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

[headfonz]

thanks for doing the retest.

blown away at the difference in detail from the supposedly lower grade pen. :thumbsup:

no prob, i wanted to be sure too. based on what i've seen so far, i'm attributing the difference in detail to 2 things:

1) the AA Filter in the E-PL1 is probably lighter than the GF1.

2) panasonic's Venus jpeg engine may be applying noise reduction early in the imaging pipeline, NR may be applied before the jpeg is rendered so fine details are lost. this may the cause of the lost of fine detail in the packaging artwork even in the untouched RAW file.

anyway, here's a video clip taken with the E-PL1 with the Diorama Art Filter. the time compression is part of the diorama effect in video mode.
[youtube]o4LKx5y90Bw[/youtube]

 

[catola1010]

The results from Olympus E-PL1 look so impressive:thumbsup:

 

[marky]

Know what... somehow i'm more inclined in getting this camera already..

 

[avo]

Thanks for great effort in showcasing EPL-1.

 

[mrhobbit]

Had the opportunity to use the camera due to the kindness of a certain company.

After shooting it for a day with the kit and the 20/1.7 panasonic G, I have to say this sub thousand dollar camera is a feat of camera engineering.

Few things about this camera though(if you are deciding whether to buy this camera or not)

1.Lack of dials= slower operation for me, i tend to trust the camera more in this case due to my lack of speed with this camera(might also be because i am so used to double dials, no dials are troublesome!)

2. AF seems to be slightly faster than the EP1

3. Level of customisation for the UI is pretty extensive for a supposedly "entry" level camera!

4. Exposure compensation button is taken away from the top, which I feel is a pity.

5. Handgrip feels good to hold and has a slughtly rubberised texture. Overall finish may be plasticky but it feels pretty well made!

Overall, excellent camera! Will include pictures when I can!

BTW, for potential owners, you might wanna try out the panasonic 20/1.7, it its truly a wonderful lens for its price/size/performance!

 

[headfonz]

after a 2 days with the E-PL1, here's what i think about the handling

1. the grip improves handling and weight distribution when using heavier lenses. with the ZD50/f2 and MMF1 mounted, weight is evenly distributed across the fingers on the right hand without straining the index finger and thumb when operating controls. i find that the EP1/2 and GF1's shallower grip puts the weight on the base of the palm when the same 50/f2 is mounted. something to consider for those with legacy lenses.

2. the body is very light, so balance is off when a hefty lens is mounted, in my case, its the ZD7-14 with MMF1. not a good combination

3. in M, A, S and P modes, the ev+/- has to be pressed 1st to change your exposure settings. using the 4 way buttons is not as quick as command dials but i got used to it pretty quickly. it also locks the exposure settings so its unlikely that it will be changed accidentally. operating it is intuitive enough when using the EVF. surprisingly, i think its easier to operate exposure settings over my own GF1's jog dial button, which irritates me whenever the Q.menu button is pressed by accident and i need to dial back to the exposure settings.

4. i keep pressing the shutter button to turn on the camera. the on/off switch is really small.

5. the camera is very small, manual focusing pancake lenses gets a little cramped.

6. live histogram is perfect, big enough to read exposure easily. small enough not to crowd up real estate on the screen.

7. the EVF doesn't sit very snugly when mounted. i didn't notice this on the EP2

8. the simplified Super Control Panel has 12 vertical lines for run through. but it works better than the grid control panel that most 4/3 users are used to in Live View.

9. i would prefer that the down button is tagged to ISO selection rather than drive / self-timer selection mode. but it does make sense for consumer users who might use the self-timer mode more.

10. if you intend to use the bounce flash, the EVF will cast a shadow on the right side. best to remove it.

11. mode dial is firm with solid clicks. don't think it will be changed easily.

 

[headfonz]

some samples, this are RAW files developed without noise reduction. all shot handheld with the ZD50/f2 with MMF1, IS mode 1, ISO400-800

 

[dualie]

Thanks for the excellent review so far...

So will U be ditching the GF1 in favour of E-PL1?

