms, as well as using the four-thirds lens adapter and OM adapter.
After using it for a week, I'm much happier with the e-p1 than I thought would be.
I do have a couple of complaints thought, one with AF/MF and one with the body design/spec.
Sometimes the camera focuses on a background object instead of the foreground object you wanted it to focus on. When this happens with my slr, I can switch to manual-focus and be ok. Unfortunately, using manual focus is a little more difficult than I would prefer. It works ok if the camera is on a tripod, but when using the camera unsupported, it's difficult to hold the camera steady enough with one hand to and fine tune focus with the other. The camera jiggles around as you're turning the focus ring with your off-hand, so it's hard to get things really sharp.
I also would have really like to see the camera and lens dust and weather-proofed some. It wouldn't need to withstand a torrential downpour (although it would be nice), but enough weather-proofing to stand up to a light rain would be good. Ditto with dust-proofing.
But I have a lot fewer complaints than I thought I would when I first got it. In fact, until I actually took it out and used it I was planning to return it. Lucky for me, I gave it a chance and it turned my opinion around. Now I've ordered the four-thirds adapter and a lens I've had my eye on, so I can see that I need to make more room on my gear-shelf for some more micro 4/3 gear.
Olympus EP-1: The Best Compact DSLR December 15, 2009
J. Cauchi
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've had a 35 mm, film, Olympus camera for more than a decade which always took great pictures and still works great . After the Olympus, when digital cameras came put, I used mostly phones for digital picture taking-2 (Sony) to 5 megapixels (Nokia). So, when I decided to upgrade and found that Olympus was releasing a compact DSLR, I decided to get it to see if the quality was still there. I was amazed by the quality and good design of the camera. But, of course, I was also looking for the DSLR quality of the pictures and was not disappointed. I took a lot of pictures of moving people and still life-plants and trees, etc, and all and all the picture quality was excellent-don't forget to focus-video was also great when there is light around but it uses a lot of memory.
I think, it's better to get the 17 mm lens to have a smaller body overall and much easier to carry around-and the FL-14 flash is a plus-very light..
All and all the EP1 is an excellent upgrade from a standard point and shoot camera since it's much more compact than the standard DSLRs-Nikon, Canon, etc.-and it takes pictures/videos with about the same quality as a standard DSLR.
Olympus EP1 Pros and Cons:
Pros:
1. Excellent modern, fancy, high quality design.
2. Menus are easy to use
3. Very nice high quality pictures and videos.
Cons;
1. Low resolution screen
2. No integrated flash or light (Videos)
3. Video mode uses a lot of memory.
Tons of horsepower in a small package February 12, 2010
JAGFB (ID)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Overall we are very pleased with the E-P1. The micro four thirds form factor is great in that we are not lugging a full sized DLSR around.
We have only had this camera for a couple of week and are learning the ropes.
Will provide more information in this review as we get more time with it.
The camera is extremely solid and I am sure that it is going to be with us for a long time.
A professionals second camera November 10, 2009
R. Mckinley
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Olympus PEN EP-1, and its soon to be released followup the EP-2 with the added digital viewfinder, are the perfect second camera for those traveling professional photographers. Lightweight but powerful. With the optional lens adapters, from Olympus as well as secondary manufactures, the range of glass for the body is unlimited. The original PEN line of compact cameras were, and still are, classics. Olympus has done it again.
Showing reviews 11-15 of 41
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