Olympus E-PL1 Review

Overview

Olympus E-PL1 Overview

Reviewed by Shawn Barnett, Mike Tomkins, and Zig Weidelich
Review date: 06/01/2010

Just over seven months after announcing the Olympus E-P1 Digital Pen, and three months after announcing the E-P2, Olympus unveiled the first consumer model in their rapidly expanding Micro Four Thirds digital camera line. Dubbed the Olympus E-PL1, the new model leans more modern in design, moving away from its predecessors' retro designs.

The Olympus E-PL1's basic specs are quite similar to the P2, with a few omissions and a few additions to make the camera better suited for the consumer market. First, the Olympus E-PL1 has the same excellent 12-megapixel LiveMOS sensor and the same TruePic V image processor, a combo we found quite compelling on the previous models. Two kits are available -- either body-only, or with a less expensive version of the collapsible 14-42mm zoom lens, featuring a polycarbonate mount instead of metal. Most menu items are the same, although some of the menu layout has been restructured, but the physical user interface and body design are noticeably different.

New to the line is the one common element left out of previous Digital Pen cameras: a pop-up flash. Another addition is the dedicated Record button to activate movie recording in any mode. Place the Olympus E-PL1 into iAuto mode, and you can also activate the camera's new Live Guide mode, designed to make complex decisions about image quality as easy as moving an onscreen slider.

The Olympus E-PL1 will work with the two accessories announced with the E-P2, namely the VF-2 electronic viewfinder and the EMA-1 Microphone adapter, which allows use of an external stereo microphone when recording audio.

A few key items left out of the Olympus E-PL1 include any kind of dial for adjusting exposure, the Leveling feature, and the built-in stereo mic (there's a mic, but it's mono). The top shutter speed is 1/2,000 second, reduced from 1/4,000 second; and the highest ISO is 3,200, down from the E-PL1's predecessors, which top out at 6,400.

The Olympus E-PL1 uses an SD/SDHC card and ships with the same BLS-1 7.2v 1,150mAh lithium-ion battery.

Retailing at $599, the Olympus E-PL1 and its 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 L ED lens are available in three colors: Black, Champagne Gold, and Dark Blue. A body-only version is also available for $549 in the US, with the only body color choice being black.

Olympus E-PL1 User Report

by Shawn Barnett and Mike Tomkins

Designed with the consumer photographer in mind, the Olympus E-PL1 is a simpler version of the Micro Four Thirds digital camera, yet it still has most of what enthusiast photographers would want in terms of high quality from a small camera, wrapped in a more modern body. In many ways, the Olympus E-P1 could be more appealing for the purpose of a high-quality "anywhere" digital camera with interchangeable lenses thanks to its slightly lighter weight, good grip, and more straightforward interface.

Look and feel. Though it's really about the same size as the E-P1, the Olympus E-PL1 is more ergonomically appealing, despite its less organic appearance. The grip is more substantial, just right for the pads of the fingers to get a good hold; and it's countered on the back by a nice thumb ridge for a very natural, one-handed grip. The front body panel is aluminum, while the others are polycarbonate. If you hold the camera and turn it over and get picky about it, tapping here and there, the body panels can feel a bit cheap, but you could say that about most cameras in this category. The fact is, though, when you're using the Olympus E-PL1, it doesn't feel cheap at all, and the heft is substantial, excellent for handheld photography.

Weight is a little lower than the E-P1, with the Olympus E-PL1 coming in at 1.06 pounds (17.0 oz, 482g) with card, battery, and the new 14-42mm L lens, or 0.76 pounds (12.2 oz, 345g) without the lens. The E-P1 weighs 1.18 pounds (18.9 oz, 535g) with card, battery, and lens, and 0.84 pounds (13.4 oz, 381g) without the original lens. Part of the weight reduction can be found in the polycarbonate lens mount on the new lens, which has the L designation. The new lens weighs just 4.8 ounces (136g) compared to 5.4 ounces (154g) for the original 14-42mm M.Zuiko lens.

Looking at the Olympus E-PL1's new body from the front, you can see the self-timer lamp just beneath the shutter release button, and the lens release button to the right of the lens mount plate. The plate itself also looks different from the plate on the E-P1 and P2, appearing to be cast aluminum rather than machined steel. As with other Micro Four Thirds cameras, there is no mirror, and the shutter is open by default, so the sensor is right there.

Controls on the top and back of the Olympus E-PL1 are completely reshuffled from the other two Micro Four Thirds cameras. On the left is the new pop-up flash, activated by a sliding mechanical switch on the back. Just right of that is the hot shoe and accessory port combo with the cover removed. A little further right finds the new mode dial, which is well placed for easy thumb activation. It's stiff enough that it won't likely turn without permission, but doesn't easily get stuck between positions.

The shutter release button isn't quite as nice as the E-P1, but I like it just fine. The E-P1 has two clear breaks when you press it, one to activate autofocus, and another when you commit to capture. The Olympus E-PL1's shutter release is feather soft at first, such that you're not sure you've touched its small, smooth surface, but then the shutter release is quite firm, breaking only after a clear effort, which is conducive to the surprise you want from any trigger.

Right of that is the very small power button, lit with a blue LED inside. The P1 and P2's blue LED that indicated activity of the SuperSonic Wave Filter is absent, replaced by an icon on the upper left of the LCD display.

Just in front of the hot shoe are two holes for the monaural microphone. On the left and right, note the Olympus E-PL1's more modern camera strap lugs, which require no rattling D-ring. This cloth-to-metal interface is better on a camera that can record video, because otherwise that D-ring noise can enter your videos as one of their more prominent features. The E-P1 and E-P2 use D-rings, so I'm happy to see the Olympus E-PL1 adopt these practical lugs.

From the Olympus E-PL1's back you see the Flash release switch just above the left corner of the 2.7-inch LCD screen. The LCD panel is the same HyperCrystal design, just smaller than the 3-inch screens on the E-P1 and P2, and it has the same 230,000-pixel resolution. Right of that is the hot shoe/accessory port (with cover in place), then the Zoom-in and Zoom-out buttons. The Movie Record button is marked with a traditional red dot, and protected on the lower left quadrant by a raised ridge that serves as the thumbgrip.

Then we have Playback, Menu, and Info buttons, followed by the trashcan button. These are in completely different order from the buttons on the E-P1 and E-P2. The Olympus E-PL1's four-way navigator is also different, with the exception of the AF point button that occupies the left arrow position, and the Drive mode button in the down arrow position. Note that there are no dials at all for quick aperture or shutter speed changes when in Aperture or Shutter priority modes, or Manual. That's not a bad thing, but many enthusiasts will miss them, so they're important to notice.

Instead, you adjust aperture and shutter speed by following onscreen instructions, activated by pressing the EV Compensation button (the up arrow), then pressing the nav buttons as indicated on the screen. It's not uncommon for consumer cameras to have this kind of activation for these modes, because most consumers are going to leave the camera in Program or Auto modes. Unfortunately the arrow buttons don't respond to being constantly depressed by automatically scrolling through the available values, so if you want to make a significant change to a setting, it can require a significant number of button presses.

The connectivity port door on the right is plastic with a rubber hinge. It feels flimsy, and is difficult to open and close, but does at least seems to stay tightly closed. It conceals a combined USB/AV Out port, and an HDMI Out port.

The Olympus E-PL1's battery and card door is redesigned from the other two cameras, making its hinge a little stiffer, meaning it stays open better. Like the other two, the door is also removable, though I'm not sure why you'd want to do so.

Flash options. The Olympus E-PL1's pop-up flash is right for the consumer market, and I'm sure many users wish the other models had a flash as well. Of course, the flash is extremely small, and it doesn't auto-deploy, preventing the camera from activating it when in full Auto mode. Given the space available, it does raise about as high as could reasonably be expected -- around an inch above the camera's top deck -- but it still vignettes even on the tiny 17mm f/2.8 lens. Attaching the optional FL-14 flash gives you a little more power, and I managed to take some interesting self-portraits using an older FL-36 flash, bouncing the light off a wall in my office.

While the FL-14 is small and simple to use, I continue to get overexposed shots with this unit, something I don't experience with the FL-36, so if you want a good quality flash for your E-PL1, consider the FL-36R (the latest model).

Surprisingly, the "consumer" Olympus E-PL1 supports wireless TTL control of up to three R-series flashes, with the pop-up flash serving as master. It seems unusual that this feature would appear on Olympus's first consumer-grade Micro Four Thirds camera, but it is also the first with a built-in flash. The higher-end Pen cameras won't allow RC, even if you mount an R-series flash. Olympus's two current RC flashes cannot themselves serve as a master flash, as we see with most other manufacturer's systems; instead, the on-camera flash serves as the only master.

Incidentally, the camera won't fall forward with the FL-36 flash and 14-42mm lens mounted, but it is more precarious with the 17mm lens.

Accessory port. Just behind the flash hotshoe is a port similar to that first seen on the Panasonic GF1, a competing Micro Four Thirds design. Last November's E-P2 included this port, and Olympus has two accessories for it: the VF-2 electronic viewfinder and the EMA-1, a special microphone adapter for video mode. Naturally, because there's only one hot shoe and one port, you can only use one accessory at a time. If you need a powerful flash, you can't use the electronic viewfinder or the stereo mic, for example.

The VF-2 electronic viewfinder is noticeably larger than the one available for the Panasonic GF1, and it's also higher resolution. It also looks more like it was made for the E-PL1 than the other two. It's a friction fit, unfortunately, which means that you can accidentally nudge it off if you're not careful. There's a springloaded pin that slips into the hot shoe's locking hole for some security, but it still manages to loosen a bit in a bag if I'm not careful. I'd prefer a more positive locking mechanism.

Functionally, though, it's really nice. The rubber ring around the viewfinder optic protects your glasses, unlike the back of the VF-1 with its hard plastic. Better yet, the rubber ring is also the diopter adjustment mechanism, which you can turn to focus the viewfinder. It manages to accommodate my -3 vision just fine.

The view is really large, offering a 100% view of the scene, with 1.15x magnification. The mechanism tilts up, too, which allows for composing images from overhead, which could be good for macro or other low-angle work. It's a nice view to be sure. I enjoy shooting with the VF-2, especially out in sunlight, but I'm still in the habit of pulling the camera from my eye to see the playback, like I do with an SLR. With the original firmware, this doesn't work, because the Playback image appears in the electronic viewfinder until I turn it off. The latest firmware updates, though, add an Auto mode to the Record View menu option. In this mode, when the camera is set to use the VF-2 as the main viewfinder, the camera shows the playback image first in the viewfinder for about three seconds, then switches the image to the rear LCD.

Also, regardless of the Record View menu item, and perhaps more importantly, pressing the Playback and Menu buttons activates the rear LCD, where it's much easier to view images and make menu adjustments.

The only drawbacks are the fact that you can't use the EVF in combination with other accessories (such as a flash or the microphone jack adapter), and how much bigger it makes the E-PL1 -- which is the same reason I generally leave the VF-1 optical viewfinder off the E-P1. At least the VF-2 is more versatile, able to show the true image even with a zoom lens. It's also a little better for manual focusing, given the higher resolution. The EVF's brightness and hue can also be adjusted independently via a menu item that shows the last image captured as a sample.

Lens. The lens that ships in the Olympus E-PL1 kit is a modified version of the original 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6. It has the letter "L" wedged into the name before the "ED" designation. On Canon optics, L stands for Low-dispersion, which indicates a quality, more expensive lens with one or more low-dispersion lens elements integrated into the design. But ED fills that function on Olympus lenses, standing for Extra-low Dispersion. So L in this case must stand for Low-cost, or just match the L in "E-PL1." The only major difference I found was the polycarbonate bayonet mount and black rear bezel, where the older lens is metal with a silver bezel.

My shots with the E-PL1 and its kit lens look pretty good, showing the same high optical quality we saw in its predecessor, especially when mounted on a tripod. It's just as loose, though, when the focal length is set to its longer settings of 35 and 42mm, which can result in the front lens element shaking when the shutter is tripped; this, in turn, results in blurring at shutter speeds between 1/100 and 1/200 second. Another criticism of the first two lenses available from Olympus for the E-P-series cameras is that they're very slow to autofocus, which is true. Olympus has improved focusing speed somewhat via a firmware update that appeared in April 2010. Autofocus speed is indeed improved noticeably.

A growing family. The Olympus E-PL1 will work with a widening array of dedicated lenses from Olympus and Panasonic, and several adapters avail it of even old OM-series lenses, Leica's M and R-mount lenses, and of course Four Thirds lenses made for Olympus and Panasonic's larger cameras. Panasonic has recently introduced two new lenses, the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 and 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye. Olympus also has two new Micro Four Thirds zooms -- the 9-18mm f/4-5.6 and 14-150mm f/4-5.6. The first third-party Micro Four Thirds lens has also been announced by a new startup, albeit a repurposed, fully manual CCTV lens design: the Noktor 50mm f/0.95.

Below are photos of the lenses, with links to their respective pages on SLRgear.com, where we have already reviewed many of these lenses.

Micro Four Thirds lenses
Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6	Panasonic Lumix G 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6
Olympus M. Zuiko 17mm f/2.8	Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7
Olympus M.Zuiko 9-18mm f/4-5.6	Panasonic Lumix G 7-14mm f/4
Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm f/4-5.6	Panasonic Lumix G 14-140mm f/4-5.8
Panasonic Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6	Panasonic Lumix G 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6
Panasonic Leica DG 45mm f/2.8 Macro	Panasonic Lumix G 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
Noktor 50mm f/0.95
Micro Four Thirds Adapters
Olympus Four Thirds MMF-1	Panasonic Four Thirds DMW-MA1
Olympus Four Thirds MMF-2	Panasonic M-Mount DMW-MA2M
Olympus OM Adapter MF-2	Panasonic R-Mount DMW-MA3R
Cosina Voigtlander VM mount	Cosina Voigtlander F mount
Cosina Voigtlander K mount

Two of the lenses mentioned above have yet to ship as of this writing, the Olympus 14-150mm f/4-5.6 and Panasonic 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye. The Olympus 9-18mm and 14-150mm lenses are both quite small, for what they are, and the pre-release version we saw of the 9-18mm focused much faster than the first two lenses. Both focus internally. Four more Olympus lenses are planned for release in Spring 2011, including a super telephoto zoom, and one each in the macro, fisheye, and wide-angle prime lens categories.

Metering. The Olympus E-PL1 uses the same 18 x 18 matrix metering system, sampling 324 separate areas. You can also choose center-weighted and spot metering modes.

Exposure modes. The Olympus E-PL1 includes the four standard modes, Program, Aperture, Shutter, and Manual exposure modes, but also includes an Intelligent Auto mode that analyses the scene and chooses among Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Sport, and Macro modes. Movie mode is of course for movies, and Scene mode avails you of 19 Scene types, including Portrait, e-Portrait, Landscape, Landscape + Portrait, Sport, Night Scene, Night + Portrait, Children, High Key, Low Key, DIS Mode, Macro, Nature Macro, Candle, Sunset, Documents, Panorama, Fireworks, and Beach & Snow.

Live Guide mode. Also new to the Olympus E-PL1 is the Live Guide mode, which comes up when you shoot in iAuto mode. The mode uses simple sliders, allowing you to increase or decrease a given aspect of your next photo. Only one aspect can be modified, to keep it simple, and those include Change Color Saturation, Change Color Image (changes color temperature), Change Brightness, Blur Background (controls aperture for more or less depth-of-field), and Express Motions (controls shutter speed to freeze or blur motion). A final menu item lists a few very basic tips for different photographic subjects. Topics include how to photograph children, pets, flowers, food, and a few good framing tips.

My concern about the Live Guide mode is that people will stumble into it and not know how to get out. The limitation on not allowing multiple sliders to be adjusted also feels somewhat artificial and counterintuitive, and a couple of the Live Guide types have functions that are easily missed. Thankfully, each setting resets when you either leave the iAuto mode or turn off the camera.

iEnhance. A new picture mode brought over from the E-P2, called iEnhance, picks out a dominant color in a scene, and enhances that one color so it stands out more. It should enhance scenes like sunsets, fall foliage, etc.

In-camera editing. Also carried over to the Olympus E-PL1 is the ability to develop RAW images in-camera, including the ability to apply Art Filters to RAW images. In fact, you have to convert the RAW images into JPEGs before you can use the camera's JPEG Edit feature. JPEGs can have Red-eye fixes, trimming, shadow adjustment, resizing operations, and even sepia and saturation adjustments applied.

Movie mode. The Olympus E-PL1 records AVI movies at 1,280 x 720 and 640 x 480 both at 30 frames per second. Maximum file size is 2GB, and the maximum recording time is 7 minutes in HD mode, or 14 minutes in Standard Def (VGA). Optionally you can capture stills while recording a movie, made easier because of the separate shutter release and Record mode buttons. This does interrupt movie recording, however, with the camera first finalizing the current movie, taking the still image, and then starting a new movie clip recording about four seconds after the end of the first clip.

You can also use the ART filters to limited effect. Some of the filters slow the movie frame rate so much that I doubt most would want to use them. These include the Pinhole and Grainy Film modes. The Diorama filter goes as far as to disable audio recording and plays back at roughly 15x realtime speed. See our Video tab for more.

Like the E-P2, the Olympus E-PL1 offers complete Manual control over exposure while recording movies, while the E-P1 only offered Program or Aperture priority control modes. Shutter speed ranges from 1/60 to 1/2,000 second (the E-P1 and P2 range from 1/30 to 1/4,000 second). Available ISOs range from 200 to 1,600. Auto ISO is not available in Manual mode. When in Program or Aperture-priority modes, the only option for ISO sensitivity is Auto control, however.

A new autofocus mode also applies to Movie mode, called C-AF+TR, which means continuous AF and tracking. Lock the autofocus system on the main subject and the autofocus target will follow the subject as it moves around the frame.

Audio technology. The Olympus E-PL1's audio technology is the same as its predecessors, though the body only has a mono mic built in. When you attach the stereo audio adapter, though, Olympus claims the recording quality is good as their best audio recorders. It's described as Wave Format Base Stereo PCM/ 16-bit at 44.1kHz. We didn't receive the microphone adapter in our review kit, and hence can't comment from personal experience.

HDMI plus CEC. The HDMI port allows CEC control, though the manual doesn't call it that. That's where you can remote control the camera through your television remote control, provided the TV offers CEC control. Usually there are four colored buttons on the bottom of the remote.

