[ Users' Review ] - Olympus E-PL1 Review Diary

[Oly5050]

Hi guys,
just my personal opinion. The following review is based on my 1 month ownership with Oly EP-1, 3 months with Panny GF-1 and now 2 weeks with E-PL1.

At both time of transition between cameras, I had both on hand to make comparisons. I am not at all thrilled about the collapsible lens design on the Oly, but some do. I just find it takes up precious time to extend the lens to operational status! And once it’s extended, it’s pretty long, mind you!

The E-p1 was a delight to behold and that accounts for its popularity. The pleasure soon worn off as I got increasingly frustrated with the AF performance (I was using the panny lens). Many times it couldn’t achieve AF when I expected it to do so, in spite of me using only centre AF, S-AF and deliberately choose a hi-contrast subject in low light scenario. It’s worst than my panny TZ-3 PnS!

Built: 9
Ergonomics: 8 (good but settings easily accidentally knock off)
AF performance: 5
IQ: 9 OOC jpeg
WB: 8.5
Fun: 8
Hi-ISO: 8.5
Responsive: 7
Movie: 6

You are so right with the AF. I got my EP1 set so that the shutter would not fire unless I have AF lock and the flash is ready. I have quite a number of frens who when I hand them the camera, they simply CANNOT take the shot because they could not get the AF to lock. Quite unexpected cos altho it was a little challenging, I was able to get 95% of my shots off and in focus. Whereas some of them, could not even get a shot off even with me coaching them on where to keep the focus point.

I now realize that it is not a camera for everyone and it is not an easy camera to use, especially in dim lighting. But I still like that camera enough to continue using it and to find ways to overcome its limitations. Other than this AF issue, its a very great camera.

 

[powergoo]

the E-P1 is a gd cam but let down soley by the AF.

well, Some choose to live & adapt, but I choose to get 1 that one that meet my minimum AF criteria....like the E-PL1

 

[nightpiper]

the 40D one seems a tad oversharpen to me

Sorry can't rem what i wrote b4 the servers went POOF* so to cut it short, its because headfonz spidey has a little motion blurrness to it & mine was sharp. Comparitively or relatively, mine looks oversharpen. But after some pp, as u can see, the subject stands out better. More contrasty on them perhaps?

The PL1 simply yields the best pictures yet! (Nightpiper must be pleased).

i pls no use, Oly must sell tons of these to pls share holders & directors. HAHAHAHA!!! Sharpness is stunning i must say, the crazy thing about this is that the kit lens 14-42 is a plastic lens. How wud the images look like when u put the 14-35 SHG or the ZD150mm? Pimples all over for sure HAHAHAHA!!! Nemesis to SKII :bsmilie:

Anyway, what about the DR? I'm more interested to know. Do u still have to dial in a -0.3 ~ -0.5EV to keep highlights in place?

Noise. Ok this one for others, less for me :angel: Oly may want to do another drastic thing to the sensor to reduce noise very much like their supersonic dust buster. :light:

Lastly, although the colour is nice, BUT somehow i feel the E3 has smoother colour grad & better colour accuracy. All other 4/3 & m4/3 feels "courser". Cud be juz me & my aging eyes.

I'm really not going to nitpick on this little guy. Its really amazing for what it can do & allow me to sound like a broken record again, for its price, ALL shortcomings r forgiven :lovegrin: Wud like to splurge it for wifey for travelling, but staying put to see what Sony is coming out this May. Also rumours say Panny is coming out with a pro m4/3 body end of this yr. Shud be really exciting!!

This is definitely a sneak preview of what the next E-pro will be & I HOPE Oly can restore the sheen texture of the old E1 into it. A little more MP wud be nice too since now 12MP (stereotypical entry level mentality) is beginning to look like P&S cams or worse... mobile phones!! HAHAHAHA!!!

 

[marky]

I simply must try a few photos tonight with EPL-1 coupled with 35-100mm SHG!! :devil:
Stay tuned..

 

[microcosm]

Sharpness is stunning i must say, the crazy thing about this is that the kit lens 14-42 is a plastic lens. How wud the images look like when u put the 14-35 SHG or the ZD150mm? Pimples all over for sure HAHAHAHA!!! Nemesis to SKII

Anyway, what about the DR? I'm more interested to know. Do u still have to dial in a -0.3 ~ -0.5EV to keep highlights in place?

Noise. Ok this one for others, less for me Oly may want to do another drastic thing to the sensor to reduce noise very much like their supersonic dust buster.

Lastly, although the colour is nice, BUT somehow i feel the E3 has smoother colour grad & better colour accuracy. All other 4/3 & m4/3 feels "courser". Cud be juz me & my aging eyes.

