Camera Labs

It begins...

Leaked pics from the new Olympus E-P1, a compact micro 4/3 camera with interchangeable lenses.







This model is supposed to be officially unveiled on June 25th (along with at least one other m4/3 model yet to be shown), to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Pen series:



http://asia.olympus-imaging.com/products/dslr/special/pen50th/pen/

If this new generation of cameras has image quality somewhere between the Panasonic LX3 and the Panasonic G1, this could be quite a tempting purchase.

Oh yes! This is the compact I've been waiting for

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

How would one use the mode dial button? At the moment it doesn't look practical to have it lowered into the body.

Edit: Should one be able to choose the mode via the black-teethed dial on the back maybe?

And what does SSWF stand for - does anyone have a clue?

regards,
HTG

Super Sonic Wave Filter -- it's Olympus' dust reduction system. Reportedly the best in the business.

At first glance, it's all of a "meh" for me - at least for now.

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Olympus e-620 / 14-42mm / 40-150mm
Metz 48 AF-1
Kata 3-N-1 20, LowePro Orion Mini, LowePro Nova 2
My Flickr

The mode dial looks like it is accessed by the teeth on the back.

Why am I excited? I want a DSLR-like feature level compact. Panasonic G series is too big. The nearest you can get now are the likes of the Canon G series but the sensor is too small. There's the Sigma DP series, but they're fixed lens. This Oly has interchangeable lenses. For now I assume it will be designed purely around fast contrast AF like the similar Panasonic models. No space wasted on a viewfinder.

*if* they manage to stick sensor shift anti-shake in the body, it'll be even better. But I fear the small size may prevent that from being fitted.

The pictured lens says 17mm f/2.8 on it. With the 2x crop factor I hope they're also going to redo the 25mm pancake for mFT, maybe with even bigger apertures.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Anyone else notice something SPECIAL on the mode dial?

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E-3!
12-60 2.8-4.0
12-60 2.8-40 [Also going]
40-150 3.5-4.5
70-300 4.0-5.6
Fl-48

Am I missing something? PASM movie scene art and auto. Nothing particularly special there?

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thank you for sharing information.

Congrats on OLYMPUS PEN 50th Anniversary!!!


I cannot find Olympus E-P1's price.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Olympus%20E-P1

this model definitely looks interesting. by the looks of it, i think this should be priced at a very affordable level. no viewfinder or built in flash will make some/many angry. so will the lack of a swivel lcd. meh, either way it's something i'll be excited to actually see in person. i'd love to see a size comparison between the e-3 & e-p1.

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www.iandavisphoto.com
aim s/n: idotddot

I don't think so.

The Sigma DP series is essentially a DSLR-like sensor into a compact body and those cameras cost 600+ bucks. Impressive image quality in daylight conditions, but super slow, barely any features and practically unusable indoors. Olympus has to do more than just use a m4/3 sensor, they have to incorporate performance and features that go along with it.

Add to that some of the R&D that went into the new Olympus and this first generation opf cameras should be fairly pricey.

Just my 2 cents.

On cost, I'm not expecting this to be cheap either. As a kit with a lens, I'll predict it will be placed above high end compacts like the Canon G10. Yes, that puts it right into entry level DSLR pricing. But you are high end small size.

The sensor is going to be comparable to other FT cameras so no worries about performance there, and the image quality will blow away any typical compact.

On camera flash would have been a nice to have, but instead there's a hotshoe on top. Maybe they'll make a micro-flash to match?

No viewfinder is absolutely the right choice for this type of camera. Small size is the priority. A viewfinder would add unnecessary size and cost. You couldn't do one optically with changeable lenses and no mirror, so that means the complexity of adding EVF? There's always the possibility of a hotshoe mounted optical OVF set for a particular prime if you really want one.

Anyone putting compact and tilt screen together should be shot.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Here's a size comparison with the Panasonic G1, assuming the hotshoe is the same size on both cameras.

I would love to see a Olympus ED 35-100mm F2.0 mounted to that.


People would go "Is he directly looking through the lens?"

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a900 | D700

Ooh, nice idea on using the hotshoe as a size reference.

Thinking a little more now, I'm wondering how small could you make a zoom lens suitable for the camera? I'm not sure a big lens would be left on a camera like this as it would largely negate the size advantage. While a collection of pancake primes is nice, could they do a pancake zoom??? Like other compacts, it'll be flat in minimal length configuration and will possibly extend a lot for zooming and/or focus.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I don't expect a 18-180mm lens on that thing.

But something like a 12-60 lens and other more modest zoom range would probably more feasible.