Aspect ratios. You can choose multiple aspect ratios to shoot with the E-PL1, including the sensor's 4:3, but also 3:2 (more common among SLRs), 16:9 (better for HD television display), and 6:6 (which is of course the same as 1:1 -- a square image).

Art filters. Though I'm not big on the Art filters, some folks rave about them, and this level of consumer camera will certainly find more devotees. I actually made good use of the Pop Art filter last Fall, using the E-P1 to turn a rather ordinary autumn display into an explosion of extreme yet believable color, and it's the Pop Art filter that I continue to use on occasion. One new filter appears on the Olympus E-PL1, while three are dropped. The list now includes Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, and Gentle Sepia. The new Gentle Sepia mode is expected to have a warmer hue and darker blacks. Dropped when compared to the E-P2 are Pale & Light Color, Light Tone, and Cross Process.

With the exception of Pop Art, all of the Art filters slow the live view noticeably. Two filters -- Pin Hole and Diorama -- do so to such an extent as to make accurate framing difficult unless using a tripod, especially at telephoto focal lengths. Manual focusing is still a simple matter, though, even though the filter effect appears in the zoomed preview. Presumably, the camera only needs process the zoomed area of the image, using less processor power, as the frame rate is high in all Art Filter types while adjusting focus.

Art filters can also be used in Movie mode, but many of the modes, especially Pinhole and Grainy Film, significantly slow the frame rate, transforming what should be a movie mode into something that looks like stop-motion movies. That could be desirable from an artistic standpoint, it's just important to know that it's supposed to work that way. The Diorama mode goes even further, disabling audio altogether and playing back at around 15x realtime speed.

Storage and battery. It's important to note that the Olympus E-PL1 uses SD cards exclusively for storage rather than the company's own xD-Picture Card memory standard. That was important for the Olympus Digital Pen to gain widespread acceptance, so it was a good move. As with most digital cameras capable of recording in HD, the Olympus E-PL1 requires a Class 6 or better SDHC card to capture 1280 x 720p video. The E-PL1 does not support SDXC cards.

Olympus chose the BLS-1 lithium-ion battery, also used in the Olympus E-620, the E-P1, and the E-P2. While the battery is rated at 300 shots per charge in the other two cameras, Olympus rates the E-PL1 for about 290 shots with image stabilization turned on. That's not a lot for an SLR type camera, and I was only able to shoot for about a day before recharging, so consider buying a spare battery for day-long outings (if you take as many pictures as I do).

Underwater Housing. Olympus also makes an underwater housing for the E-PL1, model number PT-EP01 (Click here to shop for the PT-EP01). It's a black polycarbonate shell with a one-buckle rotary locking mechanism. The non-removable port fits the 14-42mm M.Zuiko kit lens and the coming 9-18mm M.Zuiko lens. Two fiber optic cable ports are included. Price is around $599.99. See the video we made at PMA 2010 for more on this case, designed just for the E-PL1.

Major differences. Enthusiasts looking at the E-PL1 as an alternate to the E-P1 and E-P2 should know about a few additional differences between this consumer model and the two enthusiast cameras. These items should not necessarily discourage consumer users, though, as the E-PL1 is a pretty complete offering.

LCD. Given that the PL1 and P2 both include the ability to mount an external electronic viewfinder, the importance of their LCD displays is perhaps slightly lessened. Still, it's significant to note that the PL1 has a somewhat smaller 2.7-inch display, versus the three-inch displays of both the P1 and P2. Total resolution is identical on all three cameras, so it's possible to discern just as much detail on all three models' LCD panels. The best option for manual focusing is certainly to use the electronic viewfinder, however, as it offers significantly higher resolution. Beyond the size and pixel pitch, the technologies used in the PL1's LCD display are similar to those in its siblings.

E-PL1 vs E-P2. The E-PL1 is a little taller overall and a little narrower, but so similar to the E-P2 that it's hardly noticeable.

Shutter. The Shutter speed range is reduced at the high end, from 60 seconds to 1/2,000 second, while the enthusiast models go up to 1/4,000 second. Faster shutter speeds offer more aperture options in bright light.

ISO. In low-light situations, it's important to know that the Olympus E-PL1's ISO tops out at 3,200, while the E-P1 and E-P2 go all the way to 6,400.

Flash. X-sync is also 1/160 second, down from the E-P2's 1/180 second. It's still adjustable, though, between 1/60 and 1/160 second in 1/3 stop increments. Of course, the PL1 also has the advantage of a built-in flash, something its siblings lack. As noted, the Olympus E-PL1 can also remote control up to three R-series flashes for complex creative lighting.

Noise suppression. By default, the Olympus E-PL1 also performs more noise suppression than its predecessors, but the good news is that you can turn this down or off, and of course you can shoot RAW and do your noise suppression on the computer after capture.

Zoom. A new magnification level is available in Record mode (as well as in Playback), taking the view in to 14x in addition to the existing 7x and 10x, and the magnification area also determines the size of the AF area. First you have to zoom in with the zoom buttons, then hit the Info button to select the desired zoom level with the up and down arrows. From there, pressing the Zoom-in button toggles the small AF area on, then switches between zoom and regular views. It's a little complicated, but it's very good to have a fine autofocus mode.

Levels. Leveling indicators are not included in the Olympus E-PL1, something more important for enthusiast photographers who might want to level the camera for panoramic shots.

Movie mode. Although the Olympus E-PL1's Movie mode is essentially the same as the E-P2's -- with the exception of the dedicated Movie Record button on the PL1, and the P2's built-in stereo mic -- it's a key benefit to the E-PL1 over the E-P1. Anyone looking for a good quality still camera that can also capture good HD videos would get quite a bargain in the E-PL1, especially if they're looking for full manual control over exposure. To get that from the E-P2 would cost $1,100, while it's available here for $600. Remember, of course, that like almost all interchangeable lens cameras that do video, the E-PL1 won't autofocus gracefully while shooting, so it's best to focus first, then start recording.

Software. The bundled software is unfortunately PC-only, so Mac users should take note that if they want the usual Olympus Master software for processing RAW images, they'll need to download it from the Olympus America website. It's free.

Shooting with the Olympus E-PL1

by Mike Tomkins

With Micro Four Thirds still being a relatively young format, I found myself caught between a rock and a hard place, simultaneously shooting with the Olympus E-PL1 and its more expensive sibling, the P2. Although Olympus has another pair of Micro Four Thirds lenses nearing release, I only received its two current Micro Four Thirds lens models with my test kit. I also didn't have the opportunity to try any of Panasonic's lenses. While I appreciated the quality of Olympus' 17mm f/2.8 lens, I generally don't find myself reaching for prime lenses very often. My personal style is to shoot with a zoom, framing with the lens rather than my feet -- and my only option was hence Olympus' 14-42mm lens, whose issues with blurring we covered in-depth in our E-P1 review. The problem still remains when used in concert with the Olympus E-PL1. The good news is that with the selection of Micro Four Thirds lens offerings fast expanding, alternate choices will soon be available covering similar focal lengths. In the meantime, I just had to try to remember to shoot around the shortcomings of the 14-42mm lens, avoiding shutter speeds between 1/100 and 1/200 second.

Wandering around downtown Knoxville shooting gallery photos, I definitely appreciated the compact size of the E-PL1's body, which was barely distinguishable from that of the P2. I found that I preferred to use the PL1 without the neck strap that I'd ordinarily consider a must when shooting with an SLR. With the prime lens attached I could easily slip the camera in my coat pocket between shots, and even with the 14-42mm lens attached it was fairly comfortable to just carry the PL1 in one hand for extended periods, using a wrist strap for a feeling of security. As mentioned, I've been reviewing the Olympus E-PL1 alongside the P2, and with my large hands -- I'm over six feet tall -- I found the E-PL1's body to be the more comfortable of the pair for single-handed shooting, by a significant margin. Its rather more prominent grip made it much less tiring to shoot with, and noticeably easier to hold steady. That said, I'd still prefer a deeper, more sculpted grip to give better purchase, and I generally found myself shooting with both hands for added stability.

The E-PL1 doesn't include Olympus' external electronic viewfinder accessory, but since it was in my P2 kit, I tried it on both cameras. It doesn't look as ungainly on the E-PL1's slightly boxier body, and its functioning is basically identical on both cameras. It's a pleasure to shoot with, thanks to its high resolution, generous 1.15x magnification and 100% field of view. I found myself using it a lot more than I'd thought I would, on both cameras. Given that it's relatively bulky, I initially thought I'd end up leaving it in the camera bag (or at home), but instead I frequently ended up using it when shooting with the Olympus E-PL1 as well. That said, if the E-PL1's LCD display was larger and offered higher resolution, I'd probably have used the electronic viewfinder rather less often -- if only to save a little bulk and weight. The LCD proved easy to see in a good range of conditions, even on a sunny spring afternoon in Tennessee. I've just grown somewhat spoiled by larger, higher-res displays, and find it a little uncomfortable returning to a smaller, lower-res type.

I did find Olympus' menu design a little clumsy, although by and large I was able to avoid it thanks to the comprehensive Super Control Panel display. Most of the common adjustments I wanted to make could be found and adjusted in this one display. When I wanted something that couldn't be found in the Super Control Panel, though, it sometimes took a little digging, although Olympus has made some improvements to its menu design since the P2 -- for example, creating a separate menu item related to movie settings. Some options are still curiously placed though. As one example, face detection -- which affects the camera's focusing and metering systems -- is nowhere to be found in the tabs related to focus or exposure. Instead, it's rather bizarrely located in a tab related to Display, Sound, and PC settings, none of which seem to have anything to do with face detection. There are also rather too many menu options which have vague names like "Mode 1" or "Mode 2," requiring experimentation (or digging in the manual) to determine their function.

As noted in my P2 user report, I was surprised by a feature of the Exposure Shift function on that camera (different from EV Compensation). I didn't run into the obstacle in reviewing the Olympus E-PL1, but since it functions identically, I very easily could have -- hence I think it's important to mention. Exposure Shift is a great feature, which allows one to fine-tune the different metering modes to your tastes in terms of exposure level, but it isn't reset by the Custom Reset function. This caused me to have to discard much of a day's gallery shooting from the P2 solely because all of the shots were underexposed by a setting I'd accidentally left behind while transcribing the camera's menu layout. (The shots could fairly easily have been salvaged, but our gallery shots are always published just as created by the camera, so this wasn't an option for me). Exposure Shift is a very useful function if one sets it intentionally, and as something that is omitted even by many semi-pro DSLRs, its presence in the Olympus E-PL1 is impressive. It's just a shame that nowhere does the camera or manual warn one that a Custom Reset leaves certain settings like this one untouched. Perhaps a more complete reset function is called for as an extended option, safely positioned behind a warning. At the least, the manual should clearly state which functions aren't reset.

I much preferred the Olympus E-PL1's traditional four-way arrow pad to the combined control dial / pad found in the P2. Even if it required more button-pressing, that was more than made up for by the fact that I never accidentally jumped around menus, something that frequently happened with the P2's design. I definitely do prefer cameras with at least one control dial (and preferably two), but only if they're separated from the arrow pad. Perhaps with smaller hands, I wouldn't have found the P2's control dial so problematic -- Shawn seemed to rather like the design, so it may just come down to personal taste (or my own clumsiness!). Having no control dials definitely has its disadvantages, especially when you're making a significant change to a setting with many steps, such as adjusting shutter speeds in fine increments, or manually entering a color temperature for white balance. Situations like these can lead to a lot of repetitive button pressing, something that could be avoided if Olympus followed the common convention of holding the button down to rapidly increment or decrement the value being adjusted. On balance though, the positives of not having the combined dial / pad are enough to sway me towards preferring the Olympus E-PL1's design, outweighing the negatives.

It's likely given the form factor that photographers considering the P2 may also be considering the Olympus E-PL1. We've covered the main differences between the cameras elsewhere in this review, but only a few stood out to me as significant in my own shooting. Perhaps the most important point was the inclusion of a built-in flash. I've not had the opportunity to try Olympus' dedicated flash strobes with the PEN-series cameras, but given that portability is a major selling point of their designs, the decision not to offer an internal flash always seemed rather illogical to me. Even a relatively small external flash is going to be bulky enough to greatly detract from the portability of these cameras, so if one was to really take advantage of their small size, the lack of an internal flash has to some extent meant treating them as available-light cameras. Having a built-in flash changed all that for me. The Olympus E-PL1 became a camera whose diminutive size could be taken advantage of not only for daytime shooting, but in more dubious light as well.

Obviously a small onboard flash will never match an external strobe for capability, with limited power and no way to bounce flash. The onboard flash can function as a stopgap when you decide to leave the external flash at home, though, giving you peace of mind that you might still get usable shots if available light becomes insufficient. As an added bonus for the strobist types, the internal flash brings possibilities for off-camera flash that aren't offered in the other PEN-series cameras, since it can function as a master to control remote slaves. One disadvantage of the PL1 for flash usage is its maximum X-sync of 1/160 second, down from 1/180 second in its siblings. If your external strobe supports Super FP mode, then sync is possible at all shutter speeds, albeit with reduced flash power.

The extra magnification in both Record and Playback modes is a very welcome addition in the Olympus E-PL1, making it easier to judge manual focus before you press the shutter button, and to confirm whether your shot is tack-sharp after capture. Perhaps even more useful when dealing with smaller subjects is the ability to reduce the AF point size. I also liked the Light Box feature, which allows you to compare images side by side. It's similar to a display mode which Pentax offers on its current DSLRs, and one I've found myself using quite often when deciding which images to discard while still in the field. The user interface for both the AF point size control and the Light Box mode is convoluted, to say the least, though. It took me a while to discover I could change the AF point size at all, and I also found myself browsing the manual to discover why the Light Box display mode wasn't available for selection. (It turned out to rely on the Close Up mode setting being switched to Mode 2.)

The other changes in the Olympus E-PL1, I found myself fairly happy to live with. Certainly I'd have appreciated a larger LCD panel, and faster shutter speeds might have been useful in some situations. Neither point felt like a show-stopper, though. Some of the other changes I barely noticed -- for example, I so seldom used ISO 6,400 on the P2, that the PL1's ISO 3,200 max. didn't feel restrictive. Nor did I miss the level function much, as I found myself avoiding it on the P2 so I could see other more pertinent information on the LCD instead.

Given that I was able to test both cameras side-by-side at the same time, I had an excellent opportunity to see which I preferred for day to day shooting, and I have to say the Olympus E-PL1 was the camera that really grabbed me. It was more comfortable to shoot with, included the built-in flash whose presence I missed in the earlier PEN cameras, and it certainly doesn't hurt that it's the more affordable of the pair as well. Were I in shopping for one of Olympus' Micro Four Thirds cameras today, I think I'd almost certainly opt for the Olympus E-PL1, and spend the difference on that lovely, high-res electronic viewfinder.

Analysis. Olympus has reinforced its commitment to the Micro Four Thirds platform beyond the enthusiast photographer, with its first model aimed at consumers. The Olympus E-PL1 is the first Micro Four Thirds model to come in under-$600. Although Panasonic has since announced its competing Lumix G10 model, soon to ship at the same price point, that camera is rather bigger, and doesn't offer the same level of portability. The Olympus E-PL1 spars with SLRs like the Rebel XS, Nikon D3000, Pentax K-x, and Sony A230. It also takes on the Canon G11 and Panasonic LX3, among others, as a small camera with potential use as a quality street, or everywhere camera.

While it's not quite as small as the latter two cameras, it does take up less space than the other interchangeable lens cameras. We enjoy slipping these little cameras with the 14-42mm lens attached into the pockets reserved for smaller SLR lenses. There's little difference in size among the three Olympus cameras, though, so size won't do much to determine which you choose. However the grip on the Olympus E-PL1 is a lot more comfortable. It's also nice that the Olympus E-PL1 will work with the two add-on accessories available for the E-P2, as well as the 17mm lens and viewfinder compatible with all three.

The slower top shutter speed and reduced ISO might give some enthusiasts pause, but consumers probably won't notice. It is worth mentioning that most SLRs in this price range go to 1/4,000 second, though. For the consumer market, the zoom lens is the natural choice, but we're still bothered by the loose lens elements at 35mm and 42mm positions. If they bundled the Olympus E-PL1 with a 17mm lens and no optical viewfinder, it might make a killer street-photography package for a respectably low price.

Finally, the lens and shutter issues won't mean much to the aspiring videographer on a budget searching for a complete 720p video solution with SLR-quality optics and built-in image stabilization, but we have found the video quality in low light to be noisier than we'd like.

Ultimately, though the price is lower, Olympus seems to have left the quality sensor and processor performance intact. They intensified the noise processing in still images at the expense of detail, but a few quick menu changes should fix that. And most of the fun Art filters and more useful Picture modes are still in place. Amateur photographers can just leave the Olympus E-PL1 in iAuto mode and let the camera do the rest; and video recording is just a button away at any time. Overall, I'd call the Olympus E-PL1 a unique choice in a market filled with me-too SLRs, one that could be very popular.

Olympus E-PL1 versus E-P2 at ISO 1,600

Olympus E-PL1 at ISO 1,600	Olympus E-P2 at ISO 1,600
Greater noise suppression on with subsequent sharpening could be the reason that the Olympus E-PL1's images look sharper than the E-P2. It appears to come down to default settings, as Olympus warned us that the E-PL1 would be more aggressive in its efforts to produce a consumer-friendly image. The increased noise suppression can be seen in the shadow behind the bottle on top, as well as in the red leaf pattern. The increased sharpening is apparent in the fabric swatches and Mas Portel bottle label as well as in the mosaic crop. Pretty impressive.

Olympus E-PL1 versus Panasonic GF1 at ISO 1,600

Olympus E-PL1 at ISO 1,600	Panasonic GF1 at ISO 1,600
While we think the Panasonic LiveMOS sensor is the same in both the E-PL1 and the GF1, the two companies have taken a very different approach to image processing. Olympus's TruePic V seems to get a much crisper image out of the sensor than does Panasonic. The Olympus E-PL1 handles color, contrast, and detail better. Though there's more chroma noise in the dark area of the mosaic bottle, it also looks a lot truer to the original bottle, as well as to the ISO 100 image. Both cameras do poorly on the red leaf fabric, but again Olympus's colors are better.

