It’s review time here at TechGuySmartBuy as step into the digital camera arena this time. Today’s subject is the Olympus Pen E-PL1 camera. The E-PL1 is equipped with a 14-42mm M. Zuiko lens, 12.3MP, 2.7inch LCD screen, the ability to record in 720p HD in 16:9 ratio, HDMI out port, built-in image stabilization, built-in pop-out flash, and Lithium-Ion battery. The E-PL1 also has a detachable lens for that DSLR feel without paying that DSLR kind of money. Check out our full review and two cents on the Olympus Pen.
Consider the E-PL1 as your in-between camera from a point-and-shoot style and a DSLR style. As I own a Canon point-and-shoot and my business partner owns a Canon T1i DSLR, this acts as a good medium between cameras. I was able to take good quality pics in both natural and low-light environments some with the flash and some without. The ISO settings can make some magic happen when you are in a environment that requires adjusting it. It’s not too advanced where anyone coming from a point-and-shoot camera would be lost and not know how to take pictures/videos or make adjustments to take the kind of pictures you want. Using the M.Zuiko lens gives you the power of the physical zooming in and out like a DSLR to capture things close/far away along with the assistance of the automatic auto-focus.
The built-in, pop up flash looks small and petite but it definitely is bright enough to get the job done to shed some light on any photo opportunity. There is also an Art Filter feature that gives you different styles of pics/video. The Art Filter feature has six different options: Pop Art (which makes colors pop out more), Soft Focus (which gives you a light glow to colors/objects, Grainy ( gives you a Black & White, grainy look), Pin Hole (that gives you the look as if you’re looking through a pin hole, hence the name), Diorama ( that gives you a tilted, slightly out-of-focus look), and Gentle Sepia (that offers a Sepia, old-style color look). The E-PL1 offers the usual light photo-editing/shooting adjustments built-in like changing the color saturation/image/brightness, blurring of the background, and shadow adjustments. The Lithium-Ion battery has a great battery life so you miss replacing your camera with AA batteries every here and there.
Didn’t have too much, if any bad things to say about the Olympus Pen. My only thing that I wished that they could have changed was if Olympus could have added an optical viewfinder to it. I don’t mind looking at the LCD screen to take shots but with the 12.3MP, 14-42mm lens that came with it, I would have loved to take some shots using the viewfinder for this kind of camera. In my opinion, it slightly takes away from the experience but not enough to not buy it, if that’s what your looking for.
Bottom line about the Olympus Pen E-PL1 is that it is a great interchangeable lens type digital camera that takes crisp shots, the lens that comes with can give great zoom range for consumers as they sell high-range zoom lens for it, and records clear quality video in 720p HD. The body and lens of the E-PL1 is plastic but well-built nonetheless. The image stabilization works beautifully with the high ISO and shutter speeds to make every shot count.
Anyone with an actual DSLR won’t turn in their lens/body for the E-PL1 but this wasn’t made for the that crowd. The Olympus E-PL1 is made for those wanting more than your average point-and-shoot camera but wanting the ability to interchange lens for their camera with buying a whole new one. Along with wanting the DSLR features you don’t have to worry paying that DSLR price, which most of the good ones start around $600 for a standard lens/body kit. Luckily the Olympus E-PL1 can be found nowadays for under $500 that comes with everything standard to get started. You can get the find it at a good price online here. Definitely it is a interchangeable lens keeper for anyone currently in the market for another type of camera. As TG1 defines it as the perfect hybrid camera as users can enjoy the best of both worlds. Go, go Olympus Pen!
