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New Olympus Pen E-P5 bringing retro back to the future
Yesterday Olympus debuted it’s mirrorless PEN E-P5 camera, the latest addition to its popular Pen series. At first glance, the design of the camera looks amazing.
The comfortable metallic body with its black grip handles give it a classical retro look. But Olympus seems to be trying to catch up with the widely popular mirrorless camera market with its more advanced features.
What would make this camera stand out from the crowd is its looks. According to Gizmodo, its design is based on the old Olympus Pen F of the 1960s. It showcases a silver and black body that’s small and portable enough for you to carry around with ease. Its features on the other hand, doesn’t have anything to do with the 60s. The E-P5 has a three-inch tiltable LCD touchscreen and like most new cameras has built-in WiFi, making the availability of apps and uploading photos less of a hassle. This is Olympus’ first camera with built-in WiFi.
Also by using QR codes instead of NFC, the WiFi setup should be an ease. You simply pair your camera with a shared app on your phone so that you can Instagram away for example as much as you like. The camera also boasts 1080/30p video capability and has 16 MP.
It shares a lot of features found with the older OM-D model. Although the features would be tweaked to better standards, the E-P5 looks more portable and comfortable to hold. Major features such as 5-axis image stabilization and great autofocus also stands out.
The camera seems portable, classy and carries features that you would expect coming from such an expensive camera. You can add another US$450 and get a 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 electronic viewfinder. It seems like Olympus is trying to play catch up with a very competitive and fast-paced market. An expensive chore at that, but if you were looking at other mirrorless cameras like the Sony Alpha NEX-6 but are more picky when it comes to design, the E-P5 should be worth checking out.
The E-P5 is being shipped today and available for a massive US$1 000.