I'm really not going to nitpick on this little guy. Its really amazing for what it can do & allow me to sound like a broken record again, for its price, ALL shortcomings r forgiven Wud like to splurge it for wifey for travelling, but staying put to see what Sony is coming out this May. Also rumours say Panny is coming out with a pro m4/3 body end of this yr. Shud be really exciting!!

This is definitely a sneak preview of what the next E-pro will be & I HOPE Oly can restore the sheen texture of the old E1 into it. A little more MP wud be nice too since now 12MP (stereotypical entry level mentality) is beginning to look like P&S cams or worse... mobile phones!! HAHAHAHA!!!

Problem with the PL1 is that the construction of this little bugger is plasticky and I really don't want to stress out the chassis by mounting a large lens to it (Marky, have you done that yet?) But I am sure that the end result to be stunning.

I am not bothered by the DR. It is sufficient for me to use and I still have a little more to push... quite a nice camera for doing crazy things on Photoshop. So on that note, I am happy.

Come to think about it, you are right. The color grad is rough. Works well when used with Art Filter for that gritty image, but for clean images, I think the PL1 is still not there as compared to the flagship cameras. But the application and use of this camera is not for the pro, so I don't think this is a problem at all. Most people cannot even see color grad properly... so what you think? I don't think much people will be complaining. For the price, you cannot get anything remotely close.

I am also keen to see what Sony have in store. It should be interesting.

For now, I am still sticking to my E3 for serious stuff. The Pen is my "pack light" camera. For parties or travels. Feels right, shoots ok.

 

[spidey89]

You're probably right,but still looks good

 

[marky]

Problem with the PL1 is that the construction of this little bugger is plasticky and I really don't want to stress out the chassis by mounting a large lens to it (Marky, have you done that yet?) But I am sure that the end result to be stunning.

Tonight i'll be trying out the combo, EPL-1 with 35-100mm. Most probably be taking one of my transformer out to test shoot then posting it here.

The last time i've tried it was during the last kopi session and really felt not safe as the mmf-2 was made of plastic.

 

[nightpiper]

With heavy lens like this, u gotta hold the lens all the time instead. That can be tiring HAHAHA!!

What i think of it? I feel the PL1 is a winner!! :heart: Cheap, light, good IQ & expandable cam w/loads of accessories from legacy stuffs to modern lenses.

I need to clarify something though. What i mentioned about the lower IQ compared to E3 is not juz unique to Oly or give the impression that Oly cams r crap. This is true for all brands across the board. U can compare the Nikon D3 with D700, Canon 1Ds III with 5D2, Sony A700 with A350/380, Pentax K7 with Kx, etc. They all shows the same gap difference. Let's put it very bluntly, nobody will sell u caviar at fishball prices.

Kudos to companies like Pentax, Sony & Oly, u can actually "taste caviar" at a much lower price point. :bsmilie::bsmilie:


Edited: So if u ask me to choose between Canon G11 & Oly PL1, think this one the ans is very sharp & clear :lovegrin: :bsmilie:

 

[Oly5050]

With heavy lens like this, u gotta hold the lens all the time instead. That can be tiring HAHAHA!!

:

No difference what. Even if he attach to the E3, it will still be heavier, in fact more heavy the entire setup.

But with the EPL1, he has not choice but to hold at the lens. In fact, it is more like attaching the camera to the lens, rather than the lens to the camera. LOL!

 

[Oly5050]

Direct Comparison between E-PL1 and GF1 found here:

http://www.davidchuaphotography.com/2010/04/08/olympus-e-pl1-vs-panasonic-lumix-dmc-gf1/

Check it out!

Just want to highlight an interesting observation by David Chua. He said that although the GF1 AF felt faster than the E-PL1, at the end of the day, the number of shots that were in focus turned out to be about the same. That has been a suspicion of mine for some time. Although the AF is a little slow on the EP1, but I am very confident that once it is locked, the image is in focus. ie. it might be slower, but it is reliable. Whereas, the GF1, the reliability may be lower in that u think it is in focus, but there will be a number of shots which are actually OOF. So GF1 AF may be slightly faster, but it is less accurate. For me, if I want a shot that is in focus and it comes out blurred, it will go into the delete bin. So OOF shots are doomed anyway for me. Why take them in the first place?

 

[spidey89]

nobody will sell u caviar at fishball prices.

"Eh Uncle! I want fishball, no caviar please, i hate caviar,smells fishy :think:"
Seems like the E-PL1 is a winner in some aspect as compared to its predecessor,I share the same hope as you,E-PL1 IQ in E-1 body

 

[gohaj]

:devil: My stormtrooper flash

wow...looks good.
it is not about photography, it is about fashion!

