• A Panasonic/Leica D Summilux 25mm/F1.4
• A Nikon Ai 135mm/F2.8 (and a Nikon to Four Third adapter)
• A Pentax SMC 50mm/F1.7 (and a Pentax to Four Third adapter)

The Look And feel It looks beautiful. The silver/black is a mix between a retro look and stylish contemporary object. I think the white/beige has the the retro look more accentuated.

Olympus E-P1 with Kit lens M.Zuiko 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6

It is robust with an all metal body (stainless steel and aluminum). The battery/card door feels particularly solid, miles away from flimsy plastic that I commonly see for either battery or card compartment on other cameras. It’s small and it feels dense and light at the same time. It’s not weatherproofed though.

Olympus E-P1 with Kit lens M.Zuiko "Pancake" 17mm/F2.8

The E-P1 is pocket-able. I also have an Olympus E-420, the smallest DSLR in the world which I can fit properly in only 1 outdoor jacket. I had no problem fitting the E-P1 with 17mm pancake lens mounted in my trousers’ pockets and I can see it will fit in most of my jackets’ external pocket. It won’t fit in my jeans though. It also looks good around the neck. Interestingly whether the E-P1 is mounted with is native diminutive lenses or with my Four Third lenses, the feel in the hands is good. It’s just the handling that differs: With the Micro Four Third Kit lenses, I tend to hold the camera with both hands, one on each side while with the heavier Four Third lenses, I tend to hold the camera with the right hand and the lens with the left hand. Customizing the camera My main camera is an Olympus E-30, and with the E-P1 I felt right at home in term of customization. It was no problem setting up thumb focusing ( the AFL/AEL button  is used for focusing and the shutter half-press is  for locking metering). In short, the E-P1 is as highly customizable as the E-30 is and it’s done the same way with one minor twist: On the E-P1, the customization menu is deactivated by default. You will have to enable it in  the settings (spanner) menu. Is it to answer those  who complained that Olympus DSLR’s menus are too complicated? Also the left arrow of the D-pad is customizable. It’s good but I wished Olympus  added all the choices allowed in the [fn] button’s customization as choices for the left arrow. As it stands now, the only choice that can be assigned to either [fn] or left-arrow is the back-lit LCD switch. Using the camera The traditional (to Olympus DSLR users) Super Panel that allows easy viewing and change of most settings on Olympus DSLR is still there albeit 1 button push away. That’s because the E-P1 favors  another metaphor for quickly changing settings: It has 2 icon-based menus each controlled by one of the 2 dials. The vertical menu is for selecting  a function while the horizontal menu is to select the desired setting for the selected function. It’s apparently common on other cameras (Canon, Panasonic). I’m not fluent enough with it to say how efficient it is but that quick access menus and the super panel have different design goal and they seem complementary. Having them both is a very good thing. In playback mode, I was afraid that the delete button in the middle of the others will be confusing and error-prone, but it’s not. There’s enough spacing between the four buttons and I actually prefer this to the position of the delete button on the E-30 where it’s far away on the bottom left forcing you to use more of the left hand. That’s neat. I also like the cylinder-shaped sub dial. It’s very usable.  I needed a bit more time getting used to the circular main dial but got it at the end. Also the shortcuts assigned to the D-pad arrow keys for AF, ISO, WB and Sequential shooting are very useful and replace the need for dedicated buttons as seen on high end bulky DSLR. Street Photography

Shot on E-P1 with PL 25mm, 60/5.6, ISO 200, -0.7 exposure bias.

With its compactness it is quite low profile, especially with the 17mm pancake lens mounted and the shutter is quieter  than the one of my E-30, but not silent. The wide angle of view of the LCD  allows shooting not far from the hip (not quite shooting from the hip though, you would need an articulated LCD for that) I also think the white/beige version of the E-P1 will attract more attention. A potential black version would be even better than the silver/black in this area. One nice touch with the pancake lens is the lens cap. I have the Zuiko 25mm pancake lens that I use on the E-420. It has a screw-on lens and that was annoying. They’ve fixed it on the 17mm lens by using a normal clip-on lens cap. General performance observations Based on my experience on live view on Olympus DSLRs, I was a bit worried about the performance and elegance of the live view operations. It turns out to be the good surprise: focusing was not bad even with the Leica Four Third lens. I found the auto-focus much faster than the Live View on E-30. Face detection has always felt like a gadget to me, overlooking it probably partly (mainly?) because it only make sense in a live view mode, which I don’t use that much when you’ve got a viewfinder and live view is clunky. On the E-P1 however, it’s very quick and it shortens the time to auto-focus when shooting people impromptu. I can see situations where it’s useful. Shutter lag was minimal but existent. Manual focus and shooting with non-native lenses

