Taking what could most politely be described as a 'considered' approach to product upgrades, Olympus has lifted the curtain on the third generation of its professional SLR, in the form of the much anticipated E-5. Olympus introduced the world to the first Four Thirds camera, the E-1, back in June 2003, and finally got round to updating it with the E-3 four years later. We got a sneak preview of the E-3's successor a couple of weeks back - we'll update this short article to a full review as soon as we get a production E-5 in the office.
It is perhaps indicative of where Olympus's priorities lie - or the way the market is headed - that whereas the E-3 took the E-1 back to the drawing board and introduced several new features, the E-5 is probably best described as a warm over of its predecessor. It's also interesting to note that it benefits from a 'trickle up' of technology from the latest developments in the company's Micro Four Thirds cameras - a situation unusual for what is, effectively, the hero product in the E-system range.
The long delay has caused some wild speculation about the E-5, borne not out of dissatisfaction with the existing model (in fact most E-1 and E-3 users are still happily taking pictures with their 'old' cameras), but, I suspect, out of a need to see Olympus competing with the 'big boys' at this level, and the need for a clear sign that it hasn't abandoned Four Thirds in all the excitement surrounding the mirrorless system.
It is, without a doubt, a camera aimed at the Olympus faithful, designed (as described to us) to 'finally offer image quality to match that of Zuiko lenses'. Olympus knows that the E-system lenses are the jewel in its crown and ain't going to abandon that - or its users. The future for Zuiko Digital lens owners might not be a reflex camera (we've had strong hints that a common live view only FT / MFT platform lies ahead), but Four Thirds isn't going away.
Compared to E-3 - key differences
Evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the E-5 is, effectively, an E-3 with a bigger screen, an updated sensor and processor and a few new features. Physically the only changes are a spot of button rearranging (necessitated by the new screen) and the long-overdue replacement of the redundant xD card slot with an infinitely more useful SD version. Inevitably after three years there's a lot of feature enhancements, though these are (almost) all lifted from the latest Micro Four Thirds models.
The thing Olympus is really pushing with the E-5 is image quality. It's not a new sensor (from what we can tell this is almost certainly the same as the one in the E-PL1), but it does sport a redesigned (for which read lighter) Low Pass Filter (with moiré removed by the processor) and a new 'professionally tuned' Image Engine (The TruPic V+). The combination of Zuiko Digital lens, the new sensor and the new processor is claimed to offer image quality better than any 12MP APS-C camera, and, according to Olympus, many with even higher pixel counts.
Let's have a look at the main changes:
- New sensor (12MP vs 10MP Live MOS)
- New TruPic V+ processor (E-3 was TruPic III)
- Large 3.0" 921k vari-angle screen
- Fast Sensor AF (inc Face Detection)
- 720p movie mode (AVI M-JPEG) + Audio recording
- HDMI and Stereo Mic connections
- Art Filters (10, including new Dramatic Tone Filter)
- ISO 6400 top sensitivity (vs E-3's ISO 3200)
- More customization options
- Redesigned color-coded menu system
- New features including Level Gauge in the viewfinder, Multi-exposure, i-Enhance, 7 frame AEB
- SD / CF slots (E-3 was xD / CF)
- Key feature comparison (vs E-3)
Looking at the E-3 and E-5 together it's clear that from a photographic point of view the models share a lot more than they differ, with most of the changes relating to the sensor and to digital features (most of which have already debuted on MFT models). The main physical differences can be seen below - from the front they look almost identical, but round the back the larger, higher resolution screen takes up more space and has meant some buttons have moved (and a couple have gone altogether).
Olympus E-5 Specifications:
Price (body)
• EU: €1699
• UK: £1500
• US: $1700
Body material Dust & Splash Proof Magnesium body Sensor
• 4/3 type Hi-Speed Live MOS sensor
• 17.3 x 13.0 mm active area
• 13.1 million total pixels
• 12.3 million effective pixels
• RGB (Primary) color filter array
• Fixed low pass filter (anti-alias filter)
Dust suppression Supersonic Wave Filter Image stabilization
• In-body sensor shift
• Three modes: Horizontal+Vertical, Vertical only, Horizontal only
• Up to 5 EV Compensation (claimed)
Image processor TruePic V+ Image sizes
• 4032 x 3024
• 3200 x 2400
• 2560 x 1920
• 1600 x 1200
• 1280 x 960
• 1024 x 768
• 640 x 480
File formats (Stills)
• RAW
• RAW + JPEG
• JPEG
JPEG compression
• SuperFine (1/2.7)
• Fine (1/4)
• Normal (1/8)
• Basic (1/12)
Movie
• 1280 x 720 @ 30fps
• 640 x 480 @ 30fps
File format (Movie) AVI Motion JPEG Lenses
• 4/3 standard lens mount
• Range of ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses available
• Multiply focal length by 2 for 35 mm equiv. FOV
Auto focus
• 11-point TTL Phase Difference Detection
• Automatic or manual point selection
• EV -2 to 19 (ISO 100) detection range
• Contrast detect AF available in live view
Focus area selection
• Automatic
• Manual
Focus modes
• Single shot AF
• Single shot AF + MF
• Continuous AF (Phase detect only)
• Continuous AF + MF (Phase detect only)
• Manual focus
AF assist lamp Yes, flash strobe Exposure modes
• Auto
• Program AE (with shift)
• Aperture priority AE
• Shutter priority AE
• Manual
Sensitivity
• Auto (ISO 200 - 6400) • ISO 100
• ISO 125 • ISO 160
• ISO 200 • ISO 250
• ISO 320 • ISO 400
• ISO 500 • ISO 640
• ISO 800 • ISO 1000
• ISO 1250 • ISO 1600
• ISO 2000 • ISO 2500
• ISO 3200 • ISO 6400
Metering system
• 49-zone multi-pattern
• Range: 1 to 20 EV (50 mm F2, ISO 100)
Metering modes
• Digital ESP
• Center-Weighted Average
• Spot (2%)
• Highlight based spot
• Shadow based spot
AE Lock
• AE/AF lock button
• With shutter release half-press
AE Bracketing
• 2, 3, 5 or 7 frames
• 1/3, 1/2, 0.7 or 1.0 EV steps
Exposure steps 1/3, 1/2 or 1.0 EV Exposure compen.