 

[eow]

Just want to highlight an interesting observation by David Chua. He said that although the GF1 AF felt faster than the E-PL1, at the end of the day, the number of shots that were in focus turned out to be about the same. That has been a suspicion of mine for some time. Although the AF is a little slow on the EP1, but I am very confident that once it is locked, the image is in focus. ie. it might be slower, but it is reliable. Whereas, the GF1, the reliability may be lower in that u think it is in focus, but there will be a number of shots which are actually OOF. So GF1 AF may be slightly faster, but it is less accurate. For me, if I want a shot that is in focus and it comes out blurred, it will go into the delete bin. So OOF shots are doomed anyway for me. Why take them in the first place?

Auto mode is hardly the ideal choice for taking an Action Shots Indoors most cameras will defaulted at very low shutter speed
Epl1 is a great camera and i had to said it a whole lot better than it predecessors but the only thing that peeved me is the myopic mentality the oly folk had over their system...like the fanboys of the pentax and sony... pitifully trying to find excuses for/ignoring the inadequacies of own camera

 

[vengels]

took a snap shot coz just got E-PL1 last night..

ISO: 320
Shutter: 1/60
Lens: 20mm/ F1.7

somehow the pic is very noisy..

any suggestions why this is so?

lighting only from the bulb from the kitchen cabinet..

 

[MachIII]

took a snap shot coz just got E-PL1 last night..

ISO: 320
Shutter: 1/60
Lens: 20mm/ F1.7

somehow the pic is very noisy..

any suggestions why this is so?

lighting only from the bulb from the kitchen cabinet..

.

In dim light environment without much alternative light source, you can increase the ISO and Exposure Value (EV). However, this does not eliminate all the grain.

 

[vengels]

.

In dim light environment without much alternative light source, you can increase the ISO and Exposure Value (EV). However, this does not eliminate all the grain.

just tot that at ISO320 it might not be that bad..
will try again tonight..

 

[clubgrit]

Maybe just needs a different exposure setting ... can't brighten up the shadows too much or noise comes in for sure, any camera.

Make sure your Gradation setting is set to Normal too (i.e. no effect).

At any rate, it's good to invest in good noise control software like Noise Ninja or Dfine. I prefer them over the camera's built-in ones. These software are not just for m4/3 of course, but for all digital cameras, even scanned film.


.

 

[headfonz]

Auto mode is hardly the ideal choice for taking an Action Shots Indoors most cameras will defaulted at very low shutter speed Epl1 is a great camera and i had to said it a whole lot better than it predecessors but the only thing that peeved me is the myopic mentality the oly folk had over their system...like the fanboys of the pentax and sony... pitifully trying to find excuses for/ignoring the inadequacies of own camera

good point about the Auto mode for action shots, though we should note that many compact owners who are upgrading to the EPL1 or any m4/3s camera will face the same problem for such situations. depending on the upper ISO limit that they have set in the menu (or default iso1600), the camera's auto mode may be limited by the ISO thus not able to use a higher shutter speed.

Panny's G and GF series' intelligent auto mode when used with the tracking AF may produce better results as it may choose to use a 'sports/action' program for that scene instead.

on your peeves about oly users, its something that is prevalent across all brands and products. CS is a gear-oriented forum, so we are bound to encounter such sunk cost fallacy opinions and posts by owners, i'm sure you've been on CS long enough to know this right? we can't stop this from happening but we sure can help out the community by providing objective discussions about our gear, whether its a user review or optimization thread. i'm sure you agree with me on this?

 

[wksoh]

But keep the 20mm/f1.7 :bsmilie:

GF1 does exhibit plain colours and also it likes to default to low ISO and shutter speeds like 1/8 in low light and to 1/30 in ample lighting - results in blurred portraits.

THe reason I haven't switched to EPL1 is the shutter speed limit of 1/2000.

I have found that using 20mm 1.7 resorts to 1/3200 shutter speed when shooting in bright daylight at wide open in Singapore. When I was in Swiss alps last week, shutter speeds was 1/4000 way too often - slightly overposing the shots. I had to back off from shooting bokeh when it hits that limit. I did not have ND filters.

EPL1 should have kept the 1/4000 of the EP1.. i would jump ship..

 

[spidey89]

EPL1 should have kept the 1/4000 of the EP1.. i would jump ship..

They could,if consumers were willing to pay more,and in paying more,why not just get the E-P1 in the first place? That's the problem,you win some,you lose some, who knows? The E-P1 replacement may have all the features of E-P1, built in flash but may have lost something such as,no improvement in the noise control,somewhat like that