Olympus E-P1, Olympus MMF-1 adapter, Panasonic/Leica D Summilux 25mm/F1.4

One new feature of the E-P1 is  image enlargement triggered by the touch of the focus ring. You don’t have to cycle several times through ‘info’ and click ‘Ok’ like on  the E-420 and E-30. It works very well with the M.Zuiko 17mm and M.Zuiko 14-42mm  Kit lenses. It doesn’t work quite well with the Panasonic/Leica D Summilux 25mm: the slightest touch/pressure on the lens trigger the magnification which is annoying. I don’t know if it’s because I’m holding the lens or that on Leica/Panasonic lenses, the focus ring is close to the base or firmware incompatibility between the lens and camera. In [S-AF+MF], auto focus will reset the magnification, but it will come back as soon as you start shooting again. Maybe a future firmware upgrade on  the lens and/or the camera will fix this issue. I didn’t check if the Zuiko 11-22mm shows the same behaviour. I have the feeling that it works for the Kit lenses because we don’t have to hold them. Apart from this manual focus problem, The Leica/Panasonic 25mm/F1.4 (it has the latest firmware) performs very well on the E-P1 and behaves similarly as on the E-30. I’ve also tested the E-P1 with my old Nikon and Pentax manual focus lenses.

Olympus E-P1, Olympus MMF-1 adapter, Nikon F to 4/3 adapter, Nikon Ai 135mm/F2.8

It works. It is remarkable given there are two layers of adapters involved (Nikon/Pentax to Four Third and Four Third to Micro Four Third)! The metering works, manual focusing works but not the focus ring triggered magnification. It’s a pity, these are the lenses where this feature is the most useful.  With Four Third and Micro Four Third I will be auto-focusing most the time.  I guess it’s because this feature require a tight coupling at software level between the lens and the body. Also, there’s no focus confirmation. That said, I don’t know at this stage, if it’s a limitation of the camera, the four third adapter or the other adapter used on top of the Four third adapter. Finally, like on the E-30 it’s possible for non Four Third/Micro Four Third lenses to benefits from the sensor-based image stabilization by registering the focal length of the legacy lens. It’s worth noting that there are several adapters for Micro Four Third (with a bias toward Leica to micro Four third) so there’s no need to go through two layers of adapters. Olympus also sells an adapter (MF-2) for legacy OM lenses while Cosina is selling an adapter for some Voigtländer, Carl Zeiss and Leica lenses. Like my adapters, they don’t have any optical elements: image quality is not compromised but it’s all manual focus. Sample images taken with Panasonic/Leica D Summilux 25mm/F1.4 This is the lens I’ve used the most on the E-P1 on Sunday. It’s normally the default lens on my E-30.

Shot on E-P1 with PL25mm, 125/5.6, ISO200, -0.7 exposure bias

Shot on E-P1 with PL 25mm at 200/1.4, ISO 800, -0.3 exposure bias

Shot on E-P1 with PL 25mm at 50/5.6, ISO 200

For this shot I’ve activated face detection and it detected the faces of the the two statues correctly Sample image taken with Pentax SMC 50mm/F1.7 This manual lens is very hard to focus with on the E-30, it’s still very hard to focus on the E-P1. It’s on the soft side, but I like the out-of-focus background

shot on E-P1 with Pentax 50mm at 4000/1.7, ISO 200, -1 Exposure bias

Sample image taken with Nikon Ai 135mm/F2.8 My second favourite lens. Despite being manual, it’s quite easy to focus with it as the focus ring travels quite far. It looks and feels good on the E-P1. I normally use it for gigs shots.

shot on E-P1 with Nikon 135mm, 640/2.8, ISO 200, -0.3 exposure bias

E-system sweetness The E-P1 packs many features that I have and like in the (much bigger, heavier) E-30:

• SuperSonicWaveFilter (an automated sensor dust removal system that really works)
• An electronic 2-dimensional level gauge
• Sensor-based image stabilization in both directions (and customizable)
• Arts filters (artistic effects applied at shooting time)

