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This Holiday season, Harrod’s will be selling a special edition of the Olympus E-P1, whose body is covered in Swarovski crystals. It will come with a flash, the two available micro-4/3 lenses and a wooden box and can be yours to take home for a mere £1999.99.
As much as we love the E-P1 as a travel camera, we would not want to be seen with one of these babies. Somehow, this feels so 2007…
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In an increasingly heated battle for the new micro 4/3 camera market, Olympus recently announced the E-P2, their second iteration of the Olympus “digital PEN” camera. We will see how this camera will perform and how much it will eliminate the shortcomings of the initial E-P1 camera from Olympus.
In another move to further gain advantage over their competition, Olympus also announced a high-level lens roadmap. While not providing exact details, two zoom lenses will be released in 2010: a wide-angle and an “all-in-one” (from wide angle to medium telephoto range). Four more “speciality lenses” will follow in 2011 to round out their lens line-up: a fish-eye, a wide-angle prime, a macro and a super-telephoto.
Olympus micro 4/3 lens roadmap
Basically, Olympus tries to cover the entire range with 8 lenses. For traveling, the zooms might be most interesting. Assuming the quality is there, the “all-in-one” zoom might prove the best choice, maybe coupled with the wide-angle zoom. Or maybe the all-in-one coupled with some Zeiss, Leica or Voigtländer primes, if you have some or can find them used.
While time will tell how well Olympus will follow through on this announcement, one thing is clear already: They are doing a superb job wetting my appetite…
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We’ve written extensively about the new micro 4/3 standard. Why I think it might be the technology of choice for my ideal travel camera, why Panasonic will not win against Olympus despite having the better camera with the GF1 and why Leica has the best travel camera (although it’s not micro 4/3 based).
So it is exciting to see this morning’s announcement that Olympus followed up their E-P1 camera with a new Olympus E-P2. Rather than upgrading the firmware of the E-P1, Olympus redressed it as a new camera, which has better auto-focus performance, 720p video support in full manual mode, an accessory port to connect an electronic viewfinder or an external microphone, two new art filters and more….
Olympus E-P2 plus existing 17mm and 14-42mm lenses (image source: dpreview.com)
In addition, Olympus also announced two new lenses, the wide-angle zoom M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4-5.6 (35mm equivalent: 18-36mm) and the wide-angle to tele zoom M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4-5.6 (35mm equivalent: 28-300mm). They will be added to their existing 14-42mm and 17mm lens offerings.
Olympus micro 4/3 lens lineup
The E-P1 got dinged especially for its slow auto-focus performance. It will be interesting to see how much improvement Olympus made with the E-P2.
Availability: Early 2010
Price: $1099.99 for the kit (Olympus E-P2, electronic view finder and 14-42mm lens). No price yet for just the body.
As always, dpreview.com has a very detailed preview of the Olympus E-P2.
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Third update: Olympus released a firmware update to address the slow autofocus issue. Apparently, it significantly increased autofocus in well-lit areas, while still being slow in low-light situations. See also Thom Hogan’s home page photo of two lions that was shot with an Olympus E-P1 with the 14-42 zoom and his complaint about slow auto-focus when taking the photos.
Interestingly, the firmware update consists of two updates, one for the camera and one for the 17mm pancake lens. First time I can remember to have to do a firmware update to a lens!
Second Update: Our friends at Digital Outback Photo keep a diary on their experience with the Olympus E-P1. They also use a Gorillapod
Update: DPreview, probably the best site for “traditional” reviews, just published theirs on the Olympus E-P1. They gave it a Highly Recommended rating. In their words (and they say this much better than I could): “The E-P1 is one of those rare products in this mass-produced age that can provoke an emotional response in even the most jaded shooter, which is a tribute to the Olympus design team as much as a reflection of any pent-up desire for a new category to bridge the yawning gap between compact cameras and entry-level DSLRs [...] In fact the biggest question I’m left with looking at that list is why don’t I want to give this one back? Because in spite of – perhaps in a small way because of – the E-P1’s limitations (some of which could be solved with a much-needed firmware upgrade), it’s a camera that ticks an awful lot of boxes and fills an awfully big hole in the digital camera market. And it’s also a camera that is, literally, in a class of its own – at least for now.”
Let’s get this straight from the get-go: There is no ideal travel camera. Many people are happy with just their iPhone. Some would never travel without their medium format camera, tripod and dozens of pounds of gear. Me, I’m still looking for my ideal travel camera. But I might be getting closer.
Often, I simply take my DSLR and lenses with me. But that does not always work, esp. when traveling on business, where you have to be light-weight on your feet. For my photography interests (street scenes, panoramas, landscape, some wildlife), the iPhone is not an option except for taking snapshots in the streets. And a point & shoot is simply not good enough. Even the Canon G series, which I used to carry, is not it.
I don’t really need that much. A P&S form factor, but with an APS-C sensor (which you typically find in the entry-level DSLRs), interchangeable lenses, manual mode, optical viewfinder, good low-light performance and RAW mode. That’s it. I know I’m not alone in that regard – I have spoken to numerous other photographers who would also buy a system like this if it only existed.
The good news is: We are getting there. The one that probably comes closest right now is the new Olympus E-P1 (also known as the Olympus PEN). It is based on the micro 4/3 format, so the sensor is better than a typical p&s sensor. It has interchangeable lenses, although the lens offerings are thin at this time (but you can attach regular 4/3 lenses through an adaptor). RAW? Check. Manual mode? You bet. Good low-light performance? Yes. Optical viewfinder? Sadly, no. But I could live without it, esp. since I could use the HoodLoupe trick to generate an “optical viewfinder”.
Olympus E-P1 with (from the left) 17mm lens, 4/3 adaptor, viewfinder hot shoe attachment, flash and 14-42 kit lens
Ever since its announcement I have been pretty excited about it. And have been reading test results on the Net. No, not the pixel-peepers tests, but the every-day field tests. And it seems to do very well in these.
Some resources on field tests of the PE-1
Next step: Get my hands on one of them. If it only lives up to half of my expectations, I might have found my travel camera.
Price: $799 from Amazon
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