The official UK launch of the highly anticipated and long awaited m4/3 camera from Olympus was today. Olympus chose the Jessops store near Tottenham Court Road in London for the event and has even invited photographer David Bailey for the event.
Judging from the high interest the camera generated in forums and on various photography websites and blogs I expected a lot of people to show up and so it was. The people I spoke to all wanted the same, a compact camera capable of producing dSLR like image quality but also allowing them to swap lenses. The Olympus E-P1 certainly is the first camera to deliver on both counts.

Although it was busy and most people wanted some hands-on with the camera, I managed to try out a few samples and will try to give a quick impression and compare it briefly with the GRD II and Sigma DP2.



The first thing I noticed was that the camera is actually a bit bigger than I expected, especially with the zoom lens attached and if you extend the lens it becomes even bigger. On pictures it always looks relatively small and while it is by far not a big camera, it is not as small as the DP2 and not really close to the GRD II. With the pancake lens it becomes a lot smaller and I would say it is more or less the size of a DP2 with the optional OVF attached. The GRD II feels pretty small compared to it, if yu attach the GV-1 OVF and the lens hood you will get a similar size. Overall it is jacket pocketable but only with the Pancake lens attached and then you need solid pockets as the camera is heavy.


Speaking of the weight, you might have seen the pictures of the all plastic insides posted in various forums recently and while the insides might be plastic it surely weights a lot and the outside is solid metal. It feels very solid and I would say it is as solid as the GRD II and the Olympus dSLRs they had around. The feel of the camera is great, Olympus made sure the camera feels great to hold. There is no comparison at all with the DP2 which feels plasticky and flimsy due to the poor choice of plastic for the buttons and lens barrel. The hand grip is also nice and does make holding it much easier and more secure, a grip should be standard on any serious compact camera if you ask me.
One thing about the build I did not like was the fairly bright green LED around the power button, here I hope Olympus can release a firmware update to turn it off as Ricoh did on the GRD II.

There have been concerns expressed regarding the low resolution of the LCD screen. While the resolution is not really as important in my view as the refresh rate and the viewing angles, I found it perfectly ok. Everything was easy to read and detailed on the screen. Using manual focus with the screen enlargement on was no problem and it was easy to see when the picture was in focus. The viewing angles and refresh rate are comparable with the GRD II screen and so very good, nothing like the poor DP2 screen. It should be easy to use the screen even outdoors from the look of it and take low level shots with the viewing angles.
One issue I found with the screen is if you point it at something black or in very low light it gets very noisy, full of banding and desaturates almost completely. This was very strange as it was fine when you focused and the pictures turned out fine but it seems the signal boost in low light is causing this. I tried different samples and had this problem with all of them.

The controls are all intuitive and work very fast, having two wheels is a good idea although the 4-way navigation pad could be a bit bigger to avoid accidental presses. You can change all important settings without going into the menu, the buttons are all clearly labeled and not black on black as on the Sigma DP2. The GRD II however still has the edge when it comes to controls.

The AF has also been highlighted as a potential problem in a few reviews. I have to say, it is not lightning fast and far from the speed of the Panasonic G1 or a dSLR but it is slightly faster then the AF on the GRD II and also faster than the AF on the DP2. The zoom lens takes also longer to focus than the pancake lens. I also find the zoom lens way too big, if it's full extended it is as big as a normal 4/3 lens. Overall I would rather get the E-P1 kit with the pancake lens as I was not overly impressed with the zoom lens.


I have also tried the OVF and there is one definite issue with using it. On the GRD II there is a small LED next to the hot shoe which will light up once focus is achieved, there is no such LED or visual confirmation on the E-P1 so you have to either use the sounds or guess. I have mentioned this to Olympus and hope a firmware update can maybe have the 'SSWF' or 'Power LED' blinking when focus is achieved and the OVF is used.
Other than this the OVF is ok, not as good quality as the Ricoh OVFs which are produced by CV but better than the Sigma DP1 OVF. Like the Sigma DP1 OVF this is made out of plastic but has a thin aluminium cover, both are not very bright but the frame lines should be seen ok. It feels overall a bit flimsy and if you need a OVF I would recommend getting a CV OVF.