Olympus E-PL1 versus Canon T1i at ISO 1,600

Olympus E-PL1 at ISO 1,600	Canon T1i at ISO 1,600
The 12.3-megapixel Olympus E-PL1 does quite well against the 15.1-megapixel Canon T1i. The Canon has smoother shadows, and its rendering of the mosaic image is more faithful with less noise, if softer. Both cameras fail on the very difficult red leaf swatch, just in different ways. Straight from the camera, the E-PL1's image will produce more crisp prints than the T1i, but in the end, the T1i's image leaves more potential for improvement on the computer. The target market for both of these cameras, though, is more likely to print, rather than refine and print the images. Enthusiasts can turn down some of the E-PL1's more aggressive tendencies, just as T1i users can turn up sharpening and noise suppression.

Olympus E-PL1 versus Nikon D5000 at ISO 1,600

Olympus E-PL1 at ISO 1,600	Nikon D5000 at ISO 1,600
Up against the Nikon D5000, the Olympus E-PL1 is more evenly matched in terms of resolution (both are 12.3). Differences in aspect ratio account for the different size of image elements. The Nikon D5000 puts out a more photographically faithful image, but the Olympus E-PL1's output is again better for printing straight out of the camera. The E-PL1's shadow noise appears smoother, though, and the mosaic image is more crisp; but out of all of these cameras, the Nikon D5000 retains more detail in our red leaf fabric, besting the E-PL1.

Detail: Olympus E-PL1 vs. E-P2, Panasonic GF1, Canon T1i, and Nikon D5000

Olympus E-PL1 ISO 100 ISO 3,200	Olympus E-P2 ISO 100 ISO 3,200	Panasonic GF1 ISO 100 ISO 3,200	Canon T1i ISO 100 ISO 3,200	Nikon D5000 ISO 100 ISO 3,200
Detail comparison. An ISO 1,600 comparison is only so helpful. A camera's ISO 100 performance is also of value, so I've pitted the same set of cameras against each other in the high-contrast detail department. The 12.3-megapixel Olympus E-PL1, E-P2, and the 15.1-megapixel Canon T1i come out on top, with the slight edge overall to the Canon T1i. All three show evidence of edge enhancement around the letters, but also have more detail to work with overall. I also give the slight edge to the T1i at ISO 3,200. Though the image is hazier, it retains more of the color of the letters, and more salvageable separation between the lines inside the letters, like inside the L in Lager. Bear in mind that the T1i also beat out the 12.1-megapixel full-frame Nikon D700, plus the APS-C Nikon D90, and Canon XSi at this test as well. Also consider that this test is not independent of lens quality, focus errors, and other variables, so again take this mostly as a comparison of what each camera was able to do with the best standardized optics we can muster. The Olympus E-PL1, E-P2, and Panasonic GF1 used the rather excellent Olympus Digital Zuiko 50mm f/2 Macro. The others used our laboratory-standard Sigma 70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro lenses, which are very sharp.

Olympus E-PL1 Print Quality

ISO 100 JPEG shots look great printed at 20x30 inches, with enough softness that printing at 16x20 looks a little better; still, 20x30 inches looks fine for wall display, and even better with a little sharpening.

ISO 200 and 400 shots are also usable at 20x30 inches, but ISO 400 shots tighten up a bit more to what we'd call tack sharp at 16x20.

ISO 800 shots are still reasonably good at 16x20, with only minor luminance noise. Shadows are a little soft thanks to noise suppression, but most high and low-contrast detail remains strong.

ISO 1,600 shots are usable at 13x19 inches, great for wall display.

ISO 3,200 shots look surprisingly good at 11x14, though 8x10 looks a little better. Color fades a bit at this sensitivity as well.

A very impressive performance from the Olympus E-PL1.

In the Box

The Olympus E-PL1 ships with the following items in the box:

• E-PL1 body
• 14-42mm lens (if purchased as a kit)
• Body cap
• Lens cap (if purchased as a kit)
• Lithium-ion battery BLS-1
• Battery charger BCS-1
• Multi-cable
• Shoulder strap
• Olympus [ib] CD-ROM
• Instruction manual
• Warranty card

Olympus E-PL1 Conclusion

Departing from the retro direction of the first two Pen cameras, the Olympus E-PL1 aims at a decidedly broader market. In addition to the modern design, the E-PL1 includes a pop-up flash, something Olympus knew the consumer market would expect. The inclusion of the flash also adds the ability to remote-control Olympus strobes for creative lighting, something enthusiast photographers are likely to appreciate.

The other main changes in the Olympus E-PL1 are largely about reducing cost and complexity, and providing enough differentiation between models that the E-PL1 doesn't erode sales of the previous, more expensive PEN cameras. Gone is the nifty level indicator function, and the stereo microphone is replaced by a monaural type. Neither change feels like a big drawback. Olympus' own optional microphone adapter can resurrect stereo audio recording for the E-PL1. The LCD display has dropped a little in size as well, but with the relatively low resolution of all the PEN-series LCDs, the drop in LCD size doesn't make all that much difference for framing images.

In some situations, the reduction in maximum shutter speed and ISO sensitivity might prove more limiting. In my own shooting with the camera I didn't really think this was the case, but then I wasn't shooting sports, nor a large amount of low-light photos. The maximum shutter speed reduction is likely the most important of these, because a wider shutter speed range allows you to take advantage of apertures that wouldn't otherwise be available in bright sunlight. The good news in low light is that the Olympus E-PL1 retains detail very well at ISO 1,600 and 3,200, both quite useful sensitivity settings when shooting indoors.

In other areas, the PL1 actually feels like an upgrade when compared to its more expensive siblings. The body is more comfortable to hold for extended periods, thanks to its more angled grip. The dedicated Movie button brings new possibilities, allowing photographers to capture still images during movie recording, or grab an impromptu video clip without having to fiddle with the Mode dial first. And image quality is actually improved, from a camera-to-printer perspective, over the earlier models.

It's a shame that issues with image blur from the 14-42mm kit lens are still present, because when mounted on a sturdy tripod to dampen the vibration, it's an excellent lens. But you can work around the defect by avoiding certain shutter speeds when using this lens. And with the rapidly expanding Micro Four Thirds lens line, enthusiasts can just buy the body (only available in black without the lens) and choose another lens. Or just buy the color you want, since the lens only adds a $50 premium to the price.

All things considered, the Olympus E-PL1 is not only a great photographic tool (especially for the money), but a fun camera to shoot with as well. It doesn't feel like a budget camera -- in many ways it feels like an improvement on previous models, sacrificing the retro styling and some relatively minor features for a more cohesive interface with better handling. It was important that Olympus get the design of its first mass-market PEN camera right, and it seems that's just what they've done. We think enthusiasts will like it too, as both lens and body fit right into the space normally used by an SLR lens. With that in mind, we think it's a Dave's Pick.

Design

Olympus E-PL1 Design

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Front View. The Olympus E-PL1 has a clean, traditional looking front, with minimal controls. The PL1's body is largely constructed of polycarbonate plastic, with metal used only for the lens mount, strap lugs and tripod socket. The hard, rubberized grip is quite angular, and protrudes rather more steeply from the camera body than that of the P2, giving a better grip for photographers with larger hands. The small dot beneath the shutter button is an orange LED that serves as an indicator lamp for the self-timer function, illuminating when the self-timer is active, and flashing during the last two seconds of the timer's operation.

Left View. Shown with the M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 L ED lens attached, and in the fully retracted position. There are no controls to see on this side of the camera, which is smooth apart from the metal lug to which the neck strap can be attached. Thankfully the PL1 uses a fixed lug, rather than the retro eyelet / D-ring combination from the P2, which was prone to making noise that could be picked up by the camera's microphone in movie mode.

Right View. Shown with the M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 L ED lens attached, and in the fully extended position. As well as the other strap lug, the right side of the camera contains access to the USB/AV and HDMI ports. These are concealed beneath a flexible rubber door that feels rather flimsy, when compared to the nicely hinged door on the P2.

Top View. The top panel has a few controls including the Mode dial, On/Off button, and Shutter button. At the center of the On/Off button is a blue LED, which serves as the power lamp. At camera left is a built-in popup flash -- a first for an Olympus Micro Four Thirds model. A hot shoe is provided on which to mount an external flash, or one of three optional accessories - the VF-2 electronic viewfinder, the EMA-1 external microphone adapter, or the VF-1 optical viewfinder with 17mm framing lines.

Back View. The majority of controls are on the camera's rear panel, along with the 2.7-inch, 230K dot LCD. The buttons are easy to reach and press when shooting two-handed, but the combination of the PL1's modest size and small grip makes them all but impossible to reach if shooting single-handed. Most buttons provide a reassuring tactile "click" when pressed, but the video and zoom buttons lack any such feedback.

Bottom View. The camera's bottom panel is flat, with a metal tripod mount off-center from the lens mount. The battery door conceals the SD and battery slots.

Operation

Olympus E-PL1 Operation

The Olympus E-PL1 packs a lot of features into a very compact body. This of course means that many features are accessed via menus shown on the LCD instead of dedicated buttons. Still, Olympus has crammed a lot of controls into what little space is available, and they've given a lot of flexibility on how many of them function, via an extensive set of Custom and Setup menu options. (See our Modes & Menus page for details.)

Most major functions are accessible via the 12 buttons on the back and two on the top deck. The Start / OK button activates an L-shaped menu that offers access to major functions, like White balance, Drive mode, Image stabilization, Aspect ratio, Compression, AF mode, Face detection, and AF point, which can then be switched to a Super Control Panel menu by pressing the Info button, and summarizes most common settings in a single interactive screen. The most recently used menu type becomes the default for future use.

Menus can be navigated using the four arrow buttons. The arrow buttons are also used to adjust shutter speed and aperture in Manual exposure modes, by first pressing the Up arrow button to adjust exposure variables, and then using all four arrow buttons to make the necessary changes. In Program or Art Filter modes, the vertical arrows adjust the program shift amount, and the horizontal arrows adjust exposure compensation.. In the Priority modes, the vertical arrows adjust the available exposure variable, and the horizontal arrows adjust exposure compensation. In Manual mode, the vertical arrows adjust shutter speed, while the horizontal arrows adjust aperture. Finally, in Movie mode, only exposure compensation is available using the horizontal arrows.

Record Mode Displays

Full-time Live View
The information display in record mode includes the shutter speed and aperture settings, exposure mode, flash mode, ISO sensitivity setting, metering mode, AF mode, number of available images, resolution, aspect ratio, image stabilizer mode, drive mode, white balance, picture mode, focus confirmation, battery status, etc. You can also enable a live histogram. Through the Custom menu, you can select one of four styles of grid displays. See the illustration below (courtesy of Olympus America) for information callouts in record mode.

As you change exposure settings, the display changes to reflect what the captured image will look like, also known as "exposure simulation."

Super Control Panel
In record mode, the LCD monitor displays the "Super Control Panel" when you press the Info button with the Live Control menu active, or when you press the OK button thereafter. You can navigate around in and make changes to a number of menu options (ISO, White Balance, etc.). See the illustration below (courtesy of Olympus America) for callouts of the various settings that are shown and adjustable from this screen.

Live Control
The Olympus E-PL1 features a menu display type reminiscent of the Function menu found on Canon PowerShots, called Live Control, and available in all but iAuto, Art Filter and Scene modes. It's accessed by pressing the "OK" button, unless the Super Control Panel has been used more recently, in which case you simply press the Info button with that panel active. The Live Control display overlays commonly used functions along the right hand side, while options for the currently selected setting are displayed along the bottom. Menu options in this mode include Movie AE mode (when in Movie mode), Picture mode (in all but Movie mode), White Balance, Sequential shooting/self-timer, Image Stabilizer, Aspect Ratio, Record Mode (image size and quality, in all but Movie mode), Flash mode, Flash exposure compensation, Metering mode, AF mode, Movie Quality (in Movie mode), Movie sound record (in Movie mode), Face detection, and ISO sensitivity.

Live Guide
In addition to its Live Control menu, the Olympus E-PL1 features a similar menu display that's available only in the camera's iAuto mode, and aims to make things even friendlier. The Live Guide display overlays commonly used functions along the right hand side, with -- by and large -- friendly names that let beginners better understand the purpose of each function. It also contains a brief Shooting Tips section with advice on how to obtain better pictures. It's accessed by pressing the "OK" button, and allows only one variable to be changed at any one time. To return to the Live Guide, one must first cancel any existing adjustment by pressing the Menu button, then press the OK button to re-enter the menu. Options in this menu display include Change Color Saturation (Clear & Vivid to Flat & Muted), Change Color Image (Warm to Cool), Change Brightness (Bright to Dark), Blur Background (Blur to Sharp), Express Motions (Blurred Motion to Stop Motion), and Shooting Tips. This last option contains advice for child photos, pet photos, flower photos, cuisine photos, and framing.

Unfortunately, the entire Live Guide function feels somewhat confusing and inconsistent, for a number of reasons. For starters, some of the functions have slightly awkwardly phrased names -- for example, "Change Color Image" for hue adjustment. Some of the shooting tips language contains typos or use archaic and stilted language, such as the advice for shooting flower photos that "Shade of cloud or parasol makes shadow of flowers softer."

Perhaps more confusing is the limitation that only one variable can be adjusted for any specific picture. The effect of the changed variable must then be cancelled by pressing the Menu button before you can return to the Live Guide menu, even if you only want to read the shooting tips. This limitation seems very artificial and arbitrary. Even once one realizes that only a single variable can be controlled at once, the natural tendency upon cancelling a changed variable is to want to return to the Live Guide by then pressing the menu button a second time, since your thumb is already on the button -- but this calls up the camera's main menu system.

Two of the Live Guide variables have extra features which might easily be missed. Pressing the Info button from the Blur Background slider calls up two pages of advice on how to blur the background of a shot, but none of the other variables have similar advice screens. Even more likely to be missed by most users is that brightness can be adjusted not only for the overall image, but for highlights or shadows specifically. This is accomplished by pressing the Left arrow button from the Brightness slider, and the only indication that it is possible without reading the manual is a tiny, easily overlooked green arrow, located just to the left of the Live Guide panel.

The net result is that while the Live Guide menu initially shows promise as a friendly, approachable way of controlling the camera, it ends up feeling like somewhat of an afterthought. A few simple changes could make the feature significantly more intuitive and helpful -- allowing multiple variable adjustments, promoting shadow and highlight brightness to their own Live Guide icons (or making them more visible in the existing Brightness screen), expanding the advice screens to cover all sliders, and cleaning up the translations.

Playback Mode Displays

Information Screens
In Playback mode, the default image display shows the most recently captured image. Pressing the Info button cycles through the main display (with no information), a simplified display with basic information overlay, a detailed thumbnail display with RGBY histogram, shooting info and highlight/shadow display, a luminance histogram overlay display, and a blinking highlight/shadow display (overexposed areas are shown in red, underexposed in blue, and the threshold level for each can be adjusted separately through the Custom menu), and a comparison display mode called Light Box. The most recent display type will be stored and shown the next time by default. Pressing the Right or Left arrow displays the next or previous frame, while pressing the Up or Down arrow jumps 10 frames forward or backward.

The Light Box display mode is -- rather arbitrarily -- only available when Custom menu tab D's Close-Up mode is set to Mode 2, and shows two images side by side. Initially both images are scaled to fit the screen vertically, but they can be zoomed together by pressing the Info button then using the arrow keys to select a zoom level. Both images can be panned either together at the same time, or separately, allowing comparison of subjects when the framing has changed slightly between shots.

Index and Calendar Views
Pressing the thumbnail and zoom buttons steps in our out through a four, nine,, 25, or 100-image index display, and finally a Calendar display. (Any or all of these thumbnail displays can be disabled through the Custom menu.) The arrow pad keys are used to select a particular frame in an index view. In Calendar view, you can display images arranged by date, and you can select a date by using the arrow keys, then pressing OK. If more that one shot was taken on a single date, the first shot on that date is displayed.

Magnified View
Repeatedly pressing the zoom button enlarges the captured image as much as 14x, while pressing the thumbnail steps the zoom back outwards. You use the four arrow keys to move around the zoomed image, and the Start / OK button immediately returns to a view of the whole image.

If the Close Up mode option in Custom Menu tab D is changed to "Mode 2", this behavior changes somewhat. Pressing the zoom button overlays a green frame on the image, which can be panned around with the arrow buttons. The frame defaults to the center of the image, unless one or more faces are detected -- in which case the frame is overlaid on the first detected face, and can be switched to other faces by pressing the Start / OK button. Pressing the Info button then switches from pan to zoom mode, so that the up and down arrows adjust the size of the green frame (and hence the strength of the zoom), with the Start / OK button confirming the selected zoom level. Finally, pressing the zoom button a second time enables the preselected zoom at the panned location. The image can still be panned after the zoom is enabled, if desired, and the Info button continues to switch between the arrow pad controlling pan or zoom. A third press of the zoom button retains the same zoom and pan settings, but reenables the face detection function, so that presses of the Start / OK button will automatically jump to detected faces with the current zoom level. Finally, a fourth press of the zoom button returns to the full image view with green frame overlay. Pressing the thumbnail button at any point cancels the zoom altogether.

Optics

Olympus E-PL1 Optics

Olympus M.ZUIKO Lenses

The Olympus E-PL1 is compatible with any Micro Four Thirds lens, with Olympus and Panasonic together having shipped a total of eight lens models at the time of writing (April 2010). Three further Micro Four Thirds have been announced, but have not yet reached the market. Olympus has dubbed their Micro Four Thirds lenses "M.ZUIKO," and only two M.ZUIKO lenses have been released. The Olympus 17mm f/2.8 M.ZUIKO Digital is a sharp, fairly fast (f/2.8), and compact prime lens with an equivalent focal length of 34mm. Also offered is the Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED M.ZUIKO Digital zoom lens offers a fairly typical 3x zoom ratio, with a 35mm equivalent focal range of 28-82mm. Two Olympus E-PL1 kits are available, either body-only for US$549, or with the 14-42mm lens  for US$599. The kit version of the 14-42mm lens is not identical to the retail version, featuring a polycarbonate lens mount rather than the original metal, for a slight saving in cost and weight.

One interesting feature of the 14-42mm lens is that it "collapses" for a smaller footprint when not in use. Shown unmounted to the right of the E-PL1 above, it's in its collapsed position in this photograph. The  design does seem to be somewhat of a compromise, however. In our review of the Olympus P1 we discovered some issues with vertical blurring in images shot with this lens at shutter speeds of between around 1/100 and 1/200 second. The problem is caused by vibrations induced from the shutter mechanism, and is still apparent when the 14-42mm lens is used in concert with the PL1. For that reason, discriminating users planning to make prints above 8 x 10 inches may want to avoid this lens, or bear the problem in mind when selecting shutter speeds.

