Olympus PEN E-PM1 review

The small and stylish PEN E-PM1 is packed with great features that belie its price point

The PEN E-PM1, also known as the Mini, is the latest addition to Olympus’s line of PEN cameras, and it hopes to conquer a growing market. It is the smallest and cheapest PEN, and is looking to capture those who want to move on from their simple compact camera. However, don’t let this fool you into thinking it’s not up to the challenge of its more expensive rivals in the CSC market.

Coming from a long line of successful PENs, the Mini essentially packs all of the punch, but in a compact and stylish body. However, with new rivals from lots of the other big brand names looking to take the crown, the E-PM1 has to prove its worth.

One of the first things you’ll notice with the Mini is that it doesn’t feature many external controls. There is no command dial and only a few buttons on the rear of the camera. Most of the advanced settings have been kept from the pricier cameras in the range, but in order to get to them you will need to dive into the menu. This is not necessarily an issue as this camera is designed as a step up from the point-and-shoot cameras, meaning many of these functions will not be used as much. But it isn’t a cumbersome task to access them, and once you’re used to the process, changing settings is easy.

As the baby of the range, the E-PM1 doesn’t have some of the functions of its older brothers. However, it does inherit the same 12.3-megapixel sensor, giving excellent still images as well as 1080i HD video. The image quality is on par with the more expensive E-P3, and it also comes equipped with the same impressive autofocus system.

The Mini is essentially a more compact version of the entire PEN system, with an attractive metal body that’s available in a choice of six colours. As it’s designed for the more casual user, the E-PM1 is the perfect step up into the interchangeable-lens world.