Olympus E-P1 Review by LetsGoDigital With Rating 81/100

Currently priced at $799, the Olympus PEN E-P1 comes with a sleek and compact body as it uses the 4/3 sized image sensor. The internal structure eliminates the traditional DSLR quick-return mirror allowing a radical reduction in camera size without compromising the benefits of digital SLR photography with its high shooting performance and high quality images. This new camera is equipped with the Intelligent Auto (iAUTO) function that automatically evaluates the scene and sets the optimum scene shooting mode to take the selected shot. The imaging system uses a 4/3-inch type, 12.3-megapixel high speed Live MOS Sensor and a newly developed TruePic V image processing engine to provide high quality still images. This impressive processing engine also enables non-flash shooting up to ISO 6400.

It is worth noting that the camera began shipping the 12.3Mp Olympus PEN E-P1 in Japan on July 3 and it quickly rise to a number 2 sales ranking position within a few days over the July 4 weekend, getting a total of 19.1% of sales share in Japan. It later dropped to #7 position the following week and now at #6 ranking this week. LetsGoDigital recently posted a review of the Olympus E-P1 and here is the summary of the review, giving the camera a rating of 81 out 100:

"The quality of the pictures is fine. Better than recent cameras from the E-series, and even that is an excellent achievement by Olympus. Also the lenses do not disappoint when it comes to their optics. Especially the pancake is an outright winner in my opinion. Not only because this lens is so compact, but also because of its excellent optical performance and because the auto focus works better. I believe that the zoom lens is a tad too big when extended. But that is my personal opinion and I must confess that I am a huge fan of small lenses. New Micro Four Thirds lenses are expected to be announced soon is.

The shutterlag is exactly the way I like it: nice and short. It really comes down to: point-and-shoot. Well, you do have to wait until the camera is able to focus because the AF is not really fast. Panasonic did a better job on the G-series and I had really hoped for the Olympus E-P1 to provide the same speed. You now have to shoot with a little bit of extra contemplation and try to predict what will happen in the next few moments. The AF is not a problem if you mainly shoot still objects.

On paper, the Olympus E-P1 seemed to be the ideal camera for me. A true cross between a compact and an SLR. I could already imagine myself making a complete photo-report with the E-P1 and I was one of the many people who could not wait to try out the Olympus E-P1. However, the perfect camera does not exist, which also goes for the digital PEN. There are still points of improvement to be worked on, especially for professional photographers, whilst for consumers the downsides are far less important."... [Source]