Olympus has two further lenses in the pipeline, both announced alongside the previous E-P2 camera. Due sometime in the first half of 2010, these are the Olympus M. ZUIKO Digital ED 9-18mm f4.0-5.6 (super wide angle zoom, 18-36mm equivalent), and the Olympus M. ZUIKO Digital ED 14-150mm f4.0-5.6 (high-power wide to telephoto zoom, 28-300mm equivalent). Further options are available from Panasonic, Olympus' partner in the Micro Four Thirds format, which currently offers six Micro Four Thirds-mount lenses - two primes, and four zooms. One third party -- a new startup company called Noktor -- has also announced a completely manual, Micro Four Thirds compatible 50mm F0.95 prime lens which seems to be based on a design intended for CCTV security cameras.

In addition, no less than nine different adapters make it possible to mount a wide selection of current and historic glass on a Micro Four Thirds camera. Lenses that can be adapted include certain standard Four Thirds, Olympus OM, Leica M / R, Voigtlander VM / Ai-S / PK-A/R / KA, and Carl Zeiss ZM / ZF / ZK types. These adapters generally have some limitations as to compatibility and available features, which will depend on the specific model being used.

Because the E-PL1 features in-body image stabilization, Olympus' M.ZUIKO lenses do not themselves incorporate optical image stabilization. Some Panasonic Micro Four Thirds lenses offer image stabilization and work with the Olympus E-PL1, but note that you have to disable one or the other image stabilization system.

Olympus E-PL1 Autofocus

11-Area AF. Default focus areas are bit large, making it difficult to autofocus on small objects. The E-PL1 however offers a small AF area option when Live View is magnified.

The Olympus E-PL1 has an 11-area contrast-detect autofocus system, using the main imaging-sensor to determine focus, similar to how most Point & Shoot cameras work. There are two AF Area options: "All Target" mode, where the camera automatically selects the active area(s) for you, or "Single Target" mode, where you specify the active area by selecting it with the 4-way controller.

You can register a "Home" position for the active AF by through the Set Home option in Custom menu tab A. The function button can then be configured to toggle back and forth between the current AF position and your Home position, useful for quickly retrieving your favorite AF area position. For the first time in a Pen-series camera, there's an option to adjust the size of the autofocus point, an important feature if you're wanting to focus on a smaller subject, such as the small AF target in our Indoor Portrait series. First you have to zoom in with the zoom buttons, then hit the Info button to select the desired zoom level with the up and down arrows. From there, pressing the Zoom-in button toggles the small AF area on, then switches between zoom and regular views. It's a little complicated, but it's very good to have a fine autofocus mode.

In addition, the E-PL1 offers a Face Detection function, capable of simultaneously locating up to eight individual faces. Each face the camera finds is indicated on the display or electronic viewfinder with a white frame, and is then taken into account when focusing and metering. There's no advance indication of which individual face the camera will focus on, nor any way to manually select which face to prioritize. The face that was selected for AF operation is only momentarily indicated with a green frame, once AF lock has already been achieved. On the plus side, you're not limited to the PL1's 11 autofocus points - the camera will lock focus on a face anywhere within the frame.

Of course, the Olympus E-PL1 also offers a manual focus mode. In MF mode, an option called MF assist causes the camera to optionally magnify the preview image by 7x, 10x, or 14x whenever the focus ring is adjusted, to help determine critical focus. Like the P2 before it, the MF assist preview is now centered around the user-selected focus point, helpful when trying to manually focus on an off-center subject. For use with old manual-focus lenses (which lack the communication that would tell the body when the focus ring was being adjusted), or perhaps to simply check the focus that the AF system has achieved, you can also enable the magnifiied mode manually by using the Zoom (Magnifying Glass) button to select the Zoom display screen mode (with the green AF square in the middle); then the Arrow pad to move freely around the entire image frame, and the Info button to select the magnification amount. A second press of the Zoom button will enable the programmed zoom level, and the Arrow pad will still pan around the magnified image. (The magnified area can also be moved around in other display modes while manually focusing, but after a brief pause without focus operation will reset to the active AF point location, making it rather less useful than in the Zoom display mode.)

As we note elsewhere, the LCD on the E-PL1 isn't one of the newer-generation high-resolution designs, as it has only 230K dots. It's also smaller than average, with a 2.7" diagonal. For precise manual focusing, the optional higher-resolution articulating electronic viewfinder proves a better choice, thanks to its high resolution of 1,440K dots (800 x 600 pixels x three dots per color). That said, we found that we could still produce sharp images when focusing manually using the LCD, at least under ideal conditions. Ideal conditions mean the camera mounted on a solid tripod, and a subject with strongly contrasting fine detail to examine while focusing. Under such conditions, we could consistently produce results as sharp as those delivered by the AF system, but we always felt like we were guessing somewhat as to where optimum focus really was. The excellent EVF certainly mitigates our issues with manual focusing on the PL1, but does rely on your buying it, and then bringing it everywhere you go, so we'd still be happier if the E-PL1's LCD screen was larger and had more resolution.

Autofocus servo modes consist of S-AF (single shot autofocus), C-AF (continuous autofocus), MF (manual focus), S-AF+MF (single shot autofocus with manual focus tweaking), and C-AF+TR (continuous autofocus with tracking). By default in S-AF or S-AF+MF modes, focus is locked when the shutter button is half-pressed, although this behaviour can be changed through the Custom menu. When AF tracking is enabled, the E-PL1 can follow the subject as it moves around the field of view, tracking it anywhere within the image frame to keep it in focus.

In both C-AF modes, the camera continuously cycles its AF system, which helps it track moving objects, keeping the current lens focal distance setting closer to the current subject distance than it might otherwise be. This can reduce AF "hunting" when it comes time to snap the actual shot. Because contrast-detect AF systems have to perturb the focus in order to tell whether the image is actually in focus or not, the E-PL1's Continuous-AF mode disturbs the viewfinder display on the LCD while it's operating. That is, the viewfinder image continuously shifts in and out of focus when C-AF is active, as the camera constantly re-checks its focus setting. This is a necessity for any contrast-detect AF system, but the amount of defocusing required by the E-PL1 to check focus is greater than we've seen in some other systems.

AF in Movie mode

In Movie mode, you have the same focusing options available as when shooting stills, with the exception of face detection autofocus, which is not available. There are a few differences from their still image counterparts though -- the most obvious being the absence of the beep that serves to confirm AF lock. In C-AF mode, there's also a green frame to indicate the focus point, which is absent in still image mode. Finally, both C-AF and C-AF+TR modes don't hunt around the focus point -- which means they make less objectionable sound on the audio track, but also means they take longer to detect and react to a change in subject distance. Since AF operation is picked up by the camera's internal microphone, you may want to choose either S-AF, S-AF+MF or MF modes to minimize the impact of the focus motor noises.

Olympus E-PL1 Sensor Cleaning

The Olympus E-PL1 features an ultrasonic dust-reduction system, especially important since the E-PL1's shutter is normally open for full-time Live View. The system automatically runs at power-up, and unfortunately, there is no option to disable it or run it manually, as it does contribute to startup time.

We have found that in-camera dust-removal systems are less than perfectly effective. You're still going to need to use a sensor-cleaning kit fairly often, so the advantage of in-body dust removal is perhaps less than it might seem. If you've got dust specks on your sensor (and sooner or later you will), you're going to need to clean it. There are a lot of products out there intended to address this need, but a distressing number of them work poorly (if at all), and many are grossly overpriced. Advertising hype is rampant, with bogus pseudo-scientific jargon and absurd product claims. And prices -- Did I mention prices? How about $100 for a simple synthetic-bristle brush?

So how do you know what product to use?

We don't pretend to have used everything currently on the market, but we can tell you about one solution that worked very well for us. The "Copper Hill" cleaning method is straightforward and safe, and in our routine usage here at Imaging Resource, highly effective. Better yet, the products sold by Copper Hill Imaging are very reasonably priced. Best of all, Nicholas R (proprietor of Copper Hill) has put together an amazingly detailed tutorial on sensor cleaning, free for all.

Sensor cleaning is one of the last things people think about when buying a d-SLR, but it's vital to capturing the best possible images. Take our advice and order a cleaning kit from Copper Hill right along with your d-SLR, so you'll have it close at hand when you need it: You'll be glad you did!

(While they've advertised on our sister site SLRgear.com from time to time, we receive no promotional consideration from Copper Hill for this note. We just think their sensor cleaning products are among the best on the market, and like their way of doing business. -- We think you will too. Click here to check them out.)

Kit Lens Test Results

Zoom
Excellent performance with the 14-42mm kit lens.

The Olympus E-PL1 is available bundled with a cost reduced version of the Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED M.Zuiko Digital Micro Four Thirds lens. The only major difference we found was the polycarbonate bayonet mount and black rear bezel, where the older lens's mount is metal and the bezel is silver. Optically, it appears to be identical. The kit lens possesses a very typical optical zoom range of 3x, and the 35mm equivalent focal range is about 28-84mm, because of the E-PL1's 2x "crop factor." Results were very good at 14mm, with only slightly soft corners and strong detail throughout the frame. Coma distortion in the trees was low; however, chromatic aberration in the corners was moderate. Results were excellent at the 42mm setting, with sharp corners and just a a hint of chromatic aberration. Overall, an excellent result for a kit lens. The Olympus E-PL1 does not offer a digital zoom mode.

Macro
A smaller than average area (for an SLD* kit lens), with excellent detail. Flash did a good job throttling down.

As with zoom performance, the Olympus E-PL1's macro performance will depend entirely on the lens in use. However, with the 14-42mm kit lens set to 42mm, the Olympus E-PL1 captured a smaller than average minimum area measuring 2.11 x 1.58 inches (54 x 40 millimeters). Resolution and detail were excellent, with only minor softening in the corners. (Most lenses have some softening in the corners at macro distances, the Olympus E-PL1's kit lens has much less than most.) The built-in flash did a good job throttling down at such a close distance, resulting in a well-exposed image. Excellent performance here as well.

*SLD = Single Lens Direct-view

Geometric Distortion
Low to moderate geometric distortion with the 14-42mm kit lens in JPEGs, much higher than average distortion in uncorrected RAW files.

In-Camera JPEG: Barrel distortion at 14mm is 0.8 percent

In-Camera JPEG: Pincushion distortion at 42mm is practically nonexistent

Uncorrected RAW: Barrel distortion at 14mm is 2.3 percent

Uncorrected RAW: Pincushion distortion at 42mm is 1.0 percent

When shooting JPEGs, the Olympus E-PL1's 14-42mm kit lens produced about 0.8 percent barrel distortion at wide-angle, which is about average and slightly noticeable in some of its images. At the telephoto end, there's almost no distortion, practically imperceptible. This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

To see how much correction is taking place in the camera, we converted RAW files from the above shots with dcraw, which does not correct for distortion. As you can see, at wide-angle, the barrel distortion is very high at about 2.3%, and pincushion distortion at telephoto is also fairly high at about 1.0%. We expect this for smaller interchangeable lenses though, so it's nothing to be concerned about unless you are using a RAW converter which does not understand the embedded "opcodes" to perform distortion corrections automatically. Most RAW converters these days are capable of applying distortion correction automatically, as specified by the manufacturer. (There's going to be some loss of resolution as a result of such correction, because pixels in the corners of the frame are being "stretched" to correct for the distortion. Obviously, a lens that doesn't require such correction, and is also sharp in the corners to begin with would be preferable, but relaxing constraints on barrel and pincushion distortion likely brings other benefits in the lens design, such as cost, size and weight.)

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
Moderate and bright chromatic aberration at wide-angle with the 14-42mm kit lens, much lower levels at full telephoto. Some soft corners.

Chromatic Aberration. Chromatic aberration in the corners with the E-PL1's 14-42mm kit lens is moderate and noticeable at wide-angle (14mm). At full telephoto (42mm), C.A. is low, and not as noticeable.  In both cases, the color fringing gradually reduces in brightness and width as it approaches the center of the image, where it is almost nonexistent.

Corner Softness. The Olympus E-PL1's 14-42mm kit lens produced some soft corners in a few shots. At full wide-angle, the upper corners were softer than the lower, with the top right corner being the softest. Blurring extended fairly far into the frame. The other corners, however, showed almost no softening, and the center of the image was a quite sharp. At full telephoto, the upper left corner was soft, but the others were fairly sharp, and the center was sharp. A better than average performance for a kit lens here, especially considering the lens was wide-open for these shots. (Corner sharpness generally improves when a lens is "stopped-down" a couple of f-stops below full aperture.)

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Olympus PEN E-PL1 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Olympus E-PL1 Exposure

Metering
Five metering systems are available on the Olympus E-PL1: Digital ESP, Center-weighted, Spot, Spot HI (highlights), and Spot SH (shadows). All are accessed through the various menu systems on the camera's LCD monitor. Under the default Digital ESP setting, the camera takes an exposure reading from 324 segments of the image, and chooses the best exposure based on brightness and contrast across the entire scene. Center-weighted metering reads from the center of the frame, but from a fairly large area. Spot metering simply reads the exposure from the very center of the image, so you can pinpoint the specific area of the photograph you want properly exposed. (Spot metering is very handy when you have a subject that's backlit, or that has a very different brightness, either lighter or darker, than the background.) The two additional Spot options provide highlight and shadow control, whenever shooting in very bright or very dark conditions.

Exposure and autofocus are optimized for faces when Face Detect is enabled. Metering range is from 0 to 18 EV, at room temperature with a 50mm f/2 lens at ISO 100. There's not a dedicated AE/AF Lock button, but either the Function or Movie buttons can be designated for this purpose through the Custom menu. When operating as an AEL/AFL button, the chosen control locks the current exposure settings whenever pressed, so you can independently lock exposure and focus. (AE Lock is useful when you want to base your exposure on an off-center subject. Point the camera at the subject, lock the exposure, then recompose your shot however you like. Your subject will be correctly exposed, regardless of what might be in the center of the frame when you finally snap the shutter.) If an AEL/AFL button is set, you can also adjust how it works in conjunction with the Shutter button. You can also specify which metering mode is used when the designated AEL button is pressed. Available options are Auto, Center-Weighted, Spot, Spot HI, and Spot SH.

In situations where exposure compensation is necessary, simply press the top button in the E-PL1's four-way arrow pad, which doubles as an Exposure Compensation button, subsequently pressing the left and right arrow buttons to adjust the exposure level. In all exposure modes except Manual and Bulb, the exposure value scale will display on the LCD, and you can increase or decrease the exposure in either 0.3, 0.5, or 1.0 EV increments (selected via a Custom menu option), up to a maximum of +/- 3.0 EV. Or, you can use the Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) function to automatically bracket three frames at 0.3, 0.7, or 1.0 EV steps each. The auto bracketing will center its efforts around whatever exposure you've chosen as the starting point, including any exposure compensation adjustments you've made -- meaning that it's possible to bracket one exposure as far as 4.0 EV on one side of the metered exposure value. AEB is handy for those times when you want to make sure you get just the right exposure for a critical subject.

The Olympus E-PL1 also gives you the ability to individually tweak the exposure of each metering mode, via a Custom menu option called Exposure Shift. This allows you to assign a separate compensation in 1/6 EV steps between -1 and +1 EV for Digital ESP, Center-weighted, and Spot metering modes. Unlike exposure bracketing, the exposure shift function is limited to operating within the camera's standard exposure compensation range. That is to say, if you dial in a -1.0 EV exposure shift, and the maximum -3.0 EV of exposure compensation, the camera will only reduce the metered exposure by 3.0 EV -- it won't go outside of the maximum exposure compensation range to a -4.0 EV exposure. Unlike the exposure compensation function, use of exposure shift isn't indicated on the PL1's record or playback-mode information overlays. It also survives a full camera reset.

White Balance
White balance options include Auto, Sunny, Shadow, Cloudy, Incandescent (Tungsten), Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, Fluorescent 3, Flash, One-Touch, and Custom, to accommodate a variety of lighting situations. White Balance is adjusted either through the Live / Super Control displays, or through Tab G of the Custom menu. The Olympus E-PL1's Custom setting lets you directly specify a color temperature using the Kelvin temperature scale, from 2,000K to 14,000K. This is accomplished by first highlighting the Custom white balance menu item, then pressing the Info button, selecting the desired color temperature by pressing the left or right Arrow buttons, and finally pressing the OK button to make your selection. Unfortunately there's no auto repeat if the arrow buttons are held down, so making a significant change to a Custom white balance value can involve a lot of repetitive button pressing. The One-Touch option is useful for basing the white balance on a white card. You can also adjust the white balance, controlling the amount of amber-blue and green-magenta bias in the color balance, in any of the selected modes, in +/- 7 steps. This ability to "tweak" the white balance, called White Balance Compensation, is very helpful when dealing with difficult light sources. The E-PL1 also features white balance bracketing. If activated, the camera will write three separate images for each press of the shutter button, either biasing between amber and blue or green and magenta. You can set the images to vary by two, four, or six arbitrary adjustment steps.

ISO Sensitivity
The Olympus E-PL1 lets you adjust its light sensitivity in either 1 or 1/3 EV steps, within a range of ISO 100 to 3,200 ISO equivalents. There's also an Auto mode in which the camera selects an ISO sensitivity appropriate to the subject's brightness. To keep noise and shutter speeds inside your desired range, you can set both maximum and minimum ISO limits for the Auto mode, within a range of 200 to 3,200 equivalents. By default, Auto ISO is only available when shooting in Program, Aperture-priority or Shutter-priority modes, but through a Custom menu option it can also be enabled in Manual mode. This allows both shutter speed and aperture to be manually specified, while the camera varies sensitivity so as to match the metered exposure. The net result is similar to the unusual Shutter/Aperture-priority (TAv) mode we've seen on Pentax's digital SLRs, although with the disadvantage that exposure compensation remains unavailable since the PL1 believes itself to be operating in Manual mode. There is also a useful  ISO bracketing feature, where the camera takes three images, varying the ISO but keeping the shutter speed and aperture fixed.