The art filters work like in the E-30 and also applies to video. The level gauges are better implemented than in the live view of the E-30 (both gauges appears when you focus, while in the E-30, only the horizontal gauge appears in the viewfinder, and when using live view, you have to cycle through the various display mode) Battery, Audio, Video, Tripod use The battery didn’t last long. After a morning of use (including multiple use of video with sound), the battery ran flat. It’s the same battery used in E-4xx/E-6xx camera. Shooting HD video was easy. You can shoot video in Programme, Aperture or Art filter mode. I had trouble finding how to select the aperture in aperture mode though and the sound of me manipulating the camera is recorded too. The audio part of video recording is of very high quality (as Olympus borrowed  technologies from its high end audio recorder). I was impressed. There’s a limit in the duration or size of  a sequence. The sequences tend to have a huge size. The video quality is superb. It’s also worth noting that sensor-based image stabilization is replaced by an digital image stabilization when using the video mode. A better alternative if serious about using video would be to mount the Panasonic 14-140mm HD lens on the E-P1: It has lens-based optical image stabilization, silent operation and  just had its firmware updated to work with the E-P1. The ability to use art filters for video recording is very neat, but I’ve been told  the frame rate (normally 30fps) drops sharply with some of the filters (saw it  happenning a bit with the  soft focus filter) Looking at the bottom of the camera, It is obvious that once mounted on a tripod, you cannot change the battery or the card. Also there’s no external DC socket. But again, that isn’t the main usage the camera was designed for. I’d keep my  E-30 for tripod and studio shoot. Kit lenses and optional optical viewfinder The 17mm pancake has an optical viewfinder supplied with it that roughly cover the same angle view of the lens.  I suppose  each prime lens Olympus will develop will be supplied with its own viewfinder? That’s going be an organizational challenge for heavy user of prime lenses. Having started photography with P&S and bridge camera before moving to SLRs  I’ve got no problem shooting with an LCD screen and I actually favours it. Also I don’t like  electronic viewfinders (EVF)  and I’m glad there isn’t one on this camera: EVFs have got all the wrong of LCD and optical VF but none of their good. Also, the lack of internal optional viewfinder allowed the small form factor which matters to me. The Panasonic LX3, Sigma DP-1/DP-2 are following the same approach which I think makes for a better tool. The 17mm pancake is very small, not dissimilar to the 25mm Four Third pancake lens. The aperture is the same (F2.8) which is moderately fast. The image quality is very good.

Shot on E-P1 with17mmat 1250/5.6, ISO 200, -0.7 exposure bias

The 14-42mm Kit Zoom Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 looks and behaves like a kit zoom lens. It has on trick up its sleeve though: It’s collapsible. The lens extend beyond the original size when its used and comes back to its original size when not used and locked. It’s easy to use but feels  a bit “cheap” compared to the body. Sample image with the Kit Zoom lens:

Shot on E-P1 with 14-42mm at 15mm, 160/F5.6, ISO 200, -1 exposure bias

Conclusion The E-P1 is an extraordinary camera. I really love it: It’s like a dream come true. Which photographer hasn’t dream of a camera combining the quality of professional DSLR , the flexibility of interchangeable lenses into a compact body? It is small enough to be taken on holidays as well as at social events where big DSLRs are no-go yet it packs features seen on high end DSLRs and with image quality that equals theirs. Additionally it’s a better street photography tool and the art filters I have started to enjoy on the E-30 are still there for me to use. The price  reflects its uniqueness. Subsequent models will likely be less expensive. Agreed it doesn’t have articulated LCD, but that’s partially compensated by the compactness and the wide angle of view. I can live with that. It’s also not so good on tripod, and not top of the class for shooting sports or wildlife, but these are the usages for which I bought the E-30 in first place and for which the E-30 is the best at. I see the E-P1 as an ideal companion and backup camera. Finally I’d like to thank Ghene Snowdon for providing me with the camera and for modeling for me. Things I haven’t tried

• adding audio comments to images
• there’s an e-portrait mode that smooths the skin
• the i-Auto mode that selects the appropriate shooting mode
• like the E-30, you’ve got a  multi-exposure for overlaying several images
• RAW development
• continuous shooting and the multitude of bracketing options
• high ISO (3200, 6400)
• off camera flash photography
• more Four third lens tests
• art filters in detail

Areas that need improvements

• the LCD  is just usable under sunlight, it could be better
• battery life is on the short side
• the My Mode feature is not usable for me as I have to choose for the [fn] button between My Mode and One-touch white balance (same problem as in E-30)
• responsiveness and quietness of the shutter could be better

What I like on the E-P1

• the small size is perfect (please Olympus keep it that small in future iterations!)
• same feature-set as on the top of the range Olympus DSLR, the  E-30
• image quality is very good
• high ISO looks better than on any camera I’ve used before
• support a multitude of lenses from any make and ages,  directly or through first party, second party or third party adapter(s) (potential for E-P1 to be the “Universal” body)
• HD video with support for art filters,  good audio and easy play back on a computer
• good ergonomics for the size
• use of SD instead of xD for memory card (at last)
• build quality is excellent and it feels dense despite lightness
• auto focus with all lenses I tried is fast enough for me
• it’s the most aesthetically pleasing camera I’ve seen

UPDATE 29/08: I bought mine (the white one) on Amazon UK  and most of the configurations are available:

• Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Camera (14-42mm Silver Lens Kit) – Silver
• Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Camera (14-42mm Black Lens Kit) – Silver
• Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Camera (14-42mm Black & 17mm Silver Pancake Lenses & VF-1 External Optical View Finder Kit) – Silver
• Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Camera (17mm Silver Pancake Lens & VF-1 External Optical View Finder Kit) – White
• Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Camera (14-42mm Silver Lens Kit) – White

Links of interests

• What is Micro Four Third
• Dpreview preview of the E-P1
• Imaging-Resources preview of the E-P1
• Biofos preview of the E-P1
• Developing E-P1 RAW