It's official, Olympus' first MIcro Four Thirds camera is up and dancing upon the global stage. Dubbed, E-P1 "digital Pen" (reflecting the camera's Olympus Pen-series heritage) this MFT shooter aligns with the looks and specs that
came our way yesterday in leaked format. In other words, we're looking at an image stabilized (sensor-shift) 12.3 megapixel Live MOS sensor with TruePic V image processing, ISO 100-6400 sensitivity, a 3-inch LCD, 20 shooting modes (5 exposure, i-Auto, and 14 automatic scenes), an SDHC slot, and HDMI TV-out for playback of 720p (1280x720 pixel) recorded video at 30fps. The 14-42 lens kit retracts into the barrel when not in use and Olympus' Supersonic Wave Filter helps keep dust under control when swapping-out the lens for Micro Four Thirds, Four Thirds, or OM lenses. A few advanced previews of the E-P1 are already available -- peep those in the read links below if you can't wait for the July launch or the full-blown reviews due in a few weeks.
Update: Priced at $749 (body only), $799 (with 14-42mm lens), and $899 (with 17mm pancake lens and viewfinder). Honestly, those prices are better than we had hoped for especially in a camera measuring just 121 x 70 x 36-mm (4.7 x 2.7 x 1.4-inches) playing host to a DSLR-sized sensor.
Read -- LetsGoDigital
Read -- DPReview
Read -- Photography Blog
Read -- Official E-P1 product page
posted Jun 16th 2009 1:27AM
Any word on price?
Or did I miss something?
$750 Body Only, $800 with kit zoom lens, $900 with the 17mm + optical view finder. All in all cheaper then I was expecting.
I was hoping for a hot shoe mount EVF though. Oh well, planned obsolescence was expected.
That must be one hot little prime to fetch that much more than the zoom. It sure looks the part on that camera body.
I'm a little sad I am so invested in EOS glass, as this looks like an ideal balance between digicam size and unobtrusiveness, with DSLR quality and versatility.
12.3 Megapixels? Why can't we have a 6 Megapixel camera? Can't olympus be realistic with a x2 crop?
Still, a shame for people who can only afford one camera and want to take interior shots when there's no other choice. Olympus needs a better compact external flash too, maybe something that can bounce like the new Canon 270EX and Sony flashes.
My apologies for the above comment; wrong reply. The analogue viewfinder helps a lot with battery life though, and part of the demographic are rangefinder lovers looking for a $1000 competitor to the M8 with adapters for OM and M-mount coming soon. A EVF would come in handy for the zoom though.
$800.
Expensive.
MUST.... RESIST....
The reason the prime is $100 more is because that kit comes with the viewfinder ($100 retail). Both lenses retail for $300, so the kit savings is $150.
BTW, that price for a glass viewfinder is typical to low. 3rd party viewfinders are around $150-$200 (for albeit a wider angle) and name brand (Leica, Zeiss) viewfinders in the rangefinder world START at $300.
i want it!!! . i need a new camra for the shop to cause my casio died. how big is this thing?
According to DPR it's 126 x 70 x 36.4 mm [with the 17mm f2.8 lens].
a little bit bigger then LX-3 lumix
Sorry, my previous measures should be *without* the lens. Said lens apparently adds about 20mm to the overall depth.
$900 FOR A CAMERA!?
No thanks, that's overpriced.
What isn't overpriced nowadays?
Desu.
What kind of camera do you use? :P
If you think that's overpriced I'd hate to hear your opinion on the Nikon D3x.
In any event the US pricing should be a fair bit less than what the exchange rate would indicate. In fact most sites are saying $750 for the body, $800 for the basic zoom kit.
I just use my iPhone's camera.
your iphone is overpriced.
And you honestly believe that your iPhone's camera can even remotely compare to this one?
The disappointing iPhone camera is the reason I want this camera.
Your avatar speaks for yourself.
I don't do photography so it would be way overpriced for me but I'm sure anybody who has any inkling of wanting to do anything other than point and shoot wouldn't think that.
