Fantastic Camera, John N. Marzich

Was tired of my big canon 40d and big lenses. Great pictures but too large hour after hour. This camera took an indoor shot with no flash at over 1000 iso and looked excillent!
Very portable and the depth of field looks more 3d than just a flat sharp picture. I have owned an e-300 and e-510 and new olympus had a major idea with the high end Zuiko lenses.
Have 2 panasonic lenses and they are excillent also and made in japan.
World class camera minus a built in flash.

Tons of horsepower in a small package, JAGFB

Overall we are very pleased with the E-P1. The micro four thirds form factor is great in that we are not lugging a full sized DLSR around.
We have only had this camera for a couple of week and are learning the ropes.
Will provide more information in this review as we get more time with it.
The camera is extremely solid and I am sure that it is going to be with us for a long time.

I love it, J. Montgomery

For this camera, either you "get it" or you don't. For me, I love it. For several years my camera of choice was Hasselblad. I do fine arts portraiture, often in monochrome. With my Hasselblad, I loved the quality of the image, the square format, the projected image on a screen for composition, the quality of the camera itself and the versatility of the system. Now that I have gone digital, the Olympus Pen is my main shooter - for less than the cost of a Hasselblad lens. Image quality is top rate. In fact, it is often too sharp and I soften (selectively) in photoshop. I set it to shoot in square format (one of several options) and i enjoy the projected image for careful composition and understanding of the subtlety of the light falling on my subject. This camera works great for me because my subjects are sitting still. If you are trying to get a grab shot of those geese flying overhead, forget it. This is not a camera for sports or nature photographers. But for portraiture and landscape it is great. The camera body quality is top rate. I shot with Canon prosumer slr's for several years and never warmed up to the plastic, light weight feel. By contrast, while Olympus Pen is not heavy, it is "dense". Solid. And with the adapter, I am able to use my old lenses from my 20 year old Olympus OM4 (another great camera). I love that versatility. Negative comments? I do very little video, but for interviews I would like to have had an external jack for a microphone (added on the newer model). The menu choices are excessive and confusing, and the documentation -- of course -- is poor. Its all there, but if you are trying to go for a simple experience you have to figure it out. Other than that, the camera is a tremendous success. Just be sure you know what you are about with your photography so you will know whether this is a good fit for you.

A good camera, but definitely a "niche" camera..., Harry M. Shin

1. For reference sake, I've used many cameras before (film and digital) and thus realize that there is no "perfect" camera. For most photographers who are "into" photography, they will agree with my contention that you need at least two cameras; one for "serious" work (ie typically a DSLR, but not always) and a compact camera for snapshots (which is also an important part of one's personal photography).

2. With the above said, I have a DSLR (currently E-620), I have a fairly compact camera (Ricoh GX200), but for various reasons, I wanted a smallish camera with HD video (a fair amount exist, most of which was much more compact than the EP-1) that also has good image quality (which for me also means the ability to shoot RAW)--> which really narrowed down the choice to the EP-1 and the Panasonic G1. I'll conclude this rambling point, by noting that it's important for folks to realize that the EP-1 is a niche camera; ie it does produce nice quality images, it has many (not all) performance features more similar to DSLRs than compact cameras, but it is NOT a compact camera... nor is it as big as a DSLR, even the smallest DSLR. I just wanted to make this point, because even though it is smaller than any DSLR, no matter what most folks say, unless you solely use the pancake lens, you are not going to be putting this into your pocket. Even if you did exclusively use the pancake lens, the entire unit is relatively hefty (which is a testament to the construction) and thus most folks wouldn't feel comfortable walking around with this thing in their pocket. Thus on a personal side note, I've come to the conclusion that I'll use / need a DSLR for my "serious" work, EP-1 for most family shots, family travel vacations (ie excellent image quality equal to that of my E620 but without the bulk, HD video etc...) AND a true compact for those situations where I actually need to carry something in my pocket (ie Birthday dinner etc...).