The higher ISO settings are helpful when you want faster shutter speeds under normal lighting, to help freeze fast action. Of course, as with all digicams, the higher ISO settings produce photos with more image noise, in much the same way that higher-ISO films show more film grain. To combat this problem, the E-PL1's Custom menu offers a variable high ISO noise reduction function -- which Olympus calls Noise Filter -- with options of either Off, Low, Standard, or High. There's also a separate Noise Reduction option in the Custom menu, which reduces noise in long exposures by capturing a second exposure containing only the dark current noise, then subtracting this from the image. This effectively doubles exposure times when in use. By default, long exposure noise reduction is applied automatically on longer exposures, but the function can also be disabled or enabled manually.

Picture Modes
There are also options on the Record menu to set the color mode. As well as the Vivid, Natural, Muted, Portrait, Monotone, and Custom options found in the E-P1, there's a new i-Enhance option which automatically detects the main subject in any scene, then boosts brightness / saturation selectively for those areas of the image so as to draw your attention to the subject. This effect is intended to better match what the human eye sees. Contrast, Sharpness, and Saturation levels may be adjusted in five steps for i-Enhance, Vivid, Natural, Muted, and Portrait; while Contrast and Sharpness levels can be adjusted in five steps for Monotone. Yellow, Orange, Red, or Green filter effects are available for Monotone, as well as Sepia, Blue, Purple, or Green picture tones. In addition, the Olympus E-PL1 has a Gradation setting to control the brightness of the entire image. You can choose between the Auto, Normal, Low, and High Key settings. Finally, the i-Enhance mode offers three-step control over the strength of the effect -- High, Standard, or Low. A color space option under the Custom menu lets you choose between sRGB (for Windows machines) and Adobe RGB (for Adobe Photoshop) color options.

Multiple Exposures
The Olympus E-PL1 supports multiple exposures overlaid as one image. You can overlay two subsequent images while they are being taken and save the result as a JPEG or Raw file. By enabling the Auto Gain feature, the camera can automatically adjust the gain so that the resulting image is averaged from the source images . Alternately, the result can be additive (as it would be in a multiple exposure shot with a film camera) if auto gain is left disabled.

It is possible to combine more than two images by using the Overlay function, which allows selection of any preexisting Raw image to use as a starting point for the multiple exposure. By saving each multiple exposure as a new Raw file, it's possible to combine an essentially unlimited number of exposures into a single image, although doing so requires the overlay image to be manually reselected through the menu system after each shot, a somewhat tedious process that requires at least seven button presses.

When shooting static subjects -- or those where blurring is desirable, such as waterfalls -- the auto gain function can also be used to reduce image noise in-camera by averaging it out across multiple exposures. This technique could allow the use of higher ISO sensitivities than might otherwise be advisable, but would require a pretty sturdy tripod to achieve this. That's because unlike its more expensive E-P2 sibling, the Olympus PL1 doesn't offer any form of remote control, making it harder to keep the camera precisely positioned between shots.

The E-PL1 offers one further method of creating multiple exposures through its Playback menu Image Overlay function. This allows selection of either two or three Raw images which are then combined into a single combined image, which is saved as a new Raw file. This allows a greater degree of control over the combined image than the Record-mode multiple exposure function, since the brightness of each source image can be adjusted separately in twenty steps.

Drive Mode and Self-Timer
The Drive setting accesses Single-shot and Continuous modes, as well as Self-timer modes. Single-shot shoots one frame per shutter press, while Continuous mode shoots bursts at about 3 frames-per-second. As is usually the case, the number of frames you can capture continuously is limited by the camera's buffer memory capacity, the speed of your memory card, and the image file size and quality.

The Olympus E-PL1 also offers two Self-Timer modes for self-portraits or those occasions when you don't want to risk camera shake on a long exposure by pressing the Shutter button to trip the shutter. You can choose between a 2 or 12 second countdown. The 2 second countdown is useful for times when you're taking a long exposure with the camera on a tripod. Surprisingly for a camera without a mirror, there is also an Anti-Shock option, which allows a programmable delay from 1/8s to 30s between the shutter button being pressed and the actual exposure taken.

Unlike the more expensive E-P2 model, no remote control capability is available for the E-PL1.

Shading Compensation
Like many of the company's other SLR and SLD cameras, the E-PL1 implements what the company calls Shading Compensation -- another term for lens vignetting or corner shading correction. Canon and Nikon offer a similar feature on some of their recent models, and it's nice to see the Olympus E-PL1 does too. It's not clear whether the camera applies fixed compensation based on lens type, or by analyzing the actual light fall-off in the corners of captured images.

Art Filters
Like the E-P1 and E-P2 SLDs as well as more recent Olympus SLRs, the E-PL1 offers what the company calls Art Filters effects. There are six to choose from, two less than are offered by the E-P2. As well as the Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, and Pin Hole filters of the E-P1, the Olympus E-PL1 also includes the Diorama filter found on the E-P2, and a new filter called Gentle Sepia. Three Art Filter modes present on its siblings are absent from the PL1. Two of these dropped filters -- Light Tone, and Pale & Light Color -- are found on both the P1 and P2. The third -- Cross Process -- is available only in the P2. What's unique about Olympus' Art Filters is that the camera performs them as it captures the image, taking them into account when determining exposure variables. The effect is also previewed on the camera's LCD or electronic viewfinder while framing the shot, although in a couple of modes the preview is rather coarse, and greatly slows down the live view. The Diorama filter is the worst offender, slowing the live view down to around two frames per second, and the Pin Hole filter also brings a significant slow down.

As one might expect, Art Filters are not applied to RAW files. If RAW mode is chosen, the camera will automatically enable LN+RAW mode, and save the modified image as a large/normal JPEG. For the two new filters, Diorama blurs the top and bottom of images to simulate shallow depth of field, while Cross Process yields surrealistic colors much like the effect achieved by cross-processing positive transparency film in chemicals intended for negative film.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Olympus PEN E-PL1 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Olympus PEN E-PL1 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Olympus E-PL1 Performance

Imaging

Olympus E-PL1 Image Quality

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Good color and hue accuracy overall, with less oversaturation than most.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Click for a larger image.

Saturation. The Olympus E-PL1 pushes reds, dark blues and dark brown a bit, while undersaturating aqua, cyan and yellow. Default saturation is only 103.4% (3.4% oversaturated), which is quite accurate. The E-PL1 doesn't oversaturate nearly as much as most consumer cameras. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. Here, the Olympus E-PL1 also did well, producing natural-looking skin tones, just slightly on the pinkish side. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. The Olympus E-PL1 did push cyan toward blue, red toward orange and yellow toward green, but shifts were relatively minor to moderate. Overall accuracy was still very good. (The cyan to blue shift is very common among the digital cameras we test; we think it's a deliberate choice by camera engineers to produce better-looking sky colors.) Hue is "what color" the color is.

Saturation Adjustment
The Olympus E-PL1 lets you adjust the image saturation, contrast, and sharpness in five steps each. As can be seen below, the saturation adjustment was quite effective, covers a useful range, and does a good job of not impacting contrast.

Saturation Adjustment Examples
-2	0	+2

The table above shows results with the default as well as the two extreme saturation settings. Click on any thumbnail above, then click again to see the full-sized image.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Very warm cast with Auto, but good color with the Incandescent and Manual settings. Average positive exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance was very warm with the Auto white balance setting. Results with the Incandescent setting were quite good, very similar to the Manual setting, which was the most accurate. The 2,600 Kelvin setting was quite cool with a blue-green tint. The Olympus E-PL1 required an average amount of positive exposure compensation here, at +0.3 EV. Overall color looks good, though the blue flowers look slightly purplish, probably due to the E-PL1's tendency to punch up reds a little. ((Many digital cameras reproduce the blue flowers here with more of a purplish tint, so the Olympus E-PL1 actually performs a bit better than average here.) Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.)

Outdoors, daylight
Bright colors overall, though a tendency toward high contrast under harsh lighting. About average exposure accuracy.

Outdoors, the Olympus E-PL1 performed pretty well, with good color but slight overexposure in the outdoor far-field house shot. The Olympus E-PL1 required an average amount of positive exposure compensation (+0.7 EV) to keep facial tones bright on the "sunlit" portrait test. That left the model's face a little dark, but there were still a lot of blown highlights in her shirt. Default contrast is on the high side, but fortunately, there's a contrast adjustment to help compensate. Overall, good results here, especially when the contrast setting is turned down (see Extremes section below).

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
Very high resolution, 1,600 lines of strong detail in JPEGs, a bit more from processed RAW files.

In camera JPEGs our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 1,600 lines per picture height in both the horizontal and vertical direction. Complete extinction of the pattern didn't occur until about 2,700 to 2,800 lines. We were able to extract a bit more resolution by processing the E-PL1's ORF files using Adobe Camera Raw 5.7 beta, but it produced some strong color moire and maze patterns (see the full image by clicking on the crops above), so Adobe still has some work to bring Camera Raw's E-PL1 support to released status. (Note: we've since tried the released version of ACR 5.7, and got results identical to the beta version.) Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Good sharpness overall, though edge-enhancement artifacts on high-contrast subjects are visible. Moderate noise suppression visible in the shadows.

Sharpness. The Olympus E-PL1 captures fairly sharp images overall, though edge enhancement artifacts are visible on high-contrast subjects such as the branches, roof and trim in the crop above left. (Most noticeable on edges of white trim against the brick; note light halo there.) Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows some moderate noise suppression artifacts in the darkest areas of the model's hair, smudging individual strands together, though quite a few strands are visible. Overall detail is better than average for a Four-Thirds sensor, and better than quite a few APS-C sensors as well. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above, the Olympus E-PL1 produces fairly sharp in-camera JPEGs. As is almost always the case, though, quite a bit more detail can be obtained from carefully processing RAW files than can be seen in the in-camera JPEGs. The Olympus E-PL1's JPEGs are good straight from the camera, but it's surprising how much more detail is visible after processing in a good RAW converter. Take a look below, to see what we mean:

Camera JPEG (SuperFine)	RAW via Olympus Master 2 (Defaults)	RAW via ACR (USM=300%, radius=0.3)

In the table above, mousing over a link at the bottom will load the corresponding crop in the area above, and clicking on the link will load the full resolution image.

As you can see, the Olympus Master 2 conversion resulted in an image very similar to the in-camera JPEG in terms of detail. The Adobe Camera Raw conversion however contains more fine detail than the camera JPEG, while at the same time showing fewer sharpening artifacts. The ACR version does show quite a bit more noise. We had to use ACR 5.7 beta since the previous version did not support the E-PL1, so conversion results may improve with future versions. (Note: we've since tried the released version of ACR 5.7, and got results identical to the beta version.) Also, this image was taken at ISO 200 (the ISO 100 version showed too many clipped highlights), so keep that in mind when comparing to other cameras at ISO 100. Like previous Olympus PEN cameras, the E-PL1 rewards RAW shooters with really excellent detail.

ISO & Noise Performance
Low noise and very good detail up to ISO 400, moderate to high noise at higher ISOs, but very good performance from a Four-Thirds sensor.

Default High ISO Noise Reduction
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1,600	ISO 3,200

The Olympus E-PL1's images are quite clean at ISO 100, and ISO 200 is almost as good. We start to see some bright as well as dark noise pixels at ISO 400, but detail is still very good, with just a hint of chroma noise creeping into the shadows. ISO 800 is quite a bit softer with more smudging due to stronger noise reduction, but detail is still pretty good though not quite as good as the E-P1/E-P2. At ISO 1,600, we see additional detail loss, as well as more obvious purple and yellow blotches in shadow areas. Again, the E-PL1's default noise reduction appears to be stronger than its siblings. At ISO 3,200, noise grain is coarser and blurring stronger still, as you'd expect. All things considered, the Olympus E-PL1's high-ISO images are noticeably improved over those of the earlier Olympus Four-Thirds cameras, though as mentioned above, default noise reduction is a bit stronger than the E-P1 and E-P2. As always, see the Print Quality section below for maximum recommended print sizes at each ISO.

A note about focus for this shot: We shoot this image at f/4, using one of three very sharp reference lenses (70mm Sigma f/2.8 macro for most cameras, 60mm f/2.8 Nikkor macro for Nikon bodies without a drive motor, and Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 for Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds bodies). To insure that the hair detail we use for making critical judgements about camera noise processing and detail rendering is in sharp focus at the relatively wide aperture we're shooting at, the focus target at the center of the scene is on a movable stand. This lets us compensate for front- or back-focus by different camera bodies, even those that lack micro-focus adjustments. This does mean, though, that the focus target itself may appear soft or slightly out of focus for bodies that front- or back-focused with the reference lens. If you click to view the full-size image for one of these shots and notice that the focus target is fuzzy, you don't need to email and tell us about it; we already know it. :-) The focus target position will simply have been adjusted to insure that the rest of the scene is focused properly.

Extremes: Sunlit and low light tests
High resolution with good overall detail, but somewhat high default contrast and limited dynamic range. Good low-light performance, but metering struggled quite a bit at lower light levels.

Sunlight. The Olympus E-PL1 struggled a bit with the deliberately harsh lighting of this test, as its contrast was a little high at its default setting, and the dynamic range was somewhat limited. Shadow detail is pretty good though, albeit a bit noisy. (Compared some other cameras, including earlier Olympus models, we prefer seeing a bit of noise in the shadows to the alternative of lots of detail lost due to noise suppression.) Although we liked the detail in the shirt better at +0.3 EV with the default contrast, we preferred the +0.7 EV exposure overall, because the exposure of the skin tones in the face was better, without blowing out as many highlights as with +1.0 EV. Depending on the photographer, you could lean one way or the other. Pros and advanced users will want to shoot darker, to hold highlight detail. For those E-PL1 owners that are going to want to just print an image, the +1.0 image would probably produce the best-looking print with little or no tweaking. The bottom line though, is that the E-PL1 had difficulty with the wide dynamic range of this shot, at least with its default settings at ISO 100.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here. In actual shooting conditions, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown here; it's better to shoot in open shade whenever possible.)

Contrast Adjustment
As mentioned previously, the camera's contrast adjustment was at least some help in handling the harsh lighting.

Minimum Contrast
Contrast set to lowest, +0.7 EV	Contrast set to lowest, Auto Exposure

At its lowest contrast setting, the Olympus E-PL1 did a better job of preserving highlight detail, maintaining fairly natural-looking skin tones, and holding more in the shadows, but the limited dynamic range still makes it perform a bit below average in this regard.

Contrast Adjustment Examples
-2	0	+2

The shots above show the results of the minimum, default and maximum contrast settings. While you can see the extremes, it's pretty hard to evaluate small differences in contrast on small thumbnails like these, click on any thumbnail to go to the full-size image. The Olympus E-PL1's contrast adjustment helps a little with the strong highlights here, but we'd really like to see slightly greater range, at the low end. Even with the lowest contrast setting, the dynamic range isn't terribly impressive: While dropping the exposure slightly helps the highlights, and the contrast adjustment opened up the shadows somewhat, the camera still struggles with the deliberately harsh lighting of this test. (Which means it will also have issues with strong, direct sunlight.)

Dynamic Range vs ISO Sensitivity
ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s	ISO 200, f/8, 1/640s

As was true for the E-P1 and E-P2, it's important to note that for maximum dynamic range, you should select ISO 200 when shooting with the Olympus E-PL1. While there is a bit more noise at ISO 200 versus 100, dynamic range is better at ISO 200 as can be seen in the above Far Field shots. The ISO 200 shot has much better highlight retention, while shadow detail is very similar. The E-PL1 also offers four Gradation options (Normal, Auto, High and Low Key). The above shots were taken with Gradation set to Normal.

Face Detection
Off at 0 EV	On at 0 EV

Face Detection
Like most Point & Shoot cameras these days (and some DSLRs in Live View mode), the Olympus E-PL1 has the ability to detect faces, and adjust exposure and focus accordingly. The E-PL1 does it automatically in iAuto mode, when a Portrait scene mode is selected, or when Face Detection AF mode is selected. As you can see from the examples above, it really works, as the image with face detection enabled is much better exposed for the face without having to use exposure compensation. An excellent performance under very difficult lighting such as this.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16fc No NR
ISO 100	1.6 sec f2.8	3.2 sec f2.8	6 sec f2.8	13 sec f2.8	25 sec f2.8	25 sec f2.8
ISO 200	0.8 sec f2.8	1.6 sec f2.8	3.2 sec f2.8	6 sec f2.8	13 sec f2.8	13 sec f2.8
ISO 400	0.4 sec f2.8	0.8 sec f2.8	1.6 sec f2.8	3.2 sec f2.8	6 sec f2.8	6 sec f2.8
ISO 800	1/5 sec f2.8	0.4 sec f2.8	0.8 sec f2.8	1.6 sec f2.8	3.2 sec f2.8	3.2 sec f2.8
ISO 1600	1/10 sec f2.8	1/5 sec f2.8	0.4 sec f2.8	0.8 sec f2.8	1.6 sec f2.8	1.6 sec f2.8
ISO 3200	1/20 sec f2.8	1/10 sec f2.8	1/5 sec f2.8	0.4 sec f2.8	0.8 sec f2.8	0.8 sec f2.8

Low light. The Olympus E-PL1 exposure metering struggled in our low light test. We had to resort to trial and error in manual mode to get the exposure right at the dimmest light level, then adjusted shutter speed to match the increase in light at successively higher levels. Noise is well controlled up to ISO 800, though there are a few hot pixels visible at lower light levels. White balance is fairly neutral, with a slightly warm, reddish cast. There doesn't appear to be any sign of banding at any ISO, an increasingly common issue lately.

The camera's autofocus system was able to focus on the subject down to between the 1/4 and 1/8 foot-candle light level unassisted with the 14-42mm kit lens. That isn't as good as most DSLRs, but very good for a camera using contrast-detect autofocus. The E-PL1 unfortunately does not have a built-in focus assist lamp.

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Thanks to their phase-detect AF systems, digital SLRs tend to do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects. The E-PL1 uses contrast-detect autofocus, as is found in most point & shoot cameras, so its low-light focusing ability is less than that of most SLRs with phase-detect systems. That said, though, the larger, more sensitive pixels of the E-PL1's sensor do better under dim lighting than do the tiny pixels of most point & shoots, (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don't have a tripod handy.)

Output Quality

Print Quality

Excellent print quality, good color, good-looking 20x30-inch prints from camera JPEGs. RAW files can access even more detail.

ISO 100 JPEG shots look great printed at 20x30 inches, with enough softness that printing at 16x20 looks a little better; still, 20x30 inches looks fine for wall display, and even better with a little sharpening.

ISO 200 and 400 shots are also usable at 20x30 inches, but ISO 400 shots tighten up a bit more to what we'd call tack sharp at 16x20.