I use my env2 camera way too much. Lol.
japanese pricing =/= american pricing
Yup, see the second comment for official pricing. There is a press release at the bottom of this page. It also has a long preview.
http://www.dcresource.com/news/newsitem.php?id=3945
Ill definitely buy this for sure!!
No test shots with 17mm f/2.8... I'll wait a bit for more reviews/test shots.
Ah yes, the Olympus pen camera has Image Stabilization built in.
That would make it the Olympus PEN IS camera.
I'll take THE PENIS MIGHTIER for 200 please, Alek...
oh man this is so cool!! the thing ive been waiting for!! now we will just have to see the quality.. even though this is out i never regret getting the Dp2 last month...
Would lack of build-in flash = dealbreaker?
Nope. They're pretty much worthless unless your name is Terry Richardson. 99% of pics of taken while messing with on camera flashes turn out to be crap. I suppose they're fine for snap shots, but I really don't care about snap shots. A $200 P&S can take snaps just fine. Some people like to use the for fill flash or as a remote strobe trigger, but I personally prefer RF triggers. Just mount a wireless trigger on top, go to strobist.com to learn what you're doing, and go make great pics.
Considering how crappy the flash would likely have been to be able to fit it into this body anyways, not really.
And to be honest I never use the on board flash on my dSLR anyways.
I rarely use my Olympus E-510's built in flash... Especially since it causes shadows with large lenses.
It is for me.
A flash on this would be limited by how close it would have to be to the lens mount, the lens would cast shadows with anything but a pancake lens.
It should have a flash that flips up the back so it can stick up past the entire body and work with most lenses. Barring that, at least a low-profile flash that can be clipped to the camera strap when not in use would be okay.
Still, a shame for people who can only afford one camera and want to take interior shots when there's no other choice (or even a party, like a ball, not a drunken East Village rampage I hope!). Olympus needs a better compact external flash too, maybe something that can bounce like the new Canon 270EX and Sony flashes.
> ... something that can bounce like the new Canon 270EX and Sony flashes.
That would be Oly's FL-36R.
Probably later we would see also reviews of the non-bounce-able, made especially for the camera FL-14. But well, it can't bounce.
Oh! Olympus America has an official page up, it even has sample video.
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1461&cid=em_e-p1opr_09_06&li=im#/sample-video
Lacks a true wide angle, equivalent to 24mm or less on a 35mm SLR. (This should have been what the "pancake" lens offered). If standard OM lenses are used with an adaptor it amounts to doubling the focal length, which is no help.
Panasonic already has a 7-14mm f/4 (14-28mm eqv) that should work fine on this camera without an adapter. Between Olympus & Panasonic I expect them to have most of the major lenses covered within a year; they already have all the lenses most travelers & soccer moms would want. They just need to make some fast primes for portraiture, possible a fast telephoto (although I think that will remain the realm of SLRs due to size), and something like a 12-30mm f/2-4.0 zoom for people that want something faster than the kit zooms ans they're set.
The 9-18 4/3 lens gives you a decently priced, fully compatible wide angle zoom until the roadmap is filled out.
Meanwhile, having a standard zoom and a prime 35mm EFL lens in the 17mm mZD is not at all a bad place to start.
That's not strictly true. First of all there is always the 7-14mm from Panny. Or if you're on a budget you can adapt the Olympus 9-18mm (though I suspect sooner or later Olympus will produce a native version of this lens).
The pancake has a more general purpose focal length. Which to me makes sense for an initial release.
OK, so wide angle lenses are available- but look at the size and price. An affordable compact wide angle would make this camera stand out from the competition. Only Lumix/Leica has a decent 24mm but it's not 4/3. I look at the "pancake" lens on my Pen-F and sigh.
Give it time. It hasn't even been a year since µ4:3 was officially announced.
With the format's inherent image quality, a 24mm f/2 (equivalent) fixed lens would still allow for selective enlargement up to about 80mm equivalent AND make flash unnecessary and that's plenty for most purposes. Plus the whole caboodle would be pocketable. Once a camera goes beyond being pocketable, it really doesn't matter much if it is smaller, lighter or whatever.
