Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
The Olympus EP-1 has become an exceedingly popular camera. Besides the mass amounts of media coverage that one sees/reads, they’re very hard to get your hands on as the units move very fast. But besides being able to take pictures, this camera and its relative the Panasonic GH1 shoot video: good quality video too. One of the criticisms of the system is not having lots of lenses available for the system. That criticism is very, very untrue. [Read more…]
Advanced Imaging Pro has an interesting article on Kodak’s latest developments in sensor manufacturing. This was found via Flickr, which alludes to the possibility of a PMOS sensor.
The new PMOS apparently a new take on CMOS pixels and how they work on a camera sensor. In the Kodak PMOS the underlying polarity of the silicon is reversed, so the absence of electrons is used to detect a signal. This works the opposite way that normal pixels work: which instead detects electrons that are generated when light interacts with the sensor surface.
In addition to this, a new CCD sensor is being developed that, according to Samsung (as noted in the article), only uses 1/10th of the power that a regular CCD sensor uses: which means an insanely long battery life.
For current Olympus (and Panasonic) users, you can be glad to hear that the new sensors are focused on low-light photography, speed and HD video capabilities. However, we can still only just wait to see the results. When the Live MOS sensor was released it promised better low-light capabilities. In truth, it couldn’t match the capabilities of Canon or Nikon. Further, that isn’t a totally fair statement because of the fact that the sensor is smaller in size.
The new PMOS sensor could be what we see in the higher end pro camera models.
The Olympus EP-1 has received tremendous amounts of press since its release as the camera is truly the digital rangefinder that many people have been looking for. However, according to the British Journal of Photography via Photo Rumors there is both a pro Pen camera and a lower grade Pen camera in development.
I shot the above photo at last year’s PhotoPlus Expo. It was the prototype of the EP-1, or at least it was supposed to be. Olympus said that it was the prototype of their Micro 4/3rds camera. However, they never said which one it was a prototype for. Could it possibly be the one that will be aimed more towards consumers? [Read more…]
Pocket-Lint has posted a first look review of the Olympus E-P1.
The Olympus E-P1 is a true hybrid, falling into the space between compact and DSLR. It is distinctly different in its offering and may, for some, be appealing as a result
For more news and reviews, stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Olympus E-P1 Reviews and Resources.
Wired UK has posted a hands-on report of the new Olympus E-P1.
Its technical proficiency makes this a very good camera. What makes it great is its sense of style, which leaves an SLR feeling clunky by comparison.
For more news and reviews, stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Olympus E-P1 Reviews and Resources.
The Olympus E-P1 should be available soon for hands-on treatment; however, you can ensure you are at the front of the line by pre-ordering the new Micro Four Thirds camera at several reputable online retailers. Check out the availability below, then hit the poll at the bottom to weigh in on whether you’d pick up the E-P1 as your personal camera of choice. The following retailers are trustworthy and, notably, accepting pre-orders for the Olympus E-P1.
After almost a year of teasing and “news”, Olympus has finally unveiled it’s first Micro Four Thirds camera, the Olympus E-P1. The new E-P1 features a 12.3 megapixel sensor and offers users the ability to switch lenses. It has no mirror box between the lens and the image sensor, so it is effectively a full time live view camera. Because of the sensor size in Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Olympus E-P1 has a 2x crop factor applied to lens focal lengths. As a result, a 14mm focal length on the E-P1 is effectively equivalent to the angle of view of a 28mm lens on a 35mm or full frame camera. The Olympus E-P1 carries a retail price of $749 (body only), $799 (w/ 14-42mm lens), and $899 (w/ 17mm lens and external viewfinder) and should be available for purchase in July 2009.
Check availability on Amazon.com.
For additional details, see the press release below. [Read more…]
Purportedly, this is the back panel of the coming Olympus E-P1. You can’t really glean a whole lot from this pic, other than it appears to have normal digital camera functions. Photo Rumors breaks down what they think all these buttons mean.
Nothing to see here. Move along now.
[via Photo Rumors]
PhotographyBLOG has posted a review of the Olympus E-620.
The Olympus E-620 offers the most effective combination of features, ease-of-use and price of any Olympus DSLR camera to date, and it’s also a real contender for the Best Mid-Range DSLR crown.
For more news and reviews, check out Photography Bay’s Olympus E-620 Reviews and Resources.
The Olympus E-P1 is a 12.3 megapixel quasi-compact camera that offers users the ability to switch lenses. It has no mirror box between the lens and the image sensor, so it is effectively a full time live view camera. Because of the sensor size in Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Olympus E-P1 has a 2x crop factor applied to lens focal lengths. As a result, a 14mm focal length on the E-P1 is effectively equivalent to the angle of view of a 28mm lens on a 35mm or full frame camera.
The Olympus E-P1 is the camera many enthusiasts have been waiting for.
They have delivered a game-changing camera that may not be for everybody but if the size, shape, and ability to use so many different kinds of lenses, from Olympus and many others appeals to you, as it does to me, you’ll want an E-P1.
Detail is very good and with around two to three stops of exposure and detail headroom in the RAWs there’s plenty of extra detail to pull out of shadows and highlights if you need to.
It surpasses the E-620, offering a leap forward in low-light performance, so much so that the E-P1 is the first Four Thirds camera to offer comparable quality to an APS-C DSLR, despite the smaller sensor size. Olympus have certainly made real strides here.
After examining my 900 images and dozens of HD video clips, I can confirm that the E-P1 and M. Zuiko lenses live up to their full potential.
Well, I was won over by the image quality and that at the end of the day is probably the single most important factor and so makes this a camera one I cannot help but recommend.
So far we think that the image quality is nice and likely even better than the E-620 (and we like using E-620 a lot).
The Olympus E-P1 is an otherwise excellent enthusiast compact camera hampered by some performance problems and the lack of a viewfinder and built-in flash.
I was very pleased with the image quality from the E-P1’s 12.3-megapixel Live MOS imager and TruePic V imager processor.
Image quality is excellent – with excellent colour, and good levels of saturation and contrast with excellent detail. Noise levels were very low and provided useable ISO1600 (and possibly higher) – with less colour noise than even the Canon 450D, and provided much better detail from the Olympus kit lens, than the Canon’s kit lens.
As for things like focussing, The E-P1 makes use of 11-point focus system which worked well under our tests, albeit a tad sluggish.
Pocket-Lint (first look review)
The Olympus E-P1 is a true hybrid, falling into the space between compact and DSLR. It is distinctly different in its offering and may, for some, be appealing as a result
Wired UK (hands-on report)
Its technical proficiency makes this a very good camera. What makes it great is its sense of style, which leaves an SLR feeling clunky by comparison.