Olympus PEN E-P1

Focal length: 25mm
Aperture: f/13
Shutter: 1/80
ISO: 100

This shot of New York’s Times Square shows off the terrific color and resolution performance of the E-P1. It was shot in aperture-priority mode using evaluative metering.

The line are razor-sharp, the colors pure and accurate.

Focal length: 21mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter: 1/125
ISO: 100

To experiment with the Art Filter effects we headed for Rockefeller Center and shot this colorful plaza. The shot at the top was taken in program mode, natural picture mode, the others with the Art Filter indicated. In this shot, the Pop Art filter might have been more useful if we could adjust the effect. The Pin Hole shot, though, does a great job reproducing the look of grandpa’s old vacation snapshots.

Focal length: 32mm
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter: 1/200
ISO: 200

These local geese were shot in program mode shifted to increase the aperture, with evaluative metering. We went with vivid picture mode to pump up the plumage colors a bit. It’s generally a good exposure, though contrast is a bit low.

There are a variety of textures here, all captured well.

Focal length: 24mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Shutter: 1/80
ISO: 200

This disrespected statue in Columbus Circle was shot in program mode, with automatic white balance and natural picture mode.

The subtle gradations in the stonework are preserved well, and the engravings have nice sharp edges.

Focal length: 38mm
Aperture: f/5.4
Shutter: 1/25 second
ISO: 3200

To demonstrate the effect the noise reduction setting has on the fine detail, we shot these engravings with the camera on a tripod, with dim daylight filtered through window shades, at a consistent ISO 3200. The image at left was shot with noise reduction off, and can be clicked to load a full-sized version. As shown in the close-ups below, raising the noise reduction setting does smooth out the background speckling, but details suffers badly.

Focal length: 25mm
Aperture: f/10
Shutter: 1/320
ISO: 200

We tried the panorama mode in both horizontal and vertical directions, stitching the images together using the supplied Olympus Master 2 software. The horizontal pan came together nicely, but the difficulties of maintaining straight lines in the vertical pan proved too much for the program to handle, and since the exposure is locked in with the first shot, things get rather murky by the time we got down to street level. Clicking on these images will download full-size versions, which are quite large.