Instead of the 17mm, it would have been nice to start out with either a 25mm or a 14mm. I love using primes, but 35mm equivalent is just not terribly appealing. I specifically hope a fast 14mm is next to market, because this is likely to be as good of a close up candid camera as photographers will get for a while, in terms of image quality versus stealth.
I guess, put more simply: your subjects will definitely sit more willingly for you with a camera like this than if you're holding a 5D mkIII with a huge 90mm L series lens (or even a smaller WA) on the front. With the former, you look like you're a pro photog, likely to catch their blemishes and funny faces in stunning detail. With this, you look like Uncle Bob taking vacation photos.
I really want this, but alas I think I am going to wait to get one once E-P2 comes out, or this gets under $500 in price. Unless the competition can bring out a micro four thirds in about the same size, but improved quality(looking at you Leica/Panny).
720P/30 = FAIL, Max 7 min recording time in HD because of AVI 2GB limit = FAIL x2. Why Olympus?
It's not like you have your own line of video cameras you're worrying about cannibalizing.
Make it 24P and AVCHD!
You forget that this is the same company that, up until a scant year or so ago, produced fairly expensive digicams that could only record 10 *second* VGA movies.
Also, FYI, AVI does not have a 2GB limit. AVI is just a container ("audio-video-interleaved"). It can have a variety of codecs, from DV (which takes 12GB/hour) to Xvid to mpeg4 to Divx. The file system may have a file size limit, but for digicam memory cards these days, it's FAT32, which is limited to 4GB (FAT16 is 2GB).
What's ironic is that Olympus is dumping it's own crippled xD memory in favor of SDHC. I guess the xD's speed and capacity limitations were just too much for a camera like this.
I will take 30p over 24p any day, any time.
My guess is that they didn't want to pay the EU HD video tax (or whatever it's called).
Why not just give us both 24p and 30p on the current format or what not?
Also what about motion jpeg or what not, can you like record 8 mins worth of stuff in like a 2gb card at that res? Would that be a good choice or would the format the Olympus is using better in quality?
AVI has a 2G limit. And it's precisely because it is a container that it has a limit. It's the container that locates all the data sections in the file and thus has limits on file offset values.
Legacy AVI and NTFS -> 2GB limit due to internal AVI file limit
Legacy AVI and FAT32 -> 2GB limit due to internal AVI file limit
OpenDML AVI and FAT32 -> 4GB limit due to FAT32 filesize limit
OpenDML AVI and NTFS -> no filesize limits
Hmm, that's strange, since I have around 20 or so AVI files in my computer that are 10+GB in size. I guess that they don't actually exist. You could go and look at the video files of people who edit DV vids... they're all AVI, and most of the time they exceed 2GB by a good margin (since 2GB is only around 10 minutes in DV-land). Google it.
Motion Jpeg is one of the less efficient (and older) codecs, since it's just based on Jpeg... essentially a series of Jpeg images. AVChd is one of the newer, more efficient (smaller) formats, but so far the AVChd compression in even the better HD camcorders is still not as good as HDV, which is normally tape-based.
Ah,someone beat me to it.
What people are referring to is the legacy AVI limit, something from several years ago. It would be really strange for Olympus to be still using legacy AVI, since the current AVI has been in use for many years, but then, they did have 10 second vids on their digicams.
Anyways, although it's a nice looking digicam, I'm giving it a pass, since I don't want to be caught with another "gotcha" product from Olympus.
Well, NTFS actually does have a filesize limit. 256 TiB minus 64 KiB, that is... ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS
@GB - That figure is the maximum volume size; the maximum file size is a 1/16 of that.
Its not fail. If you want video then get the GH1. Panasonic supplies components to both this Oly and the GH1. More importantly you get 720/60 with almost no jello effect, and a usable 1080/24 that would be perfect if it wasn't for the codec.
