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I recently got the opportunity to try out the new Olympus E-P1. It’s the newest camera from Olympus that they describe as “not a point and shoot and not an SLR.†It’s supposed to be the best of both worlds. I figured the best place to try out the new camera would be on my recent visit to the Being Erica set.
Now, I don’t consider myself some sort of camera pro, but I’ve been taking pictures for pretty much my entire life and I usually love to take advantage of all of the camera’s features. And the Olympus has some cool features: Recording in HD Video and playing the Art-filters are some of my favourites.
The image quality of the camera was really impressive, especially when I was taking pictures outside or when I had great lighting. Here are two pictures, one of me and the Gemini-nominee Michael Riley (Being Erica’s Dr. Tom.) and the other of the Museum subway stop.
Unfortunately, I ran into a problem when it came to many of the indoor shots. Mostly because the Olympus EP-1 doesn’t come with any type of flash, either add-on or built-in. While I’m not opposed to buying a flash for a camera, you can’t really compare it to a point & shoot, if you don’t have a built-in flash. At the very least, they should give you an add-on flash, if you are going to be reviewing it. Sure I could have adjusted the ISO levels, but when you are taking pictures of television stars, they don’t always have time to wait around for you to adjust light levels on your camera. Because I didn’t have the flash, many of my pictures turned out blurry.
Another negative would be the limitations of the zoom lens they provided. The ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens really limits the distance in which you can capture images. However, this is easily fixed with a more powerful zoom.
Aside from the flash issue, I really liked how compact the obviously powerful camera was, especially for how small the camera is. It features all the same components, but it fit nicely in my trendy, yet fashionable murse. I also found all the controls and functions very easy to learn. It only took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to some really nice pictures.
If you are like me and you are getting sick of the limitations that come with a point & shoot, it might be worth checking out the Olympus, just know that you are prices of the add on costs, definitely make it more of an SLR than a point and shoot.
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Here is one last picture that I took in Dundas Square. Who doesn’t love an ironically placed billboard, right?