3. Sorry for the long personal ramblings above; so here are my other brief impressions:

a. Build: very solid. As noted via others, kind of relatively heavy, but for me, that's a good thing.

b. Image Quality: I shoot RAW all the time, very good image quality.

c. HD Video: I'm not a video expert, but it's overtly better than my regular resolution videos via my other digital cameras. Via apeture priority mode, you can set the apeture and then one can also adjust the exposure via exposure compensation. It would be nice if there was a manual focus assist like when one shoots photos (ie having an enlarged image). The continuous focusing mode is lame and thus one needs to focus manually or single focus lock (which is basically like shooting manually). Supposedly the EP-2 will be able to track subjects better in video mode. Unless one shoots subjects which come to / fro in the video and shoots long segments, the above problems should not be much of an issue.

d. Focusing: ... it's not bad. It's not great, but I didn't expect anything super great in the first place. When using the zoom kit lens, it is definitely fast enough for 90% of situations. I agree with many that it is irritating that the camera has to refocus each time you press the button, but in the end it's a minor annoyance. I haven't used the pancake lens with the EP-1 yet; I'll get it soon. Another very important point in regards to focusing, the EP-1 has this very cool feature that if one is in manual or S-M focus mode (I think that's what it's called), as soon as you touch the focus ring, you'll get a 7x or 10x view on the LCD--> translation, it is the quickest manual focus via LCD I've come across thus far. It's so quick and accurate (because you're actually doing the focus) that when I use my 4/3 Olympus lens on the EP-1 (ex: 12-60mm or 9-18mm) I always use the manual focus method and it works fairly well.

e. Lack of Flash? It's a nonissue for me because I rarely ever use an onboard flash. When I need a flash, I use a hotshoe flash (ex: Olympus FL-36 or better yet--> Olympus FL-50R). But I do agree that having a built in flash is important, especially the smaller the camera you have simply because the purpose of having a small camera is to avoid carrying other gear... like a flash.

f. IS: I assume it works. It works in my E-620 and this was one of the reasons I stuck with the Olympus Line; ie the G1 doesn't have in body IS. To me, this feature is more important than having an onboard flash that I might use 1% of the time. I use IS a fair amount.

g. LCD: I've used the camera in various conditions, including the worst LCD shooting situation; sunny day at the beach. Yea, it can be challenging in such situations but again, only in certain conditions: trying to manually focus at telephoto. For most shooting situations while at the beach, on a sunny day, using autofocus--> no problem. I just turn up the LCD to max brightness.

h. Other stuff: frame rate is decent, turn on / off time is ok, writing to card seems ok--> ie none of this issues have been noticeable or an irritating issue to me.

4. In summary, it's a no brainier that this camera is more than capable of producing great images and it has the flexibility that all serious photographers want. I would say the primary issue that one has to clearly figure out in one's mind is for what purpose one envisions using this camera. It is not a DSLR replacement, but in many instances it could provide similar images (at least non-full frame DSLRs) and it is NOT a replacement for a true compact camera. It is a niche camera that is capable of some very good images.

Olympus EP-1: The Best Compact DSLR, J. Cauchi

I've had a 35 mm, film, Olympus camera for more than a decade which always took great pictures and still works great . After the Olympus, when digital cameras came put, I used mostly phones for digital picture taking-2 (Sony) to 5 megapixels (Nokia). So, when I decided to upgrade and found that Olympus was releasing a compact DSLR, I decided to get it to see if the quality was still there. I was amazed by the quality and good design of the camera. But, of course, I was also looking for the DSLR quality of the pictures and was not disappointed. I took a lot of pictures of moving people and still life-plants and trees, etc, and all and all the picture quality was excellent-don't forget to focus-video was also great when there is light around but it uses a lot of memory.
I think, it's better to get the 17 mm lens to have a smaller body overall and much easier to carry around-and the FL-14 flash is a plus-very light..
All and all the EP1 is an excellent upgrade from a standard point and shoot camera since it's much more compact than the standard DSLRs-Nikon, Canon, etc.-and it takes pictures/videos with about the same quality as a standard DSLR.

Olympus EP1 Pros and Cons:
Pros:
1. Excellent modern, fancy, high quality design.
2. Menus are easy to use
3. Very nice high quality pictures and videos.

