Asian in a Strange Land

Today my persistent E-P1 itch forced me to call up the local camera shop Deville Camera to see if they had a demo E-P1 I could play with.  Whaddya know?  They did!  So after work I stopped by Deville Camera with a co-worker to see if the Olympus E-P1 is really all that.  Thanks to Greg at Deville for letting us check it out.

The main draw of the E-P1 for me is its size.  My main camera both for work and play is a Canon 5D, which isn’t the largest camera in the world but isn’t exactly svelte either.  There are times when I just don’t want to lug it around, but I invariably wish I had when a photo op comes up that I’m not equipped for.  Compact cameras have tiny sensors in them that are ultra-noisy, especially after being used to the clean high ISO of a 5D, so compacts are out of the question.  The E-P1 looks on paper to be a great compromise between a big ol’ SLR and a tiny compact, incorporating pros and cons of both.

So how small is the E-P1?

Taken by my co-worker with his iPhone

Also taken by my co-worker with his iPhone

Left is E-P1 + 14-42mm (28-84mm effective), right is 5D + 35 f/1.4L.  The angle of the shots exaggerates the size of the 35L but not by much.  Small?  Yeah, I’d say so.  Not too small though.  Dare I say it’s “camera-sized”?  Like I said, the 5D isn’t a giant camera, but it makes the E-P1 look dwarf-like in comparison.  The E-P1 fits very nicely in the hand and doesn’t feel much bigger than a compact while in use.

The interface is great considering how little space they had to work with on the back.  They managed to squeeze 2 wheels back there unlike many entry-level DSLRs that only have 1.  I had a hard time figuring out where all the settings were in the extensive menu, but that’s no surprise.  I didn’t expect to master it after 15 minutes of messing with it.

I’ve read a user review that states the E-P1 autofocuses with the same speed (or slowness) as a compact camera.  Having tried it myself I can confidently say that that reviewer is either living right or is very wrong, because this thing focuses pretty snappily with even the slow 14-42mm kit lens.  It’s not DSLR-fast, which is to be expected, but it’s not as slow as a typical compact either.  I don’t see myself shooting sports with it or anything, but it’s plenty fast for casual snaps and even more “serious” work if it doesn’t require super-fast focusing.

The LCD is nice, but could’ve been nicer.  I really think it needed one of the new 920,000 pixel LCDs instead of the comparatively low resolution LCD they put on it.  It’s not a big deal though for anything but manual focus.  Seems like manual focus with large aperture lenses would be a chore with that LCD.

I love the customizability of this thing.  You can configure to your taste exactly how the wheels operate, what the buttons do, etc.  This level of configurability is far ahead of compacts and is in the same league as midrange DSLRs.  I mean seriously–you can separate autoexposure and autofocus functions and assign them to 2 different buttons, which is exactly how I have my 5D set up!  To you non-camera-nerds out there that probably means nothing, but to those of us who geek out about every little aspect of a camera that’s amazing.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t know of a compact that allows you to do that.

Both available lenses are nice.  Considering the size and cost constraints I think they did an excellent job with both of them.  The 17mm f/2.8 (shown behind the E-P1 in the 2nd pic) is tiny and would be the perfect walk-around lens for me since 35mm on a full-frame is my favorite focal length (17mm on E-P1 = 34mm equivalent on FF).  Too bad it doesn’t look like the 2-lens kit is available in the U.S.

I can’t comment on image quality since I didn’t bring my own SD card, but samples I’ve seen online are very promising.  In my opinion it produces the cleanest, most detailed, and therefore most usable images at ISO 1600 and above of any Olympus to date.  There’s some strong chromatic aberration with both lenses though, which is my only image quality concern.

I could go on, but I think it’s pretty clear that I’m even more excited about this camera after using it.  One niggle is still the lack of an electronic viewfinder, but the LCD on the back has very good viewing angles, which allows you to take pictures from angles you never would’ve even tried if you had to have the camera at eye level.

Being a Canon shooter with a 5D, 40D, and various lenses and not being independently wealthy, I’m a bit hesitant to embrace the idea of starting a parallel camera system.  That’s what the E-P1 would be the beginning of for me, as I wouldn’t give up my Canon work rig for it (“parallel”), and I wouldn’t want to just get an E-P1 with a single lens and stop there (“system”).  It’s really putting out the siren call though.  I’m tempted.  Very tempted.