ISO 800 shots are still reasonably good at 16x20, with only minor luminance noise. Shadows are a little soft thanks to noise suppression, but most high and low-contrast detail remains strong.

ISO 1,600 shots are usable at 13x19 inches, great for wall display.

ISO 3,200 shots look surprisingly good at 11x14, though 8x10 looks a little better. Color fades a bit at this sensitivity as well.

A very impressive performance from the Olympus E-PL1.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon Pro9000 Mark II studio printer, and the Canon Pixma MP610 here in the office. (See the Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II review for details on that model.)

Viewfinder

Olympus E-PL1 External Electronic Viewfinder

One of the main design changes in the Olympus E-PL1 as compared to the original PEN E-P1 model is the addition of an accessory port, much like that featured in Panasonic's Lumix DMC-GF1. The Olympus E-PL1's accessory port allows use of either an external electronic viewfinder, or an adapter for an external microphone jack -- both of which must be purchased separately. Either accessory mounts in the flash hot shoe, so their use precludes that of an external flash strobe, or simultaneous use of both accessories.

When slotted into the hot shoe, the viewfinder mates to a small female connector that's ordinarily concealed behind a cover that doubles as a hot shoe cap. The viewfinder itself also includes a cap to protect its corresponding male connector, and when the caps are removed, they can be slotted together for safe keeping. The connector provides electronic connections with which to provide a live view signal that's similar to that of the LCD display, although with a significantly higher resolution. The viewfinder assembly includes a mechanism to provide smooth articulation through a 90-degree arc, allowing viewing anywhere from directly behind to directly above the camera body.

The LCD panel used in the E-PL1's external viewfinder yields the same 1.15x magnification as the pentaprism viewfinder of the Olympus E-3 digital SLR, although with a slightly lower eyepoint of 18mm. It offers the same 1,440,000 dot resolution as the built-in electronic viewfinders found in the Panasonic G1 and GH1. That's particularly impressive, because it's significantly higher than either the resolution of the Panasonic GF1's external viewfinder, or for that matter the Olympus E-PL1's own LCD panel. The generous magnification and high resolution are complemented by a 100% field of view, refresh rate of 60 frames per second, 400cd brightness (double that of the average EVF, according to Olympus), and a 300:1 contrast ratio (said to be triple the norm). Subjectively we found the display included with our E-PL1 provided a high refresh rate, and showed very little tearing or ghosting. Thanks to individual pixels for red, green, and blue colors there are also no RGB shifts or artifacts, something which can be a problem on LCOS-based electronic viewfinders which alternate colors from each specific pixel location.

The Olympus E-PL1's removable viewfinder also includes two built-in controls. There's an LVF/LCD button to select which display should be active, and the bezel of the eyepiece acts as a diopter correction knob providing -3 to +1 diopters of adjustment.

Olympus E-PL1 Full-time Live View

By its nature, the Olympus E-PL1 is always in "Live View" mode: In that respect, it's like any point & shoot digicam with a rear-panel LCD that works as its viewfinder. The differences with this camera are that it has interchangeable lenses, and has a larger sensor to provide better low-light performance than typical pocket cameras.

The Olympus E-PL1's electronic viewfinder essentially mirrors the output of the main LCD display, but with a significantly higher resolution. As you change exposure settings, the display changes to reflect what the captured image will look like, also known as "exposure simulation." Much like the E-PL1's main LCD display, Olympus has provided both brightness and hue adjustments for the electronic viewfinder, which can be found on page two of the Custom Menu Options, Tab D.

Several display modes are available, allowing for information overlays including a live histogram. The information display in record mode can include shutter speed and aperture, exposure mode, flash mode, ISO sensitivity setting, metering mode, AF mode, number of available images, resolution, aspect ratio, image stabilizer mode, drive mode, white balance, focus confirmation, battery status, etc. Through the Custom menu, you can also enable one of four styles of grid displays. See our Operation page for information callouts in record mode, and see below for LCD accuracy test results.

Viewfinder Test Results

Accuracy
Excellent accuracy from the LCD monitor.

The Olympus E-PL1's LCD monitor proved very accurate, showing just over 100% coverage with our Olympus Zuiko Digital 50mm f/2.0 low distortion prime. Excellent results here. Since the electronic viewfinder is optional, we didn't test its accuracy with the E-PL1. However, it tested just as accurate as the LCD on the E-P2.

Video

Olympus E-PL1 Video Recording

by Dave Etchells and Mike Tomkins

Video recording in SLRs and other removable-lens digital cameras is an increasingly common and important feature, a trend the Olympus E-PL1 continues. In common with its competitors, it offers the ability to use a variety of lenses for video recording, and offers greater control over depth of field than do typical camcorders or digicams. In a welcome change since the previous P1 model, Olympus now allows fully manual control of both shutter speed and aperture for video recording. The internal microphone's only monaural, but there's provision for external stereo microphones via an adapter that connects to the new accessory port beneath the camera's hot shoe, whereas the original P1 allowed only its internal stereo mic. There's also a new dedicated movie recording button, a first for an Olympus PEN-series camera. The E-PL1 provides video capability in a smaller package than most other interchangeable-lens cameras, particularly when fitted with Olympus' M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f2.8 lens. We found the Olympus E-PL1 to be a competent video platform compared to competing cameras, falling towards the higher end of the range in terms of capability and features. Let's take a quick look at its overall specs, and then dive a little deeper into its features and options:

Olympus E-PL1 Basic Video Specs

• 720p (1,280 x 720), 30 fps HD recording
• 640 x 480, 30 fps SD recording
• Motion JPEG encoding, AVI file format
• Autofocus is possible during recording, but we don't recommend it (highly visible/audible)
• In Program and Aperture Priority AE, camera adjusts shutter speed / ISO sensitivity during recording to maintain metered exposure
• In Manual AE, full control of shutter speed, aperture and ISO sensitivity is possible, but only before recording starts
• EV adjustment is available in Program and Aperture Priority AE prior to recording, but not during
• "Art Filters" can be applied to video, but most adversely affect framerate, sometimes drastically
• Video recorded with Diorama filter plays back at ~15x normal speed, and has audio disabled
• Monaural audio recording via built-in microphone, plus external stereo input via optional accessory port adapter
• Dedicated Movie recording button
• Shutter button captures still image during movie (with brief interruption)
• Still + Video mode snaps still image at the end of video recording
  
  

Olympus E-PL1 Video Resolutions & Recording Formats

The Olympus E-PL1 records either 720p (1,280 x 720 pixel) High-Definition or 640 x 480 pixel Standard-Definition video with Motion-JPEG compression, using the AVI file format. Frame rate is always 30 fps, but bit rates may vary somewhat, depending on the resolution being recorded and complexity of the subject. Audio is monaural from the internal microphone, or stereo when using the optional external microphone adapter, and is recorded as 44.1 KHz PCM data, embedded in the AVI files. Here's a run-down of the Olympus E-PL1's video specs:

The Olympus E-PL1 offers just two video settings, either HD (high definition), recording at a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels and 30 frames/second, or SD (standard definition), recording 640x480 pixels, also at 30 frames/second. Its HD mode conforms to the "720p" spec, but doesn't offer the higher-resolution "1080i" mode HD option. This may not be much of a sacrifice, as 1080i recording in digicams and SLRs often brings with it either unacceptable levels of compression artifacts when faced with even modest amounts of movement in the video frame, reduced frame rates, or both. Likewise, the E-PL1's 30 fps frame rate is faster than some cameras that are limited to the 24 frames/second "cinema" standard (although depending on your intended use, this may actually be a disadvantage), but it doesn't reach the level of smoothness and motion-capture ability offered by models sporting 60 frames/second recording. In both frame rate and resolution, it ranks roughly in the middle of the pack of current interchangeable-lens video-capable cameras.

The Olympus E-PL1 records using Motion JPEG compression, saving its files in the AVI format. This is a somewhat more computer- and edit-friendly compression technology than MPEG4 or AVCHD, but at the expense of noticeably larger files: Expect to burn about 250 megabytes of card space for each minute of HD recording, and about 120 megabytes for each minute of standard-definition video. Interestingly, while the Olympus E-PL1 uses Motion JPEG compression, it does vary the compression level used, depending on the complexity of the subject or amount of motion in the frame, to result in relatively fixed bit rates. That is, the megabytes/minute of video don't vary much, regardless of whether you're filming a blank white wall or highly detailed scene with lots of change from frame to frame. On higher-capacity cards, individual files are limited to 2 gigabytes in size, corresponding to a bit over 8 minutes of HD video, or 16-17 minutes of SD.

Here are some examples of video from the Olympus E-PL1, showing typical results under daylight conditions.

Olympus E-PL1 Video Samples
HD Quality: 1,280 x 720, 30fps (88.4 MB)	SD Quality: 640 x 480, 30fps (44.5 MB)

Olympus E-PL1 Video-Mode Focusing

The bugaboo of video with interchangeable-lens still cameras has been (and in most cases continues to be) focusing; specifically, the lack of autofocus capability during movie recording. In this area, the Olympus E-PL1 once again places about midway in the range of current models. It does permit autofocus cycles during video recording, but the AF operation will be quite evident, both visibly and audibly in your recordings. At least, that will be the case when using the internal microphone and the Micro Four Thirds format lenses that Olympus currently offers. Using an external microphone should help at least somewhat, by increasing the distance between lens motors and camera, as well as allowing the use of mechanisms to isolate vibrations between the two. We've also heard that using the "video rated" 14-140mm zoom lens that Panasonic ships with their DMC-GH1 camera greatly improves the AF behavior of Olympus P-series cameras during recording, but haven't had the opportunity to test the GH1's lens on the E-PL1 ourselves. Likewise, Olympus own upcoming MSC (Motion & Still Picture capable) lenses are intended to focus faster and more quietly, but we've yet to test a production-level version of an MSC lens.

In its Movie mode, the Olympus E-PL1 by default performs an autofocus cycle if you half-press the shutter button, while the dedicated Movie button starts or stops the recording. There's also a continuous AF mode that will update the focus setting whenever the camera detects a change in the image. With either of the current Micro Four Thirds lenses Olympus offers with the E-PL1, the autofocus cycle is a pretty obvious affair: The image very visibly changes size as the camera adjusts the focus back and forth, and the sound of the focus activation is quite audible on the audio track in all but the loudest surroundings. As a result, we generally tried to avoid focusing during recording.

The Olympus E-PL1's focus adjustment is of the "fly by wire" type, meaning that the focus ring on the lens isn't directly coupled to the lens elements, but instead simply commands the camera to move the lens elements. What this means in practice is that you can't avoid AF noise in your soundtrack by using manual focus and making only slow adjustments: The camera moves the lens in small, discrete steps, so slow adjustment of the focus ring in MF mode only means that the steps occur less frequently, not that they're any smaller or quieter. Rather than a continuous rattle, you'll hear individual ticking noises when the focus ring is adjusted slowly. One solution to this would be to simply mount an old mechanically-coupled manual-focus lens on the E-PL1 via an adapter, but for most people, the solution will be to simply avoid adjusting focus while recording.

If you're using an external microphone that doesn't pick up lens noise as much, or you're not recording audio through the camera, then you may find the bobble in image size acceptable enough that it's useful to have the camera autofocus during recording. There is a continuous-AF option available in video mode that provides for exactly this. As noted, it isn't terribly quick (at least with the kit lens), but it will for the most part keep the camera focused as the framing changes. In either AF mode, you can manually specify which AF point to use for determining focus. In single-area-AF, you also have the option of  a multi-area mode, in which the camera focuses on the closest high-contrast object in the scene. Unlike its predecessor, the E-PL1 also offers tracking AF capability in continuous mode, allowing the camera to follow a moving subject anywhere within the frame during video recording.

In continuous-AF mode, the camera does a pretty good (if not infallible) job of figuring out when the scene has changed. It wasn't clear to us whether it was choosing when to run a new AF cycle based on a change in brightness, color, or (most likely) simply change in the contrast-detect focus signal itself. Some subtle changes seemed to lull it into complacency, so it sometimes let changes in subject distance get a bit ahead of it. Fairly significant changes produced an immediate and generally accurate response, but we also encountered some situations (most often under indoor lighting) where the lens could "hunt" over a fairly wide range. Overall, our strong preference was to use the single-AF mode, and just let the camera focus before the recording of each clip began.

One piece of good news relative to focusing, though: If you shoot in aperture-priority or manual mode with the lens stopped down, depth of field when recording videos can be pretty deep indeed. If you have a lot of light to work with (eg, outdoors in bright daylight), you can stop down to f/16 or even f/22 and the lens will effectively be hyperfocal from a few feet to infinity. The lower resolution of video recording helps a lot here too: With only a third to a quarter of the linear resolution of the camera's still images, the image can be quite a bit more out of focus on the sensor than would be tolerable for still images before you'll be able to discern the softness in the resulting videos. (The lens is quite soft at f/22 for still image shooting, due to diffraction limiting, but the lower resolution of video mode again renders this somewhat moot: Videos at HD resolution will be somewhat less crisp at f/22 than at the lens' sweet spot (around f/4 at wide angle, f/8 at tele), but we'd put the results well within the "acceptable" range.)

Olympus E-PL1 Video Exposure Control

Some video-capable cameras offer only fully automatic exposure in movie mode, but the Olympus E-PL1 gives you a choice of either Programmed, Aperture-Priority, or Manual exposure modes -- and even better, you can choose not only the shutter speed and aperture, but also the ISO sensitivity which the camera will use. All three exposure variables are fixed from the start of video recording in manual mode, while in the other modes the camera will adjust sensitivity and shutter speed during recording so as to retain the metered exposure. In Programmed and Aperture Priority modes, 3.0EV of exposure compensation is available in 0.3 EV steps.

The E-PL1 doesn't report  the aperture it's selected in Programmed Auto mode, but very much tends toward larger apertures: It'll stop down some in full sunlight, but for any lighting that's much less intense than that, it tends to shoot wide open. We personally didn't mind this at all, as for most subjects we like the shallower depth of field that comes from shooting wide open. (Although the lower resolution of video vs still images means that DOF will be a good bit deeper at any given aperture than you might expect.) Still, the issues with focusing during recording mentioned just above meant that we did find ourselves using Aperture Priority metering sometimes when the subject distance was likely to change a fair bit during the recording of a clip.

Like most video-capable SLRs, the Olympus E-PL1 lets you choose from the camera's full range of White Balance settings, including manual white balance and a "Custom" (Kelvin temperature) mode that spans an unusually wide range from 2,000 - 14,000K.

Like the P1 before it, the Olympic E-PL1 is very unusual in allowing use of the self-timer in video mode. The self-timer feature seems less useful for video recording than it is for still images, since you'll presumably still need to trim the end of the clip, to cut out the part where you walk back to the camera stop the recording. Still, it at will at least save you from editing the beginning of the clip, so does offer some utility.

It's not strictly an exposure control feature, but this seems as good a place as any to mention the Olympus E-PL1's Movie + Still recording mode. Selected via the second Record Menu screen, this option snaps a still image at the end of each movie clip: When you press the shutter button the second time, to stop movie recording, the shutter actuates, and the camera captures a full-resolution still frame. We suppose this is could be useful at times, but in our own movies, the action is usually over by the time we're ending a clip, so that's perhaps not the ideal place to capture a still frame. Thankfully, with its separate shutter and Movie buttons, it's also possible to capture a still image during movie recording simply by pressing the shutter button. This does yield a brief interruption to the movie, on the order of around four seconds, and results in the movie being split across two separate files. The delay also means that you rather need to anticipate the moment at which you'll want to capture the still image, with the moment of capture actually coming a short time after you press the shutter button. Still, there are times when we'd like to have a high-resolution still image of a video subject available, and these modes make it much easier than with many cameras where movie recording must be stopped and the operating mode changed.

Olympus E-PL1 Image Stabilization During Video Recording

The Olympus E-PL1 incorporates Olympus' body-based image stabilization, so any lens attached to it effectively becomes an image-stabilized model. (Note, though, that when using a lens that has its own image stabilization, you have to choose either the camera's IS or that in the lens; they won't work together.) All three IS modes the E-PL1 offers are also available while recording movies. The four modes are IS 1 (stabilizer on), IS 2 (horizontal panning), and IS 3 (vertical panning). As in still-capture mode, you can also set the focal length of the lens explicitly, from 8-1,000mm, for use with non-Micro Four Thirds/Four Thirds system lenses that don't communicate their focal length to the camera.

We somewhat expected to be able to hear the operation of the IS system during video recording, but instead found it to be completely silent. (At least, we weren't able to hear any trace of it in the audio track, even in very quiet surroundings.) It worked quite well, lending a good bit of added stability to our hand-held movie recordings, particularly when the kit lens was set toward the telephoto end of its zoom range.

We did notice that the IS system produced significantly more motion artifacts when it was active than when it was not. With its 30 fps frame rate, the Olympus E-PL1's "rolling shutter" artifacts (see below) generally aren't quite as noticeable as those from some cameras with slower frame rates. When the IS system is active, though, the image jiggling effect we commonly associate with the rolling shutter image capture approach becomes much more prominent with the IS system in IS 1 mode. Switching to either IS 2 or IS 3 (horizontal or vertical panning mode) seemed to help this considerably, even for camera motion in the stabilized direction.

Digital and Body-Based Stabilization: Slightly longer effective focal lengths with video IS
Perhaps explaining both its silence and its impact on rolling shutter artifacts, we also noted that video-mode IS on the E-PL1 appears to involve at least some amount of digital IS, of the type that stabilizes the video image by changing how the image data is clocked from the array. The key here is that the E-PL1's sensor has a lot more pixels than required to generate even its 1,280 x 720 high-definition video, let alone its 640 x 480 standard definition output. In the HD case, there are 3.15x more sensor pixels than video pixels horizontally and 4.2x more vertically. This means you can compensate for camera shake pretty precisely, simply by changing which rows or column of pixels you're reading from to construct a given video frame: If camera movement shifted the image up by (for instance) an amount corresponding to a quarter of a video pixel, just shift your data readout up one row of sensor pixels to compensate.