Cons;
1. Low resolution screen
2. No integrated flash or light (Videos)
3. Video mode uses a lot of memory.

Love it!, carolina2834

Long story. My first SLR was an Olympus E-510. After using it a while I started going down this slippery slope of using and acquiring OM glass. I had no problem with the 2x conversion, but the small OM lenses were just screaming to be used on a smaller body. I then purchased an OM2 just for experimenting around and started doing the unthinkable; shooting film. (I've never shot film before.) The small size made it so much fun to carry around; more-so than the E-510. Being glued to the OM2 made me crave an even smaller digital SLR or even a digital range-finder. So I began looking at the options.

Epson RD-1? No slouch, but a bit rare and on the pricey side. Leica M8? Maybe if I sold a kidney. M9? Yeah right. Maybe if I sold half my organs. E-420? Loved the way it felt, but it didn't have the E-510's IS to compensate for the smaller/slower Olympus primes; specifically the 25mm pancake. E-620? This one seems okay; smaller form-factor, IS, better ISO performance, and an awesome swiveling LCD. As much as I loved the E-510, I sold it for an E-620. Besides for the funny red-ish indoor WB, I loved nearly everything about the E-620. But there was one little problem. Despite it's smaller size, the OM2 was still making it kind of jealous. The OM cameras were just thinner, sexier, and craved my attention a bit more. As much as I tried to avoid m43s, I knew I had to at least give it a chance. So I tried it at a store, loved it, and reluctantly sold the E-620 and most of my 43 glass to fund the E-P1 and the 20mm Panny prime.

All I have to say now is "wow!" What a relief to finally have something to carry around and make digital photography fun. You know how they say the best camera is the one that you always have on-hand? Well for me, the E-P1 is it. I try to avoid the technical stuff as much as possible, but ISO is good, image-quality is stellar, and the size is perfect. Carrying a digital camera around is no longer a personal debate, but now it's a deliberately unconscious act. I'm used to Olympus menus, so it took me about 10 minutes to learn the ins-and-outs of the camera. As for the focusing complaints that I hear about, it's really not that bad. It's actually quite good, in my opinion. I'm not a bird, sports, or action shooter so the focusing problems that others seem to pick up are nearly unnoticeable to me. (I use the center point and recompose, or select a different focus-point when needed.) I guess if anything sucked really bad, it would be the Olympus Master software. I've hated it since the E-510 days. But then I would be rating software--not the camera.

The E-P1 isn't perfect, but for me it is. The camera might not be a winner for some, but I can honestly see myself using the E-P1/20mm combo until it malfunctions. (I mainly shoot primes and rarely go beyond 50mm in full-frame.) If you're a DSLR user and simply want a small and nice camera to carry around and have fun, the E-P1 is a great choice. And as your one and only camera? It depends on what you do, but it's working out splendidly on my end. I highly recommend the E-P1.

[One more thing, even after playing a camera version of musical-chairs, I still have the OM2 and a set of primes. :o) Although they're not Leica-legendary, I truly believe the OM cameras are timeless classics.]

A professionals second camera, R. Mckinley

The Olympus PEN EP-1, and its soon to be released followup the EP-2 with the added digital viewfinder, are the perfect second camera for those traveling professional photographers. Lightweight but powerful. With the optional lens adapters, from Olympus as well as secondary manufactures, the range of glass for the body is unlimited. The original PEN line of compact cameras were, and still are, classics. Olympus has done it again.

Great camera, lowsy software - Mac user, Acuratic "acuratic"

I've moved from a Nikon SLR to the Olympus EP-1. I was looking for a smaller camera that took SLR quality pictures and this fits the bill. Build quality feels superior to Canon/Nikon although time will tell. After a recent trip up the coast and through the woods of Maine I'm very pleased with the results. Getting used to having no viewfinder takes more than a week or two.
I use a Mac and store and edit programs with Aperture. Aperture, even after three months has no support for the RAW (ORF) files produced by the camera. The JPEG's import just fine.
The software that comes with the camera is horrendous. It is very amateurish in that there is no File menu and no Quit command. It can't import pictures stored on the hard drive. And forget about editing with it. This same software is used for updating the camera, lens and flash firmware which can render the camera unusable if a problem occurs. I love the camera but wish RAW support was available in Aperture. If you don't use RAW then you can easily set the camera to JPEG only. I've had a running email conversation with Olympus Tech Support and I'm not sure they really understand how bad their software really is. I've certainly tried to tell them in a positive way offering my assistance in beta testing any new updates.

