Olympus Prices at IT Show 2010 (incl E-PL1)
- Thread starter venus09
- Start date
Got a chance to try out my new e-PL1. Am really amazed at the quality of the shots...the richness of colour, depth of fields, filter effects.....most of all, the beauty of the shots. Pictures looks so natural especially indoor shots without flash. Anyone has bought the electronic view finder? Am thinking of getting one, because the lcd display is difficult to see in outdoor bright sunlight. Where can I get the best deal for the view finder?
At 1600 appears a little grainy when viewed on monitor....but quality of colour balance, etc is very good. I used the auto mode to take all my indoor photo without flash and the pic look very natural with good colour / light balance. Video quality is also very good, but must use tripod otherwise too much shake...get dizzy after watching a while. The camera is so light and small it tends to shake when held by hand...maybe with more practice, may stabilise.
clubgrit
Senior Member
I don't know where is the best deal for EVF ... but this EVF together with the E-PL1 / E-P2 will enable you to see in sunny daylight for sure.
And for manual focusing, the E-P2/E-PL1 + EVF is truly excellent, I'll take it over my RFs or DSLRs any time. I just love it on the occasion where it "flickers" indicating subject is in focus, and of course the big view, as well as brightening up in dim light. This affects evaluation of metering effect in the beginning, but one learns to adapt.
On the E-PL1, I like the magnify button near the REC button, more ergonomic than the OK button. Same with the position of the REC and Fn button, either one of which I can configure for AE Lock, an important feature for a someone who spot meters most of the time like me. The E-PL1 + EVF is the best Pen so far for manual focusing, if one can get used to its smaller size.
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clubgrit
Senior Member
Very good performance so far on ISO. Below are samples I took to compare, both camera settings all equal, as well as metering, same lens and aperture. NR and NF are both off, Sharpness standard at zero.
Like look at the black of the hat in the samples, and it is more noticeable in the 100% crop.
ISO 800
E-PL1
Click for Full Size - big file
E-P2
Click for Full Size - big file
ISO 1600
E-PL1
Click for Full Size - big file
E-P2
Click for Full Size - big file
continued next frame ...
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clubgrit
Senior Member
I tried the slow flash setting & realised it has the same effect as "Bounced flash" when taken for indoor shots. Very nice lighting balance foreground and background. Can see the natural lighting of the room, and foreground faces are sharp, clear and natural. Totally different results compared to direct full flash.
clubgrit
Senior Member
No problem, I was really interested for a comparison.
Well, I think the E-PL1 still retains the detail. The difference is that the darker colors on the E-P2 get washed out more significantly as one goes higher in ISO and hence seem to show more detail, while that of the E-PL1 remains more faithful in its color. Washout can be corrected in PP of course, but at the expense of making the detail less prominent. Anyway, looks like even ISO 3200 is very usable when really needed. I even turned off all Noise controls for this test, and software like Noise Ninja or Dfine should clean them all up to the proper degree.
I was also very interested in the resolution difference a supposedly lighter AAF on the E-PL1 made. I think it is more prominent in lower ISOs like ISO 200/400, but I need to redo my test just to be sure. It's not as significant as seen on the Sigma or Leica M8/9 which have totally no AAF, but every little step counts. I only hope they can remove it totally in their "pro" version, if it ever gets made. Read a rumor that a new Panasonic will have one with no AAF at all.
The E-PL1 IBIS is supposedly 1 stop less than on E-P1/E-P2, but I am finding it easier to get sharp pictures using a 50mm to 90mm at 1/4 speed (my limit) handheld in free space than with E-P1/EP-2. I can only attribute this to the better grip of the E-PL1, plus an additional hand strap I added. So I guess these compensated for the 1 stop difference, plus a bit more. Every little thing helps, and I do have a soft shutter button on both.
A nice touch are the faint outlines indicating the area used for spot and center-weighted metering.
The 1/2000 speed limit (even 1/4000 sometimes) is a bummer using 1/4 aperture in bright daylight, though, so 3 or more stop ND filters needed.
I almost forgot it has a flash, it's the last thing on my mind. I just tried it in Auto mode and it is very good within its limits. I'll let others expound on that
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Well, I think the E-PL1 still retains the detail. The difference is that the darker colors on the E-P2 get washed out more significantly as one goes higher in ISO and hence seem to show more detail, while that of the E-PL1 remains more faithful in its color. Washout can be corrected in PP of course, but at the expense of making the detail less prominent. Anyway, looks like even ISO 3200 is very usable when really needed. I even turned off all Noise controls for this test, and software like Noise Ninja or Dfine should clean them all up to the proper degree.
I was also very interested in the resolution difference a supposedly lighter AAF on the E-PL1 made. I think it is more prominent in lower ISOs like ISO 200/400, but I need to redo my test just to be sure. It's not as significant as seen on the Sigma or Leica M8/9 which have totally no AAF, but every little step counts. I only hope they can remove it totally in their "pro" version, if it ever gets made. Read a rumor that a new Panasonic will have one with no AAF at all.
The E-PL1 IBIS is supposedly 1 stop less than on E-P1/E-P2, but I am finding it easier to get sharp pictures using a 50mm to 90mm at 1/4 speed (my limit) handheld in free space than with E-P1/EP-2. I can only attribute this to the better grip of the E-PL1, plus an additional hand strap I added. So I guess these compensated for the 1 stop difference, plus a bit more. Every little thing helps, and I do have a soft shutter button on both.
A nice touch are the faint outlines indicating the area used for spot and center-weighted metering.
The 1/2000 speed limit (even 1/4000 sometimes) is a bummer using 1/4 aperture in bright daylight, though, so 3 or more stop ND filters needed.
I almost forgot it has a flash, it's the last thing on my mind. I just tried it in Auto mode and it is very good within its limits. I'll let others expound on that
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Anyone bought the champagne gold / silver one? Just want to check whether the kit lens 14-42 is black or silver in colour? How do you like your colour choice? I wanted to look for the white one, but when I had a quick glance of it in real life, white makes it look a bit too plasticky than gold/silver. By the way, very hard to find single-lens kit currently in the shops I frequent.
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