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A37 On Test

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ompAct system cAmerAs (cscs) are small and light, but they offer the same level of control as

DsLrs and you have a choice of lenses. Image quality is comparable too. even better, competition in this market is pushing the technology forwards at a rate of knots, bringing us better cameras at a lower cost.

this is evident in the e-pL5, one of olympus’ recently launched cameras that refresh the lower end of its peN range. As with all the peNs, this latest peN Lite model uses the successful micro four thirds system (see box, page 79), but what’s impressive about the e-pL5 is that it features the same 16-megapixel sensor found in olympus’ flagship csc, the om-D e-m5. the e-pL5 is nearly two-thirds of the price of the om-D e-m5, so olympus has brought top-end technology down to an affordable level to a similar price as an entry-level DsLr.

Cbeyond the sensor, the e-pL5

boasts some other significant upgrades from its e-pL3 predecessor. the Iso sensitivity reaches a maximum of 25,600, compared to the 12,800 maximum of the previous model, giving extra room for manoeuvre in low light. the range of Art filter modes has been expanded from the existing six as well, with Light tone, pale & Light colour, cross process, Dramatic tone, Gentle sepia, Key Line and Watercolour the new additions. on top of this, the maximum continuous shooting rate has been almost doubled to eight frames-per-second.

the e-pL5 also sees the introduction of touch-screen technology to the peN Lite. this lets you select your focus point and release the shutter by

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. 01DIAL MODE The E-PL5’s mode dial gives DSLR-like control of shooting modes. Options are Auto, program, aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual, Movie, Scene and Art. 02 FINGER GRIP Unlike its predecessors, the E-PL5 has an optional finger grip on the front that makes it easier to hold.

03 LENS OPTIONS The kit lens is a 14-42mm zoom, but the E-PL5 is compatible with a wide range of Micro Four Thirds optics.

04 FLIP AND TOUCH SCREEN The LCD screen can be tilted up or down and flipped up above the camera for self portraits. It’s also a touch screen, which can be used for focus point selection and shooting.

05 OPTIONAL VIEWFINDER The E-PL5 has no viewfinder built in, but an optional electronic viewfinder can be attached via the hotshoe and socket.

06 OK BUTTONThe OK button brings up an on-screen menu that lets you change almost every setting.

SPECIFICATIONResolution 16.1 megapixels

Max image size 4608x3456 pixels

Raw shooting Yes

Autofocus points 35 fixed, 800 manual selection

LCD resolution 460,000 dots

Vari-angle screen Yes

Metering modes ESP light, spot, centre weighted, highlight, shadow

Focus modes Single AF, continuous AF, single AF + MF, AF tracking, touch target, manual

Frames-per-second Up to 8

ISO range 200-25,600

HD video 1920x1080, 1280x720, 640x480 at 30fps

Card type SD, SDHC, SDXC

Dimensions 110.5x63.7x38.2mm

Weight 325g (with battery and memory card)

>> £599 STREET PRICE >> www.olympus.co.uk

olympus e-pL5 On Test

The latest Olympus PEN Lite features the sensor from the company’s flagship camera at a fraction of the cost. Ian Fyfe finds out whether the E-PL5 is a bargain or a false economy

Olympus E-PL5FIVE-PAGE TEST ON OLYMPUS’ FIRST TOUCH-SCREEN PEN LITE

touching, as well as swiping between images and zooming in during playback mode. Navigating menus and changing settings is still all done with buttons though. the screen itself is also tiltable and can be flipped to face forwards – perfect for self-portraits.

What else does it have?the e-pL5 has just about everything you’d expect on a DsLr in terms of control. there’s a shooting mode dial, and direct access controls for focus point selection, exposure compensation, flash control and drive mode.

everything else is quickly accessible via a user-friendly interface brought up with the oK button. everything you’d want at the touch of a button is there – Iso sensitivity, metering mode, focusing

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ABOVE In this scene, the E-PL5’s auto white-balance has done well to accurately reproduce the colours of both the warm yellow light that dominates, and the cooler blue light in the background.

The E-PL5 has just about everything you’d expect on a DSLR in terms of control… shooting mode dial, direct access controls…

mode and filter effect to name just a few. even image stabilisation mode selection is there. What’s more, if you’re not happy with the way the controls are set up, you can customise every button to do what you like.

there are a few extra gems hidden away in the menus by default. exposure bracketing lets you set up sequences of shots with different settings, such as exposure for HDr, and white-balance to make sure you get the best colours. you can even set Art bracketing, which saves each shot with every art filter applied. Double exposure mode lets you get creative with overlaying two shots in-camera, and Digital teleconverter mode effectively doubles the focal length of the lens you’re using without reducing the image file size – great for saving on extra kit.

Another highlight that’s filtered down from the om-D e-m5 is Live bulb mode, which allows you to see the progress of a long exposure on screen.