I've read other reviews here that the camera can't be used with a Mac. This is untrue. Photos can be imported into iPhoto and Aperture as easily as any other camera. Simply slip the SD card into a MacBook Pro with an SD card reader slot or use an SD card reader. Do NOT use the Olympus software or connect camera via cable (which I never do anyway). I've also imported the movies produced by the camera with no problems. Excellent movie quality.
I recommend downloading the manual from the Olympus website (the printed one included in the box has tiny print). Spending an hour or so learning the features is worth the effort. Navigating through the menu and selections is easy.
I purchased a second battery although I never needed to use it shooting photos and movies all day.
An issue is the lack of available lenses. There are no telephoto lenses available from Olympus besides the 14-42mm. The 17mm 'pancake' lens looks like a good option for low light situations if it were't for the $299 price tag (a bit steep for a camera at this price level).

Overall, I love the small-size convenience and photo quality. The camera with the 14-42mm lens is good value. If you can do without RAW format, which most probably can, then I doubt you can find a better camera.

Great camera, lowsy software - Mac user, N/A

I've moved from a Nikon SLR to the Olympus EP-1. I was looking for a smaller camera that took SLR quality pictures and this fits the bill. Build quality feels superior to Canon/Nikon although time will tell. After a recent trip up the coast and through the woods of Maine I'm very pleased with the results. Getting used to having no viewfinder takes more than a week or two.
I use a Mac and store and edit programs with Aperture. Aperture, even after three months has no support for the RAW (ORF) files produced by the camera. The JPEG's import just fine.
The software that comes with the camera is horrendous. It is very amateurish in that there is no File menu and no Quit command. It can't import pictures stored on the hard drive. And forget about editing with it. This same software is used for updating the camera, lens and flash firmware which can render the camera unusable if a problem occurs. I love the camera but wish RAW support was available in Aperture. If you don't use RAW then you can easily set the camera to JPEG only. I've had a running email conversation with Olympus Tech Support and I'm not sure they really understand how bad their software really is. I've certainly tried to tell them in a positive way offering my assistance in beta testing any new updates.

I've read other reviews here that the camera can't be used with a Mac. This is untrue. Photos can be imported into iPhoto and Aperture as easily as any other camera. Simply slip the SD card into a MacBook Pro with an SD card reader slot or use an SD card reader. Do NOT use the Olympus software or connect camera via cable (which I never do anyway). I've also imported the movies produced by the camera with no problems. Excellent movie quality.
I recommend downloading the manual from the Olympus website (the printed one included in the box has tiny print). Spending an hour or so learning the features is worth the effort. Navigating through the menu and selections is easy.
I purchased a second battery although I never needed to use it shooting photos and movies all day.
An issue is the lack of available lenses. There are no telephoto lenses available from Olympus besides the 14-42mm. The 17mm 'pancake' lens looks like a good option for low light situations if it were't for the $299 price tag (a bit steep for a camera at this price level).

Overall, I love the small-size convenience and photo quality. The camera with the 14-42mm lens is good value. If you can do without RAW format, which most probably can, then I doubt you can find a better camera.

Video incompatible with Mac OS 10.6.1, causing software to crash, Cape Codder

There is no way to use video from this camera on a Mac OS 10.6.1 out of the box, so be warned. I have a tech support inquiry into Olympus for any fixes before I return the camera so I'm reviewing based upon the out-of-box experience. (They take up to 48 hours for response and I'll update this review with the reply).

The problem is that the .avi video files cannot be imported into the Olympus Master 2 (the software they provide and recommend quits (on both of my computers) upon starting the import process, even though I have the latest software. In other words, the video files cause their photo software to crash, which makes using the camera difficult since you need that software to import their proprietary RAW files, which will not work in iPhoto or Photoshop.