E-P1 Camera Reviews Roundup

PhotoZone: "Finally Olympus released their first micro-four-thirds digital camera styled in the retro design of the classic Olympus PEN - a highly successful series of half frame cameras in the 60ies. Obviously they feel that the time is about right for such dwarfish, rock solid cameras and they may be right...." - Nov 22 2009 More »
CameraLabs: "...there are some disappointments such as relatively slow focusing, a screen with average resolution and the absence of a built-in flash and viewfinder, not to mention a relatively high price for which you could buy a fairly decent DSLR which addressed all these concerns. But of course the thing wh..." - Nov 02 2009 More »
PhotographyBay: "As noted earlier, I have seen other sites review the Olympus E-P1 and give boisterous recommendations to readers.  I said before that I have had a hard time figuring out who this camera is for - I am still unsure.  I've read that photo geeks are all about it; however, I think most photo g..." - Aug 27 2009 More »	N/A
DigitalCameraInfo: "Beyond look and feel, the strong suits of the E-P1 are superior color accuracy and very good resolution results. High image noise (typical of a small-sensor format) and limited dynamic range are problems, but the results aren't scandalous -- you just don't' want to push your luck with high ISO shoo..." - Aug 15 2009 More »
DPinterface: "Image quality produced by the Olympus E-P1 ranged from good to very good, depending on what aspects you look at. I found noise levels to be low and usable till ISO 1600; photos had just the right amount of sharpness and high levels of detail. Other things like distortion and overall resolution/..." - Aug 04 2009 More »	N/A
dpreview: "As mentioned earlier the E-P1's appeal to photo geeks like us is easy to see, and the results will for the most part justify the extra effort (or at the very least the change in shooting style) involved in getting them. This is the kind of camera that you just want to pick up and take out shooting,..." - Jul 29 2009 More »
PhotoReview: "With the Pen E-P1, Olympus has stated a clear intention to establish the first product in what we hope will be a profitable niche between top-end advanced digicams and compact DSLRs. Serious photographers have been crying out for years for a capable small camera with P, A, S and M shooting modes, i..." - Jul 27 2009 More »	N/A
TrustedReview: "...the Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens is excellent, producing pin-sharp detail from corner to corner at all focal lengths with barely any optical distortion and no trace of chromatic aberration thanks to the use of ED glass...In terms of overall image quality the E-P1 is a bit of a mixed bag. Exposur..." - Jul 25 2009 More »
CNET: "One of the big points that Panasonic and Olympus are marketing these micro four thirds cameras on is the SLR-like quality of the images. So, despite the E-P1 looking like a compact, the images it delivers should stand up, theoretically, to an equivalent-level SLR. The physical size of the sensor, h..." - Jul 21 2009 More »
Digicam Review: "Even at a pixel level images look excellent, with low noise, useable ISO1600 and above, excellent detail, excellent colour, and the 14-42mm kit lens provides impressive macro performance, and gives sharp crisp images - unlike kit lenses from other manufacturers which tend to be overly soft. The res..." - Jul 18 2009 More »	N/A
SLRgear: "The 17mm ƒ/2.8 is a fairly sharp lens wide open at ƒ/2.8, though its optimal results for sharpness are achieved at ƒ/5.6. At ƒ/2.8, we note a small central area of sharpness (~1.5 blur units) offset by some corner softness (on average, 3 blur units). Stopping down improves image..." - Jul 14 2009 More »	N/A
PhotographyBLOG: "While the lack of an optical or electronic viewfinder won't phase upgraders from compacts, who are used to composing a picture holding the camera at arm's length, DSLR users will certainly miss being able to hold the camera up to their eye. The lack of a flash won't bother the latter group, but the..." - Jul 13 2009 More »
Pocket-lint: "Detail is very good and with around two to three stops of exposure and detail headroom in the RAWs there's plenty of extra detail to pull out of shadows and highlights if you need to. The Large Fine compression JPEGs are very clean however and compression artifacts are kept to minimum even at 100%...." - Jul 13 2009 More »
DigiCamReview: "Even at a pixel level images look excellent, with low noise, useable ISO1600 and above, excellent detail, excellent colour, and the 14-42mm kit lens provides impressive macro performance, and gives sharp crisp images - unlike kit lenses from other manufacturers which tend to be overly soft. The res..." - Jul 09 2009 More »
B&H Photo: "During our brief hands-on intro to the new camera, we had a chance to shoot with both of the new Micro-4/3 lenses, as well as an Olympus 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye ED Zuiko and an Olympus 40-150mm f/4-5.6 Zuiko ED zoom lens using the MMF-1 lens adapter. The results from each of these lenses were equally..." - Jul 09 2009 More »	N/A
TechRadar: "Whether the Olympus Pen E-P1 is a one-off camera, never to be reproduced again remains to be seen. But from our hands-on, Olympus' homage to its 50-year-old film equivalent is a superb effort - both in the style and substance stakes. The camera is a joy to use, and the detail Olympus has put into m..." - Jul 07 2009 More »	N/A
StevesDigicam: "I was very pleased with the image quality from the E-P1's 12.3-megapixel Live MOS imager and TruePic V imager processor. While shooting outdoors, the E-P1 was able to capture tac sharp images, that showed pleasing contrast and color saturation. Exposure was good most of the time, however we did hav..." - Jul 06 2009 More »	N/A
Zone-10: "So why should the E-P1 be a success? Because for the first time in a very long time, there is a true Bridge Camera in sight. The industry has seen numerous pretenders for years but in the E-P1, the market now has a form factor that is closer in size to a typical compact camera but possesses the fle..." - Jul 06 2009 More »	N/A
PCWorld: "We were really taken with the 3in, vibrant LiveView LCD of the Olympus E-P1 which offers plenty of detail (230,00 dots, in fact) and is effective for viewing and playing back video. The LiveView display was almost able to keep up even as we barrelled through the city on our bust journey. Video is o..." - Jun 28 2009 More »	N/A
Wired UK: "Inevitably, some compromises have had to be made to fit all this technology into such a slender frame. There's no viewfinder, for example, and framing shots using the LCD screen is less precise than getting your face up against the glass. It's also more of a strain on the eye, especially when the s..." - Jun 25 2009 More »	N/A

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