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The Olympus E-PL1

It's not often that we do product reviews on V.I.A., but this camera below is a part of a personal story of mine that's been evolving since 2001 so I figured it was a good fit... and there is a Vancouver tie-in, I promise.

It's not often that we do product reviews on V.I.A., but this camera below is a part of a personal story of mine that's been evolving since 2001 so I figured it was a good fit... and there is a Vancouver tie-in, I promise.

So, you probably didn't know this but back in 2004 Holy Water Books of London published a book of my fine art photography called Beach Glass (HERE is the info on it). I shot the photos contained in it over a period of 3 years in Los Angeles using the same camera, same film and the same processing from start to finish. The book received quite a bit of international press, I did a quick book tour across the states and I moved back to Vancouver shortly after it came out only to find myself wanting to shoot a similar series of photographs only with this great city as my subject. So I set out in 2005, shot Vancouver in that transitionary time leading up to the Olympics, ending a couple of years before the madness of them arrived, and I've been sitting on this large body of work since I wrapped up shooting in 2008. I'm currently in the process of slowly sifting through these piles of proof sheets and negatives, trying to figure out exactly what parts I want to show, where I want to show those parts and how I want to show them. The image of Science World on the COVER of our print magazine is actually one of the first in this series that I'm releasing, and it's definitely one of my favourites.

So what does all of this have to do with this fancy new digital camera from Olympus you ask? Well, the camera that I shot both of my 3 year projects on in Los Angeles and Vancouver was none other than the 1960's predecessor to the Olympus E-PL1, which is an updated member of the Olympus PEN family. I shot these projects on an aged Olympus PEN EE3 camera, one that has received wide fanfare over the years first for it's being a half frame (you could shoot double the amount of frames on a regular roll of film as the aspect ratio was vertical) and for it's great quality, Electric Eye metering and perhaps above all for it's portability. I wouldn't say that the new E-PL1 is my old EE3's equivalent because it clearly goes far beyond the capabilities that my old camera did, but when this thing came out I instantly wanted to shoot on one. So I contacted Olympus and told them the story of my relationship with the PEN series, and asked if I might take this new one for a test drive. And they obliged! So over the past few months all of the photos of mine you've been seeing on the blog were taken with this camera. My shots on the blog obviously carry quite a different vibe than my fine art photography that I shot on film, and they clearly serve more of a documentary purpose than being considered fine art in any way, but I have had SO much fun shooting with this thing. I take it everywhere.

I've never been huge on the tech side of photography but to break it down a little bit, the sensor in the E-PL1 is the same size as many DSLR's. Olympus created the Micro Four Thirds technology that shares the image sensor size and specification with the established Four Thirds system which was designed for DSLR cameras. Unlike Four Thirds, Micro Four Thirds doesn't provide space for a mirror and a pentaprism, allowing smaller bodies to be designed.

A little less technical is that this camera takes amazingly crisp photographs and shoots HD video. Though you can use it in a fully manual mode you don't have to be a professional photographer to be able to get the most out of it. The camera itself is aesthetically pleasing, with hints of a classic body design, and it might just make the perfect gift for somebody you know who is interested in photography but not interested in getting a larger DSLR. You can pick one up for around $500 at London Drugs and other retailers around Vancouver.

Here's a recent commercial for it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E25em-brl8

And here are a bunch of the photos that I've shot with it since I got it. Some of my personal favourite V.I.A. posts that I've done were shot on the Olympus E-PL1! That's awesome.

Click the images below to see more photos...

Body Worlds and the Brain at Science World

Native Shoes go fishing

The Canucks

The Adams River salmon run

Green Westfalia

Misadventures at Brohm Lake

Bees At MOV

The Wickaninnish Inn carving shed

Mike Lake

Home Grown exhibit at MOV

The Celebration of Light Fireworks Barge

The Charlie Demers All India Challenge