EP1 questions/comments from users past and present

[Tullio]

...
I have the LCD auto gain up (Live View Boost set to ON).

That might help a bit at the cost of battery consumption.

I normally have the Fn button to switch between MF and AF.

That has nothing to do with shooting with MF lenses. Once you attach that MF lens to the EP1, it will only shoot in MF anyway.

I have MF set to use the AEL/AFL button to do S-AF and the shutter button to only do AEL on a half press. This is strangely set using AEL/AFL, MF, mode 3.

Again, this may be a good alternative people use the speed up AF, not MF since there is no AF function when using MF lenses (whether the S-AF is set to be performed by the AEL/AFL or the shutter buttons.

I have the AEL/AFL Memo set to ON which means it holds the setting after releasing the button.

Yes, I have it set that way too but in my case it holds the exposure. There is nothing you can do to set this button in a way that will improve MF.

I have Reset Lens to OFF. This means any AF lens will be focused the same as it was when last used or the camera was powered off.

This only works with AF lenses.

I only have the following info screens displayed (LV-INFO) - Zoom. That's it. I also have Level Gauge set to ON as I do a lot of landscape work. That means the INFO button only cycles through full display, Zoom (used mainly with MF) and the Level Gauge.

I like to have the Histogram as I use it 100% of the time to gauge exposure.

I have disabled MF Assist. It is just too sensitive to activate and find it a pain. Now that Olympus has cut the activation time it may be a little less annoying but I still don't bother.

Leaving MF Assist ON will not do you any harm since you actually need to do something to activate it. On the G1, it activates automatically if you half press the shutter and turn the focus ring on any AF lens. Many times I mistakenly activated it while trying to zoom in/out.

Maybe the GF-1 is better than the E-P1 in low light but the G1 and GH-1 just don't rate it for me as they are not small enough and have the most uncomfotable grip out (at least for me). I did consider the G1 until I picked one up to handle and shoot with.

I find the G1 to be a better camera overall. It offers an excellent swivel LCD, EVF and built-in flash. Sure the body is bigger but I think it's a more versatile camera. Now between the GF1 and the EP1, I think the EP1 is more attractive and it offers many controls the GF1 does not plus in-body IS. But the GF1 has flash and an excellent LCD. I also think that the GF1 focuses better in movie mode.

 

[Bill Poupore]

. The EP-1 at a local Canadian shop is $200 off which means $699 with the 14-42 lens and $799 with the 17mm lens.

ajuett,

Where did you find the E-P1 for $700 CAN?

 

[soboyle]

I just received a E-P1 yesterday, and when I tried the autofocus the first thing I thought was, "what is all the teeth gnashing about?". It works just fine, not as fast as my 5D2, but fast enough. I'm impressed with this camera so far, a nicely made kit.
The Panny 20 1.7 performs nicely on it. I haven't tried the kit 14-42 yet.

 

[Tullio]

I just received a E-P1 yesterday, and when I tried the autofocus the first thing I thought was, "what is all the teeth gnashing about?". It works just fine, ...

My thoughts exactly. I don't believe any one knows what slow AF in low light is unless you have the good'ol Sony R1. That's slooooow. Now, I don't have the 14-42mm kit lens so perhaps this lens is slow. I use the Lumix kit lenses and have tried the Oly 17mm and found AF to be very good with all of them. My EP1 and lenses are at F/W 1.1.