I have never taken a camera with me to any social gatherings - other than ones that I am being paid for. I don't like the expectations that are put on me to have a camera with me, I like to just enjoy what is going on, and I don't like being obvious and having people come up to talk about my gear etc.
That is up until recently.
My sole purpose in purchasing the unassuming E-PL1, was so that I could take pictures on the streets or at more casual affairs - without anyone really taking notice. And that proved to be the case as my wife Anne and I attended the 35'th wedding anniversary of Anne's sister and brother-in-law being held in a small and very dark venue in Stratford Ontario.
I used the camera in a variety of ways through the night - although most included using the popup flash while pressing my finger against the base so that it was bounced off of the ceiling. I also shot in the 16 x 9 format which restricted me to a really cool wide frame to capture the goings on in around the subject I was shooting, and NO turning of the camera for a vertical portrait.
1 ) This is the anniversary girl Joan in the middle - wrapped by my wife Anne on the right in the orange top and their younger sister Elaine on the left.
3 ) This is a shot that I took handholding with natural light. It was very difficult room with all of the mixed lighting. For the most part I tried to keep the sensitivity to a maximum of 1250 ISO
E-PL1 : 14-42mm @ 21mm : f4.1 @ 1/1.6 sec @ 1250 ISO : no flash
4 ) I also played with a couple of the Art Filters. I am really getting to like the look of the Diorama Filter. It almost appears that it is holding back the soft focus from the contrasty areas (generally faces etc) and applying the soft focus to less contrasty parts of the scene. Definitely an effect that could not be achieved by using any kind of soft focus filter.
5 ) Also used the grainy Black and White filter. For some of these I ramped the ISO up to 3200 so as to use more natural light and restrict as much movement as possible through the ever so slightly faster shutter speeds that resulted. Even though I set the ISO to 3200 for the shot below, it is underexposed by a stop or more and so is shot at something more like 6400 ISO.
E-PL1 : 14-42mm @ 14mm : f3.5 @ 1/15 sec @ 3200 ISO : no flash
6 ) At the end of the night it was time to take a picture of the anniversary couple and their children (without wives and grandchildren). The low powered on-camera flash just was not going to cut it for me. Everyone had their dslr's and point and shoot cameras there taking pictures of this setup - and so I asked for the group to stay in tact while I went and got my bigger flash so that I could get my shot also (I brought along my FL-50R just in case I needed it for such a shot - and the only time that I used it through the night).
When I got back I heard them saying "wait for Rob - he went to get his big camera". They may have been surprised when I returned with my little "point and shoot" and strapped the big flash on top. I turned the flash head behind me and bounced the light off of the ceiling for a more flattering look that I would use at a wedding or event.
E-PL1 : 14-42mm @ 18mm : f5.6 @ 1/40'th @ 400 ISO : FL-50R flash bounced off ceiling behind me
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A friend emailed me this shot they took of me in my normal clowning around mode - taking the family shot above with the FL-50R on top of the E-PL1:
I presume recycle time was pretty long with the onboard?
The built in flash is definitely not a powerhouse - but the recycle speed is amazingly quick. I never really paid attention and so just fired off some shots in my darkened bedroom - aiming at a black speaker box about 5 feet away using 1250 ISO. The flash was aimed straightaway (not bounced) and I was able to rattle off 6 or 7 shots continuously. It sounded to be about 2 fps. Every shot was well exposed and close in exposure to the previous ones.
When I set the ISO to 400 ISO in the same totally dark room (all light was coming from flash), I was able to fire one shot after the next with a count of "one mississippi" between each shot - and the flash fired every time. I set the focus to manual so there would be no hunting to slow it down. I fired off 10 shots and every exposure was virtually identical.
I wish I have flash on my E-P1 too, especially with the 14-42. For small sized "social" setup where low light performance is always the weak point, having a flash is even more important. I guess Olympus went a tiny bit too far in having the traditional Pen styling, but glad to see that they are done doing that.
I have the E-P1 with Pana 20/1.7 lens. I really like this setup, as it is primed for low light without flash.
A fast lens like that would be nice in a lot of situations for sure.
In this room setting, it would have been of marginal aid and flash was really what was needed. In the main part of the room, the expsoure was f4.1 @ 1/1.6 sec @ 1250 ISO (#3). So even if I had the Pana and were shooting it wide open, my shutter speed would have still been only 1/8 second.
Switching to the maximum 3200 ISO, I could have squeezed maybe 1/20'th second out of it wide open at f1.7. For the activity and movement going on, that still would have been too slow to get any decent shots. And in the dark corners where most people were hundled having conversations with each other, that lighting would have required even a stop or more.
For small sized "social" setup where low light performance is always the weak point, having a flash is even more important.
I agree. Even though there isn't a whole lot of power in this built in flash - when using higher ISO settings, it does allow adequate light to stop action at shutter speeds of 1/30'th to 1/60'th. And it does get light coming into the eyes, where using the room light only is going to cause the overhead lit shadows that result in raccoon eyes. To me it's nice when I can light with flash but have the ambient light coming through in the background for atmosphere. It may be that the underpowered flash forcing use of high ISO settings, helps that.
Robert Watcher wrote:
The built in flash is definitely not a powerhouse - but the recycle speed is amazingly quick. I never really paid attention and so just fired off some shots in my darkened bedroom - aiming at a black speaker box about 5 feet away using 1250 ISO. The flash was aimed straightaway (not bounced) and I was able to rattle off 6 or 7 shots continuously. It sounded to be about 2 fps. Every shot was well exposed and close in exposure to the previous ones.
When I set the ISO to 400 ISO in the same totally dark room (all light was coming from flash), I was able to fire one shot after the next with a count of "one mississippi" between each shot - and the flash fired every time. I set the focus to manual so there would be no hunting to slow it down. I fired off 10 shots and every exposure was virtually identical.
Wow, that's pretty impressive! That doesn't sound much different than what my FL-36R could handle. I suppose the EPL1 has a 7.2V battery compared to the 3V-ish AA's in the FL-36R, but I wouldn't expect the EPL1 to have much in the way of capacitors for its flash.
I hope the E-P3 has an internal flash. It sounds like this little flash could substitute for my FL-36R in many cases!
Thanks for doing that test! It was......wait for it.....very illuminating!
ht1948 wrote:
I was pretty surprised to learn that you can tilt the flash of the E-PL1 to make it bounce. I went to check my GF1 flash and it couldn't do it
The flash is on a hinge that springs up. By pressing my left finger on the arm of the flash - just as if I were pressing a shutter release with my left index finger - - - the flash head tips back allowing bounce flash:
I just got an E-PL1 (with the VF2). I have the Pana 45/2.8, which I like, but I need a wider angle. The much praised Pana 20/1.7 is really not wide at all. The much less praised Oly 17/2.8 is closer to what I want but is it good enough?
I just got an E-PL1 (with the VF2). I have the Pana 45/2.8, which I like, but I need a wider angle. The much praised Pana 20/1.7 is really not wide at all. The much less praised Oly is closer to what I want but is it good enough?
Cheers~Jack
The 17mm 2.8 is really a decent lens. Especially for the price. I loved mine. I sold it along with my E-p1 to fund an E-PL1 and 20mm 1.7 though. If you can live with 2.8 for low light, dont hesitiate. I have samples from it, and I found it to be rather suitable for general walkaround.
