The Olympus Pen E-P1 announced on 16 June 2009 is Olympus Corporation's first camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard. The first camera to use the Micro Four Thirds mount was Panasonic's G-1 camera.

Features

The design of the camera is reminiscent of the

Olympus Pen The Pen, or PEN series is a brand of Olympus. It was used on analog half-frame compact and SLR models from 1959 until the early 1980s. In 2009, Olympus released the PEN E-P1, a digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, which opened the rang ...

half frame film cameras and is marketed as the Olympus digital PEN. The model presented on 16 June 2009 was very similar in looks to the

Olympus Pen F The Olympus Pen F, Pen FT and Pen FV are very similar half-frame 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras with interchangeable lenses produced by Olympus of Japan between 1963-1966 (Pen F), 1966-1972 (Pen FT) and 1967-1970 (Pen FV). The ori ...

. Initially, two micro 4/3 lenses were available from Olympus, one 14–42 mm f/3.5–5.6 zoom and a 17 mm f/2.8 pancake prime lens. Remarkably, with the exception of the optical viewfinder, the E-P1 seemed to fit most of the features found on the

Olympus E-620 The Olympus E-620 is a Four Thirds digital single-lens reflex camera from Olympus announced February 24, 2009. It combines features of the E-420 (smaller size), E-520 (image stabilization), and E-30 (new 12.3 MP sensor, slightly larger viewfi ...

, a larger

Four Thirds The Four Thirds System is a standard created by Olympus and Eastman Kodak for digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) and mirrorless camera design and development. The system provides a standard that, with digital cameras and lenses avail ...

system

DSLR A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...

, into the small, compact MFT form factor. In addition to Micro Four Thirds lenses, Olympus offers adapters allowing the use of Four Thirds lenses, or OM Zuiko lenses originally manufactured for use on the classic OM series of film SLR cameras that Olympus was famed for years ago. The E-P1 does not have a built-in optical or electronic viewfinder, but instead uses the large inch color "HyperCrystal" LCD on the back of the camera. The fixed LCD panel with anti-reflective coating presents a 100%

live preview Live preview is a feature that allows a digital camera's display screen to be used as a viewfinder. This provides a means of previewing framing and other exposure before taking the photograph. In most such cameras, the preview is generated by m ...

of the image as seen by the sensor. Olympus did offer an optional accessory hotshoe mounted optical viewfinder, the VF-1, that provided for a 17 mm lens angle of view The E-P1 auto focuses using contrast-detection. Other features include 720P30 video recording. with the ability to process the video in camera with different effects. In an interview, Mr Akira Watanabe, SLR Planning Department Manager for Olympus Imaging, said that for a number of reasons Micro Four Thirds was developed to meet the demands of those who wanted a DSLR, but without the size problems that come with one. The 17 mm f/2.8 pancake lens or the 14–42 mm f/3.5–5.6 zoom lens are of the Micro Four Thirds lens mount which means they are smaller than Four Thirds lenses which require an adapter to fit the Micro Four Thirds body. Several third-party manufacturers offer adapters for lenses of virtually all single-lens reflex and rangefinder systems, plus some cinema lenses. File:Bfishadow Olympus E-P1 back.jpg File:Bfishadow Olympus E-P1 bottom.jpg File:Bfishadow Olympus E-P1 top.jpg File:Bfishadow Olympus E-P1.jpg

Comparison with Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

At the time of the announcement of the Olympus E-P1, there was one other Micro Four Thirds camera on the market, the

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 was the first digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC) adhering to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard. The G1 camera is similar to the larger Four Thirds system format DSLR cameras, but replaces ...

. The two cameras materialize two very different concept, but both are built around a Four Thirds sized sensor and the Micro Four Thirds lens mount. The Panasonic G1's body is SLR-style, with the bump on the top of the camera, where the

pentaprism A pentaprism is a five-sided reflecting prism used to deviate a beam of light by a constant 90°, even if the entry beam is not at 90° to the prism. The beam reflects inside the prism ''twice'', allowing the transmission of an image through a r ...

is placed in SLR's, in the G1, it houses the

electronic viewfinder An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview ...

. the E-P1 does not have one, so it is almost flat, which makes it a

rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...

-style mirrorless camera. It is not only the styling though, the G1's ergonomics and handling are more like a DSLR camera. It has a much larger grip and dials and switches on the top, on the grip and a lot of buttons on the back and the top laid out loosely. The E-P1 has a smaller grip and a much tighter button layout. It has non-conventional controlling methods, like the mode dial, which is sunk in the top panel and controlled through the back, or one of the back dials, which is placed where usually the thumb is rested during the use of the camera. The E-P1 has a premium aluminium construction, the G1 is made out of plastic. In terms of features, the E-P1 offers more, which is not surprising, considering it started on $899 instead of $699. The E-P1 has a built-in 3 axis sensor stabilization system and video recording capabilities, 6400 maximum ISO, the G1 does not have any of these. However, the G1 has an adjustable angle display, an electronic viewfinder and a built-in flash.

Successor models

The E-P1 was replaced by the

Olympus PEN E-P2 The Olympus Pen E-P2 announced on 5 November 2009 is Olympus Corporation's second camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard. The E-P2 succeeds the Olympus Pen E-P1 a little over five months after the introductio ...

which was announced in November 2009 and complemented by the low-end Olympus PEN E-PL1.

References

External links

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Reviews

* * . {{Micro Four Thirds cameras Pen E-P1 Live-preview digital cameras Cameras introduced in 2009