To get a useful amount of image stabilization with this approach, you need to leave a band of "spare" pixels around the periphery of the sensor, so you can follow the image across the sensor array without running out of pixels at one edge. This in fact is exactly what the Olympus E-PL1 does when you enable image stabilization in its movie mode: It crops the image slightly, then compensates for camera shake by changing the portion of the sensor it uses for the video frame. The net result is roughly a 30% increase in effective focal length: With the 14-42mm kit lens, maximum wide angle in video mode with IS active is roughly a 36mm equivalent (18mm on the lens barrel) vs the 28mm equivalent (14mm actual focal length) in still-capture mode.

Olympus E-PL1 Audio Capabilities

Audio recording in movies is optional with the Olympus E-PL1. Audio can be turned on or off via the Live Menu, accessible by pressing the OK button on the camera's rear panel. Audio is recorded as 16-bit, 44.1 KHz PCM, and is either monaural when using the internal microphone, or stereo when using the external microphone adapter. Olympus advertises the PL1's audio as being equal to the best quality provided by any of their popular handheld audio recorders. Monaural recording is done via a single microphone on the camera's top face, appearing as two small black holes in front of the hot shoe.

Stereo audio can be recorded via the EMA-1 adapter that connects to the accessory port and offers an external microphone jack (shown at right mounted on the PL1's sibling, the P2, with the ME-51S stereo mic and extension cable attached). We didn't receive the EMA-1 adapter in our review kit, and so can't comment on its operation. The internal mic did a pretty decent job, bearing in mind that it doesn't offer stereo recording. Per their advertising, sound fidelity was indeed quite good; voices sounded natural, and sound outdoors was recorded clearly and in considerable detail.

Our one criticism of the E-PL1's sound was that there seemed to be a bit more background noise in its audio tracks than we've noticed on some other cameras we've tested. There's no manual volume or input level control, so audio levels are set entirely automatically by the camera. (This is quite typical of video-capable SLRs that also record audio.) The combination of the auto-gain circuitry and the camera's somewhat "bright" sound quality tended to emphasize background noise, though, particularly in the upper midrange of the frequency spectrum. The result was a tendency toward noticeable hiss in the background of the E-PL1's audio tracks. Also, the sensitivity to nearby background noises tended to limit the amount of gain increase when responding to reduced subject volume, so distant subjects were generally more difficult to hear clearly than closer ones. (This obviously will always be the case, what we're trying to say here is that the audibility of subjects fell off more rapidly with distance than we sometimes expected.) Ultimately the camera recorded any audio we were interested in hearing, but the hiss was more prominent than we'd have liked, and it would be nice if the mic's response pattern better suppressed sounds from behind and around the camera, favoring sound from in front of the camera more strongly.

In common with most other built-in mics on SLR-style cameras, the Olympus E-PL1's internal mic was also very sensitive to hand movements on the body and operating noise from the camera itself. We mentioned the noise associated with focusing of the kit lens above, and found that adjustments of the zoom setting could also be heard in the audio track in quiet surroundings. Another source of noise in the previous P1 and P2 models has been fixed in the PL1, though. Both previous cameras featured metallic D-rings (which are actually triangular) that attach the neckstrap to the body. These had a tendency to produce odd clicking noises in sound tracks from both cameras. Thankfully, the PL1 instead uses more modern rectangular body-mounted lugs that the strap passes through directly, and the metal-on-fabric interface greatly reduces the likelihood of untoward noises as the strap moves.

All of the quibbles with the internal microphone are at least somewhat mitigated by the provision of an external microphone connection. As well as allowing a higher-fidelity, stereo mic to be used, the optional EMA-1 accessory port adapter's microphone jack allows the mic itself to be distanced from the camera, reducing the likelihood of noises from body handling or the AF motor being picked up. Note that use of this adapter (which we didn't receive in our test kit) precludes use of the electronic viewfinder accessory, meaning that movies using an external microphone must be framed on the PL1's LCD display. The EMA-1 adapter also doesn't provide any means of mounting the microphone should its weight not be supported by the 3.5mm microphone jack itself, so most external mics will need to be held separately, or attached to the camera via a bracket connected to the tripod socket. Even if a small external mic is mounted directly on the microphone jack, it will still likely provide somewhat better isolation than the internal microphone, though.

Olympus E-PL1 Movie Recording User Interface

The Olympus E-PL1's movie mode is available in all operating modes, thanks to the camera's dedicated Movie button. In most modes, movies are recorded using Program autoexposure, regardless of the operating mode selected on the camera's Mode dial, or in the Custom menu's Movie Mode setting. The sole exceptions are the Art Filter and Movie mode positions on the Mode dial. In the Art Filter mode, the movie will be recorded with the same art filter type as used for still images, overriding the Custom menu Movie Mode setting. In Movie mode, the custom menu setting -- which can also be adjusted from the Live Control panel -- will determine which exposure mode to use. Pressing the dedicated Movie button starts recording, and pressing it again stops it. Half-pressing the shutter button triggers an AF cycle, just as in still-picture mode. Fully pressing the shutter button during Movie recording will stop and finalize the current movie, capture a still image, then resume movie recording in a new file about four seconds after the first file ended.

Setting adjustments in movie mode are made via a Live Control panel, which appears down the right side of the LCD when you press the OK button on the camera's back. Options on the Live Menu for video recording are:

Olympus E-PL1 In-Camera Image Adjustment for Movies

Olympus has for some time now made a big deal of their Art Filters in marketing their DSLRs. We know people that like these effects a lot, but confess that we've personally never found them very compelling. With the E-PL1, Olympus has carried the full set of Art Filters over into Movie Mode, so those users who are into such things can take advantage of the same effects in their videos.

As usual, though, there's no free lunch, and the processing required for some of the Art Filter effects can significantly slow the frame rates. Here's a summary of what we found when shooting video using the various Art Filter effects:

As the above table shows, the only time that the actual frame rate changed in the movie file itself was with the Pin Hole filter in HD mode. For the Diorama filter, frame rate is equally slow, but the file is encoded as 30 fps - so playback appears accelerated by ~15x. For this reason, audio recording is disabled in Diorama mode. For the Soft Focus and Grainy Film modes, the frame rate in the AVI file remained at 30 frames/second, but the apparent frame rate (based on the visual jerkiness of motion in the scene) dropped noticeably. In the case of Soft Focus, the drop in apparent frame rate was pretty significant. The two other filters (Pop Art, and Gentle Sepia) had no apparent impact on frame rate.

Computer Requirements for Viewing HD Video

A typical computer these days has little trouble dealing with still images, but high-definition video can be another matter. Depending on the file format involved, it can take a pretty beefy computer to handle HD-resolution video playback without stuttering or dropping frames. The Motion JPEG image compression used by the Olympus E-PL1 is one of the less compute-intensive formats, though, and its 1,280 x 720 resolution means there's a good bit less data in each frame to deal with than in videos with 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. The net result is that you should have no problem playing video files from the E-PL1 on your computer, as long as it's a relatively recent and reasonably powerful model. We don't have a specific benchmark for this, but if your computer is less than 3 years or so old, it should have no problem with the E-PL1's video streams. (By contrast, to play AVCHD or other keyframe-encoded video formats at full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution can demand a very powerful CPU and video card, to keep up.)

Olympus E-PL1 Video Mode: The Bottom Line

Overall, the Olympus E-PL1's video mode worked pretty well: It wasn't the most capable that we've tested to date, but neither was it the least. For some uses, the replacement of the P1's stereo microphone with a monaural type may seem a downgrade, but for many movies the stereo effect can prove unnecessary or even distracting, so the importance of this change will depend on the subject matter. The addition of AF tracking and an adapter for external stereo microphone support make it more versatile than the video mode of its predecessor, the E-P1. The PL1 should be reasonably competent at handling the bulk of the movie recording most consumers will care about, further enhancing the E-PL1's appeal as a compact SLR-grade camera for travel and day to day portability: For the vast majority of consumers, it will eliminate the need to lug along a digicam, just for the sake of capturing video snapshots.

Flash

Olympus E-PL1 Flash

The Olympus E-PL1 is the first PEN series digital camera to feature a built-in, pop-up flash. Available flash modes are: Auto, Fill-in, Off, Red-eye reduction, Slow synchronization (1st curtain), Red-eye reduction slow synchronization (1st curtain), Slow synchronization (2nd curtain), and Manual. Flash control modes for the internal flash consist of TTL Auto (TTL pre-flash mode) and Manual (with full, 1/4, 1/16, 1/64 power output settings). To release the flash from its compartment, slide the flash switch on the rear panel behind the flash housing. Close it again by pushing the flash head back down. This flash does not auto-deploy.

The Olympus E-PL1's built-in flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 7 meters or 23 feet at ISO 100. That's pretty weak, but understandable given its miniscule size. Still, it's quite useful as a fill flash, or when ambient lighting is too low for near-by subjects. Maximum sync speed is 1/160s. Super FP shooting with shutter speeds up to 1/2,000s is available with Olympus FL-50R, FL-36R, FL-50, and FL-36 external flash units.

Surprisingly, the E-PL1's built-in flash can act as a wireless controller to remote slave flashes with wireless capability, specifically the Olympus FL-50R and FL-36R. Four separate control channels are available for wireless operation, to allow multiple photographers to work wirelessly in the same area without interfering with each other. There is also support for controlling three separate groups with individual control for flash mode and flash intensity per group.

The E-PL1 also has a dedicated hot shoe for mounting external flash units (shown to the left with the included cover installed), like Olympus's compact FL-14 flash. Other Olympus flash units such as the FL-50R, FL-36R and FL-20 also work, and non-dedicated units can also be used provided they have a compatible trigger voltage and polarity. (Olympus hasn't stated the trigger voltage or polarity, though.)

The advantages of a good external flash are many: more power for increased range, faster recycle times, longer battery life, reduced red-eye, auto zoom to match coverage to the current focal length, and the ability to adjust the tilt and swivel of the head to allow light from the flash to be bounced off nearby surfaces such as a ceiling, for a diffuse effect. (The FL-14 does not, however, tilt for bounce-flash operation.) Many external flash units have a powerful AF assist illuminator, and other useful features such as modeling flash and high-speed focal plane (FP) sync mode are common on higher end models.

The Olympus E-PL1 allows you to adjust flash and ambient exposure independently of each other, by providing flash exposure compensation between -1 and +1 EV in one-third EV increments. An option in the Custom menu also allows for flash exposure compensation to be independent or additive to ambient exposure compensation. Flash exposure bracketing is also supported, where three shots can be taken at one-third, two-thirds, or one EV of positive and negative flash exposure compensation.

Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
A very weak flash, with somewhat narrow coverage. Our standard flash shots were underexposed despite using maximum flash exposure compensation.

Coverage and Exposure. Flash coverage was uneven at wide-angle (14mm), but much more uniform at telephoto (42mm). In the Indoor test, the Olympus E-PL1's flash underexposed our subject even with maximum flash exposure compensation adjustment of +3 which we believe is +1.0 EV. The average amount of flash exposure compensation needed for this shot is +0.7 EV. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced much better results, aided by the slow 0.3 second shutter speed, though with a stronger pinkish-orange cast from the room lighting.

Flash Range: Wide Angle
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100

Flash Range: Telephoto
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 100

ISO 100 Range. Flash exposure started out dim at 6 feet at wide-angle, and became dimmer as distance increased. At telephoto, flash exposures were even dimmer at 6 feet than they were at wide angle, and gradually became dimmer as distance increased.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
Wide Angle	Telephoto
6.6 feet ISO 100	4.1 feet ISO 100

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Olympus E-PL1's built-in flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 7 meters at ISO 100. That works out to about 6.6 feet at f/3.5 and 4.1 feet at f/5.6, the maximum aperture of the kit zoom lens at wide-angle and telephoto respectively. In both the wide-angle and telephoto shots above, the E-PL1 did not perform as Olympus says it will, producing dim exposures at the rated distances. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, 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.

High ISO Noise Reduction

Olympus E-PL1 Noise Reduction

The Olympus E-PL1 offers four levels of noise-reduction, which gives good control in choosing how you want to make the trade-off between subject detail and noise level. The E-PL1 applies NR to its JPEGs at all ISOs, so we've included crops at all ISOs in the tables below. The combination of shooting with NR turned down to the lowest setting and using a good noise-filtering program after the fact can produce very clean images with lots of fine detail in them.

See for yourself how the noise reduction works under daylight-balanced lighting. Click on any of the crops below to see the corresponding full-sized image.

Noise Reduction Comparison In-camera JPEGs Daylight-balanced illumination
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Standard	NR = High
I S O 1 0 0
	NR= Off	NR = Low	NR = Standard	NR = High
I S O 2 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Standard	NR = High
I S O 4 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Standard	NR = High
I S O 8 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Standard	NR = High
I S O 1 6 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Standard	NR = High
I S O 3 2 0 0

The above crops show the effects of the four available noise reduction settings, under the studio HMI lighting we use to simulate daylight. To our eyes, the default (Standard) level of noise reduction strikes a pretty good balance between noise and subtle subject detail, although the red fabric swatch presents a real challenge, as it does for virtually all cameras we test. Cranking the noise reduction setting up to High produces very smooth-looking images, while still maintaining good detail in areas of high local contrast (as seen in the circular scale), but a lot of detail is lost in areas of subtle contrast (the red fabric swatch is a particularly challenging subject, and the detail loss there is worse than you'd find in most real-world examples). At the other end of the scale, the Off noise reduction setting leaves a lot of noise in the image, but also leaves the subject detail largely undisturbed: Use this setting if you have good third-party noise reduction software; with appropriate processing, the result could be quite good. You should be able to do even better working from the RAW files.

But how does the Olympus E-PL1 compare to other compact Micro Four Thirds models? See the following table which compares at the default Noise Reduction setting at ISO 800 and above.

High ISO Comparison with Olympus E-P2, Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic GF1 (In-camera JPEGs, all default NR) Daylight-balanced illumination
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P2	Olympus E-P1	Panasonic GF1
I S O 8 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P2	Olympus E-P1	Panasonic GF1
I S O 1 6 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P2	Olympus E-P1	Panasonic GF1
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P2	Olympus E-P1	Panasonic GF1
I S O 6 4 0 0	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported
	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported
	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported

To our eyes, the Olympus E-PL1, has the cleanest looking images of the group, though E-P2 isn't far behind. The E-P1 looks a touch noisier, but also leaves more detail in the red fabric. You can really see a difference in Panasonic's approach to noise reduction. It leaves more detail in the red fabric, at least at moderate ISOs, but also shows more chroma noise.

Let's see how the Olympus E-PL1's high ISO JPEGs compare to SLDs with APS-C sensors:

High ISO Comparison with Sony NEX-5, Sony NEX-3 and Samsung NX10 (In-camera JPEGs, all default NR) Daylight-balanced illumination
	Olympus E-PL1	Sony NEX-5	Sony NEX-3	Samsung NX10
I S O 8 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Sony NEX-5	Sony NEX-3	Samsung NX10
I S O 1 6 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Sony NEX-5	Sony NEX-3	Samsung NX10
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Sony NEX-5	Sony NEX-3	Samsung NX10
I S O 6 4 0 0	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported
	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported
	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported
	Olympus E-PL1	Sony NEX-5	Sony NEX-3	Samsung NX10
I S O 1 2 8 0 0	N/A ISO 12800 not supported			N/A ISO 12800 not supported
	N/A ISO 12800 not supported			N/A ISO 12800 not supported
	N/A ISO 12800 not supported			N/A ISO 12800 not supported

As you can see, the two Sony NEX models have the best high ISO performance. The Olympus E-PL1 however does do better than the Samsung NX10.

Keep in mind that each camera manufacturer makes somewhat different trade-offs between noise and image detail, compounded by the number of different NR settings each offers. Be sure check out our RAW crops, to see how sensor output compares without NR or other in-camera processing.

Imatest Results

Olympus E-PL1 Imatest Results

We routinely use Norman Koren's excellent "Imatest" analysis program for quantitative, thoroughly objective analysis of digicam test images. I highly recommend it to our technically-oriented readers, as it's far and away the best, most comprehensive analysis program I've found to date.

Our comments below are just brief observations of what we see in the Imatest results. A full discussion of all the data Imatest produces is really beyond the scope of this review: Visit the Imatest web site for a full discussion of what the program measures, how it performs its computations, and how to interpret its output.

Here's some of the results produced by Imatest for the Olympus E-PL1:

sRGB Accuracy Comparison
Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P2	Olympus E-P1	Panasonic GF1	Panasonic GH1	Panasonic G1

The Olympus E-PL1 showed very good overall color accuracy, as well as accurate saturation levels. Hue accuracy was very good, with small hue shifts in reds, oranges, yellows and some greens and purples. The larger shifts in aqua and cyan are very common among the cameras we test; we think they're an effort to produce sky colors that look better on monitors and in print. Average "delta-C" color error was only 4.73 after correction for saturation, which is excellent. (Delta-C is the same as the more commonly referred to delta-E, but delta-C takes into account only color differences, ignoring luminance variation.) Average saturation was 103.4% (oversaturated by only 3.4%), the most accurate of the group, with only minor oversaturation of bright reds, deep blues and some dark greens and browns. The E-PL1 undersaturates some yellows, greens, aquas, cyans and purples. All in all, a very accurate color response for this class of camera. Mouse over the links below the illustration above to compare results with other recent Four Thirds sensor cameras.

Adobe RGB Accuracy Comparison
Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P2	Olympus E-P1	Panasonic GF1	Panasonic GH1	Panasonic G1

As is true of most SLDs and SLRs, when using the Adobe RGB color space (which provides a much wider gamut, or range of colors that can be expressed), the Olympus E-PL1 delivers more highly saturated color. Average saturation was much higher at 113.6%, but average saturation-corrected hue error was 4.03 "delta-C" units, actually slightly more accurate than the sRGB result. Again, mouse over the links below the illustration above to compare results with other Micro Four Thirds SLDs.

This image shows how the Olympus E-PL1 actually rendered the colors of the MacBeth chart, compared to a numerically ideal treatment. In each color swatch, the outer perimeter shows the color as actually captured by the camera, the inner square shows the numerically correct color after correcting for the luminance of the photographed chart (as determined by a second-order curve fit to the values of the gray swatches), and the small rectangle inside the inner square shows the numerically correct color, without the luminance correction. This image shows the generally excellent hue and saturation accuracy, however you can see a slight greenish tinge in the bright yellow and orange swatches, something you can also see in the yellow yarn in our Still Life images. The tinge is very slight, though -- less noticeable than a similar shift in current Panasonic SLD models.

The bottom row of the chart shows exaggerated white balance errors, revealing that the camera produced a slightly cool color balance when using Custom white balance, with a WhiBal card as the reference.

