Olympus EPL-1 Preview / Review

Olympus has continued to raise its profile within the revolutionary Micro Four Thirds photographic sector with the introduction of the Olympus E-PL1, the latest in a growing range of iconic PEN products up against Panasonic’s award-winning G-Series.  The Micro Four Thirds Mount has been drawing a lot of attention since its release in 2009, Olympus have been central to the mount with their PEN series becoming a cult classic instantly. And the range of lenses for this mount is forever expanding, presently in the form of the Olympus E-PL1.

An in-built flash and accessory port for an external viewfinder the Olympus E-PL1, along with retro chic countering Panasonic’s fantastic build quality, ensures that the Olympus E-PL1 offers fantastic style without compromising the products ability to take great pictures.

The E-PL1 is very much a true PEN keeping the compact design of the earlier EP-1 and flagship EP-2. Sharing the same sensor and therefore image quality as the two other models E-PL1 can be seen as the ‘light’ version of the EP-1 but with some of the new features found in the EP-2. A stop gap between the two if you would.

With all the poise of its bigger brothers, the Olympus E-PL1 bravely offers more specification for less money, with the only noticeable loss being a less tactile feel to the camera body, and a loss of the rear control wheel. These are two features I would have preferred to remain however; their sacrifice is justified, helping to maintain low weight and costs. Sadly the camera has also lost my favoured cross processed ART Mode, however maintaining the equally satisfying diorama and grainy black and white modes. With my only criticism deriving from the lag on the LCD created from these real-time creative effects. Olympus have also tweaked some of the specification to give some variation between the E-PL1 and higher end Pens; they have reduced the maximum shutter speed to 1/2000 (which is more than adequate for even high speed action photos) and a touch lighter due to a change in the body design.

E-PL1 built in flash

The most important improvement made to the Olympus E-PL1 is the integrated pop-up flash.

This is located to the side of the accessory shoe, allowing you to attach the VF-2 electronic viewfinder and still illuminate your subjects in low light conditions.

This also gives you the option to control Olympus’s FL-36R and FL-50R flashguns wirelessly, appealing to photographers that want to progress their images with visually dynamic flash-assisted lighting without having to take the immediate plunge into larger frame or more expensive systems such as a DSLR.

Olympus E-PL1 Telephoto lens kits

The Olympus E-PL1 is the first of the PEN range to be offered with a telephoto lens as a kit, this means that as there is currently no Micro Four Thirds lens and as such Olympus has had to provide the MMF-1 Micro Four Thirds to Four Thirds adapter. This opens up the camera to the whole of the Olympus lens range therefore unlocking your options with regards to creativity.

An Olmpus PEN: Through and Through

The E-PL1 lacks the large 3.0 inch screen of its bigger brothers (it features a modest 2.7 inch screen), and shedding a few buttons and controls dials, the Olympus E-PL1 still looks and feels like a Pen as you would hope but with a more compact like menu navigation making it a little fiddly for some SLR users.
The big inclusion which may irritate some E-P1 and E-P2 owners is the inclusion of a pop up flash, as you would expect in any compact, giving you a clear indication the market Olympus are aiming for with this new model.

Olympus E-PL1: Half baked video

Now with a direct recording button for HD videos, the Olympus E-PL1 has provided users with an efficient way of switching between stills and movie mode, with the speed at which you can switch you should never miss that vital moment. With the PEN range providing a solution for both the enthusiastic amateur and professional’s personal photographic needs, it is a positive reflection that this has huge potential and will expand rapidly through the next few years.

But iIt’s not all roses with the E-PL1 although fleshed out in most ways that matter, the E-PL1 though incorporates 720p HD video only has mono sound which has a rather annoying tendency to pick up the autofocus motor.
Thankfully the ability to use an Olympus accessory the SEMA-1 means you can still get high quality audio recorded making it annoying to have to buy the accessory but essential to any budding movie makers.

Competition

The nearest competition to the Pen range is the GF-1 from Panasonic; the camera is much like the E-P2 in design but incorporates a higher resolution LCD and pop up flash. In comparison the little E-PL1 is out performed but the main question that springs to mind is the GF-1 really what is about twice the amount of the E-PL1? Certainly its lots of small things that add up to make the Panasonic  arguably a better camera, its nicer to use due to the 460,000 pixel screen but otherwise resolution and performance is very comparable.

Never Forget Your Pen

The E-PL1 was a little unexpected but has certainly not been over looked by many, Olympus certainly aren’t going to make any enemies with the E-PL1, that is unless you’ve just brought an E-P1, certainly side by side the E-PL1 is specified so similar it makes it a no brainer.
The Pen were historically a classic and I can’t see that changing any time soon, as long as Olympus play to their strengths they will keep producing excellent cameras like this E-PL1.

But with a variety of new features this camera covers the bases that the previous PEN incarnations failed to provide. Comfortably making this the most versatile option within the PEN range, and crucially matching the capabilities of the Panasonic DMC-GF1.