Olympus E-P5 Flash

Coverage and Range
A weak flash with narrow coverage.

Coverage and Exposure. Flash coverage was uneven, but some of the fall-off shown above is due to shading in the lens itself. In our standard Indoor Portrait flash test, the Olympus E-P5 underexposed our subject even with maximum flash exposure compensation. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced much brighter results at +1.0 EV aided by the slower 1/6 second shutter speed, though with an orange cast from the ambient room lighting.

ISO 200 Range. Flash exposures started out slightly dim at 6 feet and fluctuated somewhat with distance, but target brightness was good out to about 10 or 11 feet.

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Olympus E-P5's built-in flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 7 meters at ISO 100, or 10 meters at ISO 200. That works out to about 18.2 feet at f/1.8, the maximum aperture of the 17mm kit lens. In the test shot above at that distance, the E-P5's flash clearly did not perform as Olympus says it will, producing a very dim exposure. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100 (when supported), to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.