Pixiq

Holding the Olympus E-5 on my hand I am not sure if it’s the E-3. They’re so similar. Two years on I wonder if this camera can get more clients over to Olympus. And what comes next, now that the sensor alliance with Panasonic seems to be coming to an end.

I’ve had an Olympus E-5 in for testing for two weeks now and it feels like going back to 2008, when the E-3 came out and I had some days of fun with it, even doing some surf photography alongside with a Canon EOS Mark… I can’t recall exactly which was. But I remember the Olympus, because it was such a step ahead of the E-1 that everybody wanted to try it.

I’ve always have a special feeling for Olympus, although I never had one, besides an old collection model, the Ecru, from 1991, offered by Olympus to all participants into a prize giving dinner in Paris that same year, and now a fantastic little PEN E-PL1 that I carry with me many times. But a budding lady photographer I worked with while in the United Kingdom bought the Olympus OM-10 following my advice, and my brother-in-law was an Olympus man, having various OM-1 and OM-4 and all lenses he could afford. Until Olympus left the SLR field, when the move to autofocus didn’t work for them.

When Olympus left the field, photographers had to look for other ways and brands, so when Olympus finally came back, with digital and their own system, the Four Thirds, they had to start from scratch. Although the promise sounded interesting, it has been difficult to convince the market of the superiority of the system or even that it can be on the same level as the top brands. And this E-5 is not going to help much, into a world where millions of pixels seem to rule. In fact, the 12.3 megapixels sensor seems very much old days when everybody else is going to 20 or more.

Besides the sensor, the Olympus E-5 offers video HD (720p) and a new image processing engine, the TruPic V+ that, along with other things, let’s the ISO speed go up to 6400. But the results there are not on pair with what others can do, so Olympus has a problem when the light goes low. The smaller size sensor, even when compared to APS-C, seems to be an obstacle on the way to better results, something that is not good on a camera aimed at professionals.

I sometimes wonder if Olympus feels, nowadays, that maybe the Four Thirds concept was not such a good idea. On marketing terms it surely isn’t. People want “more and bigger” and the other camera makers seem to follow that trend, so Olympus has a hard time to convince people to try their cameras.

And Olympus has not helped much, suggesting that they will not do more lenses for the Four Thirds format… and at the same time trying to reassure people about their commitment to the Four Thirds E line of cameras. The rumours about a new Super Micro Four Thirds camera to come out, together with the talk about the end of the relation with Panasonic and the obligation to use their sensors, are some more disturbing notes on a brand that has had a hard time to get their share of the market. What brings me back to the E-5 sitting on my desk.

If you’re a follower of the trends, the E-5 is not a camera for you. Enough said. But if you think a Four Thirds sensor is big enough and 12 millions make your day, then you’re in for a fantastic ride into a heavy duty camera that as a great layout of commands and works logically to follow your needs. And delivers great files to work with.

I am a Canon user and I love the layout of Canon menus, command and dials, but I feel quite comfortable with the E-5 layout and love the efficiency it shows. I know that being used to the PEN E-PL1 helps – by the way, they share the same sensor, one that just received a TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) prize for its professional results on a small mirrorless body – but still there’s a lot more to adjust on the E-5, and I can find it easily. And besides, this is a professional machine (or one for keen enthusiast photographers), with the things you really need and less of the “bells and whistles” that some other cameras show. I love that.

In a perfect world the Olympus E-5 would be a fantastic camera able to compete with the other DSLR. But arriving at the market nearly three years after the E-3, with video that is under what is on offer now, a smaller sensor and less pixels, it will not win any new adepts to the Olympus cause. It will maintain happy those – or some of them - that already are in, but I guess Olympus aimed higher. So, what’s going to happen now? Will there be and E-6? And what will it be?