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TOP LEFT The Dramatic Tone Art filter emphasises shape, giving the gnarled subject on the left more impact. TOP RIGHT The Art filters can change the atmosphere of a scene, and in this image the Dramatic Tone filter produces a surreal effect. MIDDLE LEFT In scenes with high contrast edges like this one, you might expect some purple fringes, but this wasn’t the case with the E-PL5 and its kit lens. LEFT The 14-42mm kit lens focuses as close as 25cm, and this image was taken at that distance. You can get in close, and the high image quality ensures there’s plenty of detail. ABOVE The Grainy Film Art filter adds drama, and in this image I combined it with a dramatic angle for maximum impact.

On Test olympus e-pL5

ISO TEST ISO performance in the E-PL5 is impressive. ISO 1600 sees the first noticeable effect on image quality, with some loss of detail. By ISO 6400, this becomes significant, with detail being smoothed out. I’d definitely be reluctant to use settings above ISO 10,000. For small on-screen displays though, images are acceptable even up to the maximum ISO 25,600.

The E-PL5 is a winner in this area too. At low ISOs, detail is crisp and at high ISOs, it’s still impressive

ISO 6,400

ISO 200

ISO 25,600

this is fantastic for shooting light trails or for light painting, since it takes the guesswork out of the exposure time.

While it gives you full control, the e-pL5 also has Live Guide, which offers quick ways to adjust the settings to suit the scene. for example, if you want to change the white-balance quickly, you can enter Live Guide and adjust the image colour – until you exit this mode, the camera effectively takes control, regardless of which shooting mode you’re in. the same can be done for brightness, saturation, blurring the background, or freezing movement. Live Guide also has a shooting tips section, which offers snippets of photographic advice – how to photograph children, pets and flowers, as well as tips on framing and using accessories to name a few.

What’s it like to use?I loved using the e-pL5 for two reasons – firstly because it’s so user-friendly, and secondly because it produced great results. I found the controls exceptionally intuitive, and after just a short time with the camera, I felt I knew it well. this meant I was never worrying about the settings or how to change them, freeing me up to think about the shots I was taking.

Its size also makes it great for street photography, since it’s less conspicuous than a DsLr and doesn’t make your shoulder ache to carry it – I really enjoyed exploring the city with it. I did miss having a viewfinder, since this feels more natural to me, but an electronic viewfinder that can be attached via the hotshoe is available.

the excellent Art filters are fun, and other features like Double exposure mode and Live bulb help to maximise creativity. the only slight difficulty I found was that, with so many Art filters, switching between them was fiddly and took some time – I missed a couple of shots because I was in a filter I didn’t want and it took too long to switch. you can solve this by using Art bracketing, although this clogs up your memory card. shooting in raw also helps, since this lets you change your mind and apply filters later on.

one of the highlights of the e-pL5 is the autofocus system, which is as fast and reliable as many DsLrs. this is often a downfall of cscs, since they rely on less sensitive systems than DsLrs. olympus’s system locks on fast, even in low light, and only failed for me when I deliberately tried to focus on areas of plain colour with no contrast.

of course, all this useability is no good if the image quality doesn’t measure up, but the e-pL5 is a winner in this area too. At low Iso sensitivities,

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Nikon D3200 On Testolympus e-pL5 On Test

GOOD: Great image quality, easy to use, fast autofocus, good Iso performance

BAD: fiddly to switch between Art filters, no built-in viewfinder

detail is crisp and image quality matches that of many DsLrs. At high Iso sensitivity, some graininess reduces the quality, but for this type of system, it’s still impressive. When there’s a big difference between the brightest and darkest areas of a scene, the sensor can still record detail in both, and the metering system copes well in these situations too.

Should you buy the E-PL5?one thing to consider before shelling out on the e-pL5 is that the e-pm2, its smaller brother that was launched at the same time, uses the same high-end sensor, but is about £100 cheaper. there are some significant differences in handling, most notably a fixed LcD screen and no mode dial, which make it feel more like a compact.

but if you’re looking for a camera that you control like a DsLr and delivers equal image quality, just in a smaller package, then the e-pL5 could be your answer. I didn’t find it lacking in any area, and it combines user-friendliness with great results. buying into the micro four thirds system also gives you a great range of lenses to choose from. the price is extremely competitive considering the top-end sensor it uses – it comes in at less than other cscs that arguably struggle to match up in terms of performance.

ThE MICRO FOuR ThIRdS SySTEM The Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system was developed by Olympus in tandem with Panasonic, and it was the first CSC format to hit the shelves. The sensor is smaller than the APS-C sensor in most DSLRs, with about two-thirds of the surface area, which means it needs to work harder to match the image quality and low-light performance of its bigger cousins.

Because CSCs from both manufacturers use the same lens mount, their lenses are cross-compatible and optics are also available from third parties such as Sigma. This gives one of the widest choices of lenses for a CSC format. Together with the compact and light bodies that the mirrorless design and smaller sensor allow, it’s a system that offers the same flexibility and control as DSLRs, but with less bulk.

TOP LEFT The Key Line Art filter is great fun and is one of my favourites, giving images an illustration-style look. TOP RIGHT The sensor in the E-PL5 can cope with big differences in brightness across a scene. This picture shows how well it retains detail in the shadows while not overexposing the sky. RIGHT AND BOTTOM The E-PL5 is small, making it great for taking pictures of people in the city without feeling too conspicuous.

KEY LINE FILTER DYNAMIC RANGE