These are my impressions so far, I walked out without buying a E-P1 although I was very tempted. The E-P1 looks and feels like a great camera and I really like the design but it is too early to buy. The camera is a bit too big and I would like to have at least one good wide angle lens available for it.

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Update: Great news, Olympus will be providing an E-P1 kit for the shootout! Not surprisingly, E-P1 kits are on short supply right now, so it will be a while before we get one. Nevertheless, this will be the most thorough shootout yet, assuredly worth the wait! Many thanks again for the community support, via posts and tweets, without which this likely wouldn't have happened.

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Thanks to everyone who commented on the previous post. With your help, we got the attention of Sigma, and they have agreed to provide a DP2 (hopefully with VF-21 viewfinder and HA-21 converter) for the shootout. Here they are announcing it on Twitter:



Very cool of Sigma to step to a direct shootout like that! So far, there is no definite commitment from Olympus. Two Olympus representatives on Twitter responded to my request by asking me to direct message them with my contact information. I did so yesterday and am waiting for them to get back to me.

I'm sure that their review units are in short supply so soon after the launch. Hopefully Sigma's willingness will inspire the Olympus folks to provide a test E-P1 and 17mm kit for the shootout. I don't think there is any more well defined market for these cameras than the one we represent.

If anyone would like to help lobby Olympus on Twitter, direct your tweets to @cjleonejr (Olympus PR) and @getolympus while mentioning #seriouscompacts so that I can keep track. Thanks again everyone!

Amin

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The Olympus E-P1 and Sigma DP2 are two of the more exciting "serious compacts" introduced since I started this blog, and I think the E-P1 and M-Zuiko 17mm f/2.8 kit would make for a fascinating shootout with the DP2.

As a small blog, we generally have to purchase the gear for our tests and shootouts.  In many cases, it is our personal gear, for example Wouter's GX100/GX200 and my DP1/G10/D-LUX 4. With a very limited budget, it's going to be tough to raise the money to buy these latest Olympus and Sigma kits. Meanwhile, I think it's in the manufacturers' interest to loan us the gear since the Serious Compacts community is focused on the space these new cameras occupy.

Thanks to your comments in the past, we've been able to forge a relationship with Ricoh, who provided a GRD II for review and will hopefully continue to provide exciting new products for us to test. Here's how you can help us forge a similar relationship with Olympus and Sigma:

1. Leave a comment in response to this post, indicating your interest in seeing the EP-1 and DP2 tested here.  Any suggestions for the shootout are most welcome.
2. Send a tweet to @getolympus and @Sigma_Photo indicating your interest in the #seriouscompacts #shootout.

Thanks!

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If you're obsessed with interested in the E-P1, there is no more comprehensive source of information than 1001 Noisy Cameras.

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LensTip.com has some telling sample images made with the E-P1 and M-Zuiko 17mm f/2.8 lens.

Link: LensTip.com - Olympus E-P1 + Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17 mm f/2.8 - sample shots

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Some thoughts about what Olympus seems to have gotten right and wrong with their first Micro Four Thirds camera:

What they got right (in no particular order):

• Image stabilization (IS) in the body: Olympus leaves IS out of it’s its smallest DSLRs, so I was concerned they might leave it out of the E-P1.  They didn't.
• Size: As expected, the E-P1 leverages the compact potential of Micro 4/3 in a way that the Panasonic cameras have not.
• Dust reduction: All interchangeable lens digital cameras should have this; unfortunately, not all do, but the E-P1 does.
• Looks: Obviously subjective, but the silver and black E-P1 looks great to me.  Would be nice to see an all-black version as well.
  
• Image quality: This is a very preliminary impression, obviously, and made without any RAW files to examine.  The pre-production sample JPEGs at DPReview and elsewhere look very good and seem to support Olympus' statement regarding the use of a lighter antialiasing filter.  High ISO performance also seems to be quite good for this format.
  
• SD/SDHC memory card: Many thought Olympus might have gone the xD card route.  Thankfully, they did not.
• VF-1 external viewfinder is bundled with the E-P1 + 17mm lens kit (according to the latest press release).
• Movie mode allows manual aperture control.
• Battery is the same BLS-1 lithium-ion battery used in the Olympus E-620 and ought to provide better than average battery life in this camera. 
• Shot-to-shot times are short according to DCRP.

