Say hello to the Olympus E-P1, apparently....

Internaut

It's only a rumour at the moment but if these images are fake, their creator should have a design job with Olympus. It looks gorgeous!

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/07/olympus-e-p1-micro-four-thirds-shooter-leaked/

Pindy

I'm so getting one of these.

swintonphoto

Looks a lot like the old Pen series. Guess that is why they are making such a big deal about the pen series 50th anniversary - and adding the "P" (probably to stand for Pen) to differentiate it from the other E-series DSLRs. I think this is will be an innovative series that could help shape a new niche of cameras in the future. After all there was a niche for these in the 35mm days. Now that the DSLR and compact camera market is so saturated with options, I think these other arenas will start expanding.

swintonphoto

Thought this was interesting - not sure if they have the exact same dimensions, but this is an interesting pic anyways:
http://www.omuser.com/attachments/day_090606/20090606_2eda66065b2e57f1264ffYot0MgB3fCZ.jpg

Internaut

Real or fake?

http://www.lastingimagery.com/ep-1.jpg

swintonphoto

The camera body looks like a negative. The shadow from the lens is brighter. I bet thats a fake.

Internaut

A press release.....
In Chinese but looking very un-fake like....

http://dcdv.zol.com.cn/137/1373538.html

And now leaked onto Engadget:

http://tinyurl.com/kv8qq3

cdub

wouldn't surpise me if they were coming out with such a toy... I remember getting a C-5000 and my pal getting a C-5050 back in 2003, when 5 megapixels and two different memory card drives were revolutionary. The 5050 in particular was a beast and appeared to us to be cutting edge in its offer sheet and related value.

Olympus tries everything and captures a scattering of the market. That said, still great value for the dollar I think.

Internaut

It's now official. I've not read the detail but there are have been some grumblings (and a fair bit of trolling) on various forums about AF speed.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusep1/

ziggy53

Very cool. Not for everybody but this will make people think twice about conventional P&S vs interchangeable lens system cameras.

I love the new lens compatibility adapters which makes all existing as well as a great many older Olympus manual focus lenses available for use on the new camera.

WTG Olympus.

swintonphoto

Here is an official Olympus link detailing it:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1461&page=overview

swintonphoto

Even if you are from another camp, you have to admit this little camera looks pretty sweet. I think a whole new niche of cameras will follow by all the manufacturers in the coming years. Good on ya Oly!

NikonsandVstroms

swintonphoto wrote:

Even if you are from another camp, you have to admit this little camera looks pretty sweet. I think a whole new niche of cameras will follow by all the manufacturers in the coming years. Good on ya Oly!

It's too good!!!!

And I am not kidding its a E-620 in a LX3 sized body, making it my perfect camera for alot of my applications just that price tag is going to need some work before I can jump in :cry

Well I am in no rush....one will be mine someday hopefully sooner than later

startingjourney

It looks very interesting. I may consider getting it if the price went down or maybe getting a second version.

pyry

Want one, want one badly...

I've been waiting for this ever since micro four thirds was announced (and dreaming about something like this even before), the perfect carry-anywhere platform.

that price is pretty steep though...

ziggy53

The E-P1 appears to be compatible with the Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm lens. This is good news and should help those in need of a superzoom now.

I gather that "MegaOIS" is not available on the Olympus bodies?

NikonsandVstroms

ziggy53 wrote:

The E-P1 appears to be compatible with the Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm lens. This is good news and should help those in need of a superzoom now.

I gather that "MegaOIS" is not available on the Olympus bodies?

I am pretty sure it can work since I remember other E-420 owners going for panasonic lenses for OIS, but there is not much of a reason to:

OIS is viewed as better than sensor based since what you see is what you get in the viewfinder, in a full time live view camera this advantage is lost.

Also if you're going to use a lens that size the G/GH1 would be a better option for stability, and you would not losing much in practicality, since once you get to that size it's no longer a pocketable camera and you're using some sort of small case

Internaut

ziggy53 wrote:

The E-P1 appears to be compatible with the Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm lens. This is good news and should help those in need of a superzoom now.

I gather that "MegaOIS" is not available on the Olympus bodies?

The Olympus has in body stabilization so all lenses are stabilized. Now, the in body stabilization apparently does not work with movies while in lens stabilization apparently does...... (I'm sure there's a reason for that)...

DoctorIt

found a "hands-on" preview over at photo.net:
http://photo.net/equipment/olympus/ep1/preview/

ziggy53

DoctorIt wrote:

found a "hands-on" preview over at photo.net:
http://photo.net/equipment/olympus/ep1/preview/

This reviewer is claiming that, "AF was also fast.", in contrast to the DPReview, "... the samples we've tried have very slow focus in anything but perfect light ...".

It will be interesting to see comparisons of the AF speeds of the Olympus E-P1 with the Panasonic Lumix G1.

I note that the Olympus E-P1 has an ISO 6400 which looks surprisingly capable, especially compared to P&S cameras and advanced digicams.

Cameron

ziggy53 wrote:

I note that the Olympus E-P1 has an ISO 6400 which looks surprisingly capable, especially compared to P&S cameras and advanced digicams.

Ziggy - this isn't news to you, but I thought I'd bring it up:
With the sensor being the same size as other 4/3 sensors it's not surprising that high ISO performance is good. The pixel density of that sensor (assuming it's the same as the E-620) is 5.1 MP/cm². The Canon Powershot G9, for example, has the same pixel count but the pixel density is 28 MP/cm² - that's a big difference! The higher megapixel Powershot G10 has a pixel density of 34 MP/cm². For comparison, the new Rebel T1i (500D) has a pixel density of 4.5 MP/cm².

While sensor noise is not simply a product of pixel density it certainly plays a big role!

ziggy53

Yes, sensor size plays a role and it's true that the Olympus Four-Thirds sensors are not that far removed from the APS-C sized sensors. It would also appear that Olympus and Panasonic are realizing some impressive improvements in the newest sensors in regard to high-ISO noise levels. In particular the Olympus E-620 and the E-P1 are looking interesting at ISO 3200 and frankly darned nice at ISO 1600.

Kudos to Olympus.

DoctorIt

ziggy53 wrote:

This reviewer is claiming that, "AF was also fast.", in contrast to the DPReview, "... the samples we've tried have very slow focus in anything but perfect light ...".

It will be interesting to see comparisons of the AF speeds of the Olympus E-P1 with the Panasonic Lumix G1.

In terms of speed, I'm more interested in "shutter" lag time. This could be the motorcycle-trip DSLR solution I've been wanting, but only if the shutter is faster than my Canon G9.

Pixel densities be what they will, I still think the Canon sensors produce better results than the only other current micro 4/3 camera out at the moment, the Panasonic DMC-G1. I have been underwhelmed by the fringing/noise/general quality of the photos from that camera. I hope this Olympus sensor does better.

swintonphoto

I just read a report that says the EP-1 should available in about 2 weeks for purchase! If that's true it's pretty exciting.

aktse

swintonphoto wrote:

I just read a report that says the EP-1 should available in about 2 weeks for purchase! If that's true it's pretty exciting.

Bh is taking pre-orders

swintonphoto

It looks like you can order the kit with a black or a silver lens. That's pretty cool.

DoctorIt

Somebody has already dissected one for us,
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/06/olympus-digital-pen-and-pancake-lens-teardown/