One from yesterday. It’s quite difficult do get good results in post-processing when the lighting isn’t ideal. The slightest bit too bright or too dark (or the wrong color temperature, for that matter), and I don’t get the pix to look right. Add to this that I was tired from the heat today … I hope it looks decent, anyway.
"The chain" | Olympus E-P1 + Lumix 20/1.7 @ f/1.8, 1/125 sec, ISO 200
Yesterday and today I was shooting the Olympus again – I’m currently giving the Leica a few days off 
I was pretty annoyed by the unreliable autofocus that wouldn’t focus on anything I pointed it at. Hell, I was more precise with that shifting Nokton! (Okay, that was a bit exaggerated, but I am spoiled by the M8′s rangefinder’s accuracy …)
There are two new reviews and one article worth reading, all dealing with either MFT or Leica cameras, or both.
First, Mike Zawadzki from Unique Photo has done an extensive review of the Olympus E-PL1, comparing it to two entry-level DLSRs and one advanced point-and-shoot. The result: the E-PL1 is the clear winner. Read his review to find out why.
Then, DCWatch have published their take on the Leica X1. As always, they have lots of nice pictures (worth taking a look at) paired with cryptic, Japanese-to-English Google translated comments.
And finally, Steve Huff has written an article on his “two favorite Digital Cameras ever!” (mind the exclamation mark) – the Olympus E-PL1 and the Leica M9. An interesting essay on two simple and effective, yet substantially different photographic tools.
Buy the Olympus E-PL1 digital camera from B&H Photo Video Audio!
Buy the Leica X1 digital camera from B&H Photo Video Audio!
Buy the Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera from B&H Photo Video Audio!
dpreview have posted their (as always) long-awaited E-PL1 review!
The camera is out of question for me as its interface has been significantly dumbed down, but it is obvious that it outputs cleaner and sharper results than the E-P1 at any given ISO setting. As RAW noise is stronger than with the E-P1 (due to the lighter AA filter), the JPEG enginde must have been tweaked and seems to be doing a very good job! (In fact, dpreview didn’t manage to get better results with ACR!)
dpreview have taken the time and tested the autofocusing performance of the E-PL1 with the latest firmware update for Olympus’ PEN series. Their result: The E-PL1 with firmware 1.1 is on par with the Panasonic G1 when used with the M.Zuiko 14-42/3.5-5.6 kit zoom, and about 20% faster than the E-P2 with firmware 1.0. Paired with Panasoic’s kit zoom, the Lumix G 14-45/3.5-5.6, the E-PL1 focuses another 20% faster.
You can read the full article here.
This gives hope that the E-P1 and E-P2 also perform considerably better with the new firmware. Also, this means that the PENs’ focusing slowness is for a big part due to the kit lens’ slow focusing mechanism, as the overall performance now seems to be on par (or at least close to) that of the Panasonic models.
Sadly, I couldn’t find my USB connector cable (YAY for proprietary connectors …) this morning, so I had no chance to perform the update on my E-P1 myself yet. But since my Lumix 20/1.7 is still with Panasonic, I can take the time and wait until a new cable arrives from eBay …
Via dcresource.com. Today, Olympus announced an upcoming firmware update for their three digital PEN cameras, the E-P1, E-P2 and E-PL1. The update will improve autofocus speed with all MFT lenses, according to the press release, while dcresource speak of “about 15%”. The update will be released on April 22nd.
Well, I guess that’s good news, isn’t it? I just happened to read a post in the dpreview Micro Four Thirds Talk forum mentioning that eventually Olympus will catch up with Panasonic in terms of AF speed. So this is probably another step in that direction. I’m excited to see how much improvement the fw update will actually bring!
UPDATE: imagingresource feature an exhaustive article with speed charts and tech-talk on the topic, don’t miss it!
And another thought: I sincerely hope this or one of the next fw updates brings some of the enhancements of the E-P2 and E-PL1 to the E-P1 – like the new art filters or the better high-ISO performance, provided this is even possible via firmware.
July 4th, 2010, 9:17 pm | 
