Olympus Pen E-P5 Review: Olympus introduces the E-P5, a new top-of-the-line pen model that pays homage to the Olympus analogue Pen F

After almost two years Olympus is replacing the old pen top model E-P3 with the Pen E-P5. Accordingly, a lot has changed – and not only in terms of internal values, but also external ones. The retro design is now even more similar to the famous Pen F from the sixties, but at the same time the functionality has been expanded. Two control wheels, the built-in flash as well as the foldable touchscreen with over a million pixels should be mentioned here.

Brief assessment

Pros

• Very effective image stabilizer
• Fast and accurate autofocus
• High serial frame rate
• Excellent processing
• Very good image quality with quite usable set lens

Cons

• WiFi control somewhat limited
• Touchscreen operation could be more fluid and complete
• C-AF somewhat sluggish, especially with video recordings

 

The design of the Olympus Pen E-P5 is strongly inspired by the famous Pen F from the sixties. [Photo: Olympus]

After the much-vaunted sensor of the flagship OM-D E-M5 had been incorporated into the Pen-Mini and Pen-Lite, the Pen fan community was eagerly awaiting this update for the top model E-P3. But it is only after almost two years that Olympus finally brings the longed-for successor, which is called Pen E-P5 according to the Japanese count. But not only the great image converter, but also the 5-axis image stabilizer, a WiFi module and other interesting functions are in the new camera. There was a lot of attention for the new one also because of the high-quality processed metal case in a noble retro design. In this test, we have examined what it is capable of and how it performs in practice and with the test software.

In addition to silver-black, the Olympus Pen E-P5 will also be available in black … [Photo: Olympus]

 

… as well as in white with a beige handle. [Photo: Olympus]

 

The rear screen of the Olympus Pen E-P5 is perfectly integrated into the case. [Photo: Olympus]

 

The monitor of the Olympus Pen E-P5 offers a diagonal of three inches (about 7.5 centimetres) and a fine resolution of over one million pixels. [Photo: Olympus]

 

In addition, the 3:2 screen of the Olympus Pen E-P5 is touch-sensitive, so it can be focused and even triggered with pinpoint accuracy. [Photo: Olympus]

 

On the top of the Olympus Pen E-P5 you can see the hot shoe, the built-in pop-up flash, the program selector wheel and the two ergonomically arranged control wheels. [Photo: Olympus]

 

In contrast, there are no visible screws on the Olympus Pen E-P5’s well-designed housing, as they are located exclusively on the underside of the camera. [Photo: Olympus]

 

Not so obvious is the built-in WLAN functionality of the Olympus Pen E-P5. A QR code shown on the camera display contains the settings and can be simply photographed with the mobile phone. [Photo: Olympus]

 

The 16 megapixel CMOS image sensor of the Olympus Pen E-P5 is image stabilised over five axes, as with the OM-D E-M5. [Photo: Olympus]

Olympus is proud of the new design of the Pen E-P5, which is very similar to the famous Pen F from the sixties, as we mentioned below. On the pleasantly heavy metal case (420 grams ready for use without lens), there is no screw visible at first sight, as the only exposed screws are located on the bottom of the camera. All details are lovingly worked out, the surfaces are differently adapted to their function, the inscriptions in the mode dial are engraved. In addition to the classic silver-black, the case will also be available completely in matt black as well as in glossy white with a cream-coloured handle. Along with the design, Olympus also revised the ergonomics of the mirrorless system camera. Instead of the roller wheel and ring around the multi-function rocker, there are now two metal rotating rings at the top of the camera, which are operated with index finger and thumb. A toggle switch on the back of the camera changes the assignment of both dials so that a total of four functions can be operated. Which ones these are can be set individually via the camera menu. A program selector wheel was also not omitted.

The built-in pop-up flash can also be used for wireless flash control of system flash units. Apart from the high-speed flash of up to 1/4,000 seconds with system flashes, the minimum flash sync speed with external flashes is 1/250 second. Using only the built-in flash, 1/320 seconds are now possible, which is very useful for fill-in flash in bright environments. This is thanks to the new, faster mechanical shutter, which allows the shortest exposure time of 1/8,000 second without flash – the ultimate in the mirrorless system camera segment. The continuous shooting function can also be seen with nine shots per second. The pen can take a maximum of 18 raw images in a row, with JPEG the memory card is the limiting factor. The E-P5 also allows interval shooting.

