Olympus E-P2 17mm f/2.8 - Screens in Sunlight - Viewfinders.

A selection of images taken with my "new" Olympus E-P1 and 17mm f/2.8. These were all taken in very bright sunlight and highlight the fact of how problematic it is to shoot with a camera with no built in viewfinder.

In a recent interview with Imaging Resource Darin Pepple from Panasonic USA said this:-

"Not necessarily that it has to .........even have a viewfinder. Although, there is a small portion of it, maybe 15-20% of the market that still wants to have a viewfinder. It might be a generational thing. The older generation may prefer to have a traditional eye-cup viewfinder. We find that the G2 suits that need, as well as the GH2. But the compact, ease-of-use, sort of hold-the-camera-away-from-your-face type of picture taking environment where the GF2 really excels, is where the younger generation is comfortable, because, remember, they are coming from compact cameras. They're not experienced with an SLR, so to have to hold it up to your face to take a picture through a viewfinder isn't a learned experience yet for them" 

So its a generational thing is it? All the cool young hip dudes don't do viewfinders and all the boring old f****s do. So this "ease-of-use" involves not being able to see what you're taking or view the picture easily, in bright sunny conditions. Nothing to do with the fact that making a camera without a viewfinder is cheaper then. Or the fact that a viewfinder becomes an accessory to sell. 

I'd forgotten just how bad the E-P1 screen was in sunlight. If cameras without built in eye cup viewfinders are going to be the "norm" then manufacturers have to make sure they are usable. I get asked to recommend cameras quite often, and the one thing people say more than any other is "Do you know of one with a viewfinder, because I can't see the screen in bright sunlight" My guess is that casual users of cameras take a lot of pictures on holiday, outdoors, and yes in bright sunlight. My guess is that they might also like to be able to see what they are taking. 

Also relating to the last part of Mr. Pepples statement. His assumption that the "younger generation" is "comfortable" holding the camera in front of them and not using a viewfinder. Does he not think it might be because if they use compact cameras, they don't actually have a choice? There are very few compacts that have a useable viewfinder. The notion that someone makes a decision to work one way, assumes that options are available. In the case he's making there are no options, so to say that they are making cameras in the way that they are because people are "comfortable" is self-justifying nonsense. Have they actually asked people what they want, or given them a choice. Or are they just arrogantly attempting to justify their own decision.

When I was able to get some vague idea of what I was shooting, I used the 17mm f/2.8 lens. I had the optical viewfinder attached, but since its not possible with that to see what I'm focusing on, its not that useful. The 17mm is not the worlds greatest lens, and one that doesn't stand comparison with the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7. However its not as bad as some make out. It has quite a bit of distortion, but its reasonably sharp, and there's no denying it looks great on the camera.

 

 

m4/3 Native Lenses - Part 1

Lenses for m4/3 cameras - Short opinions about the current m4/3 lenses is a piece by Thom Hogan at:- http://bythom.com/m43lenses.htm 


Lots of people have weighed in with opinions as to how right he is and have come out with their own lists. Not wishing to left out on something as much fun as that!  Here's mine.


Like Mr. Hogan I haven't used them all. The Panasonic 14mm f2.8 pancake, 100-300mm, 8mm fisheye and 3-D lens are missing from the list.





STANDARD ZOOMS

Panasonic 14-45mm f3.5-5.6
The lens that with the G1 started m4/3 as a system. This is an excellent lens for a kit zoom. Designed with Leica it really set the standard for the quality, lightweight lenses that followed. I used mine an awful lot. Because of the way that m4/3 cameras tend to be sold as kits, I think I've had 3 of these. I've usually sold the spare ones on ebay, which as they attracted good prices made the camera cheaper. It seems Panasonic aren't offering these as kit lenses anymore, so if you've got one it might be a good idea to hang onto it.

Panasonic 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 
Panasonics replacement to the 14-45mm. Cheaper, lighter and smaller. This lens often gets a bad press and while its not particularly good wide open its pretty sharp at f5.6 - f11. It really comes into its own as a video lens. It has the same silent continuous focusing as the 14-140mm and produces excellent footage. Some people rate it below the 14-45mm, but from my experiences with it (limited as I haven't had it long) I think its very similar in terms of performance. Well worth keeping if you buy one as part of a kit.

Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 
Again because of camera/lens kits I've had a few of these. I've always liked this lens. It often got compared unfavourably to the Panasonic 14-45mm and I always thought that was unfair. Its an extending lens and has no stabilisation built in. I think its better than it gets credit for and very much on a par with the Panasonic standard zooms.

WIDE ZOOMS

Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 
Very wide, very expensive. Very light for what it is. Its a sharp lens and produces amazing images, particularly at 7mm. I did however have some issues with my copy. Firstly it produced a lot of CA and fringing and secondly that big exposed bulbous lens and fragile construction always worried me with concerns about possible damage. If you like ultra-wide then its a great lens, though there's a fair amount of distortion. Fixed f4 aperture is very useful.

Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6
I think this a great lens. I've spent a long time looking for a good wide-angle that produces results like a standard prime and this is the closest I've found. It produces very sharp results, even wide open and at f8-f11 its very very good indeed. I like the size, its tiny, and I don't feel so concerned about damaging it. Its very good for CA and fringing as well. Whether you choose this over the Panasonic 7-14mm depends on how important those 2mm are. They do make a significant difference with lenses at these focal lengths and there's no denying that the 7mm on a GH1 or 2 at the 16:9 ratio using the full width of the sensor is impressively wide. I do however prefer the Olympus, for my uses.

PANCAKES

Olympus 17mm f/2.8
10/10 for style, 5/10 for content. Somewhat of a disappointment. It does look great but mine performed pretty poorly with lots of CA and fringing. Mine was reasonably sharp but needed stopping down to f8 or so to get that. It doesn't compare well with the lens immediately below.

Panasonic 20mm f/1.7
I loved this lens the first day I tried it and I still do. I said then it produced the best results wide-open I'd ever seen and it was one of the best lenses I'd ever used on any system. I still stand by that. This is the lens that really demonstrates what m4/3 can do. It's wonderfully sharp, at all apertures, and its performance at f1.7 sets the benchmark for other lenses. I'm far from alone in praising it's virtues and if you were wondering if it lives up to the hype - It does!

New Years Day - Olympus E-P1

olympus ep-1 17mm pancake
Originally uploaded by soundimageplus

A day with the Olympus E-P1 plus the 17mm F/2.8 pancake and the Panasonic LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm / F2.8.

The Olympus lens is very small and while the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 gets all the attention and is a better lens in terms of sharpness I like the 17mm. Its slightly wider and a decent lens in its own right.

The Olympus E-P1 does deliver "punchier" results than the Panasonic G-series cameras - which means a little less post-processing on my part.

I would be interested in an E-P2 with the viewfinder, but only in the silver version. I love the "retro" look of the E-P1 and hope the "non-black" version does appear in this country.

D & A

Olympus 17mm pancake

Olympus 17mm pancake
Originally uploaded by soundimageplus

A day using the Olympus 17mm F/2.8 pancake lens on both the E-P1 and GF1.
Its a nice little lens. The Lumix 20mm F/1.7 is sharper, but this works very well. A little bit of Chromatic Aberration but nothing serious. I enjoyed using it and the resulting stitched images are sharp. Interestingly the lens seemed to perform better on the GF1.

A