[ E-P1 Diary ] - 10 Things I hate about the E-P1

[drakon09]

Hi Drakon, long time no see.

U mean to say that the above points do not really matter in the real world? ie. the absence of flash, no big deal, and no optical VD, no big deal?

Nope, no big deal at all.

Of course, it's horses for courses, you don't fit the 300/f2.8 and shoot birds with it - I mean you COULD, but DSLRs are infinitely more suited to that type of shooting given current technology.

99% of my shooting revolves around four things: streets, abstracts, nature and my baby girl - nowadays mainly my baby girl, stuff which, once freed from the confines of a viewfinder, allows you to see things in a different perspective. Waist-level, angled-up, angled-down, to the side - perspectives that difficult to execute with a viewfinder.

As for the flash, it's bounce or nothing, and pop-up can't do that competently can it? The pop-up flash on my LX-3 has been used like once, and only for testing that it works.

Don't let these 'issues' stop you from even wanting to try the E-P1; it is a fantastic concept in a pretty package, but only if you're willing to see the E-P1 as NOT a DSLR.

 

[wire]

No flash: Doesn't matter to me since I don't use flash at all. Unless you meet with strong backlighting and you need to light up the front. In which case...use spot metering.

Adding a flash to this body will be criminal. The size will increase but without getting too much displacement from the lens centre and the flash will be an excuse like all other PnS (and most (D)SLR). Such a set up will be good for fill flash but almost nothing else.

I contemplated the external flash but held back. I almost do not use the TLA200 with my Contax G2 and the FL-14 did leave me wanting for more -- I want bounce.

No swivel screen: Used to own the Canon G series; it's a bonus but it's not necessary.

I've been thinking about this one... seeing the camera with the LCD, I'd rather have the current 3" LCD than a <2.5" with arm.

Damn, the sound of the shuttle release is sweet...

 

[spheredome]

I hate about E-P1 so far:

- It is rather heavy and taxing for prolong grip.

- It has that damn hidden menu thing, that took me full 1/2 hour to figure out why I cannot find all those iso limiter and anti-shake menu. (spanner > Display Menu = ON). :bsmilie:

- The box printing looks inferior, could have designed better.

- Battery compartment lock is kind of shallow, feels like it will wear and become loose with time.

- I prefers the shutter to be quieter and knocking effect, not sure if it can be turned off.

 

[microcosm]

what aperture did you shoot this image with?

f5.6 I think.

Actually can I check with you guys if the EP-1 tends to overheat a fair bit? Noticed in the EP-1 manual that I downloaded that there is a dedicated warning icon for when the camera gets too hot and will shut down temporarily to cool off.

Does that happen often, or none at all?

It gets warm, but never once shut down on me. I was shooting in the sun from 4pm - 7pm during a photowalk.

Hi,
Can the pioneers feedback on the LCD screen usability under daylight and dim condition?
e.g. doing street shoot
- during day time scenario under open sky
- market lighting

Thanks

Did that experiment shooting with the sun directly onto LCD at 4pm. Asked SPLIM to see as well. No problem in using the LCD screen in DIRECT sunlight onto the LCD screen. I thought that was pretty awesome.

Damn, the sound of the shuttle release is sweet...

Amen!

 

[microcosm]

Burst of colors :

Shadow details are excellent with the E-P1. Expected nothing less from the Truepic 5 engine. Wow!

Various shades of green - turquoise are well rendered and natural.
Even when I pushed the last shot's green to almost "toxic green",
it still retained details and definition. Definitely a plus plus point
and outguns the GH1 by miles.
​

 

[microcosm]

Burst of colors :

"aka X-Men"

What strikes me most about the latest sensor design from Olympus (yes, this is NOT the E-30, E-620 sensor,
Its an all new sensor design.) is that the new extended dynamic range allows me to push for color saturation
from the shots to attain insane levels without bleeding (over saturation). Notice the reds and you can see this.
JPG artifacts are kept to the minimum on the camera (whyzee noticed this too while we were talking on the
phone last night) and the E-P1 has been tweaked for the more casual shooter while also being to satisfy
the more advanced shooter on a casual shooting day. Excellent Truepic 5 engine on the camera. With the
new engine, the image output has been taken to the next level. While of course, with Art Filter turned on,
I cannot expect with current technology that the camera performs speedy image processing for me to shoot
continuously while using Art Filters (but with time, and faster processors and improved engine design, this
might be possible). This is what I like about the new E-P1 sensor and engine design.
Now waiting for Silkypix Pro to release the codec update to read the RAW and all hell breaks loose when I can
push the development of the RAW files from my fav 16 bit TIFF converters. And print a huge print.
That would be awesome.
​

 

[microcosm]

Burst of blues :

Like a pro camera, the E-P1 rewards the shooter with the correct exposure. I switched between iAuto
and Aperture Priority and mucked around with exposure compensation and realised that the iAuto
function is pretty neat for the average shooter. I can pass the E-P1 to my mother (into her late 60s)
and she can still shoot something that looks decent.

