I've handled the E-P1 a few times, and I can't recall that the focusing was very slow (as "walter23" said), although I've heard from other sources that t's slower than the Panasonics. 

I know that the focusing on my Panasonic G1 is pretty much as fast as any DSLR I've used though.

pluton wrote:

Live view @ 6 or 4 effective frames per second will never work well for focusing, and besides, I'm not interested in visualizing the world through a camera finder that looks like a really cheap saturday morning cartoon seen over a 56K modem.  And what's the point of being able to mount other lenses when a 'normal' angle of view is given by a 20 or 24 mm?  Who makes an 8 or 10 mm wide angle, which would be wide enough to successfully zone focus?  Oh, yeah, Arri/Zeiss have an 8mm/2.8 for about $10K.  Maybe Olympus will, but I think it's going to be one of the other camera companies that finally makes a controllable HQ digi compact.  Mr. Maitani may be a little depressed right now.

You really have no practical experience with that camera, do you?

Ha ha.

I always enjoyed this forum because most posters are very knowledgeable and have great experience with esoteric equipment.

Now it looks more like the doofus "born yesterday, know nothing" crowd is starting to log on in greater numbers. POTN and DPreview are already dumbed down to the lowest common denominator of people who make silly remarks without ever having tried the equipment, or who parrot what they read online. I hope this forum stays "smart".

Live view @ 6 or 4 effective frames per second will never work well for focusing, and besides, I'm not interested in visualizing the world through a camera finder that looks like a really cheap saturday morning cartoon seen over a 56K modem.  And what's the point of being able to mount other lenses when a 'normal' angle of view is given by a 20 or 24 mm?  Who makes an 8 or 10 mm wide angle, which would be wide enough to successfully zone focus?  Oh, yeah, Arri/Zeiss have an 8mm/2.8 for about $10K.  Maybe Olympus will, but I think it's going to be one of the other camera companies that finally makes a controllable HQ digi compact.  Mr. Maitani may be a little depressed right now.

You really have no practical experience with that camera, do you?

I haven't gotten an adapter for MF lenses yet; I'm going to do that asap though, at least once I figure out which lenses I'd most like to put on here.

It works for me, in short.  I don't mind adapting to the point-n-shootey interface in order to get image quality this decent in such a compact package.  It sort of sits in the uncomfortable netherworld between an absolute beginner's camera and a toy for a seasoned photographer though.  I will say that its relatively easy to control.  The only thing I really wish it had was a simple display of aperture, ISO and shutter speed, and nothing else cluttering up the view screen.  I hate all the superimposed icons of the info display (I shoot raw and deal with white balance and crap later, or I will once photoshop introduces E-P1 raw support which I expect won't take long), but I like to see what shutter speed I'm using (usually shoot aperture priority mode) so I don't like just using the blank (image only) view.

There is a difference between shots taken with the LX3 and G1, no doubt.  But it's most evident at higher ISO's, 400 and up.  Here are two crops from both cameras:

G1 100 ISO:

http://www.pbase.com/andersonrm/image/1 … iginal.jpg

LX3 100 ISO:

http://www.pbase.com/andersonrm/image/1 … iginal.jpg

No doubt, for that kind of pictures (where DoF rendering is not an issue), we're talking about pixel peeping differences.  Which was not what I meant.

I was talking about depth of field control.  When you take portraits and you want the background to blur smoothly.  LX3 cannot give me as shallow DoF as the G1 or other 4/3rd-sized sensor (or bigger) can.

And that may not be an important distinction to you, but it is to me and I'm sure many others.

G1 100 ISO:

LX3 100 ISO:

RichA wrote:

shadowfox wrote:

This camera is not an SLR.  Its strengths are compactness and retro-styling.

For us manual lens users, I think it's better to wait for the next model which will have EVF.

Follow the latest development at this rather goofy but quite consolidated source:

http://43rumors.com

Honestly, if I was in the market for a compact camera, I'd buy a Panasonic LX3.  The Olympus is not as good (all things considered) as the Panasonic G1/GH1 if a DSLR-like performance is what you are after.  Focus speed or lack of it is a major issue with that camera, the EP-1.  That, and no viewfinder.

I agree.  If I want 'Compactness' I would go for the LX3 or my GRD2 If I want more general features I would go with a G10, if I want a DSLR I would buy a DSLR.
I would NEVER buy a camera for its 'Styling'

Now would I buy a camera just because of the styling.  But the EP-1's sensor is magnitudes larger than that of the LX3.  And that makes a different of what kind of picture you're able to create.  To me, that makes it a distinctive camera than the LX3.

Having said that, I'm going to repeat what I said before, EP-1 is *not* an SLR in usage or functionality, but it *is* par with any DSLR in terms of image-producing capability.  These are what makes it unique.

Seems like one good use would be street photography with CCTV/RF fast wides.

Not much fun focusing on a low-rez LCD with fast lenses.  If you stop the lens down to f8 and just leave it, it might work better in good light, anyway.

RichA wrote:

One good thing, apparently the viewfinder (rangefinder type) will be included with the 17mm f2.8 prime they are going to kit with the camera.
Better than paying another $150 like with the Sigma DP-1 or the Panasonic LX-3 unit.

If I'm not completely misinformed (again), that is an optical viewfinder which only works well with 17 mm lenses. If they had sold accessory EVF-type viewfinders, I would probably have ordered an E-P1 instead of a G1.
With an EVF on this kind of camera, you see the "cropped image" as seen by the sensor, and can use it to focus your lenses.

/Erik

They could have supplied a zoom viewfinder for the hotshoe for the zoom kit lens, but it would cost a fair bit I think.
I still think the G1 is a better camera, focus speed being another good reason to get it.

shadowfox wrote:

This camera is not an SLR.  Its strengths are compactness and retro-styling.

For us manual lens users, I think it's better to wait for the next model which will have EVF.

Follow the latest development at this rather goofy but quite consolidated source:

http://43rumors.com

Honestly, if I was in the market for a compact camera, I'd buy a Panasonic LX3.  The Olympus is not as good (all things considered) as the Panasonic G1/GH1 if a DSLR-like performance is what you are after.  Focus speed or lack of it is a major issue with that camera, the EP-1.  That, and no viewfinder.

I agree.  If I want 'Compactness' I would go for the LX3 or my GRD2 If I want more general features I would go with a G10, if I want a DSLR I would buy a DSLR.
I would NEVER buy a camera for its 'Styling'
As for it ability to take odd lenses I am yet to see good results and lets face it those big lenses just look silly on the camera. Would anybody do a photoshot of 50-100 shots (With normal action, hand holding etc) using the Oly and a MF lens hanging on it!
Could I use Lens Baby on it !!!