 

[headfonz]

just for fun, here's a shot with the Grainy B&W art filter



now, the Grainy B&W art filter is supposed to give the look of Kodak Tri-X B&W film, so i processed the RAW file of the same photo to simulate Kodak Tri-X Pan B&W film printed on Kodak Potra paper. all in, i should have spent about 10min on the RAW processing. excluding the time to import files and monitor calibration.



:think: now i just need to add noise to the image. what do you think?

 

[headfonz]

Thanks for the excellent review so far...

So will U be ditching the GF1 in favour of E-PL1?

you wanna buy my GF1? :bsmilie:

 

[alanQ]

thanx for the review and effort! been keeping my eye on this camera since it came out hahah

 

[Wzierbovsky]

Personally, I find the red (o) button on the right hand side of the back problematic. It defaults to movie capturiung, but for far too often I accidentally triggered movie capture when composing a shot. These days I've set it to AF-home position (didn't want to waste the button by disabling it altogether).

Another minor niggling: is there some way to reduce the volume for AF confirmation? It seems either on or off but no way to actually lower the volume. Just curious - I've got it switched off anyhow LOL.

 

[marky]

you wanna buy my GF1? :bsmilie:

Bro, ditch the GF1 and lets get the EPL-1 together.. :bsmilie:

 

[headfonz]

Another minor niggling: is there some way to reduce the volume for AF confirmation? It seems either on or off but no way to actually lower the volume. Just curious - I've got it switched off anyhow LOL.

there is only On or Off available for the AF beep. you have to enable 'Menu display' in the Wrench-icon menu, then in the Gear-icon menu, under Disp/Sound/PC. its 1 line above the Volume.

or you can just leave the AF beep on and cover the speaker holes with your thumb when shooting. its just above the EV +/- (Up) button

 

[headfonz]

Bro, ditch the GF1 and lets get the EPL-1 together.. :bsmilie:

:bsmilie: wah lau bro, your advice win liao :thumbsup:

 

[marky]

:bsmilie: wah lau bro, your advice win liao :thumbsup:

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

 

[Wzierbovsky]

On a different topic: I picked up the Tumax DPT386 AFZ from Artworkfoto for SGD190 several days ago for my E-PL1. Kept my expectations low for this third party flashgun and mostly to see how it pairs with the E-PL1. Brief comments for those of us interested:

- The unit's plastic build itself seems lower grade than the SB600 I normally use with my Nikon DSLR, but it doesn't feel filmsy and doesn't bother me.

- The unit weight with batteries doesn't completely throw the E-PL1 off balance for me. The whole package feels pretty light weight still, though the way I hold the camera in vertical orientation changes (my left hand partially grips the neck of the flash gun).

- The flash gun mount onto the E-PL1 isn't lever based but a sort of central button push-to-secure and catch to release. While it doesn't look like the flash gun will come lose and send it to the floor, it doesn't look terrifically secure either.

- Output from TTL mode is inconsistent based on what I'm experiencing. In a controlled lighting and static scene with shots taken 1 second apart and using bounced flash, I can still get totally different flash outputs. One that's correctly exposed, and the other isn't, and it's usally under-exposed. In short, the mode so far has been unreliable for me. I've switched to using M output instead, and am getting better predicting whether I need 1/4, 1/8 or 1/16 in most settings.

- Realworld flash recharge rates with newly recharged Eneloops after for 1/4 to 1/8 discharges seem pretty alright and on par with the SB600.

I'm just an amateur and these aren't scientific findings, so YMMV.

 

[cichlid]

Thanks for the hands on review everyone!

The art filters are really something, fantastic!

 

[nightpiper]

The insects shots look overly exposed. Were they what u meant them to look? Or was it straight from metering?

I find the details from PL1 is really good, only personal opinion is that the pics look a little too contrasty for my taste, from the samples here & other sites as well.

Very nice hands on u got there headfonz :lovegrin:

 

[vengels]

i am so tempted to chg my gf1 to this.

wonder if mountinng a 14-140mm to this will be stable. coz on gf1 it is abit off balance and hard to handle..