• -5.0 to +5.0 EV
• 1/3, 1/2 or 1.0 EV steps
Shutter speed
• 60-1/8000 sec
• Bulb (up to 30 mins, default 8 mins)
Aperture values Depends on lens: 1/3, 1/2 or 1.0 EV steps Flash X-sync speed 1/60s -1/250s (1/3 EV steps) (Min. speed can be down to 60 sec) White balance
• Auto
• Lamp (3000K)
• Fluorescent (4000K)
• Daylight (5300K)
• Flash (5500K)
• Cloudy (6000K)
• Shade (7500K)
• Underwater
• 1 custom presets
• Kelvin (2000 - 14000 K)
• Dual sensor WB measurement (external WB sensor and TTL)
WB fine tuning
• Red - Blue: +/- 7 steps (2 mired each)
• Green - Magenta: +/- 7 steps (2 mired each)
WB Bracketing
• 3 frames
• 2, 4 or 6 mired steps
Color space
• sRGB
• Adobe RGB
Image parameters
• Picture mode (i-ENHANCE, Vivid, Natural, Portrait, Muted, Monotone, Custom (default setting: Natural), Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, Gentle Sepia, Cross Process, Dramatic Tone,In custom mode, basic 5 modes and adjustment is available.)
• Saturation (5 levels)
• Sharpness + Contrast (5 levels)
• Sharpness ((5 levels))
• Contrast (5 levels)
• B&W filter (Yellow, Orange, Red, Green)
• B&W toning (Sepia, Blue, Purple or Green)
• Gradation (Auto, High Key, Normal, Low Key)
Art Filters
• Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, Gentle Sepia, Cross Process, Dramatic Tone
• Can be used in PASM shooting modes
Drive modes
• Single
• Sequential shooting H
• Sequential shooting L
• Self-timer
• Remote control
Continuous
• 5.0 fps in Sequential shooting H
• 1.0 to 4.0 fps in Sequential shooting L
• RAW mode: Max. 16 frames. with SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB
• JPEG mode: up to the card capacity with SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB
Self-timer
• 2 sec
• 12 sec
• Anti Shock: 1/8-30 sec delay
Flash
• Built-in pop-up
• TTL auto / manual
• Guide no. 18
• Sync modes: Auto, Red-eye reduction, Slow syncro with red-eye reduction, Slow syncro, 2nd curtain slow syncro, Fill-in, Off, Bracketing
• Flash power: Up to +/- 3EV in 1, 1/2, or 1/3 EV steps
External flash
• Hot shoe
• TTL Auto FP / TTL auto for Olympus dedicated flash (FL-50R, FL-36R, FL-50, FL-36, FL-14)
• Flash power: Up to +/- 2EV in 1, 1/2, or 1/3 EV steps
• Wireless flash possible with FL-50R, FL-36R
Viewfinder
• Eye-level single-lens view finder
• Field of view 100%
• Magnification 1.15x with a 50mm lens and -1 dioptre
• Eye point 20 mm at -1 dioptre
• Depth of field preview
• Dioptre adjustment -3 to +1 dioptre
• Focusing screen: Interchangeble
• Mirror: Quick return mirror
Live View
• TTL by Image sensor
• 100% field of view
• Enlargement (5x/7x/10x/14x)
• Grid pattern, white/black out warning display, Shooting information, Histogram, IS activating mode
• AF: Contrast detection + Face detection / Contrast detection / Phase difference detection
Orientation sensor Yes
LCD monitor
• 3.0" transmissive TFT LCD monitor
• Swivel LCD
• 920,000 pixels
• 100% frame coverage
Playback functions
• Single-frame
• Information Display (Histogram (independent luminance / RGB available), Highlight / Shadow point warning, AF frame, Shooting information)
• Index Display(4/9/25/100 frames, Calendar)
• Close-up (2 - 14x)
• Movie (w/sound, FF/REW/Pause)
• Slideshow(Still/Movie/Still+Movie, Slide show w/BGM/BGM+Sound/Sound)
• JPEG Editing
• Raw > JPEG conversion
Storage
• Compact Flash (Type I and II) , UDMA
• SD/SDHC/SDXC
Connectivity
• USB 2.0 (Hi Speed)
• HDMI
• Video Out (NTSC / PAL)
• IR Remote control (optional)
Vertical / portrait grip
• HLD-4
• Shutter button, 2 dials (main & sub dial), 2 buttons (Fn & AF target button), dust & drip proof
Power
• BLM-5 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (supplied & charger)
• Approx. 870 shots (optical viewfinder) - CIPA standard testing
Dimensions 143 x 117 x 75 mm (5.6 x 4.6 x 2.9 in)
Weight (inc batt)
• Body only 813 g
• 892g / 31.5oz. (incl. Battery and CF card)
Box contents E-5 Body, Li-ion battery BLM-5, Li-ion battery charger BCM-5, USB cable, Audio&Video cable, Shoulder strap, OLYMPUS View2 CD-ROM, Instruction manual, Warranty card.
No comments:
Post a Comment