Olympus created the Pen to go without mirrors and non-reflex lens; two components which are the hallmarks of the SLR cameras, film & digital, without sacrificing much of the handling and versatility, users have come to expect from any companies claiming the SLR compliance.

The E-P1 follows the design blueprint of the Olympus Pen F series; featuring a corrugated plastic grip and an overall metallic design which harkens one to the days of yore. For Singapore consumers, it is available in three basic offerings as follows;

§ S$1,298 – standard lens kit (M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6)

§ S$1,488 – pancake lens kit (M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f2.8)

§ S$1,598 – twin lens kit (M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 and M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f2.8)

A lot of reviews have been given to the Pen E-P1 series; while I am very sure they are pleased with it, I have to caution users who have been told that it has a similar quality to an SLR camera, to be wary before making their purchase. This is not to take away users from purchasing the Pen E-P1, having used it myself, I find that the pictures it captures are worthy mentions in any digital competitions. The Pen E-P1, suffers slightly where user handling is concerned.

Here comes my disclaimer. When it comes to using a camera, I am at ease, when using compact cameras like the Canon Ixus or Sony T90 series, also the camera functionality that comes in most mobile phones like the Nokia N78 and on towards the slightly bigger Canon Powershot & Nikon Coolpix, and further on towards the SLR cameras, the Canon 300V, the Nikon d90, the Sony Alpha series etc.

In comes the Olympus E-P1. By virtue of its photographic quality, it should hang out with the SLR big boys; whereas its compact size makes it the brethren of the compact cameras. However, thats where the similarity ends. The Pen feels heavy on the hand when you expect it to be light; making it difficult for a one-handed operation, more commonly done on the compact camera. The weight distribution also seems unbalanced, especially when you use the 14-42mm lens. With an SLR camera, it is immediately clear on how to handle it, whereas things get a little shifty and iffy with the Pen. If you have purchased this camera, it will be good to note that, with constant use, you will definitely get the hang of it.

Handling issues aside, I am very pleased with the performance of the Pen. Having been testing it out for a couple of weeks thanks to the kind folks at August, I am able to check out the various features that came with the Pen. The pin-hole function is a personal favourite; it gives the quality, reminiscent of pin-hole boxes, without taking away the clarity one would expect from this genius of a camera.

If you are in the market for a new camera, with stylish design in mind, powerful features and pleasing result, the Olympus Pen E-P1, is without a doubt the one you can list down as a To-Buy.

I will end this review with a short video introducing the Olympus Pen E-P1 to the world.

References:

When Daniel passed me this point and shoot (PnS) from Samsung, I had just had a renewed respect for PnS camera, when I saw and experienced some great pictures taken by them. Point being, don’t diss PnS for being small. These babies can take some really really amazing photo, if YOU know how to use them.

Now, back to the ST50. It’s a basic PnS from Samsung. It’s a 12.2M camera with a Samsung Lens F/3-5.6 (35mm film equivalent: 35 – 105mm). Sports a 2.7″ LCD for the display. Otherwise it has basic controls found in most PnS.

You can see my shots of the exterior and the interface here and you can find more specs of the camera here.

Here is what I thought of the camera.

The Pros.

1. UI

Samsung has started this initiative to centralize the UIs of most the consumer electronic devices. They call it the TouchWiz UI, and it’s built-in to the ST50. It’s the circular menu that we see on OmniaHD and other Samsung products. This has allowed Samsung users to quickly adapt to new devices and not only figure them out, but also use them very quickly. I think it’s a great step for a company like Samsung which has so many types of products.

2. Charging

This is like a pro and a con. The ST50 can charge through a USB cable. So you don’t have to carry around a seperate battery charger and a data cable. When you plug in the data cable into the ST50, it automatically starts charging. This is great, as you can now charge form ANY USB device, like you laptop or USB car adapters. Really useful on the go.

BUT, Samsung made the connector on the camera a propriety connector!! I have always have issues with propriety connectors. People tend to loose cables, they tend to damage cable, and propriety cables are NOT easy to replace. And they tend to be expensive. And especially now that they have a very narrow standard USB connector available, I don’t understand why companies still decide to go with propriety connectors.

3. Size

This is the best part of the ST50. At 94 x 56 x 17 mm and 121g, this baby is really tiny. It fit in your shirt pocket and doesn’t feel like anything. I had it in my day bag and brought it EVERYWHERE, sometimes even forgetting I had it. And yet it feels well built and sturdy with the metallic casing.

I really enjoyed the size part. It’s great to have such a small 12M camera and bring it around just about everywhere.

4. Functionality

The ST50 comes loaded with software features like Digital Image Stabilizer and 800×592 MPEG video recording. These might not be the hottest features in cameras, but they’re great to have especially when you are going to be using this camera all the time.

The ST50 also had the framing feature we talked about in the Samsung WB500 video. This allows you to let another person take a photo with the exact framing you intend to have. Very useful when you want someone to take a photo of your in front of the Eiffel Tower and not have the top of the tower cut off.. Hehe.

The Cons.

1. SMART

One of the main functionality of this camera is the SMART mode. The idea is instead of you have to choose from the various shooting modes, the camera itself decide, according to the scene, which mode it should be using. This is a great idea, and make the operation of the camera very simple for many people, “just aim and shoot”. And it also makes most people just plain lazy to adjust anything.

But, I had my reservations with this mode. I did not like the modes and the exposure/colour levels it choose for the various scenes. Once, I was shooting the sky and it went into Macro-mode. Bleh!

2. Control

The tweaker/micro-management part of me screamed at the inability to override and control the finer aspects of the shots. I would have loved to have a little more control over the modes, instead of only having the SMART control.

But maybe it’s just me. I would expect many other people would enjoy the fact that instead of getting overwhelmed by the 15+ shooting mode options the camera’s come with these days, you just have to switch on the SMART mode and shoot away.

3. Images

I am no photographer, so I really cannot comment on the quality of the images that came out of the ST50. But somehow I wasn’t impressed. Even the low ISO images seemed a little grainy for what I’d expect out of a 12M camera. I have posted some images for your perusal.

Conclusion.

Overall, I think the ST50 is a good PnS, if you just want a simple and elegant camera. It’s easy to use and comes up with decent photos. But if you are the tweaker, and love to have more control over your photos, I would recommend looking somewhere else. Like say the WB500..