Customer Reviews

Olympus E1 5.5MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been using E1 with Zuiko Digital 14-54 f/2.8-3.5 for several months now, and I must report that I am thoroughly pleased with its operation. It performs flawlessly, without any glitches, and is a solid, well built and reliable photographic tool. It is a joy to use in the field.
Image quality is nothing short of excellent. A3 sized prints from E1 easily match my best slide scans from 35mm film. The images are clean, vivid, sharp, with beautiful colors, which reminds me of Kodak emulsions. Once I made a beautiful, clean A4 print from a small cropped segment of a portrait; at this enlargement, the entire picture would exceed A2 paper size. 5 megapixels yes, but 5 megapixels of extreme signal quality. Unlike Canon, Kodak didn't put hardware noise reduction on its sensors, so with help of NeatImage or Noise Ninja, one can make very clean prints even at ISO 800. However, ISO 1600 and 3200 display banding artifacts, and are useful mostly for black&white images. Those B&W images, however, respond very well to noise reduction and produce very good A4 prints. As for the 14-54 lens, it is very sharp from f/3.5-f/11, has very good but not excellent bokeh, has extremely useful range from moderately wide to moderately tele (28-108mm in 35mm equivalents), and works best at the long end. There it really shines as a portrait lens. However, it displays some vignetting at the long end, and some cyan fringing in the corners at the wide and.
So, the strong points of this camera are its absolute image quality, color fidelity, buid quality and ergonomics. On the minus side, however, there is autofocus, which leaves much room for improvement. It is slow and of little use in low light. Also, the buffer could clear faster, especially with microdrive, whose full potential isn't utilized.

Conclusion: it's an excellent camera, whose real competitor is Canon 20D. Canon has a solid resolution advantage, produces good images, and works better at high ISO values. However, E1 is better built, it has an excellent kit lens which is every bit as good as Canon L zooms and rivals good primes, has built-in sensor cleaning, is splash-proof and an excellent overall package. Choice between them is a matter of individual preference and taste. What made it for me was the range of focal lengths. With Olympus, I can cover my needs with just two lenses, and 14-54 is designed just right. It's wide enough and long enough for me not to need anything else for most applications. With a 35mm legacy and 1.6x crop factor, Canon's lens range is just inconvenient. Most lenses are either not wide enough or not long enough or cover the wrong range. With Olympus, I still didn't feel any desperate need to buy a second lens; 108mm equivalent is just right for portraiture, and 28mm is just wide enough for the kind of landscapes I usually shoot.

I have owned this camera for about 2 months now and I am very happy with it. It is not the fastest or the highest image quaility in its class, but it is the best priced for its overall quality. I have already t ested it's durability and it has passed with flying colors. As a landscape designer it is used regularly in all conditions and has performed flawlessly. Do your homework and you will see it is a solid camera at a fair price

Four month satisfied owner after a lot of research.If one goes on raw comparative specs alone, the E-1 may fall short on some comparisons,such as number of megapixels (5) and number of lenses available(ca. 12). But handling it and looking at the untouched results,will impress one,-don't reveal the source and see. It is a tough,professional machine,and weather sealed, and has no history of breakdowns in a year from users and no major glitches... Having said that, some users don't want or need a professional level camera. If you don't need these special adjustment capabilities, don't mess with this level of camera. It is rather heavy, and huge manual to absorb. The dust reduction system and the high quality lenses of superb design are very large advantages to all. Will the E system be around in ten years you say? I don't know, and you don't know,but the camera will be usable for a long time. Certainly until every suburban home has a 36" high definition flat panel TV in their living room and moves on to covet a 65".
Update as of 9-1-2006:
If anything,my respect for this camera increases. It is chunky,not what Olympuses are supposed to be to many,and is even heavier with the accessory HDL-2 grip. I have not pushed the enlargements to the point where I need more than the alloted megapixels,not even close. I have not fully exploited all the capabilities (read multiple options) of the camera,but it is definitely not in the DSLR beginner category. This Fall will likely see news on an upgrade,and some interesting E series bodies. If one is still satisfied with well thought out good design,water proofing,and superb( their mid price line) lenses,with a definite and future limited variety vis a vis Canon et al,then this camera is still a hard to go wrong choice. The downside: Canon and Nikon and now Sony are still the places that folks who own Canon EOS and Nikon and Minolta autofocus lenses will seek out first and who may need a broader choice of accessories or rental super telephotos. For those who have no stable of lenses,and just want to jump in,how can one go wrong with the E-1 and the 14-54 plus one Olympus flash is still my view.
(Caveat: If you are subject to buyer's remorse,better wait until Photokina on September 26. The future of this camera and the E system will be shaped by what Olympus displays or outlines its E system offerings at that time...that said,do not hesitate to go for this at a budget closeout price,one third of what I paid in July 2004. It is a camera that grows on you if you like its hefty quality feel, weatherproofing,the buttons versus menu approach.)

