Olympus PEN E-P5 sports impressive specs and classic good looks, we go hands-on (video)

Last spring, we trekked two hours north of Vancouver to the bustling ski town of Whistler. Olympus, we were told, would be making a very significant announcement, and we needed to make our way to British Columbia to check it out. The product sample we walked away with, the OM-D E-M5, was indeed worth the trip -- we quickly recognized the potential, and later dubbed the mirrorless shooter the "company's best camera yet." Its image quality, unique five-axis image stabilization and shockingly fast autofocus represented just some of the device's most impressive features -- we were smitten. So, when Olympus reached out with a similar teaser last month, we didn't hesitate to make the same journey yet again to spend a day with this year's MFT master.

It's the PEN E-P5, and you probably knew it was coming. Details and even a few product shots leaked to the web last week, revealing a gorgeous, classic design, and some pretty impressive specifications, many of which have made their way from the E-M5. There's a 16-megapixel sensor with five-axis stabilization, 1080/30p video, a 1.04M-dot 3-inch touchscreen that tilts up and down, a 1/8000-second maximum shutter speed (enabling more shallow depth of field in sunlight), an ISO range of 100-25,600, a 0.5-second start-up time and OM-D-like autofocus speeds that let the camera adjust for a subject quickly regardless of the lighting conditions. It's plenty impressive on paper, but how did it hold up during our test? Read on to find out.

Gallery: Olympus PEN E-P5 hands-on

Filed under: Cameras

Comments