E-P5 stills review by Blunty
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The main discussion around the new E-P5 was and still is the price. Robin Wong (Click here) posted a report about the Touch and Try Session with the Olympus E-P5 and wrote: “I have been monitoring the overall feedback and comments on the Olympus PEN E-P5, and many mentioned that they were taken aback with the rather high pricing. After all the E-P5 is a “Premium” camera, and it does have almost all the important features of OM-D E-M5. Nonetheless, Olympus Malaysia did have special offers for the E-P5 pre-orders, with MASSIVE discounts given for bundling with the amazing Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8 and the new electronic viewfinder VF-4!!”
Indeed the Black E-P5 superkit is now the most ordered MFt camera according to Amazon ranking (Click here to see the list).
More E-P5 news: Federico Cabrera (the OM-D photographer) is doing something artistic around the PEN E-P5 on facebook.com. The full shipping info of lenses and accessories has been posted at Olympus-global.com. E-PL6 vs E-PL5 specs comparison at Olympusimage.com. UK Preview event list at Photographyblog. First look and image samples at Photoreview.
Specs, Price and Preorders:
Full dedicated pages to the new Oly stuff at Adorama, Bhphoto.
E-P5 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 White at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Silver at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Black with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 White with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Black with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and Wex UK.
E-P5 White with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
17mm f/1.8 Black at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
45mm f/1.8 Black at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany.
75mm f/1.8 Black at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
VF-4 viewfinder at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
49 Responses
notice the demographics at the Olympus Malaysia event?
Mostly guys… Anything new?
good to see that the 45mm 1.8 can be preordered in germany. unfortunately the price seems to be 70 € higher compared to the silver version.
On yer bike son. B&H among others (even Olympus AU website) has the back and silver versions at the same price.
Any items bought out side the EU are subject to tax and vat by the time you pay that plus delivery there are no savings to be had buying from USA . While I believe that you can import items to Australia under is it $1000 ? with no such taxes.
The E-P5 actually lacks all the most important features of the E-M5 and costs more too.
The sun sets and the trolls come out…
🙂
So he’s a troll for stating a fact ? aren’t you overly sensitive about the issue ? sure the E-P5 is awesome, it’s actually 98% what my ¨perfect¨ would be like, BUT, there’s no denying it’s overpriced for the feature:price ratio it has. Furthermore, it IS true that compared to the rest of the line-up along with its competition in this market segment it makes absolutely no sense to ask for $1000 and not put an EVF in there (NEX 6/7, Fuji XE1 & X100s, OMD, they all have it and are cheaper).
I’m an Oly guy but these types of reactions are as much trolling as the whinning
the E-P5 uses an “old” sensor again (just like the E-P3) and is way to expensive…
seriously, compared to the NEX-6 its a joke (NEX-6 goes for under 850€ with kit zoom)
I own and use a E-P3 myself, but I bought it used, otherwise it simply costs too much!
NEX6 uses an “old” sensor again add PDAF on chip for faster AF but IQ as Same NEX-5N , 🙂
Ep5 has the new sensor, same like omd, elp5 and epm2.
With nex you don´t have the ibis, not as good af and not as good evf, no 2 wheels, no 1/8000 shutter speed,..
> Ep5 has the new sensor, same like omd, elp5 and epm2.
Which puts its age at some 14 months. While I wouldn’t say it’s old exactly, I would sooner call it ‘current’ than ‘new’.
Further, supposing the rumors regarding a new OMD with PDAF being released in September are true this sensor will old 2 or 3 months after its release. As currently mirrorless PDAF systems rely special sensor support, the next OMD would need a new sensor. How much of a difference this makes in terms of image quality (instead of just AF) will remain a question until its formal announcement somewhere around July-August, but I don’t think concerns over this sensor being old are entirely unfounded… After all, this is Olympus’s most expensive camera and it’s ostensibly trading vague performance improvements for clear ‘money’ features like a viewfinder. That it may be outperformed in less than half a year is disconcerting.
Your right, would make clear that it´s not the older sensor from the ep3 in replay to the quote from man.
well I ment, the E-P3 used an old sensor and now the E-P5 uses a “not new” sensor as well
the 1/8k shutter is really great, but i don’t really care if stabilization is in the lens or the body and better EVF for the PEN? it doesn’t even have an EVF!