Blues are also delicious on the E-P1, but I think the E-P1 handles all colors as well as any of the pro bodies
from the E-System range. It is a performance camera, nothing less.

Video function wise, I think it blows the competition away with its ability to shoot videos using Art Filters. That one is the "wah lau eh" factor.


​

 

[drakon09]

Colour rendition seems to be more E-1 than E-3.

Which is good.

 

[Oly5050]

Very very nice photos, Microcosm! DSLR quality! But are these taken with the m4/3 zoom or prime?

Also, do u guys actually like the zoom lens? I tested it and I find it a hassle that u have to manually lock the lens when u keep the camera. That is my biggest grouse with EP1 for now.

The second grouse is that there does not appear to be a quick way to change art filters unlike in the E620 or the E30.

 

[Fotophilic]

Very very nice photos, Microcosm! DSLR quality! But are these taken with the m4/3 zoom or prime?

Also, do u guys actually like the zoom lens? I tested it and I find it a hassle that u have to manually lock the lens when u keep the camera. That is my biggest grouse with EP1 for now.

The second grouse is that there does not appear to be a quick way to change art filters unlike in the E620 or the E30.

i quite like the zoom actually. i guess that is the way to make it more compact as a zoom lens. the 2 things i don't like abt the zoom lens is the "a little noisy AF" and the 40.5mm filter size (WTD?!?!).

i quite like the sharpness from the lens and camera. can't say if its really good compared to other lenses, as this is my first kit into micro 4/3.

 

[Oly5050]

But for a non-DSLR camera, the EP1 DOES have a nice shutter sound. In fact way better sounding than other entry level DSLR ... including the E620. LOL.

 

[drakon09]

i quite like the zoom actually. i guess that is the way to make it more compact as a zoom lens. the 2 things i don't like abt the zoom lens is the "a little noisy AF" and the 40.5mm filter size (WTD?!?!).

i quite like the sharpness from the lens and camera. can't say if its really good compared to other lenses, as this is my first kit into micro 4/3.

40.5mm filters are commonly available, there's nothing special about them.

 

[Fotophilic]

40.5mm filters are commonly available, there's nothing special about them.

not as common as those like 52, 62, 67, 77mm; i meant.
tried a few shops, they don't sell. can advice on where to get the 40.5mm? prefer B+W, hoya HMC, or Nikon NC. The only shop i know which has them is MS color, but its not my prefered brand. help is appreciated.

 

[bousozoku]

maybe its the best in olympus. i am comparing it against other brands i've owned before.
Nonetheless, i find the noise in E-P1 not of the color-type, its the grainy sort. i.e. IMHO, it's not ugly.
I also find that although it is noisy than other brands, E-P1 retains kinda a little more details than other brands. IMHO, this is good too. I prefer details than having mass-destruction noise reducing algorithms.

this is just a personal opinion. i know most olympus users won't be bothered by this.

i am still enjoying the E-P1. :thumbsup:

I think any film users wouldn't be bothered by it because it's far better.

 

[lightsabre]

I tried a quite a few shots since last Friday, here are my thoughts. Some likes and some dislikes.

1) :thumbsup: Color I am definitely amazed by the color rendition of the LiveMOS sensor. When I first read about LiveMOS being able to render colors better than while maintaining the low noise performance of CCD, I was sceptical, now I am begining to believe. Color rendition is definitely a strenght of E-P1.

2) :thumbsup: Noise I like the fact that you can change the NR settings by using Olympus Master the after you uploaded to your PC. As mentioned previously, if you set the NR to std, you get a very good noise performance which is comparable to the best dSLR out there. What I liked is that the E-P1's NR-OFF is really NR OFF, you get all the noise which looks very natural.

3) :thumbsd: AF While many dimissed the AF concerns, I think it is fair to say that it is not a serious problem but I would put the AF performance as PnS grade rather than dSLR. Anyone with a good PnS would admit that the AF performance is sufficient for most purposes. Comparing it with my F200EXR, I think the AF speed is quite comparable. Definitely usable... but probably not Formula 1 or soccer match friendly.

4) :thumbsup: Size When I first hold the camera, I thought it was a little heavy and not as small as I imagined. However, the size advantages quickly revealed themselves. I normally use the Cirrus 100 pouch to carry my 500D when I want to shoot light. The 500D with kit lens can be squeezed into the pouch with very little room left. That is about the only mounted lens which can fit into the pouch. With the 17-40, I couldn't fit the set into the pouch anymore. Now, the E-P1 fits very comfortably into the pouch together both the pancake and the 14-42 lenses with quite a bit of room to spare. This is even more compact than the G1 which I used to own. Amazing.

5) :thumbsd: Finishing I find the chrome part of the silver model to be very easily scratched. I inspected a few units out of the sealed box and found a few already scratched. I ended up buying the white one. The white looks great but is very shiny and smooth. This means that oil from your skin quickly make the camera quite slippery. The G1/GH1 finishing feels a lot better. The movable rings for the straps are also a little irritating for me. Although a protective black plastic is behind the rings, I am always worried that would scratch the camera...