The screen has also been completely revised. It can be folded up and down, and is completely embedded in the housing, so it doesn’t stick out like some other cameras and interfere with the elegant design. Instead of an OLED panel with 610,000 pixels, an LCD with over one million pixels is now used. The 3:2 monitor, on the other hand, has not lost the touch function, so that the user only needs to tap with his finger on the spot where the camera is to focus. Optionally, the E-P5 can even be triggered via the screen.

The 16-megapixel live MOS sensor was taken over from the OM-D E-M5, as was the TurePic VI image processor. The E-P5 should therefore deliver at least as good image quality as the OMD E-M5, which has been praised many times for its image quality. ISO sensitivity ranges from 200 to 25,600, and the E-P5 also offers a “Low” setting that reduces the sensor’s nominal ISO 200 to ISO 100. In combination with the fast shutter speed, this allows for shots with a wide aperture even in bright ambient light. However, the buyer of an E-P5 must do without the OM-D’s splash water protection. Also inherited from the OM-D, the E-P5 has the five-axis image stabilizer, which works particularly effectively and stabilizes every lens you put on by means of sensor movements. What sounds quite succinct was a challenging task for the engineers, because the image stabilizer unit of the OM-D E-M5 is largely located in the viewfinder “hump”, which the E-P5 does not have. So the image stabilizer had to be shrunk for identical functionality. A new feature is the automatic detection of pans so that the image stabilizer does not try to compensate for them. Not only horizontal and vertical pans are detected, but also diagonal ones.

The E-P5 naturally offers all the classic exposure programs up to fully manual control, but scene mode programs and the intelligent automatic system have also been integrated. The latter analyzes the subject and automatically sets the correct shooting program, so that the photographer only has to press the shutter release button. Art filters are also on board, allowing the photographer to add interesting effects to images as they are taken. Newly added are further creative modes, which also take effect directly during recording. A picture-in-picture function “Photo Story”, for example, allows the recording of a main motif and fades in a second, small-format image with a frame. Another template stylishly arranges three shots in a black frame, ideal e.g. for direct publication of the result on Facebook etc. If only JPG files are recorded, only the final result is saved; with Raw + JPEG, the original files of the composition are also saved (in Raw) on the memory card. The autofocus is supposed to work especially fast with the sensor readout rate of 240 Hz. Especially for macro photography the autofocus field can be greatly reduced in order to focus on tiny subject details, such as a single pollen in a flower. Also new is the peaking function in manual focus, which highlights contrasting edges and thus makes the sharp areas more visible.

The innovative live bulb function patented by Olympus has also been installed. During a bulb long exposure, the current exposure level is constantly displayed on the screen, so that the photographer can specifically stop the exposure when the image is bright enough or, for example, a light painting is complete. A new feature is a live histogram, so that the exposure can be assessed even better. The maximum bulb exposure time is 30 minutes, if you set this in the menu, by default a maximum of 8 minutes is possible. The Olympus records videos in full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 30 frames per second including stereo sound. Storing is done with H.264 compression in MOV format. Alternatively, you can also record in the small HD resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. The maximum recording duration is a maximum of 29 minutes or a maximum of 4 GBytes at a time. In addition, the E-P5 can also handle the old AVI Motion-JPEG format, with a resolution of either 1,280 x 720 or 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second. The autofocus tracking and mechanical image stabilizer are active during recording if desired.

Also new and for the first time found in an Olympus mirrorless system camera is a built in WLAN module. To match this, Olympus will release a new, enhanced version 2.0 of its Image Share app for tablets and smartphones. Olympus is not following the new trend of coupling camera and smartphone via NFC, as many smartphones and tablets do not support NFC. The creative minds of the Japanese manufacturer have come up with another clever solution: An individual QR code is shown on the camera display, which is different for each camera. All you have to do is take a picture of it with your smartphone and the devices can connect to each other via WLAN, because all the necessary settings for the smartphone or tablet are hidden in this code. This means that the user does not have to enter the settings on either the camera or the smartphone to configure and establish a connection. The app should allow live image transmission as well as camera triggering and some settings such as a countdown timer. In addition, it is of course possible to transfer photos, whereby the user can also hide pictures in the camera from the smartphone. Very handy if the memory card contains private photos, but also those that a friend may download from the camera via WLAN. In addition, the Image Share app can record GPS tracks on the smartphone and transfer them to the camera, where the photos are provided with recording coordinates directly in the E-P5.

