The wait is finally over for the Micro Four Thirds Olympus E-P1, and today we got to catch a glimpse of the new retro-inspired camera. At first glance, the E-P1 looks as though it has been teleported from 1959 based on its compact SLR-styled body. That's because Olympus modeled the E-P1 after the infamous Olympus PEN, an SLR that has garnered a significant cult status over the years. Olympus funneled the same idea into the modern day digital incarnation of their classic PEN by utilizing Micro Four Thirds technology in order to keep the camera body size down. The E-P1 is slightly larger than the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3, yet the camera uses a removable lens system, making it the "World's smallest 12.3-megapixel interchangeable lens system."
We love the retro style right off the bat, but we know this camera will attract scenesters who aim to go "against the grain" in their basic college Photography course. 800 bucks is nothing to snicker at, but it's a drop in the bucket for the average hipster's trust fund account. The Olympus E-P1 will also entice old-school photographers who shot with SLRs back in the day—the die hard veterans who traipsed about with Yashikas and Fujis, spending countless hours developing and drugging it up in the darkroom. Whatever the case, we love the look of this camera, and were really impressed with the way Olympus fused a modern day control dial and LCD onto the body of a classic. We weren't too crazy about the horizontally shifting Zoom toggle and would have preferred one that wrapped around the shutter button, but for the most part this is one unconventional camera.
The fact that the Olympus E-P1 supports removable lenses is a very good thing, but we're not seeing many compatible lenses other than the announced M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens and ED 17mm f2.8 fixed aperture lens. The Olympus E-P1 has an ample 100% accurate 230,000-pixel 3-inch LCD with Live View and in-body Image Stabilization. Image quality is being hyped to match the Olympus E-620, a Four Thirds DSLR that performed very well for us. The identical sensor size plays a part, though the E-P1 is equipped with a Live MOS sensor and Olympus's next-generation TruePic V processing, so we'll see how well it stacks up against the E-620 when we get our review unit soon. The Olympus E-P1 also utilizes Olympus's trademarked Supersonic Wave Filter to ward of dust.
HD video is also part of the deal, though there is no information on what resolution of frame rate(s) will be available. However, Olympus is promising high quality sound capture with uncompressed 16 bit/44.1kHz Linear PCM recording capability. Olympus has also transferred its six individual Art filters over from the E-620 and the camera has an 18 x 18 metering mode for an in-depth analysis of the frame. Multiple Exposures has also been carried over, allowing shooters to combine two shots in an artistic translucent overlay and the Olympus E-P1 offers four different aspect ratios to shoot in: 4:3, 16:9, 3:2 and 6:6. The E-P1 will feature a lame Slideshow mode that plays back images and videos with the accompaniment of dramatic music.
If manual control is not your bag, the Olympus E-P1 has 19 different Scene modes to suit night shooting, landscapes, portraits and much more. These are probably the same scene modes offered on the E-620, and the E-P1 has an Intelligent Auto mode, which chooses the Scene mode automatically. The E-P1 will offer Shadow Adjustment technology, which is geared to boost dynamic range, Face Detection and a nifty Digital Leveler, which is supposed to help shooters level the camera while in the field. We're interested to see how effective the E-P1's magnified Focus Assist function will be, but the addition is welcome. The Olympus E-P1 will ship with Olympus Master 2 software and will include the E-P1 Body, USB Cable, Video Cable, Li-Ion Battery Pack (BLS-1), Li-Ion Battery Charger (BCS-1), Shoulder Strap, OLYMPUS Master 2 Software CD-ROM, Manuals and Registration card.
The Olympus E-P1 is set to ship in July and will be available in three packages: E-P1 body only ($750), E-P1 body with ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens ($800) and E-P1 body with ED 17mm f2.8 Lens and optical viewfinder ($900).
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