I would expect that there would be upfront fixes for these issues posted at Olympus and that these issues would be fully disclosed here at Amazon on the listing, which they are not. Mac users be warned. Olympus' support provides no acknowledgement that Apple's OS even goes beyond 10.4. If I get a usable fix I'll add it here and update my review. Hopefully there will be one and I won't have to return what looks to be a gorgeous camera with great build. For now, my rating reflects the camera being made effectively unusable on a MAC when shooting video (You have to delete the video file in-camera before being able to once again import images.

UPDATE: I received a response from Olympus within 24 hours but they provided no information about how this issue can be fixed and I've received nothing further to my inquiries in 5 days now. So they appear currently stumped and I'm on my own, unable to shoot video. So, I'm considering making a return. I'll update this review when I hear back from them.

Incompatible with Mac OS 10.6.1, Cape Codder

There is no way to use images from the is camera on a Mac OS 10.6.1 out of the box, so be warned. I have a tech support inquiry into Olympus for any fixes before I return the camera so I'm reviewing based upon the out-of-box experience. (They take up to 48 hours for response and I'll update this review with the reply).

The problem is that the camera images cannot be imported into iPhoto (the RAW format they use, ORF, is a proprietary one) and the Olympus Master 2 (the software they provide and recommend quits (on both of my computers) upon starting the import process, even though I have the latest software.

Therefore the PEN is not usable to me, no matter how good the camera. I would expect that there would be upfront fixes for these issues posted at Olympus and that these issues would be fully disclosed here at Amazon on the listing, which they are not. Mac users be warned. Olympus' support provides no acknowledgement that Apple's OS even goes beyond 10.4. If I get a usable fix I'll add it here and update my review. Hopefully there will be one and I won't have to return what looks to be a gorgeous camera with great build. For now, zero stars.

UPDATE: Upon inspecting the crash report I found out that the Olympus software is incompatible with the PEN's AVI movie file format, causing the software crash. Everything else now works. So... it appears that the movie feature of this camera not usable either with the Olympus software or any of the Mac software (on 10.6.1), iPhoto, iMovie, Quicktime, FCP, etc.... When I hear the final word from Olympus support I'll update the review.

Love-Hate Relationship with the E-P1, NolaKate

I was so excited about this camera that I bought it as soon as I could. I've had the camera now for a couple of months, and after quite a bit of exploring with it, I have finally come to some conclusions about it.

I should say that I am a long-time film shooter. My favorite camera I've ever owned was a Contax G2 rangefinder, which I foolishly sold a few years ago to fund my growing, and inevitably disappointing, digital camera collection. I had hoped the E-P1 would be, finally, a digital equivalent of my old Contax G2, a camera that was lightweight, beautifully built, and took the most reliably gorgeous photographs I've ever seen, regardless of light. Sadly, it's not.

The Olympus E-P1 is frustrating to use for a couple of reasons: the LCD is rather awful and the focus is difficult. I know most of the complaints about the E-P1's focus have been about the auto focus speed. Honestly that's not important to me. More important is the accuracy of the focus and ease of manual focus. On both counts the E-P1 is disappointing.

Because the LCD is not very high resolution, manual focus in low light is difficult. I am an available light photographer. I never use a flash. For this reason, though, I've always relied on either a viewfinder in the film days, or accurate auto focus in a digital camera. The E-P1's auto focus is completely great in good light. It will find focus quickly enough for me and the images are sharp. But when the light is dimmer, particularly inside, even during the day, the camera shows its limitations. I appreciate that there is a menu option to have auto focus plus manual focus, but unfortunately the LCD zoom that accompanies the manual focus is just too fuzzy to help at all. It's quite frustrating.