2 dials are great too, but the E-P3 doesn’t have 2 dials and I’m fine with it, because i can’t stick it into my face anyway, missing EVF.
The NEX 6 sensor was not new, but simply is better than the Oly sensors, especially for low light…
after all, my personal verdict is that this thing is way to expensive and Oly is stupid enough not to listen to what users want (corner EVF 2,3mil dots, like sony) … if i wouldn’t already have m43 i would go for the NEX, especiall if you look at the insane pricetag
the nex 6 has a built in EVF for £400 less than the E-P5 body only, It may not have IBIS but this is a feature that beyond static subjects in low light has little use. What it does have is is a better sensor with better image quality in DR, colour depth and high ISO. I am curious genuinely how many scenarios are there which need 1/8000th of a second , a link to some photos taken with it would be great
Need the 1/8000 in daylight. If your only using the slow collapsing Sonykit, you will be fine without it.
And if you have no use of Ibis, fine for you. Don´t need a proppe af, even ok.
Get the Nex i better work with the oly, where i can get the lenses i need and which are smaller.
I´m happy that the evf isn´t build in, so i can choose and best thing is, i can articulate the evf.
okay, so I’m on my third model of PEN since the E-P1 (but I’ve actually had five of them in total, I sometimes carry multiple bodies)
plus I’ve had one Panasonic ‘PEN’ [GX1]
and I currently have 7x m43 primes (2x Pan, 5x Oly) and 3x zoom (all Oly)
I had 3x ‘big’ 4/3 bodies
but I gotta say goodbye to Oly
£899 body only E-P5 vs £899 for a Fujifilm X-E1 with kit lens
I’m out of here!
reasons:
– while I have 8fps at the mo, I don’t need them, and shoot at 3fps or single
– E-P5 vs E-PL5 is very little difference in spec (5 axis and 1fps and 1/8000), the screen movement on the E-PL5 is better, the price difference between E-P5 and E-PL5 is a bit odd. The E-PL5 pricing is about right.
– The Fuji X-E1 has the 2.3MP viewfinder already built in (and looks a lot nicer than the bolt on job)
– Fuji X-E1 with ‘kit’ lens (which is £509 off the shelf on its own) or just over half that price if bundled with the X-E1, that kit lens is a 18-55/2.8-4 (so scaled up to full frame is like a 27-83/4-5.6 in terms of perceived depth of field control, we need a 14-42/2.0-2.8 to ‘match’ that sort of depth of field control, the nearest to that is the Pan 12-35/2.8 and that is £849 lens alone!
– The black Oly 17/45/75 are now showing on WEX for a premium price over the silver version (this is one of the biggest reasons I’m leaving, its a joke!)
I think Fuji coming in at the premium end is gonna kill the Pan/Oly attempts at high end. Maybe the consumer grade stuff will thrive, the GF6/PM2 level
I’m looking at:
– 18mm f2.0 (like a FF 27/2.8 or m43 14/1.4) … Fuji is cheaper than Oly 12/2.0
– 35mm f1.4 (like a FF 53/2.0 or m43 25/1.0) … Fuji is cheaper than Pan 25/1.4
^ and in both of those examples, you get a better control over depth of field with the Fuji
Fuji is gonna hurt Oly/Pan pro level sales unless you are into video – nah!
What were you smoking in the first place? Why so many camera body’s? Probable because you are more of a gearhead than a photographer. Than Fuji would be nice. For a few monte, than stop by and take a NEX. And after that don’t forget to give Samsung NX a try.
On behalf of everyone here I wish you well in your gear ADHD. But you know this is a rumours site dont you???. Your rant…..i mean “post”, would be better acknowledged over at the moron infested DPReview forums.
Um… Isn’t the point of a rumor site to feed gear ADHD?
It seems that someone that didn’t care about the latest and greatest gear would pretty much only concern themselves with official announcements at most, and more likely only look at post release reviews (at which point they can learn more about it and save the new product premium).
