PEN news: E-PL5 review at PB. Android PEN App available. E-PM2 in Stock.
Now we know that the E-PL5 is officially the first MFT camera without Anti Aliasing filter. It explains why this camera managed to match and even beat (at LOW ISO) the current E-M5. Today the British website PhotographyBlog (Click here) posted the full E-PL5 review and writes: “The Olympus E-PL5 is a much more intriguing camera than its mid-level price and positioning in the Olympus compact system camera range would first suggest. Not many manufacturers offer the same image quality as their flagship camera throughout their entire line-up, but that’s exactly what Olympus have done with the release of the E-PL5 and the even smaller E-PM2. The new Olympus E-PL5 therefore comes Highly Recommended as a more portable and affordable alternative to Olympus’ best mirrorless camera…”
Sounds good!
The E-PL5 is set to ship tomorrow at Amazon (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here). The little sister E-Pm2 is already shopping at BHphoto (Click here), Cameta (Click here), Amazon (Click here) and on eBay (Click here) -> found via Slidoo. And if you are going to buy them than don’t forget that the new PEN Olympus Application is now available on iTunes and Android store!
Ranger 9
7 months ago |“Now we know that the E-PL5 is officially the first MFT camera without Anti Aliasing filter.”
I still won’t KNOW it until somebody does a teardown and publishes pictures showing me that there is no AA filter in the sensor stack. I am profoundly skeptical that Olympus could or would redesign its entire sensor array just for one mid-priced camera, especially one that is so close in the engineering timeline to their higher-end model.
Then again, maybe this is a deliberate leak floated to start forumnoids demanding an “E-M 5E”… which Olympus will be happy to introduce at CES, at a higher price.
admin
7 months ago |Olympus France confirmed the news!
Mr. Reeee
7 months ago |Olympus has some odd ways when it comes to distributing features between the various M4/3 camera bodies. Remember the feature sets of the last generation? Touch and tilt screens were separate; EP3 got the touch screen, EPL3 got the tilt. Logically, the EP3, being the high-end, should have had both.
So, if they tweaked or enhanced the sensor of the EPL5, it would make sense, given that the EPL5 was released 6 or 8 months after the OMD was released. Those sorts of sensor enhancements seem to happen all the time. Panasonic does it, too.
Ranger 9
7 months ago |Are any US dealers going to have the Toshiba FlashAir card needed to enable the remote functionality of the Pen app? Neither Amazon nor B&H site lists a FlashAir card either as “included in the box” or as a recommended accessory. In fact, Amazon has no listing under FlashAir at all… a search turns up a list of Eye-Fi cards instead.
Nawaf
7 months ago |So will we be able to control the cam when it’s enabled?
Leif
7 months ago |Here in Germany the smaller shops had the FlashAir card included. Maybe some kind of cooperation with Olympus to support the smaller ones to compete with the big guys like Amazon.
J Shin
7 months ago |eBay has Class 6 8 GB FlashAir for $90-120. Eye-fi Class 6 8GB is $44, and also has Mac and Windows applications, in addition to Android and iOS Apps. Eye-Fi Class 10 16 GB is $99.
omdowner
7 months ago |Ok, App for Andoroid – very good. But where id firmwsre for OMD to give IT Compatibility with Toshiba Air?
Nawaf
7 months ago |App name please.
Leif
7 months ago |OI Image Share
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.olympusimaging.oishare
southbymidwest
7 months ago |My OM-D works fine with the Oly app + Toshiba flash air card. I can snap a photo, hit refresh on the app and it is more or less instantly available to save to my iPhone!
mpgxsvcd
7 months ago |Let’s see some video from the EPL-5 if it really doesn’t have an AA filter. Aliasing will be horrible if they left the filter out.
Voldenuit
7 months ago |Quite a few people have removed the AA filter from the 5DMkIII expressly for video without disastrous effects. Then again, the major DSLR players (Canon, Nikon, sony) all suffer from line-skipping when recording video, which is a worse offender for aliasing than lack of an AA filter.
I’d imagine video would be a lot less affected than stills as far as aliasing artefacts because of the massive downsampling (16 MP –> 2 MP).
Boooo!
7 months ago |No. The lack of an AA filter has absolutely nothing to do with noise and dynamic range.
Admin – why does the site refuse to acknowledge my cookie and force me to re-enter the fields above every time?
admin
7 months ago |Damn. Have to check this
Mr. Reeee
7 months ago |Same here, admin.
Gabriel
7 months ago |Man the high iso jpegs of the Epl5 put my poor gf3 to shame.
mjp
7 months ago |look at the one sample picture with the kids bike hanging over the fence. no part of the image is in focus. and again at that brown plant and out of focus background, nothing is sharp at 100%. my epm1 puts out sharper images than their sample shots. just a quick glance tells me they left all settings in auto and fired away. I would love to see a few shots with: 1)IS turned off 2)NR Off 3)a little in-cam sharpening 4)warm setting OFF
@BOOOO – of course, they meant to say it’s the magic pixie dust that improves DR and noise!
question
7 months ago |Where is update of firmware for OM-D, to give it the same ability (Toshiba Air SD card + Android App)
Steve
7 months ago |Will Oly offer only body? I have a previous E-PL version and want to upgrade the body. No need another lens kit.
szociofoto
7 months ago |A kit with the 15mmF8 would be great to have.
Sam Waldron
7 months ago |We can always rely on Photography Blog to shoot M43 sample images at F16. Thanks!
I’ve seen nothing to indicate the EPL-5 does not have an AA filter – will believe it when I see razor sharp samples or an actual official statement from Olympus US or Japan.
I hope so as its a good direction for Olympus with pixel density offsetting the rare cases of Moire but I don’t yet buy the email from someone at Olympus France yet.
AdventureRob
7 months ago |Most amazingly about all this is Oly not mentioning it to sell the camera. I used the EPL5 in a shop the other day and the image quality is certainly nice.
The 35-100mm is available to play with too here, I didn’t realise people were still waiting in other countries
beautempts
7 months ago |Oly is a very small camera manufacturer. They have only one development kernel of Sensor and Engine etc. This is placed in different bodies with different external features (LCD, EVF, AF etc.).
Therefore it is very logical to place the newest camera-kernel development in the newest product, even if it is placed below the leading camera in the line.
Dropping a physical AA-Filter because of higher power of the postprocessing in the engine makes sense. They save production costs and enhance the image quality.
nippie
7 months ago |Hi there,
can the combination FlashAir Card + Oly App only be used with E-M5/E-PL5/E-PM2? Or can I use it with my E-PL3? From my understanding the card takes care of any data transmission an not the camera, but I am not sure…
southbymidwest
7 months ago |I sent the admin a detailed email with my experiences so I don’t know why he hasn’t cleared this up yet… but the Oly App + Flash Air card works fine in both my OM-D and E-P2. Considering it works with the first gen camera, I imagine it will work just fine with all Oly cameras. It may even work with Panny cameras for all I know (sold my GH2 so I can’t test it unfortunately). The app just seems to be interacting with the card itself… I have a hunch that it might work with any camera…
admin
7 months ago |Not hesitating. Just trying to get more info betwen one working pause and another.
Ron W
7 months ago |Given the havoc caused by Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, I would be surprised to see B&H shipping until much later.