[BradJudy]

Is anyone else interesting in the upcoming Olympus E-P1?

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1461

I know it's probably not for everyone since it's between a DSLR and a P&S in that it has the sensor and lens interchangeability of a DSLR (4/3 lens format), but it lacks the viewfinder/mirror, and thus the true through-lens view, of an SLR. 

I've been wanting a digital camera that's more like my 35mm rangefinder Canonet - a good sensor (large enough to do high ISO well) and a good lens, but not necessarily everything else.  Sigma makes one that gets poor reviews.  I'm also not a fan of the size of most DSLRs, even the "entry level" ones.  I like to photograph when traveling and even in-town I want something more subtle than a full DSLR. 

This might be the ticket for me if the image quality is there (the sensor is supposed to have improvements on the version in the Olympus full DSLR) and it's usable.  The lens options are limited, but as long as I have a few good ones, I don't care if I have 200 options to choose from. 



I'm looking forward to seeing one in person and hearing the early reviews.

[Steven Stone]

Actually the Olympus does have through the lens viewing since there's no optical viewfinder (except as an accessory an optical fixed focal-length for the new 17mm lens).

You are viewing through the lens to the LCD. But no EVIL eye-level finder like on the Panny G-1 or direct optical mirror or pentaprism.

But like the G-1 it should accept any lens you can put on it, such as Leica, Olympus OM, Pentax, Minolta via adapters. AN added advantage for 3'd party lenses is that the anti-shake is built into the body.

[BradJudy]

You are viewing through the lens to the LCD. But no EVIL eye-level finder like on the Panny G-1 or direct optical mirror or pentaprism.

Yes, this is what I meant - no light path through the lens to your eye like in a traditional SLR. 

[BradJudy]

I found out they are planning on releasing a lens mount adapter for the Canon FD for the E-P1.  That makes it even more interesting for me as I own a handful of FD lenses. 

[Bemopti123]

Damn, I am drooling over this new camera.  Might put me above the cliff in replacing my faithful 2004 C-8080

[Grumpy_Git]

The only thing putting me off one of these at the moment is the rather high SRP, for that kind of money for a kit I could almost be looking at a Nikon D300, which is a shame as it would be nice to pull out all my old Zuiko Primes.

Nick.

[BradJudy]

A Nikon D300 body is $1500 - the E-P1 body is $750. 

I agree that the E-P1's $800 kit price puts it into the mix with something like the Nikon D5000 (also $800 kit price) which provides more features, but it's half the price of the D300. 

[Grumpy_Git]

E-P1 kit 850 UKP, D300 Body 900 UKP thats the same ballpark to me, its not twice the price like you are showing, and a lens is only a bit more.

The E-P1 is WAAAAAAYYYY overpriced in my opinion, like i said previously its an opinion, and I'll be sticking with it.

Nick.

[BradJudy]

Interesting, so the UK price for a D300 is the same as the US price, but they are hitting you for about 65% more on the E-P1.