Where they could have done better:

• Weather sealing/resistance
  
• Multi-aspect ratio sensor like the one in the Panasonic GH1
• Optional add-on EVF
• Distance indicator or focusing tab for the 17mm lens. Olympus missed a great opportunity here to control their focus-by-wire manual focus system based on focus tab positioning.  What a difference that would make for documentary photography!
• MP4 (eg, H.264 MP4) would have allowed better video quality/file size.  Instead, they opted for M-JPEG (.AVI) format, presumably because this older format is more widely supported. 
• A faster 17mm pancake lens would have made it much easier for me to pull the trigger on ordering an E-P1 kit.  Instead, I am tempted to wait for this lens on the Panasonic road map:
  
  In 35mm photography terms of framing and depth of field (DOF) control, it's the difference between a 34mm f/5.6 lens and a 40mm f/3.4 lens.  The Olympus lens should be available sooner and may prove superior, but nearly 1.5 stops more light and greater DOF control is difficult to ignore.  That said, one has to wonder what Panasonic is sacrificing to make a lens that fast yet that small.  We'll know soon.

What they got wrong:

• LCD resolution (230k dot) is below the current standard for high end cameras.  

Unknowns:

• Autofocus speed: There have been conflicting reports about this in the existing previews.  However, most of the reports are not super-encouraging (eg, DCRP).
  
• 17mm f/2.8 lens rendering: DPR published a whole series of sample images with this lens, yet the lowest f-stop they used was f/6.3. Update: two photos at f/2.8 added here and here.  Lenstip.com has published samples here.
  
• Shutter release sound: As the Panasonic G1 shutter sound was disappointingly loud to many some (not me), it will be interesting to learn about the shutter sound of the E-P1.  Update: Imaging Resource has a comparison between the Leica M4 and E-P1 shutter sounds (link).
  

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The Olympus E-P1 is available for pre-order at Amazon.

Prices with links to pre-order pages:

E-P1 Body Only - $699.99

E-P1 with 14-42mm Lens - $799.99(White Body/Silver Lens)

E-P1 with 14-42mm Lens (Silver Body/Black Lens) - $799.99

E-P1 with 17mm f/2.8 Lens (Silver) - $899.99

Remember that while Amazon fulfills pre-orders in the order received, you lose your place in the queue if you go back at a later date and change anything in the order (for example the shipping method).

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The E-P1 has been officially released and DPReview has am excellent interview with Akira Watanabe, product planning manager of Olympus's SLR division. One of the many interesting facts Watanabe shared was the fact that Olympus is using automatic lens distortion correction in order to keep Micro Four Thirds lenses as small as possible.

Readers of this blog will know that software correction of lens barrel distortion is what allowed Panasonic to design such a compact and fast wide zoom for the LX3. The similarly compact Olympus ZD 25mm f/2.8 lens for Four Thirds also had a significant degree of barrel distortion; however, this was uncorrected in software.

Although I am excited to see the tiny 17mm f/2.8 lens from Olympus and prototype 20mm f/1.7 lens from Panasonic, both for the Micro Four Thirds system, I do hope that they haven't gone too far in relying on software correction of lens distortion. For one thing, distortion correction comes at a cost in terms of resolution. Another consequence is that third-party RAW support for the distortion correction will likely lag considerably. Wonder why Apple's Aperture still doesn't support the LX3? I don't know the answer, but I suspect it has to do with Apple's failure to address the severe barrel distortion of that lens.

The Watanabe review presents more information about Micro Four Thirds than just the bit about automatic lens distortion correction. I was pleased to learn that Olympus' new image processor has allowed them to use a lighter antialiasing filter.

Link: DPR - More in the Micro Four Thirds pipeline

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Although the official announcement of the new Olympus E-P1 will be tomorrow afternoon, June 16th in Tokyo, images and specs have appeared all over the net. The camera will come with a 12.3 mp livemos sensor and a 3" LCD screen with 230,000 pixels. In auto mode the ISO range will be from 200 to 3200 and in manual mode from 100 to 6400. The first sample images can be seen here.