Together with the Pen E-P5, Olympus also announces the new VF-4 electronic viewfinder. It is tiltable, switches on automatically when the eye approaches and resolves fine 2.36 million pixels. Spectacular is the large viewfinder image that beats even current 35mm full format DSLRs. However, the viewfinder also becomes very large due to the elaborate optics and looks quite beefy on the Pen E-P5. The VF-4 is also intended to be compatible with older Olympus system and compact cameras that have the Version 2 viewfinder mount. The Olympus Pen E-P5 is available since the end of June 2013 for just under EUR 1,000. The set with the 14-42mm should cost just under 1,100 EUR. The set with the VF-4 viewfinder and the fixed focal length 17 mm 1:1.8 comes to about 1,450 EUR, which means that the viewfinder is free of charge and saves 100 EUR, because the 17 mm lens currently costs about 550 EUR individually. Olympus will also be offering the E-P5 with wooden handles for an additional charge of around €100; however, the handles on the E-P5 are firmly attached to the case and cannot be replaced by the user (as was the case with the predecessor model E-P3). The reason for this is that the handle is also the cover of the housing opening for the WLAN antenna.

Ergonomics and Workmanship

The Pen E-P5 is already a real eye-catcher. The owner will have to get used to being asked by many people in astonishment whether this is an analogue camera. The appearance is amazingly reminiscent of a 35 mm camera from the 60s. Compared to the Pen-Mini and the Pen-Lite, it appears relatively large, but in contrast to a SLR, it can also be described as compact. The compromise between small and yet not too fiddly has been well achieved with the Pen E-P5. With a weight of 535 grams including the kit lens, it also lies comfortably full in the hand and can be held well thanks to the flat grip boss. The small rubber application for the thumb on the backside additionally provides a secure hold. The workmanship of the camera housing with its smooth metal upper and lower shells and the high-quality plastic armouring is excellent and the switches and dials are also convincing. The camera gives a good feeling in the hand, which is not least due to the solid workmanship. Only the kit lens does not really fit into the picture: Except for the lenses, it is completely made of plastic and very light. Fortunately, the mechanical quality is still above the level of many a competing product. After pressing a lock button, it can be moved to a parking position that is about five centimeters short, which is of course not enough to make the camera disappear in the jacket pocket. The lens is ready for shooting at both the long and the short focal length end by two centimeters longer.

The operation of the E-P5 is clearly oriented towards semi-professional cameras. The mode dial is used to set the basic programs, aperture, time, exposure compensation or program shift with the front or rear control dial. Both are quite comfortable to use with index finger and thumb and snap in smoothly. Exposure corrections and aperture selection are therefore easy to handle. In addition, a small lever on the video shutter release adds ISO sensitivity and white balance to the function of the dials – a great idea.

If a little criticism can be voiced here, it is because of the slightest hint of smooth-running wheels. Accidental settings are particularly annoying in exposure compensation. The size of the six buttons on the back is also filigree and certainly needs getting used to for large hands. Nevertheless, all switches perform their duties very convincingly and make a long-lasting impression. The same applies to the flap of the combined battery/memory card compartment at the bottom and the cover for the digital connections: both are connected to the case via neat hinges. However, they are not splashproof or dustproof, which is reserved for the OM-D series. The fact that the tripod thread has to be only one centimeter away from the optimal position is certainly due to the E-P5’s packed interior, which is packed with technology. This is not bad, but unfortunately, just beside it is not optimal. After all, the battery and memory card remain accessible on the tripod.

More detailed recording parameters are called up via the quick menu. Although the display is touch-sensitive, this unfortunately can’t be done directly on the screen, the symbols would also be too small for that. After all, the focus field can be moved directly and, if desired, focussed and released at the touch of a finger. Only in the i-Auto mode, some image parameters as contrast, saturation or depth of field can be adjusted directly on the display. During playback, you can wipe through the images and move the image section, but you cannot zoom into the image with two fingers. In general, the touch function is implemented somewhat half-heartedly and crookedly. Other cameras are better at this. Nevertheless, the display of the pen is quite convincing: With a very solid mechanism, it can be swivelled up to the horizontal and down by 45 degrees and shows a detailed and brilliant image even from unusual perspectives. Histogram, various grids, spirit level and exposure preview complete the display. The photographer rarely has to dive into the menu, but then it goes really deep. It is typical for Olympus that almost everything can be customized, but also that the menu is not one of the clearest. Especially the notorious cogwheel menu is very special. More than 80 parameters can be configured here alone. This variety has of course also advantages, because many switches and also the mode selector can be assigned individually. For example, if you don’t need “Photostory”, just put another more useful function there! Of course it can also cause mischief, which is why you can hide this menu.

