Olympus E-P1 Digital Pen first look review

Olympus unveils its first Micro Four Thirds digital camera in Berlin and Best4Reviews.com is there to bring you this exclusive preview and pictures

Currently available in either white or silver, Olympus has set itself a task in selling the new E-P1 digital Pen camera. Being neither a digital SLR (SLR) nor a compact camera in the traditional definition,  it is looking to reach out both to twenty-something females and photo enthusiasts who may have owned any of the Pen's 35 analogue based predecessors - traditionally two very different audiences.

So is the solid feel, metal build camera itself a product of two halves, that feels neither one thing nor the other or, more positively, a unified whole, which, as Olympus hopes, will blow the digital camera market wide open?

First impressions are that Olympus, in having neither the marketing fire power of say Sony, Panasonic nor Samsung, nor an army of steadfast followers like Canon or Nikon, is very much playing up its photographic heritage with the E-P1. Hence the camera's Berlin launch was very much a 1960s themed affair, and the product itself features styling that makes it appear as if it has been beamed into today from a bygone era - the only initial indicator to the untrained eye that this is a digital camera being the obvious asset of an LCD screen on the back. There's no optical viewfinder built in, but a clip on variety (via the camera's top mounted hotshoe for supplementary flashgun) is available as an optional extra or as part of the twin lens kit bundle.

So, the look and feel of the E-P1 is very much a retro one. While some may consider that cool, others may consider the camera somewhat bulky, it being the width of a regular digital SLR if not in depth. Either way, it won't fit either into a trouser or jacket pocket; you'll have to wear it purposefully around your neck or slung over your shoulder like a badge of pride - or transport it via a dedicated camera bag.

In many ways the E-P1 feels as much of a statement of intent as a product in its own right and Olympus UK hinted to us that supplies will be deliberately limited, undoubtedly bringing the collectors and enthusiasts out in force to snap up the first digital camera of its kind.

It's a pleasant change though to find a company enthusiastic enough about a new product to make a song and dance about it - especially in this current climate of doom and gloom. By going out on something of a limb, in the Olympus E-P1 its manufacturer may just have sewn the seeds for those 'green shoots' those in the photo industry are no doubt looking and hoping for. For all our reservations, the E-P1 was a camera we enjoyed handling and, at the end of the day, were reluctant to have to give back.