Shooting the Olympus PEN E-PL1

Mon 19 & Tues 20 July 2010

*All images shown are unedited and taken by the Olympus PEN E-PL1

After being poisoned by my photo colleagues, I graduated from a compact to buy the Canon 450D. Excellent decision but sad to say, I'm still using the programme mode as I have problems understanding the technicalities of camera speak. No idea how to work the camera in manual mode.

While I absolutely love my 450D (it's so easy to take 'professional-looking' pics! Esp at night), I have a few issues - size & bulk - it's rather cumbersome to lug about, especially when I'm getting active & dirty, & imagine bringing it on a night out to the club! People think I'm a pro coz of the size and god help everytime I ask a stranger to take a pic for me. Seeing that DSLRs are everywhere these days, you would think at least half wud know how to work it.

I’ve resigned to the fact that I can’t get the best of both worlds so each time I travel, I take both — my waterproof Olympus compact (which sucks by the way but the tech guys there are working on it as they've encountered some glitches so we'll see how the performance is when I get it back) and my 450D.

Then Toh said Olympus is organising a Media trip to test their new PEN series, the Olympus PEN E-PL1, a hybrid of sorts between the DSLR & the compact. It falls under a new system introduced last year (Olympus first in June 2009, Panasonic a few weeks later. Sony introduced it this year i think) called the mirrorless cameras.

What they did is take out the mirror used in DSLRs so the camera can be built small but retained the sensor size which is similar to the DSLR so the images taken are somewhat similar. Basically they are saying hey, here's a cam that can take DSLR quality images in a compact size.

The star of the trip - the Olympus PEN E-PL1

Olympus took us to several places over a period of two days to experience first-hand, what their cameras are capable off. I was given the Olympus E-PL1 with the M.14-42mm f/3.5 -5.6 kit lens while others from camera magazines were given the higher spec E-P1 and E-P2 models. L stands for Light apparently.

The new cameras also allow users the option of changing lenses. Olympus has the M.14-150mm f/4.0- 5.6 as well as the M.9-18mm f/4.0-5.6, and two more lenses will be introduced within the year. You can also use lenses from Panasonic.

Professional photographer David Chua was also at hand to share with us his experience with the camera.

Singaporean (but currently residing in Malaysia) David Chua

I found the camera very easy to use because of its iAuto mode, which decides all the settings for you. The Live Guide feature allows you to change the effects of your picture in live time, so it’s really easy for the novice to understand how the camera works.

Instead of fiddling around with the aperture to create depth-of-field, for example, there’s a slider that asks you if you want the background to be blur or sharp. You can adjust exposure by using the slider to make the picture brighter or darker. If you don’t understand confusing shutter speeds, the slider shows you how to "stop motion" or "blur motion". You can try it for yourself at http://www.evolvewitholympus.com.my/.

My enthusiasm increased when David passed me the telephoto M.14-150mm f/4.0- 5.6. The zoom is simply amazing! Really like this photo I took from quite the far away.

Taken with the telephoto M.14-150mm f/4.0- 5.6 lens

Another thing I absolutely love about the camera are its in-built art filters, which allows you achieve creative effects without having to spend time tinkering with the images in the computer.

The Pop Art mode gives bright colours, creating striking and colourful images; Soft Focus gives images a dreamy quality; Grainy Film produces grainy, high-contrast monochrome pictures; Pin Hole (my favourite) gives images a playful touch, as if taken by a toy camera. Diorama changes the scene you snap to that of a miniature model; Gentle Sepia creates deep dark shadows and soft contrasts for a classy atmosphere. All my art filter images turned out like professional shots every time.

Pin Hole effect


Diorama effect

Diorama effect

Pop Art effect

Grainy Film - B&W effect

Gentle Sepia effect

It's not that great in low light but passable la. Still love my 450D for night shots. Here's the best I could get in the cave without flash.

Taken under low light without flash

Normal mode

Oh, and my bestest bestest favouritest shot of all :

Taken with Pop Art filter using the telephoto lens

I don't need to waste 3K++ but soooo gatal wanna get the zoom lens one. Sigh... damn these marketing & PR people! :P Anyone wanna buy me one?? Or you can donate towards the 'Buy Joleen an Olympus' fund....

Olympus is organising a series of intensive four-hour workshops throughout the country for the public to try out for themselves, the functions of the PEN series. Olympus PEN owners are charged RM30 while non-owners are charged RM70. Check their website http://www.olympus.com.my/ for schedule.

E-PL1with M.14-42mm f/3.5 -5.6 lens @ RM2,499
E-PL1 with M.14-150mm f/4.0- 5.6 lens @RM 3,899
M.9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 lens @ RM2,499