Relative to the market this camera is perfectly matched, and since this device uses the same sensor as the GH1 its guaranteed to be superior to Rebel T1i and D5000/D90 in terms of 'jello' effect.
Forget OpenDML AVI. It's not as compatible as original DVI, and the only reason to use AVI is for compatibility. There are far better container formats (MP4, MKV) once you go beyond AVI compatibility anyway.
I'm already wondering how ZD 12-60 (with converter) would look on the baby...
Like a huge lens on a really tiny body...
...Though not nearly as ridiculous as this:
http://a.img-dpreview.com/previews/OlympusEP1/images/EP1FTlenses.jpg
Funny when you read all these comments... bunch of spoiled brats we all are, having a cry wank over a terrific camera.
Lets get this straight: it does almost everything a DSLR does, yet its the same size as a compact? Check! It shoots video with APERTURE control! Check. It has built in stabilization? Check! It's the only camera company which had the balls to release a DSLR-supplementary COMPACT!? Check!
So to all of you people saying "it lacks this or that", a big middle finger salute; I'm off to get one to compliment my Nikon DSLR.
It doesn't do everything a DSLR does. A big selling point of DSLRs is the TTL optical viewfinder. An LCD viewfinder is OK but there is some time lag (especially in low light), and in many cases it's not sharp enough to judge focus.
Yeah so the video portion of the camera is a bit lacking but since olympus does not make camcorders or other electronics they probably do not have a available h.264/AVCHD chipset to intergrate with out adding extra cost initally.
Canon,Sony,Samsung and Panasonic all do have H.264/AVCHD products either in camcorders or other electronics.
This camera on the other hand is pretty much a olympus e-620 in m4/3 non-Dslr format. It uses the 12mp LiveMOS sensor and image processing crammed into a olympus pen style housing.
And if you really "need" 24fps you probably know how to do frame rate conversion in post. Personally I'd rather see 1280x720@ 60fps but this isn't the camera for that.
On top of that AVCHD is not so common that everyone have the software to edit it readily, were as MotionJPEG is nothing more than multiple jpegs in sequence and while not perfect you can edit it on almost any system with free tools or the ones built in.
With it only doing 7 minute video anyway i don't think anyone is going to use this to substitute this for a movie camera anyhow, and really, shooting a movie is the only reason you might "need" 24 fps over 30 fps
Stunning. They check nearly all the boxes (metal body, 12mp, manual control, raw output, 720@30 video, image stabilization, no crappy built-in flash) and even launch at a reasonable price. Check out the sample photos on dpreview - IQ is good.
Now what's a rugged individualist such as myself to do.. E-P1 or K-7?
I'd say IQ is just about okay from what I see on dpreview but not exactly stunning. Then again, I hardly ever like their samples. Hmm, Emmeline headamp...
IIRC K-7 is weather sealed. If you need weather resistance - then K-7. If you want a pocket all-around camera then probably E-P1 is better fit.
BTW, PhotographyBlog has sample shots in high ISOs and the babe does very usable shots at ISO 1600. 3200 and 6400 less so, but in come cases can also be used. What is nice improvement.
I personally would wait for test of 17mm lens. I really want some pocket camera, but I didn't really like 25mm PanCake IQ. If 17mm's IQ is any better then I might go for the E-P1.
I'd say IQ looks great relative to the price, in fact it looks better then slightly-older Nikon D60.
More importantly it has manual controls for the video, which the Rebel T1i, K7 and D5000/D90 lacks. Still cannot touch the video capability of the GH1 and 5DII (but those are different cameras).
I already own a very capable dSLR but I plan on getting this camera as my walk-around secondary camera.
I have EOS 1N, 300D & 5D MKII, and some EF lenses from 17mm to 200mm both Zoom and Prime.
But still want and will get E-P1!!