Equally frustrating has been the LCD outdoors when I'm shooting manual exposure. The LCD tends to show the image as being overexposed. When I take the shot and look at it afterward it is okay, which means the meter is accurate: a good thing. The bad thing is that sometimes I want to purposely underexpose or overexpose, and this becomes more difficult to see what the results will be because the LCD isn't giving me an accurate preview while I'm metering. Of course, there is no 'preview' at all when you shoot film -- you have to go just by what you know of your camera. But I don't understand digital nearly as well (though I'm trying to learn), so I need the preview to know what I'm going to get. In digital cameras, the white balance and color are so completely different than in film (and seem rather unpredictable to me -- the light changes and everything changes!) and, frankly, I don't want to do a lot of post-processing, so I'd like to be able to see what I'm going to get and make adjustments as I need to.

I have just recently tried shooting video, and as many others have pointed out, the kit zoom lens has trouble finding focus and is really, really loud about it. I haven't tried this camera with a fixed focal length lens, so perhaps the problem could be solved that way. I have noticed, though, that just as it is with still images, the lens has trouble focusing in lower light (afternoon, indoors, for instance) even when using manual focus and this is just a shame.

But it's not all bad. I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the night photographs I've taken with E-P1, even though I'm shooting with the kit lens. The in-camera image stabilization is a double, triple plus. I have shot hand held in the dark, with ISO no higher than 400, and produced sharp, interesting pictures. The camera seems to be better able to find focus in the dark than in dim indoor light; perhaps because it uses a contrast detection system.

As well as the meter being very accurate, the automatic white balance is pretty good in most situations. When the subject has less color or contrast, the white balance gets quite tricky. Fortunately, you can customize the white balance quite a bit. (Unfortunately, you're having to do it with that same inadequate LCD.)

Are all of my frustrations the result of the lousy kit zoom? It's possible. I've never had any love for the kit zooms I've owned, either in my film days (I shot Nikon as well as Contax, and the Nikon came with a lousy lens) or now in digital (I owned a Nikon D80 and the kit zoom was so awful I put it back in the box after a couple days of shooting). From what I've read, the E-P1 can accept nearly any lens and therefore could really shine with a better lens.

There are so many things I love about digital photography: the fact that you can see what you shot immediately and share them or print them immediately too, and the fact that many digital cameras can also shoot video (wow!). But it is also frustrating. I suspect that some of my frustrations with the E-P1 would disappear if I had a better lens -- perhaps the new Panasonic 20mm pancake. But I'm hesitant to buy another lens, let alone an adapter plus a lens, because I'm not sure I want to keep this camera because of the LCD. A couple of years ago I bought a Nikon D80 and sold it within a year because it was too heavy and bulky, so I rarely brought it with me. This, of course, is not the problem with the E-P1. It is easy to bring with me. Instead, it is the frustration that I find when using the E-P1 that gives me pause. Perhaps if I spend more time learning about the camera, and get a better lens, I will learn to love it. Right now, though, I'm considering giving it to my husband to use in the field (he's an archaeologist), where he will only shoot in daylight. There the camera will perform beautifully.

Video incompatible with Mac OS 10.6.1, Tech Support is Unresponsive, Cape Codder

I have two problems here: one zero response from Olympus tech support with any fixes or comment on the problem, after an initial canned reply. My main problem with this camera is one of its most attractive advertised features, shooting video. In actuality there is no way to use video from this camera on a Mac OS 10.6.1 out of the box, so be warned. You'll be on your own to find 3rd party software to play it.

The problem is that the .avi video files cannot run natively in iMovie or Quicktime and likewise cannot be imported into Olympus Master 2 (the software they provide and recommend quits (on both of my computers) upon starting the import process, even though I have the latest software.

I would expect that there would be upfront fixes for these issues posted at Olympus and that these issues would be fully disclosed here at Amazon on the listing, which they are not. Mac users be warned. Olympus' support provides no acknowledgement that Apple's OS even goes beyond 10.4. If I get a usable fix I'll add it here and update my review. Hopefully there will be one and I won't have to return what looks to be a gorgeous camera with great build. For now, my rating reflects the camera being made effectively unusable on a MAC when shooting video.