Equipment

The Olympus Pen E-P5 is really only slightly lacking in features. This may include a viewfinder, but this can of course be retrofitted as an accessory. Or a real panorama function, as the pen supports the photographer when shooting with a subframe, but together, the pictures have to be mounted afterwards on the PC with the help of the provided software. The WiFi function is also not fully implemented. Although the Pen can be controlled remotely by a smartphone or tablet computer, this is only possible when fully automatic. Interventions in the camera settings are only possible to the extent permitted by the i-Auto function. After all, focusing and triggering with a fingertip on the connected display works, which already enables a lot of new applications. A convenient solution is the input of the connection parameters. After tapping the WiFi icon, a QR code will appear on the display, which only needs to be scanned with the Olympus app and the SSID and password will be transmitted.

But now to the things that the E-P5 masters with excellence: the five-axis stabiliser known from the OM-D does a great job. If desired, it recognizes swivels and stabilizes only the necessary axes, but this can also be configured manually. If the viewfinder or display image is also to be stabilized, the mechanism starts working as soon as the shutter release button is pressed or the focus ring is reached. If you want to save electricity, you can do without this comfort and activate the stabilizer only during recording. Since wobbles are compensated by sensor movements, absolutely any lens can be stabilized. TThe focal length can also be entered manually. The fact that the sensor emits a quiet acoustic noise during its work can only be perceived in the immediate vicinity. In video recordings, on the other hand, the Stabi is inaudible, but still does a good job. Another feature not to be underestimated is the spirit level, which sensitively indicates inclinations in the horizontal and vertical axis.

The E-P5’s continuous shooting speed is fast. With almost nine frames per second, it easily outruns most SLR cars, and that for around 23 frames. In continuous operation it still manages three frames per second, and all this at full resolution! At this speed, the AF module naturally cannot keep up. Either manual tracking is required or the machine must be switched down to a lower speed. Otherwise the autofocus is very fast, less than 0.3 seconds is needed for the camera with the kit lens to focus and release. But the focus module offers even more helpful functions. Not only does the face recognition function work quite reliably, but it is also possible to choose whether the left, right or the eye closest to the camera should serve as the focus point.

Many people switching from the Olympus SLR system are certainly interested in how their Four-Thirds lenses cope with the pen. We tried this with the 7-14 mm, 12-60 mm and 50-200 mm SWD with the MMF-1 adapter. In short, all lenses focus, just not as fast. The best way to do this is to use the wide angle and the standard zoom, but they both pump around the correct distance, but eventually jump to the correct position. The telezoom is obviously hindered by the optimization for phase contrast. Only hesitantly does the lens hit the correct focus, and especially at close range, focusing sometimes goes wrong. Nevertheless, taking pictures with all three lenses is great fun because the manual focus is conveniently supported by a viewfinder magnifying glass and the focus peaking, new for Olympus, which highlights sharp edges in color. The optical performance of these rather massive lenses is beyond any doubt and exploits the potential of the E-P5 better than the kit zoom can. Anyone who can cope with the limitations mentioned and the striking difference in size between the camera body and lens will be thrilled.

In video mode, sharpness tracking with FT lenses is not possible at all, since the value once found is retained. But with the Kit-Zoom 14-42 mm the Pen does not succeed in doing so very convincingly either. A little too sluggish and in the close-up range sometimes only forced with half pressure on the shutter release, she finds the sharpness. After all, there is hardly any background noise from the camera on the soundtrack and the picture quality is excellent. With the usual Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 30 frames per second, it can be stored either as H.264-compressed MOV or with reduced resolution in AVI Motion JPEG.

The Olympus Pen E-P5 is also fast to close. With a 1/8,000 second, photos with open aperture can be taken even in bright surroundings, and the sync time of 1/320 second allows for fill-in flash under the same conditions. In addition, the small light dispenser, which folds out at the touch of a button, has all the usual functions such as reducing red-eye, long-term synchronisation even on the second curtain and remote flashes. This allows up to four groups of flash units to be controlled wirelessly. The flash is mounted quite cleverly, so that the lens casts a small shadow at the lower right edge of the picture only in the close-up range. Of course, the E-P5 also has a hot shoe to which an external flash or even a flash system can be connected if no viewfinder is attached.