I love you too xx
^ clearly that was meant for Pharque Miow, I could never love some anonymous
I like fuji also photo wise if they would improve video I would have long ago jumped ship or never purchased my OMD. All I want is a great small camera that has great photo capabilities and great video options. So far i’m stuck in micro 4/3 with a OMD that video is subpar and to make up for it I would have to purchase a panasonic body or may be the blackmagic pocket cinema camera. I rather have just one body and lens when out and about and traveling not 2. Small and convenient. Also both features would be beneficial to professionals photographers who are able to offer not only photos but also video. If your limited to one such as photos only your eventually going to become a dinosaur when other professionals start offering both great photos and video options. So I think the public should push for a camera that has the best of both worlds :).
totally understand the interest in video … but I would happy take a m43/fuji body that didn’t even have a video mode. If I need to take a snapshot video I have my phone for that. Videography and Photography are two very different things – its great to see that Panasonic seem to be the one to beat in this arena (in terms of small camera/video). Can’t assume that a photographer is interested in shooting video or a videographer interested in shooting stills.
I’d be interested to know how many people have never used the video function, on my Pens I have the video button programmed to do something else, so thank the designers for letting me use that as an extra button.
For me film and photo have many similarities so i dont see them as different disciplines. Even if i saw them as 2 different things, it would not make it less interesting. Lots of film directors are fanatic photographers too.
I have video button programmed to another function also. For me video is a ‘nice to have’ thing not a requirement. Possibly use video 3 times a year on the e-m5 and same on ep2. I also have 2 Pany movie cameras.
I see the development of stills cameras into movie cameras as something I do not want to pay for. If people want excellence in video then purchase a video camera (Black Magic will allow use of m43 glass I believe) and let the price of my still camera come down without all the video development.
Although I really like my Olympus Equipment and I also love the E-P5 for its design and its featueres, many of your points are well taken.
Ok, the X-E1 body has its weaknesses (speed…), but the 18-55/2.8-4 is a really nice lens which indeed makes some of the Olympus pricing rediculous.
It looks like Olympus leaves the competition and puts itself in a “leica-like” position, where pricing is a status symbol and not rational.
Valid points, but the 25mm 1.4 is $50 chepaer than the Fujinon 35 1.4. It was a $100 cheaper a few months ago when I picked it up.
“After all the E-P5 is a “Premium” camera, and it does have almost all the important features of OM-D E-M5. ”
Truly moronic.
After all, the E-P5 is a premium priced camera missing many of the key features of the E-M5, like weather sealing, inbuilt viewfinder and optional battery grips.
Why don’t you troll at DPReview?
Their Panny fanboy moderator will keep you safe and warm!
the mFT forum at DPreview is infested with Olympus fanboys just as here. It is amazing that Olympus have so much financial woes when there are idiot fanboys defending every thing they do, $75 for a lens hood that should be included , he’ll yeah gimme two, $300 more for a black version of a mediocre lens,hallelujah , $1000 for a camera that you have to shoot like a cell phone unless you add another $280 for a butt ugly bolt on EVF.
+1
As usually, people are complaining. I don’t understand it: noone is forcing anyone to buy anything, and a camera is not a medicine you need: taking photos can be relaxing, did you know it? 😉
People are compaining because they want to buy something, but cannot justify it because the price has been so heavily and artificially inflated (look at kit and/or VF4 rebate as proof).
And if you can excuse my flippancy: medicine isn’t really something you need, dieing can be quite relaxing ;).
probably the if-its-smallsensored-it-should-be-cheap virus?
“Nonetheless, Olympus Malaysia did have special offers for the E-P5 pre-orders, with MASSIVE discounts given for bundling with the amazing Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8 and the new electronic viewfinder VF-4!!””
Hey, Robin: Stop huffing and puffing. The 1.7 18mm is not that “amazing.”
Hey, I’m curious. Everybody says this is the premium m43 camera, but I thought the OMD was that camera. Which is supposedly higher end? If someone didn’t know anything about these cameras and just looked at the price, the EP-5 would appear higher end.
That’s probably because it (E-P5) has some ‘higher’ features than the E-M5!
I’m about to switch from Canon DSLR cameras (and several L-lenses) to Olympus micro-4/3 because of the E-P5 and the VF-4. Now, looking at what a DSLR camera upgrade (which I need/desire) will be costing me (either the 5D3 or the 4-year old 7D) plus one or two new lenses, the E-P5 bundle is a steal. Go check on the price of the just announced 200-400mm lens … you can probably buy one of each micro-4/3 lens ever made for that price. Can a 6D do what the E-P5 can do? You say $75 for a hood … go see what Canon & Nikon charge for plastic hoods. Olympus is a bargain.