 

[lightsabre]

6) :thumbsup: Sharpness Sharpness of the lenses are very good. I compare them to my sharpest Canons, 100mm f2.8 macro and the 135 f2L and found that the kit lenses from E-P1 is resolving as much details and as sharp.

7) :thumbsup: LCD Screen The LCD screen was another concern I used to have. However, this meanst to be a no issue. I used to own the 450D and this screen is just like the 3" 450D and I never had issues with my 450D screen. In fact, I like the format of the screen better than the G1 which is more elongated. I feel that sometimes, the high quality 920k screen of my 500D makes the photos look better than they actually are...hehehe The 230k screen actually gives a more realistic representation of the pictures.

8) :thumbsd: Lack of flash I was in a pub yesterday, shooting some candids with this camera. As much as we hate build in flashes, I think built in flashes can some times safe a few shots under challenging situation. Here is the thing, many users of E-P1 may treat it as a high-end PnS (as mentioned in my AF section), I sometimes feel the lack of built-in flash as a hindrance. I am considering getting that external flash now. That would add to the travel bulk though.

9) :thumbsd: Menu system Maybe it is just my unfamiliarity with the Oly menu system. I found myself in a situation in which I somehow turned on the magnification feature and did not know how to turn it off. I had to do a full reset. While RTFM is very appropriate at this instance, I think a camera of this kind of appeal should have a more friendly menu system. This is just my own take on this, ofcourse.

10) :thumbsd: Restricted and expensive lens choices I like the dual kit lens. They are excellent kit lenses. Sharp and color is great. However, if one wants to explore beyond these two lenses, then it would be back to the 4/3 range or the panny ones. The traditional 4/3 lenses are usually bigger, thus defeating the purpose of buying a petite camera. They are also said to be slower in AF. The panny lenses are really expensive and panny does a lot of in-camera adjustments and compensation. I am not sure the panny lenses would perform as well on non-panny body. This issue is however, a lot less serious than when I first started with the G1. In-camera processing aside, at least the 7-14 and the 14-140 are now available, albeit at a hefty price. Ofcourse , if I do not mind MF, then I can look at Leica or Zeiss....

 

[microcosm]

Very very nice photos, Microcosm! DSLR quality! But are these taken with the m4/3 zoom or prime?

Also, do u guys actually like the zoom lens? I tested it and I find it a hassle that u have to manually lock the lens when u keep the camera. That is my biggest grouse with EP1 for now.

The second grouse is that there does not appear to be a quick way to change art filters unlike in the E620 or the E30.

I shoot with the 17mm prime most of the time.
Otherwise it is MMF-1 with 7-14mm lens.

i quite like the zoom actually. i guess that is the way to make it more compact as a zoom lens. the 2 things i don't like abt the zoom lens is the "a little noisy AF" and the 40.5mm filter size (WTD?!?!).

i quite like the sharpness from the lens and camera. can't say if its really good compared to other lenses, as this is my first kit into micro 4/3.

You should get yourself a MMF-1 and a CDAF enabled lens like the 14-54MkII. Lovely combo. Sample images to come soon.

But for a non-DSLR camera, the EP1 DOES have a nice shutter sound. In fact way better sounding than other entry level DSLR ... including the E620. LOL.

Reminds me of the old faithful E-1 shutter sound actually... even the colors.

I think any film users wouldn't be bothered by it because it's far better.

Right on! :thumbsup:

 

[The Dry Box]

It took me a while of playing with the menus before I got used to it... When I first use Oly's I was dismissing how inferior it was compared to the Nikon's menu untill I got the hang of the super control menu. Can I get rid of the live view mode when I switch to super control? Can't find it in the menu.

My other camera is the grd2, and it functions and operations are very similar. I think the refresh rate of the LCD is poorer? Then again, I have been using it in the night so that may explain the quirkiness though the grd exihbit none of such "problems". I don't like how the green power led is always on, damn it's annoying when you use the ovf.

The parrellex error is lower than I expected, maybe because the ovf is so close to the lens.

 

[xiaobei]

What I dislike most are:

1. The 17mm pancake fogged after one night in hotel room (aircon, 25degC). Maybe no weather seal. Can't take any photo the next morning, need at least 2 hrs to let it back normal. Miss some spot while holidaying. Dunno whether the fog will harm the camera and lens or not? Need to send for servicing? Need advice. Thanks.

2. Can't select another Art-filter option after using one Art-filter? Not like E-620, by pressing 'Ok' the Art-filter menu come out. E-P1 doesn't, need to turn and turn back the node.

3. White body easily dirty by hand. Need some skin to protect the camera body.

 

[aloskimo]

walaueh...made in China????
thats what i hated it...

n the triangle clip on the side of the body..removing it scratches the metal ring. dam it! remove to use a hand strap. never like over the neck strap.

i like the camera, becos of its design. interchangeable lens system on a smaller body. good pictures n colors for my personal liking.