My Sentiments about the NEW Olympus E-5

image taken from dpreview.com

As all of you probably already have known, the E-5 has just been announced today. You can click on dpreview HERE to read more. More articles on it can be found HERE. If you are linked to me in facebook, you would have read my reply to my dear friend Rob, a very loyal Olympus Fan.

I thought I would just share my sentiments here as well. This is what I wrote to Rob: (at this point, he's a little disillusioned)

"The image quality of E-5 is better than E-PL1. High ISO is finally more useable! Image quality is impressive. HDR art filter is innovative. Olympus has always been attracting a niche group of followers who are more image-critical than the rest. The general market only follows what most people are doing. But Olympus Fans have minds of our own. It's undeniable that Olympus jpegs, colors, processing, image results triumph over other brands straight out of camera!


In terms of positioning in the market based on dollar to dollar comparison with other brands, Olympus's brain is obviously different from others. Olympus does not seem bothered about other brands.

I think it's a real test to Olympus fans this time, whether we'll be wavered by the stupid megapixel war and big numbers game out there. The E-5 is about what a user need, outstanding jpegs, well-thought ergonomics, nothing extra fanciful for you to hang on the shoulder as a show-off accessory that's with dozens of hard-to-understand underutilized features.

Whether it's really worth the price, appreciation is in the eyes of the beholder.

Photography is about IMAGES. Olympus says, "Go make images!"

It's beyond unnecessary redundant megapixels, frames per sec, HD video... etc. and etc... 

At the end of the day, I am not gonna sit behind the computer and touch up every super high res RAW that slows down our computers and jammed up all our hard disks with zillions of repetitive meaningless images due to 12 frames per sec shooting!

8 hours of shooting OR 8 hours of Photoshop, you choose!

But I still sigh... cause I doubt many will understand me... just like many do not understand why I quit wedding photography at my prime time and why I went back to shoot film... even larger and larger format films now. 


Photography is NOT about making the whole world understand you. You First have to understand yourself! What you really want and what you truly ARE inside you!


Images that Speak, my friend."

Original Image straight out of E-PL1, shot in P mode with 14-42mm kit lens, AWB, ISO800, F5.3, 1/80sec, Jpeg Normal.