The E-P5 is capable of bracketing for flash, white balance, ISO sensitivity and HDR shooting. Bracketing can be configured in a very wide range of up to seven exposures with 0.7 f-stops difference. HDR shots also cover a wide range of five shots and up to two apertures, but unfortunately the E-P5 does not combine them automatically. For this purpose, a corresponding software on the PC must be used. But for “creative” players there are plenty of art filters, image styles and the “photo story”, with which images can be combined into different layouts. Some of this can be applied later, especially to raw files. Interesting is the overlay, which fuses up to three raw data photos together, whereby the weighting of the individual images can be influenced.

Pen E-P5 is also suitable for interval shooting. Although the number of shots is limited to a maximum of 99, a very wide range of up to 25 hours can be set for both the start delay and the interval. If desired, the camera can also calculate a video from the series of images. The Live-Bulb function, where you can watch the photo being taken, is already known from the smaller pens and is also available. A new addition is the live histogram, which allows a better evaluation of the exposure process.

Image quality

In our test, the Pen E-P5 had to be tested with the kit lens M. Zuiko Digital 14-42 mm 3.5-5.6 II R to prove their performance.

To come straight to the point, the Kit-Zoom cuts a fine figure. Even with an open aperture, it resolves 45 line pairs per millimetre, while a pinhole ensures that the resolution is more uniform over the entire image field. Edge darkening and distortion hardly play a role, only at the short end an inconspicuous ton of almost 1.5 percent can be guessed. Only the chromatic aberration, which becomes stronger with increasing aperture, spoils the otherwise good result a bit, especially at the image border. There, the color fringes reach a width of about two pixels, which critical observers find disturbing. F11 should not be used for dimming, because from there on increasing diffraction effects of the resolution set physical limits.

The quality features influenced by the sensor and the image processing in the camera are even more pleasing. Noise is hardly an issue up to high ISO values. The signal-to-noise ratio starts at a very high 45 dB and only falls below the critical 35 dB mark at ISO 3,200. The texture sharpness up to ISO 6.400 remains on a quite useful level, which is, however, achieved by a somewhat brisk image processing. Sharpening artifacts, i.e. exaggerated edges, are however practically inconspicuous. Likewise, neither grain, nor brightness or color noise are unduly disturbing. The input dynamic range reaches over eleven f-stops (EV) between ISO 200 and ISO 1,600, only to fall below ten EV from ISO 6,400. If the photographer who is concerned about neutrality should switch off the default setting “WB-Auto warm colors” in the gear menu G, the E-P5 will deliver very correct and natural colors, even if, like many other cameras, it tends to produce somewhat richer reds. The manual white balance is very accurate over the entire sensitivity range anyway.

Except for the ISO sensitivity called “low”, the E-P5 produces crisp, sharp and high-contrast JPGs that do not require any further processing, but also cannot be processed much. If you want to do it yourself, you should use raw files.

Conclusion

Retro design is not necessarily for everyone, but the Olympus E-P5 is still worth a closer look. Retro in this case means simple, elegant and high quality, and that is convincing regardless of taste. In addition, the top model of the Pen series has extremely interesting inner values. The speed of focusing, continuous shooting and exposure time is at a top level, as is the image quality. If you want even more here, you should only use top quality lenses, for example FT lenses. Because these do not even work slowly with the Pen E-P5. The whole thing is rounded off by features such as live bulb, interval shooting, extensive bracketing functions and WiFi, to name but a few. But the connection to a smartphone or tablet PC could be implemented a bit more completely and the proud price is of course a hurdle.

Firmware update 1.4 for the Olympus Pen E-P5: Workaround for shutter shock

Olympus has released new firmware version 1.4 for the Pen E-P5 mirrorless system camera. Like the update 1.3 for the OM-D E-M1, this one takes care of the shutter-shock problem with exposure times of 1/320 seconds and longer and introduces an anti-shock mode with a 0 second delay. Here a short pause of 0.03 seconds is inserted before triggering, which minimizes vibrations caused by the mechanical shutter. In addition, the latest version of the Olympus Image Share app now supports advanced settings such as electronic zooming and art filter settings. Olympus updates the camera by connecting the camera to an Internet-connected PC running the Camera Updater. Details can be found on the Olympus website. If you don’t think you can do the update yourself, you should get support from your dealer or the camera service.

Olympus Pen E-P5 Data Sheet