E-P3 black no lens with pop-up flash
As anticipated, the Olympus E-P3 was announced today. They also announced the E-PM1 and E-PL3 (“Mini” and “Light”), which aren’t as interesting to me due to lack of physical controls–much more touchscreen oriented. Among the E-P3′s headliner improvements over the E-P2:
- Fast AF–not just faster, but actually fast!
- Built-in flash
- Much higher resolution screen on the back, touchscreen too
- Better video
- New sensor
Compared to the E-P1 you can also add the accessory connector to allow use of the very nice VF-2 electronic viewfinder. So on paper it ticks all the boxes in terms of what I was looking for in an upgrade to the E-P1. For me the big question marks are:
- Just how fast is the new AF? Olympus claim outright fastest of any camera. Bold, bold claim, but I’ll wait and see.
- How much has the noise and color rendition at high ISO improved?
Pending answers to those questions, I’ll start drooling from now until I can try one out in the store. You hear me, Deville Camera? You’d better stock some of these, and soon!
Second but just as exciting are the new 12mm f/2 (24mm equivalent) and 45mm f/1.8 (90mm equivalent) lenses. These lenses are ones that many Micro 4/3 users have been clamoring for since the beginning–the 12mm because it’s a high grade lens with a beautifully made metal barrel (and I’m assuming stellar image quality too), and the 45mm because it’s the first lens to fill the common portrait focal length and aperture. 24mm equivalent isn’t a focal length I use much, but if the 12mm lens is great and can also be used for silent and quick AF during video I might have to retrain myself on it. The 45mm lens I’m more immediately excited about since I’m familiar with the short telephoto focal length and have some good uses in mind for it. Both of them look to be terrific additions to the Micro 4/3 family.
E-P1 family portrait
So I’ve been rolling with the Olympus E-P1 for 2 years now–time sure does fly. I’ve used it and discovered its various joys and flaws along the way, so I figured I’d share a few thoughts from having used it and the Micro 4/3 system for the past couple of years. » Continue Reading…
FujiFilm Finepix X100 front
As a photo nut I try to keep up with the rumors of exciting upcoming products from various manufacturers. Honestly, FujiFilm had mostly dropped off my radar. They’re completely stagnant in the DSLR arena, and despite a few innovative compact cameras they haven’t really put out anything earth-shattering in a long time. Welcome back to the top of the photo gear news chain, FujiFilm! Meet the FujiFilm Finepix X100.
Why is this so exciting? Because it’s that rarest of rare animals in today’s photo world–a compact sized camera with a large sensor and a fixed lens. The compact size is self-explanatory. The large sensor is APS-C sized, which is as large as or maybe even slightly larger than cameras such as the Canon T2i, 60D, 7D; Nikon D3100, D7000, D300s, etc. In other words it’s in very good company from an image quality standpoint, since rule of thumb says larger sensor = better image quality. Compact size + large sensor, and large sensor + fixed lens combos are both rare. But put compact size + large sensor + fixed lens together and you have a real rare breed. Throw in solid build quality with a metal top and baseplate and the retro styling, and the X100 takes some big strides to set itself apart from the pack.
Right off the top of my head I can only think of 3 others that match the X100′s 3 defining features of compact, large sensor, and fixed lens: the Sigma DP1 (and variants DP1s, DP1x, and DP2), the Leica X1, and the Ricoh GXR. The Sigma DP1 has various quirks that make it hard to use and image quality quirks pertaining to its sensor tech that can be positive or negative depending on how you shoot. The Leica X1 is a Leica and is priced accordingly. The Ricoh GXR is unique in that it has interchangeable lens-sensor combo modules (all fixed lenses), but only one of the available modules has a large sensor. If the X100 can beat the X1 in price and at least match the X1 in image quality and operation, it could be a huge hit. The Sigma and Ricoh haven’t really gotten much attention, and as such aren’t real contenders right now.
» Continue Reading…
EF to m4/3 adaptor
Part of the appeal of the Micro 4/3 (m4/3) format used on the Olympus E-P1 is that it’s highly adaptable. I think it might be the most adaptable lens mount to date, in that just about any lens ever produced can be mounted onto a m4/3 camera like the E-P1 as long as you have the right adaptor(s).
Pictured above is the Canon EF to m4/3 adaptor (taken with E-P1 at 84mm equivalent, 1/2 second shutter speed–thank you, in-camera image stabilization!), which is used to mount Canon EF lenses onto a m4/3 camera. The label says “EOS-m4/3″, but I believe the correct terminology is “EF” instead of “EOS” since “EF” is the name of the actual lens mount. Pedantic much? Why yes–yes indeed. As a Canon user, I can now mount all of my Canon EF lenses onto my E-P1. » Continue Reading…
E-P1 and accessories
After using the E-P1 extensively for the past few days I feel that I have a good grasp of what it’s about, so I’m putting together a mini-review based on my experiences so far. For those of you not used to reading camera reviews by outfits such as DPReview, Imaging Resource, DCResource, etc., this will seem like a very long review. The camera nerds among us know better though. The standard DPReview… er… review is 32 (!) pages long, so I classify this as a mini-review, even though it will most likely be the longest post I’ve written on this blog to date once I’m through with it. » Continue Reading…
Ooh, pretty
I rode the fence for a few days on this, probably bugging the crap out of Denise with my back-and-forth. I had almost decided that it wasn’t a good value proposition at MSRP despite my heart really wanting one when I saw on a forum I frequent that somebody was selling one practically brand new but with the optional flash and a 2GB SD card for the same price as I would pay for one new without the flash and SD card. Plus I could expedite shipping for cheaper than I could with the online stores. You had me at “bargain”. » Continue Reading…
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? » Continue Reading…
Olympus Pen E-P1 with 17mm f/2.8 lens (34mm effective) attached and optional optical viewfinder on top
“It’s not a compact. It’s not an SLR. It’s a Pen.” That’s the slogan Olympus are using for the official announcement of the Olympus Pen E-P1 camera. It’s not a compact because you can change lenses on it. It’s not an SLR because SLRs use a mirror to reflect the image to a viewfinder whereas the E-P1 has no mirror (the Micro Four Thirds standard is designed to get rid of the mirror box, thus reducing the lens-to-sensor distance, which in turn enables smaller cameras and lenses). This is a whole new category of camera, and frankly one that is way overdue–a small camera with a large sensor, that can also take a variety of lenses. Oh, and it records 720p video also. Veruh nass. » Continue Reading…