UPDATE: I received a response from Olympus within 24 hours but they provided no information about how this issue can be fixed and I've received nothing further to my inquiries in 3 months now. So they appear currently stumped and I'm on my own, unable to use any of the video created by this camera natively on a Mac. They initially responded "We're happy to work with you on this issue" but provided no fix and never responded to my regular follow ups. If they think the video from this camera runs on a Mac they haven't told me about it.

This camera is something DIFFERENT and SPECIAL, Radio Man "yarns13"

I was one of the first ones to pre-order the E-P1 maybe one of the few who was able to get it in white. I was not going to write a review because I saw so many other well written reviews I thought I could not add much. What has prompted me to write a review here is that the Panasonic GF1 seems to be getting all raves from owners while the E-P1 seems to be getting bashed too much. I have no stake or purpose to Olympus, matter of fact this is the first Oly I have owned in over 6 years. I HAVE owned the Panasonic LX3, the TZ5 and an older super zoom Pany. The LX3 drove me nuts with the distortion from it's so called amazing lens, The HORRIBLE inaccurate colors from it's lcd, matter of fact every Panasonic I have owned(3) have suffered from very noisy pictures..ugly yellow zig/zag smearing you can see at usually at 400 ISO or higher. I have never gotten natural looking skin tones from any Pany I ever owned..even in raw.. So why am I writing about the E-P1? yet so far saying nothing..just seem to be bashing Panasonic? BECAUSE though I don't own the GF1 I have read on many different discussion boards that though the GF1 has twice the resolution of the E-P1'S lcd it does not look any better than the E-P1'S lcd..in I have read that E-P1's LCD is easier to view outdoors. I have read the GF1 has some trouble with jpegs on a few colors..I saw samples of the GF1 vs E-P1 on Imaging resource..you will again see Panasonic still has that yellow smearing at slightly high ISO. It has been written the GF1 is really mostly useable to about 800 ISO. I have taken several pics with the E-P1 at 1200 even 1600 ISO and they look VERY clean if there is just a bit of light. The GF1 is $100 more than the E-P1 why?? You are paying $100 more for a tiny flash and NO in body image stabilization, a huge plus for the E-P1 I actually like that you can get the E-P1'S external flash for the same same $100 and it's WAY better than the tiny flip up flash on the GF1.

If you want to choose the 14-45mm lens The E-P1's retractable design is ingenious, I guess it will be about 1/3rd to 1/2 has large as the GF1'S lens once you retract the e-p1's lens. This is a HUGE difference, as many are buying these micro "4/3 cameras for the smaller size." With a huge lens sticking out..you might as well carry a Nikon D40 as it's not night and day heavier or twice as large as either the Olympus or Panasonic.

As to auto focus speed The E-P1 is plenty FAST. I own the Nikon D90, in live mode the D90 has to be 10 times SLOWER than the E-P1'S focusing speed... The E-P1's colors look "AMAZING" super accurate, scary accurate. I have never seen accurate colors coming from any Panasonic I have owned.

It's true the E-P1'S menu can be a little confusing, or more that there seems to be many sub menus you may not even know about till you really GET INTO using this camera. I suppose for a point and shoot shooter the GF1 may indeed be better...Pany does have a great intelligent auto mode..But if you want to be creative..the E-P1 gives you so so many options to tweak just about everything.

To sum up I am not saying the E-P1 is perfect or really BETTER than a GF1..But it's darn GREAT...has a "special thing about it", that makes you WANT to use/play with it. I do hope one day soon they can fit a micro 4/3 sensor etc..into a true point and shoot body. Till then especially with the 14-45mm lens the E-P1 will be much smaller than the GF1. To GF1 readers who are going to bash me for writing about a camera I don't own..I agree with you!,?? I can only base my facts and or opinions on previous Panasonic cameras I have owned, that have disappointed me plus all the research I have done on the GF1 on serious discussion boards from GF1 users, and reading thru some pro reviews. Actually I wrote this more to say what a wonderful SPECIAL "DIFFERENT" camera the E-P1 is vs just about any other camera out there.

Olympus EP-1 is great, Alexandre A. Dedavid

It's a great camera!

The onlly thing missing would be an external flash for free... ;)

Anyway, you can balance colours by adjusting time of expositure, ISO and F.

