efix:photography - News. Thoughts. Pictures. » e-pl1

Building the perfect BUDGET Micro Four Thirds kit

efix — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:05:05 +0000

Steve Huff recently published an article titled “Building the perfect Micro 4/3 Camera kit for under $2500“, in which he talks about his favourite Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses and where to get them. While his “perfect kit”, consisting of an Olympus E-P3, Zuiko 12/2, Panasonic Lumix 20/1.7, Zuiko 45/1.8 and the VF-2 viewfinder, is certainly a killer combo, it also comes with a killer price tag – US-$ 2,697.85 if you buy from B&H Photo.

Not all of us have that much money to spend, [...]

B&H deals o’ the day

efix — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:12:26 +0000

As you may know, I’m partaking in B&H Photo’s affiliation programme in order to cover the cost for running this website. This site is a pure spare-time job of which I’m not making (and don’t intend to make) any money. However, I have to pay for running this site, and you can help me do so by using my links to B&H whenever you plan to purchase something camera related, a product mentioned in one of my posts or anything from B&H’s product range.

Anyway, I just received an email from B&H telling me about the latest deals, and [...]

Photkina 2010: A report in pictures

efix — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 13:02:04 +0000

As I previously announced, yesterday I spent the day visiting photokina 2010 in Cologne, and I brought back with me a huge load of impressions, pictures of latest models, of prototypes, and other stuff. So without much ado, here’s my report on the fair — by manufacturer, in alphabetic order.

Photokina 2010 south entrance

General impressions from the fair will be posted in a seperate gallery soon.

CAUTION! Massive amount of pictures ahead! Make sure your connection is fast enough, and that you have enough time!

Canon

The biggest players — Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung and [...]

Leica vs. MFT: Two reviews, one article

efix — Mon, 31 May 2010 11:30:29 +0000

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 [...]

E-PL1 reviewed by dpreview

efix — Tue, 18 May 2010 10:50:02 +0000

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!)

Olympus PEN firmware update tested by dpreview

efix — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:57:23 +0000

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 [...]

Olympus promise better AF performance with upcoming PEN fw update

efix — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:53:02 +0000

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 [...]

It’s review day! (Quick roundup)

efix — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:29:28 +0000

Today seems to be review day. Nice!

dpreview have posted their long-awaited review of the Samsung NX10. DCWatch have posted their review of the Leica M9. And finally, Steve Huff has posted his review of the Olympus E-PL1 (titled “The best JPEG camera EVER?”).

Interestingly, Steve loves the E-PL1′s JPEG output so much he doesn’t even think of shooting RAW, and also he says he prefers the Olympus 17/2.8 over the Panasonic 20/1.7 on the E-PL1.

A quick hands-on experience with the new Olympus E-PL1

efix — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:57:56 +0000

Yesterday I took the time to slander* stroll through a local electronics store after work, and stumbled across the new E-PL1 in black which they had on display. I couldn’t resist but take it in my hands and fiddle around with it a bit

So these are my first impressions, comparing it to my E-P1:

Although the shell is made from plastic and not from metal (as the E-P1′s), the E-PL1 feels very solid. The more pronounced grip makes it a bit easier to hold than the E-P1/2. The slightly smaller display is still [...]

UPDATED: Olympus E-PL1 reviewed by dcresource / previewed by Steve Huff

efix — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 08:45:05 +0000

dcresource have posted their full review of Olympus’ latest baby-MFT camera, the E-PL1. If you’re eager to learn how it handles, performs and compares to its bigger siblings, then you can read their review here.

Interestingly they like the E-PL1′s image quality better than the E-P1/2′s, especially at high ISOs. If Olympus didn’t give the PL1 a new sensor, this can only mean they tweaked the JPEG engine. What I can say from sample shots I saw is that the E-PL1 seems to be heavier on noise reduction and sharpening to create more ‘consumer-friendly’ output. [...]