This looks great - will be interesting to see what Panasonic comes up with, assuming they're also planning a Rangefinder-style compact. I like the look of the G1/GH1, but have found that just shrinking a DSLR ends up with a camera whose handling is quite tricky - the grip is not the easiest to get your fingers around. That said, some of the video being posted on Vimeo lately makes me want to persevere... Interesting point about those dpreview sample shots: I think they're intended to *push* the cameras as hard as possible, to expose any potential flaws in the IQ rather than make *good* photos. I was looking at their Sigma DP2 tests which seemed a bit flat - and then had a look on Flickr and was astonished at some of the images... Will be interesting to see if this new Olympus can match the Sigma...
oh good. i was afraid that my next time-travel trip would again go camera-less. now i can mingle with mid-80's americans and take pictures for proof without them looking at me like i'm an alien...again.
now where did i leave that space-time poral...
there goes my savings.
This thing looks really appealing... I have some thoughts written up over at http://www.micahwalter.com/index.php/blog/olympus-ep-1-officially-sexy.html
-m
I'd hit it..Hell, I'm GONNA hit it.
As for price? Anyone complaining needs to go look at some Leica cameras..
I am REALLY tempted. Whatever interchangeable lens camera I buy next will be my first, so I don't have to worry about any legacy issues. I was close to buying a T1i, but I stepped back from that edge.
Here are my concerns:
- How committed are Olympus/Panasonic to the micro-4/3 system? I mean, are we going to see a nano-4/3 system in a few years? I'd hate to invest a lot into lenses and see them not be natively acceptable on a camera in 5 years. With Canon and Nikon, I don't think I'd have to worry about that so much because they have so many legacy lenses on the market that their fan bases would riot if their lenses became obsolete. I'm fairly confident that I won't have a problem, but it's still a bit of concern.
- How good is the E-P1's matching flash? Would I be making a mistake by getting it?
- How good is low light focusing? The previews I've read have not been particularly complimentary, saying that the preproduction cameras with incomplete firmware often takes several seconds in low light to focus. I hope that improves by the time the production version rolls out. Really, though, an AF-assist lamp should be mandatory on all cameras, and it's disappointing the E-P1 doesn't have one. Not a deal breaker, of course, but still a concern.
The new matching flash has a guide number (the unit commonly used to determine a flash's power output) of 14m. This is more powerful than the flash on most compacts, but similar to the ones built into many dSLRs.
Wait. Is this or isn't this the super retro MFT from Engadget posts past?
This one:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/15/olympus-micro-four-thirds-throwback-set-to-launch-early-july/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/03/olympus-micro-four-thirds-camera-launching-this-summer/
Because that one with the leather-ish wraparound, I was prepared to buy practically on looks alone. This one, much less sexy.
There were rumors that there were two Olympus MFTs coming in early July. Is this the only one?
That earlier camera was just a mockup Olympus threw together. This is the final product.
Now there is a rumor that Olympus will release another model by years end, but it's expected to be larger and more advanced than the E-P1.
The E-P1 Haiku:
A DSLR
sized sensor, in a compact
body, truly bliss
Dissapointed.
They completely ditched the nice retro design in the mock camera which we saw back in 2008 and came up with this retro/modern chimeric thingy. And it is over priced. :(
I'll buy one right away when there is a European version available. I.e. video recording at a multiple of 25 frames per second (i.e 25/50 p or i). I've seen how crappy 30p recordings can get with indoor lights, not mentioning the chopiness when using 30p material together with normal EU video format of 25/50 frames.
Cool camera - I had a chance to shoot with it at the Olympus event on Tuesday, 6/16 - you can check out my pix and video (shot with the Grainy Film art filter at:
http://www.demystifyingdigital.com/Digital-Cameras/Olympus-EP1/index.aspx
I am olympus fan and currently having E420. This is a good camera. But it is little bit expensive for me. Maybe should wait a while for the price to drop.
Ken
(http://interestingjunk.net)
If anyone is interested, photographer Peter Burian just published a review of the Olympus EP-1 over at Photocrati ... he gave it pretty high marks...
Sorry-- here's the link: http://www.photocrati.com/olympus-e-p1-review-field-test-report/