I recomend it!

Had it for 3 weeks, just took the first adequate pictures, Mark Twain

The low ease-of-use score relates to a really terrible manual. Major basic steps are left out, leaving the user unable to figure out how to access important menu areas. Symbols in the menu are arcane and trying to go between modes to make changes in menus non-intuitive. I had to make 6-7 phone calls to Olympus in the first two weeks, after which I got the first photo that could be enlarged to the max in iPhoto with acceptable clarity. Online support from Olympus is pathetic; they lose original emails. The poor display score doesn't refer to ease of seeing the image in the LCD display - it's ok - but rather to using the display menus, which are far too busy and change/blank out within a few seconds.

Olympus E-P1, N/A

Excellent camera, loved the sensor and picture quality. Major nitpick was the manual. They cover so little on the controls and how to do certain things. Had to call Olympus tech help just to figure out two different controls. Finally after 4 weeks, gave up on it though. Could not get used to the big screen. Kept hoping for viewfinder. Tried the 17mm viewfinder but could not be of any help with the zoom lens. And could never find a way to turn off the screen. Just shipped it off today to another buyer. My loss their gain.

reality short of expectation, N/A

I purchased the E-P1 to provide better quality images than my F100 Fuji but easier to carry around than my dSLRs. And I had high confidence in what I know about Olympus etc. In practice it falls a little short. Manual focusing with the zoom technique is awkward and less than reliable. Poor low light operations. Slow focusing in automatic. That being said it is a camera intended to be used at a slower more deliberate pace. And in that regard it works well. But then for the money it operates in a much narrower range of photo opportunities than a high end pt-and-shoot like the Panny LX-3 or an entry level dSLR; therefore it offers less overall value. I find myself wishing I had not purchased it preferring to wait until the mFT systems matured a bit, and perhaps added OV. And the entry lenses are less than stellar. Both fairly slow in aperture; a 20mm 1.8 as standard would be great a a starter. So it is an OK camera, kudos to Oly for taking a major step in another direction..but I find myself leaving it at home in favor of Fuji or Panny pt and shoots, or when I require the full use of a Dslr. My nikons D90 or D5000 with standard primes lenses are easier to use than the oly. and the grips of the dSLR make for 1 handed shooting. The Ep1 is a niche camera right now. I would lok at the new Panny.

Excellent and superb!, P Roberts

This camera is just fantastic, a little beauty. Amazing, excellent, really fun. Superb optics, great feel, cute and portable. I was getting bored with my Nikon D-80, ready for a move up. Considered getting the D-90, but then the Pentax K-7 was released with HDR built-in. Wanted t get back to Olympus, and considered the E-30, and the 620, but I left my decision for so long that the PEN was released. Glad I waited. The PEN is so much fun, its great to have a new toy. The price is just right for an everyday camera, and is size is so much better compared to carefully backpacking around a big d-SLR.

And the results .... the pics are superb! Just amazing. Face detection works like a charm. The video is stunning, just brilliant. The shutter is so quick, really responsive, no lag time. The art scenes are so fun to use. Funny little shutter noise. And I still haven't take it off Auto yet! Nice to have some fun exploring.

Finally, great IQ in a small package, operabuff "obuff"

I own a couple of high end DSLR's (Canon) with L glass but have always preferred to travel with small, light gear. I have Panny , 2 Richos, plus Fuji. And as much as I have liked aspects of these cameras, bottom line is I've always been disappointed with the final output as compared to the DSLR's. Bought the EP-1 on a whim just before a vacation - I had thought of waiting to see what Panasonic would bring out since I was concerned about the lack of viewfinder and the universally acknowledged slow focus. I couldn't be happier. The focus is not any slower than my other compacts. Yes, I would prefer a viewfinder. But everything else about this camera is fantastic. I was very pleasantly surprised about the the kit zoom - it's really quite good. This camera is just plain fun to use. IQ is really great - better than anything small out there. It's not tiny but for me it handles better than the pocket cameras. I am now an Oly convert! I just ordered an adaptor to use all sorts of lenses I accumulated during my film days. And they are going to be image stabilized!