Olympus PEN E-P1

Sharpness

This was a particular strength of the E-P1, surpassing any of the comparison cameras, particularly the disappointing Nikon D5000 and Canon T1i results. The highest readings came in the center of the lens, shooting at 14mm, f/9, with the results around the edges at the same settings nearly as high. More on how we test sharpness.

Image Sharpness and Chromatic Aberration

Focal Length:

14.0mm

27.0mm

42.0mm

Click blue squares to change sample crops below
f/3.5 f/9 f/22
f/4.6 f/10 f/22
f/5.6 f/11 f/22

Image Stabilization (6.84)

The in-camera image stabilization system, which relies on movement of the image sensor rather than the lens-based stabilization used by Nikon and Canon, effectively counteracted the blurriness caused by shaking hands in certain situations, particularly when there was a substantial amount of movement while shooting. We test image stabilization by mounting the camera in a computer-controlled rig that produces repeatable movement patterns, both horizontally and vertically, and shoot a sloped-edge test chart at all available shutter speeds with image stabilization on and with it off. We use Imatest to determine the resolution scores for our test images, then compare the IS on and IS off results.

There are three available settings for the image stabilization system (in addition to Off, of course). I.S. 1 (used in our testing) attempts to compensate for shake both horizontally and vertically. I.S. 2 limits itself to vertical stabilization, so a horizontally panned shot will have a smooth blurred background. Similarly, I.S. 3 uses horizontal-only stabilization, to be used when panning vertically.

Even if you are shooting with a non-Micro Four Thirds or Four Thirds lens, you can still use the image stabilization system by manually entering the focal length of the lens you’re using.

At relatively low speeds, the system had a slight negative impact on sharpness at speeds above 1/60 second, when the camera was moving horizontally, but there’s a significant gain at 1/30 second, the speed where most of us start to have trouble holding the camera steady when shooting with available light indoors. When the camera was shaken vertically, the IS system had minimal effect.

Raising the level of shake meant a better result with image stabilization turned on across the board, when the camera was moving horizontally. Again, the system was far less effective counteracting vertical movement.

Image Stabilization Comparison Table			Expand
	Low Shake IS Off	Low Shake IS On	High Shake IS Off	High Shake IS On
1/500
1/250
1/125
1/60
1/30
1/15
1/8

The E-P1 scored well in our image stabilization testing, delivering more effective handheld shooting assistance than any of the other cameras in our comparison group.