Olympus' E-P1 message: It's not your father's Olympus, but remember that he had one

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Looking only a bit like the original Micro Four Thirds concept design Olympus floated last September at Photokina, the company's retro interchangeable lens E-P1 debuts this year to ride the coattails of the 50th anniversary of the company's PEN film camera.

From the name, to the design, to the tagline etched on its top--"Olympus PEN since 1959"--it feels like a cross between an homage and a desperate reminder that Olympus was in the camera biz long before most digital photographers were born. That said, after a few days with a preproduction model, I think the design works, and if Olympus can pull off decent performance and photo quality (you can never tell from an early unit), it will probably carve itself a nice sized niche among style-, but not budget-conscious, enthusiasts.

Though they all include a full set of manual and semimanual exposure modes and other advanced features, Panasonic and Olympus have taken very different approaches to their Micro Four Thirds products, implicitly appealing to two diverse types of shooters. While Panasonic seems to be going for the technologically focused dSLR shooter looking for a more compact model, Olympus seems to be targeting the more aesthetically driven enthusiast who wants--and is willing to pay for--the flexibility of an interchangeable lens system in the more compact design of models like the Canon PowerShot G and Panasonic Lumix LX series.

Some key comparison specs versus the other two Micro Four Thirds models:

The E-P1 also includes Olympus' Art Filters, which in this camera you can apply to videos, as well as apply after shooting, to raw files as well as JPEG. Some of the filters will drop the video frame rate drastically because of the processing overhead--to as low as 10fps--but that tends to happen with filters like Grainy Film and the slow frame rate adds to the old-fashioned ambiance.

Olympus E-P1 photos

From a competitive standpoint, however, there are some big holes in the E-P1's feature set. For instance, low-light shooters should note there's no oncamera flash or AF-assist light. (Olympus is offering an optional, low-profile hot-shoe flash.) It lacks a viewfinder, optical or otherwise, and the add-on viewfinder only works with the 17mm lens. In movie mode, it lacks mechanical image stabilization, offering only electronic, and unlike the GH1 doesn't have a mic input. The lower-resolution LCD did seem a bit coarse, but some final tweaking of the firmware might ameliorate that. Of course, it's also available in a far cheaper configuration than Panasonic's video-supporting model.

The E-P1 integrates the latest generation of Olympus' image processing, TruePic V, that, according to Olympus, delivers better purples, an improved noise profile, and better sharpness. Olympus also makes a big deal about some of the playback features, including custom background music, as well as some simple operation modes, like Intelligent Auto.

On the flipside, the E-P1 is a lot more expensive than the current crop of cameras enthusiasts use to supplement or replace bulky dSLRs. Here's how it stacks up against those:

Because these models have lenses that completely retract into the body, they still have a size advantage over the E-P1 even equipped with a pancake prime like the 17mm. But there's the big advantage of the interchangeable lens system. Shooting with the camera feels very similar to photographing with both the LX3 and the G10, but you simply feel a bit cooler holding the E-P1. And Olympus is stressing that aspect by offering retro accessories for the strap and lens cap.

We expect to see a production-level model in July, about the same time it's expected to appear in stores.