There's a lot in this particular graph, a lot more than we really have room to go into here. (This set of plots has also changed a few revisions back in Imatest. Some of the plots that were once shown here are now shown in other Imatest output. Since we largely focus on the Noise Spectrum plot, we only show the graphic above, which includes that plot.)

In comparing these graphs with those from competing cameras, we've found that the Noise Spectrum graph at lower right is the most important. Cameras that manage to shift their noise spectrum to higher frequencies have much finer-grained noise structures, making their noise less visually objectionable. In the graph above, this would show up as a noise spectrum curve that remained higher on the right side, representing higher noise frequencies.

The Olympus E-PL1 does a very good job of keeping a lot of the luminance noise energy (indicated by the black line) up at high frequencies, performing somewhat better than the E-P2 in this respect. What little low-ISO luminance image noise that's there is fairly fine-grained as a result. Chroma noise at low spatial frequencies is slightly higher than luminance noise, especially in the red and blue channels, but this is not unusual, and the amount of low frequency chroma noise in the E-PL1's low-ISO images is better than Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds cameras. The Panasonic GF1 has red and blue channels that exhibit noise power in the 2 to 2.5 range at the low frequency end.

Looking at the lower-left plot in the illustration above, the E-PL1's component noise levels are nicely matched, with RGB channels following the luminance channel (plotted in gray) fairly closely. Compared to the Panasonic GF1, its closest current competitor, the E-PL1's noise is a bit higher in the deepest shadows. However in the lighter shadows, midtones and highlights, the E-PL1 exhibits lower RMS noise than the GF1. Overall, a very good performance for a Four-Thirds sensor.

Above is the same set of noise data at ISO 200, the Olympus E-PL1's native or "base" ISO. As you can see from the graphs, noise is a bit higher than at ISO 100, especially blue and red channel noise at lower frequencies, but still relatively low.

Above is the same set of noise data at ISO 1,600. Here, the Noise Spectrum graph is shifted quite a bit toward the left-hand, lower-frequency side than it was at ISOs 100 and 200, coarsening the "grain" of the image noise patterns quite a bit. The red and blue channels still exhibit a bit more noise at the low end of the frequency spectrum, but track luminance noise very closely at all but the lowest frequencies. Looking at the lower left graph again, RMS noise is a bit lower than the E-P2 across the board. Compared to the GF1, noise is slightly higher in the deepest shadows, but lower than the Panasonic at higher brightnesses.

Here's the same set of noise data at ISO 3,200. Here again, the Noise Spectrum graph is shifted even more toward the left-hand side, coarsening the "grain" of the image noise patterns further. The tracking of overall noise levels relative to the GF1 is similar to what it was at ISO 1,600, with the E-PL1 having a slight edge at all brightness levels except for the darkest shadows and brightest highlights. The E-PL1 also edges out the E-P2 across all brightnesses

This chart compares the Olympus E-PL1's noise performance over a range of ISOs against that of other recent Micro Four-Thirds models. While we continue to show noise plots of this sort because readers ask for them, we each time point out that the noise magnitude is only a small part of the story, the grain pattern being much more important. Here, we can see that the Olympus E-PL1's luminance noise magnitude graph shows significantly lower noise levels than the E-P1 and E-P2, and is in fact, lower than all the competition at most ISOs as well. Inspecting the E-PL1's JPEGs closely, it can be seen that they are indeed cleaner than the E-P1/P2, however it is also evident that default noise reduction is stronger. There is little difference in noise levels when you compare E-P2 and E-PL1 RAW files, though the E-PL1's converted files do look slightly cleaner. This is an excellent performance overall for its class, and you can always adjust the noise reduction settings to suite your taste. The Olympus E-PL1 offers four levels of noise reduction, with the above data collected using the default, "Standard" setting.

Olympus E-PL1 Dynamic Range Analysis

A key parameter in a digital camera is its Dynamic Range, the range of brightness that can be faithfully recorded. At the upper end of the tonal scale, dynamic range is dictated by the point at which the RGB data "saturates" at values of 255, 255, 255. At the lower end of the tonal scale, dynamic range is determined by the point at which there ceases to be any useful difference between adjacent tonal steps. Note the use of the qualifier "useful" in there: While it's tempting to evaluate dynamic range as the maximum number of tonal steps that can be discerned at all, that measure of dynamic range has very little relevance to real-world photography. What we care about as photographers is how much detail we can pull out of the shadows before image noise becomes too objectionable. This, of course, is a very subjective matter, and will vary with the application and even the subject matter in question. (Noise will be much more visible in subjects with large areas of flat tints and subtle shading than it would in subjects with strong, highly contrasting surface texture.)

What makes most sense then, is to specify useful dynamic range in terms of the point at which image noise reaches some agreed-upon threshold. To this end, Imatest computes a number of different dynamic range measurements, based on a variety of image noise thresholds. The noise thresholds are specified in terms of f-stops of equivalent luminance variation in the final image file, and dynamic range is computed for noise thresholds of 1.0 (low image quality), 0.5 (medium image quality), 0.25 (medium-high image quality) and 0.1 (high image quality). For most photographers and most applications, the noise thresholds of 0.5 and 0.25 f-stops are probably the most relevant to the production of acceptable-quality finished images, but many noise-sensitive shooters will insist on the 0.1 f-stop limit for their most critical work.

The images below show the test results from Imatest for an in-camera JPEG file from the Olympus E-PL1 with a nominally-exposed density step target (Stouffer 4110), and the E-PL1's settings such as Contrast (0) and Gradation (Normal) at their default positions.

Here, we can see that he tone curve shows pretty nice gradation in the highlights, but the shadow end doesn't trail off as gradually. Total dynamic range was good at 10.2 f-stops, however the score at the highest level was 5.89 f-stops. That score is pretty low, perhaps a result of the nice-looking tone curve, which does cause the camera to use some of its available output dynamic range to produce the pretty tail at the highlight end of the curve. There's also moderate amounts of noise in the deep shadows, though there is still a lot of subject detail present. In general, we find this far preferable to low noise with detail obliterated by over-aggressive noise reduction, and applaud Olympus on the excellent job they've done in their recent models, in intelligently managing noise and subject detail.

The illustrations above show the results from Adobe Camera Raw 5.7, with Auto settings (slightly better results are likely possible with manually tweaking, but we weren't able to do better, due to what appeared to be some truncation of the individual color channel data at the highlight end of the tonal range). As can be seen, the score at the highest quality level at ISO 200 is much better than the camera JPEG at 7.39 vs 5.89 f-stops, and total dynamic range increased from 10.2 f-stops to 11.5 f-stops. It bears noting though, that extreme manipulation of RAW files to extend dynamic range can introduce severe color shifts in the resulting files: This dramatically increased dynamic range may only be really usable when converting the images to black and white. (As is the case with most cameras.) With the E-PL1, the results from Adobe Camera Raw clipped the green channel slightly in the brightest wedges of the step chart. Also worth noting is that ACR's default noise reduction settings reduced the pixel noise (see the plot in the lower left-hand corner) a bit relative to the levels in the in-camera JPEG, which tends to shift scores towards the high quality category.

Dynamic Range, the bottom line:

The Olympus E-PL1's JPEG Imatest dynamic range scores were similar to the E-P2's, just slightly better. However, they both scored rather poorly when compared against other current Four-Thirds models, and of course lag behind most DSLRs with APS-C size sensors. Dynamic range scores from ACR converted E-PL1 RAW files did much better than the JPEGs, but still scored a bit below average.

To get some perspective, here's a summary of the Olympus E-PL1's dynamic range performance, and how it compares to other digital SLRs that we also have Imatest dynamic range data for. (Results are arranged in order of decreasing dynamic range at the "High" quality level.):

Not that this test is repeatable to within 1/3 EV according to the Imatest website, so differences of less than 0.33 can be ignored.

When it comes to the Olympus E-PL1, as noted above, its low scores for camera JPEGs reflect Olympus' decision to leave more image noise in its files, so as to not have to trade away as much subject detail. We're finding that we prefer this approach to cameras that smudge away subtle subject detail just to achieve lower noise levels in areas of flat tint, so we encourage readers to look at our actual test images (particularly the OUTB and FAR shots, which really challenge a camera's dynamic range), rather than making their decision solely on the basis of the numbers in the chart above.

Olympus E-PL1 Resolution Chart Test Results

The chart above shows consolidated results from spatial frequency response measurements in both the horizontal and vertical axes. The "MTF 50" numbers tend to correlate best with visual perceptions of sharpness, so those are what we focus on here. The uncorrected resolution figures are 2,208 line widths per picture height in the horizontal direction (corresponding to the vertically-oriented edge), and 2,119 lines along the vertical axis (corresponding to the horizontally-oriented edge), for a combined average of 2,163 LW/PH, a little lower than the E-P2's uncorrected number of 2,572. Correcting to a "standardized" sharpening with a one-pixel radius reduced the resolution score by a bit, resulting in a slightly lower average of 2,111 LW/PH (a little higher than the E-P2's 2,002 result), indicating that the Olympus E-PL1 only slightly oversharpens at its default settings. The numbers put the E-PL1 pretty much on par with its competitors.

To see what's going on, refer to the plots below, which show the actual edge profiles for both horizontal and vertical edges, in both their original and corrected forms. Here, you can see that an almost ideal amount of in-camera sharpening is applied in the horizontal direction (oversharpened by only 2.22 %), as well as in the vertical direction (1.16 % oversharpened), explaining why standardized sharpening didn't change the MTF 50 numbers by much.

As always, though, careful processing of RAW files in a good third-party RAW conversion program will yield a good bit more fine detail than can be seen in the in-camera JPEGs, regardless of in-camera sharpening.

Note: We don't feature SFR-based LW/PH resolution numbers more prominently in our reviews (eg, outside the Imatest pages) because we've found that they're *very* sensitive to minor differences in in-camera image processing. Relatively small changes in the amount of in-camera sharpening can have a large effect on the resulting resolution numbers. Imatest attempts to compensate for this by adjusting to a "standard" sharpening, but this approach can't completely undo what happens inside the cameras, and so often gives inconsistent results. Sometimes the "standardized" sharpening happens to just match the shape of the edge profile with the in-camera sharpening applied, and you'll get wildly high results. At other times, it will tend to correct in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, ignoring the in-camera sharpening entirely can result in even greater discrepancies, particularly between models from different manufacturers. Turning off sharpening in the camera may or may not fully eliminate the sharpening, so simply turning off sharpening in the camera JPEGs isn't a reliable solution. It also wouldn't be the way most people shoot the cameras. We could process RAW files with no sharpening, but then that'd only suit the people working primarily or exclusively from RAW, and would open another can of worms as to what RAW converter was used, etc, etc.

The bottom line is that numbers for resolution only take you so far. Detail handling and edge acuity are very complex issues; ones that don't easily boil down to a single number. The best approach is to simply look look at the broad array of standardized test shots we take with each camera, to the point of downloading and printing them with whatever processing you'd use if you owned the camera and shot with it. See how the differences stack up for you visually, and make your decision on that, rather than on abstract resolution numbers.

RAW Files

Olympus E-PL1 High ISO RAW Image Quality

We've recently started looking at RAW files converted with dcraw, an excellent freeware raw converter. dcraw usually offers timely support for the latest cameras, but more importantly, it does not apply any noise-reduction, sharpening or other corrections such as geometric distortion correction to the output files. (We found that Adobe Camera Raw still applies some limited noise-reduction when its NR settings are set to zero, and it also applies other corrections depending on the make and model of the camera). There will always be differences between RAW converters, in terms of the sort of demosaicing algorithms they use (the processes by which they convert the separate Red, Green, and Blue data sets to an array of full-color RGB pixels), but dcraw seems to use a fairly generic algorithm that delivers good sharpness with relatively few artifacts, and can be counted on to not apply any noise reduction if you don't want it to.

Below are crops from Olympus E-PL1 high ISO RAW files compared to RAW files from other Micro Four-Thirds models: the Olympus E-P1, the new Olympus E-P2 and the Panasonic GF1. All were converted with dcraw with no noise reduction or sharpening.

High ISO RAW Image Quality Olympus E-PL1 vs E-P1, E-P2, and Panasonic GF1 RAW files converted with dcraw, no NR, no sharpening Simulated Daylight
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P1	Olympus E-P2	Panasonic GF1
I S O 8 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P1	Olympus E-P2	Panasonic GF1
I S 0 1 6 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P1	Olympus E-P2	Panasonic GF1
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Olympus E-PL1	Olympus E-P1	Olympus E-P2	Panasonic GF1
I S 0 6 4 0 0	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported
	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported
	N/A ISO 6400 not supported			N/A ISO 6400 not supported

To our eyes, the newer Olympus E-PL1 and E-PL2 have slightly better noise performance compared to the E-P1, though the E-P1 does a little better with the red fabric. Color response is a bit different though. The Olympus models appear to have a slight edge over the Panasonic GF1 in terms of high ISO noise. Click on the crops above to load the full size images.

Menus

Olympus E-PL1 Modes and Menus

Olympus E-PL1 Capture Mode

When powered on, the camera is automatically placed into Record mode. The Exposure Mode dial on top of the camera sets the main shooting mode, with the following options:

•  Program AE (Program Shift): This mode places the camera in control over both aperture and shutter speed, while the user has access to all other menu functions. Pressing the Exposure Compensation (Up Arrow) button once readies the camera for Program Shift mode, indicated by a Ps icon on the LCD display or EVF. Subsequent Up or Down arrow presses step through a range of equivalent exposure settings, while Left or Right arrow presses adjust exposure compensation. Program Shift is cleared by adjusting the exposure back to the values originally selected by the camera.
•  Aperture Priority: Puts the user in control of the aperture setting while the camera selects the best shutter speed. (The aperture range varies with the lens in use.)
•  Shutter Priority: The opposite of Aperture Priority, this mode allows the user to set the shutter speed, from 1/2,000 to 60 seconds, while the camera selects the most appropriate aperture setting.
•  Manual: Provides complete user control over the exposure, including both aperture and shutter speed settings. A Bulb shutter setting also becomes available in this mode, allowing variable length exposures for as long as you hold down the shutter button, up to a maximum of 30 minutes.
•  Movie Mode: Used for shooting HD (1,280 x 720) or SD (640 x 480) movies at 30 frames per second with monaural sound (unless using the optional stereo microphone jack adapter). A menu allows Program, Aperture Priority or Manual modes to be used, as well as the one of the six available Art Filters.Most of the art filters reduce the capture frame rate, causing the live preview and captured video to appear jerky.The Diorama art filter is particularly strongly affected, and curiously, is played back at roughly 15x realtime speed. Hence audio recording is disabled when using this filter.
•  Scene Mode:This mode provides access to the 19 preset shooting modes via a scene menu. Scene modes available are: Portrait, e-Portrait, Landscape, Landscape + Portrait, Sport, Night Scene, Night + Portrait, Children, High Key, Low Key, DIS Mode, Macro, Nature Macro, Candle, Sunset, Documents, Panorama, Fireworks, and Beach & Snow.
  
•  Art Filters: This mode accesses the six available Art Filter modes: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama and Gentle Sepia. As in movie-mode, frame rate is adversely impacted when using most art filters, and the diorama effect in particular causes a very slow refresh rate for live view.
  
•  Intelligent Auto: This mode gives the camera control over most exposure variables: The E-PL1 analyses the scene and automatically selects from Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports, Night Scene, and Night Scene Portrait exposure modes. The user can still adjust image resolution / compression, aspect ratio, drive mode, image stabilizer, focus mode / point, and whether the flash should fire automatically, or be suppressed
  
  A Live Guide function accessed by pressing the Start / OK button allows 15-step control over saturation, hue, brightness, aperture, and shutter speed -- all accomplished with vertical sliders and "friendlier" terminology. For example, instead of Aperture, we have a "Blur Background" slider, labeled "Blur" at the top, and "Sharp" at the bottom. There's also a separate section of Shooting Tips, with advice on how to capture attractive images.

Movie Record Button: Pressing this dedicated movie record button will start and stop movie recording. Confusingly, in all but two exposure modes, the movies will be recorded using Program autoexposure, regardless of what modes are currently selected on the Mode dial, and in the Custom menu's Movie Mode setting. The sole exceptions are the Art Filter and Movie mode positions on the Mode dial. In the Art Filter mode, the movie will be recorded with the same art filter type as used for still images, overriding the Custom menu Movie Mode setting. In Movie mode, the custom menu setting will determine which exposure mode to use. The Movie Record button can be enabled or disabled, or used for something other than movie recording, via a Custom menu setting. (It's also possible to use the Function button as a Movie Record button, if the function of the Movie Record button itself has been changed.) If the Movie Record button is disabled and movie recording not assigned to the Function button instead, then the Shutter Release button initiates movie recording in the PL1's Movie mode, and movie recording becomes impossible in all other modes.

In Playback mode, the Movie Record button serves as a dedicated Protect button, marking images to be protected from deletion, or clearing the protection marker. (This doesn't protect images from deletion if the flash card is formatted, however.)

Playback Mode: The Playback button on the rear panel accesses Playback mode, where you can review captured images. The left and right arrow keys scroll forward and backward one image at a time, while the up and down keys scroll ten images at a time. You can enlarge captured images or display them in an index format for quick viewing. It's also possible to convert Raw images to JPEGs, perform basic editing functions such as cropping and red-eye fix, view a slideshow, and protect or delete images.

Olympus E-PL1 Menus

Pressing the Menu button provides access to the camera's full menu system. The following options are available in most camera modes as menu tabs at the left of the display:

Record Menu 1:

Record Menu 2:

Playback Menu:

Custom Menu:

Setup Menu:

Comparison

Olympus E-PL1 vs Other PEN SLDs

The table below compares the Olympus E-PL1 with the E-P1 and E-P2. A red cell means that a given camera performs below the other two, a green cell means that it performs better than the other two, and a yellow cell means it falls between the other two. In cases where two cameras share a superior capability, both cells will be colored green.

Olympus E-PL1 vs Competitors

We've assembled a full comparison of all SLD-style cameras on the market, as of May, 2010. It's too wide to fit our standard review pages, so click on the link below to open it in a separate window.

Press Release

Powerfully Simple: Introducing The Incredible Olympus Pen E-PL1 Camera

Simple Operation + High-Quality 12 Megapixel Images + HD Video + In-Camera Creativity + Interchangeable Lenses = Total Compact Multimedia Package