The camera will have the following file formats: 12 bit RAW, jpeg, RAW + jpeg, and AVI motion jpeg. Both sRGB and AdobeRGB are available as color spaces. The camera will be able to capture a maximum of 14 RAW photographs in a burst. It can capture images in the image ratios 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, and 6:6. And when you shoot in RAW the image ratio will recorded in the EXIF data. The first lenses to be released will be a 14-42mm f/3.5-f/5.6 zoom lens and a 17mm f/2.8 prime lens.

The camera will also have a 720p HD movie mode, but there is still no mentioning of the available framerates. Recording will be on SD and SDHC cards with a maximum duration of 7 minutes in HD mode and 14 minutes in SD mode.

More news tomorrow.

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What do we gain by using small cameras, and what do we give up in exchange? Lloyd Davis shares his thoughts on the current state of compacts versus DSLRs after taking a walk with the Canon G9 and Olympus E-3.

Link: Thoreau Photography

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Sean Reid has published Part 1 of his "rolling review" of the Sigma DP2. Sean's site, Reid Reviews, is a pay site, meaning that one must pay a $32.95 fee yearly to maintain access to the content. There are no advertisements.

Many are used to ad-supported content and averse to paying for content on the web, but Sean's reviews are far higher quality than most if not all of what you'll find elsewhere. The reviews are both photographer-oriented and technical, often pointing out subtle but significant findings which are omitted in reviews done by writers who are not working photographers.

These are just a couple excerpts from the DP2 Part 1 review showing the sort of fine points Sean makes in his reviews (click to view larger):

Again, those are just snippets from an extensive Part 1 review.  There is a great deal of useful information in the review.  If you are willing to pay a subscription, I highly recommend Reid Reviews.

Also, don't miss these excellent reviews at The Online Photograper:
T.O.P.: Sigma DP2 Review (link)
T.O.P.: The Sigma DP2: A Second Opinion (link)

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I have long admired Jim Radcliffe's photographs made with advanced compacts such as the Leica D-LUX 3, D-LUX 4, Sigma DP1, and Canon G10. I received word from Jim that he had just posted a review of the Sigma DP2. His concise review covers the important aspects of the camera from the standpoint of a photographer and includes numerous sample photos made with the DP2.

Link: Jim Radcliffe - My Photography with the DP2

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By now, most of us have seen the legitimate appearing, leaked photos of the upcoming E-P1 from Olympus:

Some points of interest:

• Tiny Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens; slow by comparison to the similarly unavailable Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, though the Olympus lens appears to be even smaller than the Panasonic
• Tiny overall size; based on the hot shoe, this camera and lens combo is sized similarly to the Sigma DP1, Panasonic LX3, and Canon G10.  OMuser.com has a useful size comparison is here.
• There appears to be a paucity of tactile controls for things like aperture, ISO, and shutter speed, but that remains to be seen.
  

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Dennis (dmcguire) asks in our Flickr group discussion section, what is the "best compact for street photography?" 

Documentary photography has long been a strength of compact cameras, both film and digital. While portability is less of a factor for most landscape photography, excepting perhaps the mountain climber or hiker who needs to travel light, it is a great advantage for documentary work. Compared with larger cameras, compacts are easier to take everywhere and keep ready for any moment that should arise. Compact cameras are also more discreet than larger cameras. This can be an asset, not necessarily because of stealth, but because a less distracting camera may make it easier to document a moment without affecting its content.

Whether "street" or otherwise, the list of documentary photographers who have put compacts to outstanding use is beyond the scope of this blog post. Here are a few to consider:

• Magnum photographer Alex Majoli used Olympus digital compacts for award-winning photojournalism (link).
• New York street photographer Markus Hartel makes use of a variety of compacts including the GRD II and Sigma DP1 (link).
• Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael also uses digital compacts including the GRD (in addition to the Leica Digilux 2 and others).  See his Lightstalkers gallery with intact EXIF data (link).

Share your thoughts about compact cameras for documentary photography here in the comments or the Flickr discussion thread started by Dennis (link).

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