Gadling gear review – first look at the new Olympus E-P2

by Scott Carmichael on

Santa visited my house early this year, and dropped off the new Olympus E-P2 Micro Four Thirds digital camera. The first Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera, the E-P1, passed through Gadling earlier this year, and left me mighty impressed, so in this first (and very brief) look, we’ll see what the E-P2 has to offer.

At first glance, the E-P2 looks identical to the E-P1, albeit in a slightly different color. The E-P1 is available in silver/black and white/tan, and the E-P2 only comes in black. It takes a bit to find any differences, but once you reach the flash hot shoe in the middle, you’ll notice a small connector port below it.

This port is in essence the biggest difference between the E-P1 and E-P2. One of the biggest drawbacks of the E-P1 is its lack of a viewfinder. An optical viewfinder is available for using with the 17mm pancake lens, but it won’t work well with the 14-42mm lens.

The connector on the E-P2 works along with the included electronic viewfinder and an upcoming microphone adapter.

The VF-2 viewfinder slides onto the hot shoe, and can tilt upwards. Of course, with the viewfinder attached, you can no longer use the flash, but you obviously won’t need the flash in those situations.

Other changes are all inside the camera – the E-P2 features a new live focus tracking mode, which works for photos and in video mode. It also adds two new art settings (diarama and cross process). The camera also allows for manual control when in video mode, and adds HDMI control when hooked up to a compatible HDTV .

All in all, great changes, but the new viewfinder and additional software tweaks add $300 to the price (the E-P1 is $799.99, the E-P2 will retail for $1099.99). In the coming week, I’ll take the camera for a real test, and determine whether the $300 is easy to justify, or whether it finally prices itself out of where it should be.

Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera – part 2 – the basics

by Scott Carmichael on

I just spent the past 2 days playing with the new Olympus E-P1 digital camera. Before I continue, let me quickly describe what kind of photographer I am – 95% of the time, I’ll have my camera set to “auto” and the remaining 5%, it is set to manual by mistake. As a geek, I got in on the whole DSLR craze very early, and got out of the craze after just 2 weeks.

I’ve always found DSLR’s to be too big, too complicated and too overwhelming. So, when I initially read about the new Olympus E-P1 camera, I was very interested, as it appeared to be everything I like in a camera, but still able to offer me the features and quality of a large digital SLR.

Now on the camera itself – anyone who knows a thing or two about photography will know what the Olympus Pen was. The Pen was the first half-frame camera produced in Japan, and one of the smallest to take regular 35mm film. The entire Pen line was a massive success, but the last one was developed way back in 1981. The first Pen hit the market in 1959, which just so happens to be 50 years ago, which is of course the perfect time to relaunch the Pen using current technologies.

The basics

Inside the camera is the same large sensor that you’ll find in a DSLR camera, capable of shooting in 12.3 megapixels. The unit features in-camera image stabilization and an ultrasonic lens cleaning technology called “Super Sonic Wave Filter” – how cool is that?

Having image stabilization inside the camera means lenses won’t need the technology in them, which should keep the price of lenses to a minimum. Some of the highlights built into the camera are:

  • 720p HD video recording
  • Audio recording in PCM Stereo
  • Multiple art shooting modes (pop art, soft focus, pale&light color, light tone, grainy film and pin hole)
  • Interchangeable lenses using the Micro Four Thirds system
  • Stainless steel body available in metal/chrome and white
  • 3″ LCD
  • Digital leveler built in (this is way cooler than it sounds)

Tomorrow I’ll start showing some of the features up close, in the meantime, enjoy some of these photos I took using the camera. I uploaded all the images in their original, unedited format, just click “hi res” in the top to see the full size photo, and remember; I am not a professional photographer by any means, so go easy on me!

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Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera – part 1 – a brief intro

by Scott Carmichael on

In the coming days you are going to see quite a bit about a new digital camera. Anyone who stays up to date with my reviews will know that it takes something special to get my attention and for the first time in ages, I’m actually excited about a digital camera.

The new Olympus E-P1 is a compact digital camera – if you saw it from a distance, you’d easily mistake it for a point-and-shoot camera. The design can be described in one word – absolutelyamazinglycool. Seriously, this is a gorgeous camera. It borrows a lot of its looks from the original Olympus Pen, without looking too outdated. It has the perfect balance of modern and retro, and Olympus clearly spent a lot of effort making it their camera look this nice.

That is all your are going to get in part 1 – I simply have too much to tell you about this amazing camera to fit it all in one part. In the coming days you’ll get up close with its usability, photo and video quality and some more focus on how well it travels.

In the meantime, head on over to the Olympus E-P1 minisite to learn more about this amazing camera.

Daily gear deals – $2.99 Bluetooth headset, waterproof camera and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gadget deals for today, Tuesday June 9th 2009. Remember, these deals are often only valid for one day, so act fast before they are gone!

Handsfree does not get much cheaper than this $2.99 Bluetooth headset (after a $15 mail in rebate). It ships in a “polybag”, which is an expensive way of telling you that you’ll get it in a plastic bag.

Amazon has some hot deals on their lineup of tough Olympus cameras, including the popular Stylus 550WP for just $159.99. This camera features a 10 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom, and is waterproof up to 10 feet. You’ll need to add the camera to your cart to see the final price as it is “too low to display”.

Woot.com is selling a 2-pack of sleeping bags for just $19.99. I can’t comment on the quality, but at $25 for 2 sleeping bags (with shipping) it may be worth a try. Just don’t come crying to me if they didn’t keep you warm on your next expedition. Woot is a one-deal-a-day site, so order quickly, or the product will be gone.

And finally, in our lineup of great gadgets for today is this Toshiba 250GB external hard drive. At just $64, it is one of the cheapest options out there for a portable external drive. To get the low price, be sure to check out the various other sellers on the product page – you’ll find one selling the drive for $64.

Daily gear deals – $17 MP3 player, $5 Kindle charging kit and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gadget deals for today, Friday May 29th 2009. Remember, these deals are often one-day deals, so act fast before they are gone!

Today’s lineup of deals starts with the highly rated Garmin Nuvi 855. This widescreen GPS unit is miles ahead of the usual cheap stuff we post here. The Nuvi 855 offers speech recognition, spoken commands, lane assist and even the ability to navigate by picture, with the photos from the Garmin photo sharing community. The unit normally costs $499, but is currently on sale through Amazon for just $299 (with free shipping).

Are you in the market for a really cheap MP3 player? This Creative Zen Stone with speaker has 1GB of storage and a built in speaker. Normal price is $45, but it is currently on sale (refurbished) in the Creative outlet for just $16.99.

Do you travel with the Amazon Kindle? Then this deal is perfect for you – an iGo 4 piece Amazon Kindle charging kit (wall + car) for just $4.24. The kit comes with an AC charger, DC (car) charger, retractable cable and Amazon Kindle iGo power tip. On sale at Amazon, but since it is under $25, you’ll need to pay for shipping.
for under $5!

The final deal for today is for this Olympus Stylus 820 weatherproof digital camera. On sale for just $89.99. The camera features a 5x optical zoom, 8 megapixel sensor and weatherproof seals to protect the camera from rain, sand, snow and more.

Looking for more hot deals, coupons and discount codes? Check out the lineup of bargains in our shopping portal!