I'm shooting since 1985, when I bought my Yashica FXD. Eight months ago I donate it to my sister and I've bought a 137 MA Contax with a couple of Carl Zeiss + Yashica lenses. Two months later I bought an 159 MM Contax also. I love these cameras and the lenses. Thousands of shots most of them in diapositive film and some B/W. Then the digital era were dawn and everything start to look easy and cheap (except the hardware of course - in those days -). Three years ago I bought an Oly C5050Z bridge camera in which I found everything I wanted but for portraits and landscapes only, because as I've tried to capture a motorcycle racing (and Enduro) I've managed to take good shots, only when the racers stood still. Then came the E330 (which is the only new at all camera I have). Seven months ago I've bought a used E1 from E-bay. Good price and in good condition camera.

The E1 of course hmm....
Its lovely, its a tankmade and ...only 5mgpxls, someone would thought for today's standards. But who cares about the resolution. A4 prints from my Canon Pixma 4300 are excellent. Colors are vivid but not over saturated. Images are crisp and clear (specially in the eyes - portraits - and the water drops - landscapes and macros -).
But there is one complain: ...the AF capability. I find the AF speed quite good, but someone must beware the vertical level of the focus. The solution is not to trust the first result of the focusing and to refocus again. Of course you can do this in stand still images and for moving subjects I use the prefocus method. But this is not a real problem for someone who is used to with the old manual SLRs
Handling the camera is a pleasure, and I'm looking all around for an opportunity to aim through the bright viewfinder, to press the shutter, to hear the sound (like a gun's breechblock), to capture the moment, to steel a piece of time, to keep a person young for the next decades to come. I do love the feeling of this camera.
Buttons and switches are in the right place and when someone get used with the camera, can operate her even in the dark immediately. The size of the buttons is small and the sense of pressing them is not so accurate, that means handling the camera with gloves (in cold weather) is a little bit difficult thing.
The rear LCD is a little bit small (maybe tiny) for today's standards and also the shot takes a little time (I never counted it) to appear. At the first time it was annoying for me - getting used with the E 330 - but now I don't mind at all (I have my 19" LCD from my PC).
The 14-45mm kit lens is good (Value/Money), but I think that my 55-200mm SIGMA is far better in quality and sharpness.
Today I use the E1 with my old glass (Zeiss + Yashica) and I have no problem at all with the manual focus, because the viewfinder is bright and sharp focused images is a piece of cake - even in races - like the old days with my lovely Contaxes. I think that there is no need to extol the quality of the construction and the image clarity of Zeiss Lenses.
For software I use the CS2 with the Genuine Fractals plug in, but Olympus Studio 2 is working grate too.
Conclusion ?
Great camera to handle, to shoot, to hear the shutter. I do love my E1, giving me inspiration to see things beyond the eye.
Ohh!
I forgot the C5050Z. Urban landscapes, people, trains, beaches. The body is rugged and the lens is terrific.
The only thing I need is time to shoot.

We have been using the E1 for 15 months now and I can say we are very pleased. I love the sharpness of the lenses. Our company does commercial and portrait work and we are able to go to 30x40 sized prints and they are sharp, much sharper than 35mm and even some 645 neg's we used to use. Color rendition seems to be right on, bit on the warm side but very little. Most work is done with studio lights. All in all the camera preforms the way we want it to. Would we recommend the E1 .... We now own 4 E1's.

The E-1 is an anomaly. It is outdated and archaic. Its LCD is primitive. It boasts a whopping 5 megapixel sensor that is currently outdone (number-wise) by cell-phone cameras. And yet, it is one of the greatest digital SLR's to ever roll off a production line.

The E-1 has perfect ergonomics, feels like a "real" camera (no cheap plasticky Canikon vibe), and takes incredible pictures with a depth of realism that is hard to match. Before I bought my used E-1, I had an E-30. I say "had" even though I still have the E-30----but now I rarely shoot it. Ironically, the ancient E-1 has become my primary camera, while the newer (technically better) E-30 has been relegated to "back-up" status. That's how good the E-1 feels in your hand.

Now, given the current situation with Olympus (and if you are looking at E-1's, you must know something about the company, 4/3rds future, etc.) I cannot say I would recommend someone jumping into the 4/3 system. But, if you already have some 4/3 glass and are looking for an extra body, I can say that you will absolutely LOVE the E-1. This is an example of a camera that is just right on so many levels.

A true "digital classic."

Bought this camera used after reading all the good things about it and glad I did. It's mostly used as a back up, but once I start using it, it's hard to put it down. It's a pros camera (no presets) I love that it's simple and very easy to use. The picture quality is excellent. Ergonomics makes it one of the best cameras to hold. All the buttons are in the right place for quick access. It's weather sealed which is another plus, the 5mp is more than enough and the camera is heavy enough that if someone tries to take it from you it doubles as a weapon, you can beat the crap out of someone with this thing and still take their picture when you're done. Uh, kidding. I do like the weight of the camera, it screams it means business. The only flaw with this camera is the time it takes to write to the card which is not a big problem.

This is my primary camera. No bells and wisthles. Plain and simple! The man/woman behind the camera makes the picture!

This is a real professional digital camera but it's easy to use for those just beginning. With excellent color rendention, you can shoot RAW for more control or use the Fine jpeg and it will pop your eyes out with a image quality found in only the best of cameras.