Olympus' latest Micro Four Thirds camera, the E-PL1, is a much more complete offering than its previous efforts. How do we know? Because Rich Trenholm said so in this video, and what he says goes.
GASP in awe as Rich demonstrates how the E-PL1 won't fit in his trouser pocket! THRILL as he pops out the alarmingly shonky-looking flash! SWOON at the knowingly retro looks! (Note: the camera is also knowingly retro-looking.)
We envy you, dear reader, because you've got a treat in store. You really have. Hit play and let the good times roll.
I'm Rich Trenholm of CNET UK, and I'm holding the Olympus E-PL1. It's the latest, and by far the most affordable, of the Micro Four Thirds Pen camera line-up, following Olympus' E-P1 and E-P2 cameras. It's also the first to include a built-in flash.
Micro Four Thirds is a lens format that pairs dSLR power with point-and-shoot size and lets you swap lenses even on cameras as small as this bad boy. To change lenses, you simply press this button and take the lens off, exactly as you would with a traditional SLR. The difference is that in here, there's no moving mirror mechanism, which means the whole thing can be smaller.
Micro Four Thirds cameras are still coat pocket rather than trouser pocket, but the E-PL1 is substantially smaller than most dSLRs. Controls are easy to get to grips with, based on the simple control layout of a compact camera. A new 'live guide' feature even dishes out shooting tips for beginners right there on the screen. Even the more advanced options, like aperture and exposure, can be altered with easy-to-understand sliders. Clever photo effects like tilt-shift can be added at the touch of a button, even to pictures you've already taken. But our favourite thing is the the ability to preview how much the background of your shot will be artily blurred.
The E-PL1 reigns in the pleather-look retro aesthetic of the other Pen cameras, but it's still nicely nostalgic. The most obvious new feature is the built-in flash, which the other Pen camera are missing. It has adjustable levels, so you can dial the flash down to suit the lighting.
A happy side-effect of the built-in flash is that there's now one less thing competing to use the camera's hotshoe. Like the E-P1 and E-P2, the E-PL1 lacks a viewfinder, and if you don't want to compose shots on the 2.7inch screen then you need to stick a separate electronic viewfinder in the hotshoe. With the E-PL1, you can choose to have a viewfinder and a flash at the same time. If you're in the mood for a movie, you can choose to slot a stereo microphone in there instead. Movies are high definition 720p at 30 frames per second, with a dedicated video record button.
The E-P1 and E-P2 looked gorgeous, but were missing some key features. Where they felt like pretty novelties, the E-PL1 actually feels like a complete camera. I'm Rich Trenholm of CNET UK, and that was the Olympus E-PL1.
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