Hmmmm lets see… Lets take for example an Audi A6, a very nice car, does everything a car is supposed to do with style, has everything most people could wish for in a car in terms of performance. Lets now compare it to a Bentley, the Bentley does nothing that my Audi can’t do but there is still a “slight” difference in prices, now you could argue and say that some of the internals and overall performance on the Bentley are just better hands down, that combined with the brand value and considering the target costumers totally justifies the price.
The Audi A6 (already an awesome car) is in comparison a lot cheaper than the cheapest Bentley but lets face it, most people would hardly consider its price a bargain would they?
Mmmmm … only the Canon EOS 6D cannot do everything the Olympus PEN E-P5 can do, or can it?
Depends on what you want to do it…. If taking photographs aiming for the best possible quality is your aim yes it can, because that´s what we´re talking about here isn´t it? About a photographic tool? All of a sudden I´m not so sure if people actually want gadgets that can take photos or cameras “only”…. It all depends doesn´t it? Now if you have big pockets and some money to spend all of a sudden there are quite many things that will seem like bargains, as with the car example it´s all very relative… Now considering that Olympus will be wanting to sell “some” cameras to make it profitable I actually doubt that there will be THAT many people among the target customers who will be able to afford this camera at these “bargain prices”.
As a happy owner of an OM-D and 45mm f1.8 I am surprised about the overpriced E-P5. Sure the 1/8000 and other little improvements I would like to see on the OM-D, it does not justify its high cost. I am not sure what Olympus is thinking now there is increased competition.
For me the OM-D stood out with the IBIS (also usable in daylight of course), very small footprint and the capability of taking high quality images, easily printable at A3 or sometimes even larger.
At first I was interested in the NEX-7, but the lack of small zoom lenses (try the humongously sized 50-200 lens on that thing!) put me off. And its sensor and IQ is but barely better, but of course, Sony fanboys will try to flame me for saying this.
Panasonic is a no go because there is no in-body stabilization, requiring much more expensive lenses.
Well have admit, as I said severall times, that the price on the whole “E-P5 package” is quite high for what you get but then again Olympus is not really risking much here in my opinion. They’re trying to up the bar on the pricing of their products, if they succeed and people buy into it then it’s all good, bigger profit margins, if they don’t they can always lower the prices to a more reasonable level and still make their clients “happy” and keep their sales up seeing as many people here are clearly already happy with what the brand has been delivering.
With Yen devaluation these cameras should cost less. Instead we see rather the opposite. The danger IMHO that mirrorless companies – not only Oly – head to a Leica-like status as mentioned.
If so the popular spirit of m4/3 would be gone. Hope rests with Chinese Kodak, and Third Parties, such as Sigma or Tamron.
At 4/3 the drive towards SHG lenses in the end killed the format. C&N can always respond with cheap and small FF, Sony is even offering a mirrorless FF. When prices reach 1500 $, people won’t be so forgiving. So even if you have more profit for camera, sales might drop more than proportionally.
I do hope that is the case because I do not like what I am seeing from Olympus price wise, if they’re asking 1500$ for this package and if they actually get away with it just imagine the price on the successor to the “E-M5”, for these level of prices I also agree that people shouldn´t be as forgiving. In the end I do not really understand who is the target customer of a product like this PEN with its currently price tag. If it´s mostly aimed at enthusiasts at a non professional level and occasional shooters why would they be interested in dishing out that much money for a camera? This is not even top tier of Olympus so the target customer is not even the same, are enthusiasts “only” making so much money all of a sudden (western economies slowing down as we speak) that they can pay this much for a camera aimed at them? Who is the target customer of the “pro” “E-M5” successor then?
I was surprised at the £900 launch price for the price of the E-P5 body. I was expecting this Pen to target the Panasonic G6 (ca £629) but it looks like Olympus is stretching the Pen to cover the OM-D EM-5 price point suggesting that the next OM-D is going northwards.
With the G6’s great handling it means, IMHO, there isn’t a Pen to go against it (perhaps there doesn’t have to be 🙂
Retortical questions: can Pen brand be stretched to go up against NEX-6? X-E1? Where will Olympus place the next OM-D model?
E-P5: I like the 2×2 controllers, the mode dial, touch screen, wifi, ibis5 and, of course, small lenses.
G6: love the handling but w/o ibis it reduces choice of lenses.
G3: has dropped to below £300 including kit lenses. Yesterday provides great deals.
Pays your money 🙂