Author Topic: E-P1 questions (Lens-Kit/Art-Filters/Aspect Ratio/Linux) (Read 2304 times)

fiedldi · « **on:** March 06, 2011, 01:08:14 AM »

Hello,

I'm thinking of buying an E-P1. In fact, I'm fairly certain after reading massive amounts of reviews of different MFT-cameras over the last weeks. But as a beginner, coming from a small P&S camera, I've got a few questions left before actually buying one:

1. Should I buy the 14-42 mm kit version just to begin with or rather the body-only-version to look out for a good lens later?
2. When shooting with art filters: will the E-P1 store a standard version of the picture as well as the art-filter-version?
3. Which aspect ratio are you using most times respectively which makes most sense when taking pictures?
4. I'm using Linux (Ubuntu) with Gimp for editing the photos. Which Linux-software would you recommend for managing the pictures?

Maybe these questions deserve threads on their own. However, I would be grateful for your answers in this thread.

Many thanks!

adash · « **Reply #1 on:** March 06, 2011, 01:56:18 AM »

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1. Should I buy the 14-42 mm kit version just to begin with or rather the body-only-version to look out for a good lens later?

Get the kit. It will cost less than body-only plus lens. It may actually cost almost the same as the body-only.

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2. When shooting with art filters: will the E-P1 store a standard version of the picture as well as the art-filter-version?

It will if you shoot jpeg+RAW or RAW only.

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3. Which aspect ratio are you using most times respectively which makes most sense when taking pictures?

4:3. You can always crop later.

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4. I'm using Linux (Ubuntu) with Gimp for editing the photos. Which Linux-software would you recommend for managing the pictures?

Nautilus. It's the default file browser. I hate F-Spot.
There are plugins for Nautilus allowing it to show previews for the RAW files too. (I will have to investigate which packages these are exactly).

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Many thanks!

You're welcome!

traveler_101 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2011, 02:41:04 AM »

Quote from: fiedldi on March 06, 2011, 01:08:14 AM

I'm thinking of buying an E-P1. In fact, I'm fairly certain after reading massive amounts of reviews of different MFT-cameras over the last weeks. . . .
1. Should I buy the 14-42 mm kit version just to begin with or rather the body-only-version to look out for a good lens later?

First congratulations on making a good decision. The E-P1 is a very nice camera! You won't be sorry.

I just want to say that while I agree with Adash's recommendation to get the lens with the camera (for the sake of getting the best deal, if nothing else), maybe, just maybe, your first lens should be the 17mm instead of the 14-42 zoom. If you are getting more serious about photography it really behoves you to learn to shoot with a "prime" (single focal length) lens. Plus the E-P1 with the 17 makes a sleek, highly portable camera. It might not be for you, but if you are interested you might be able to get the 17 as the kit lens packaged with the E-P1. Or perhaps buy the 17 used here or e-bay and match it up with a body-only E-P1 if the figures come out right. Look around for deals.

If you are interested in the 17 we just had a thread on that lens.
http://e-p1.net/lenses/i-kind-of-want-the-17mm

fiedldi · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2011, 04:17:49 AM »

Many thanks for your quick answers. It's always helpful to take other views into consideration when it comes to making difficult decisions. But thanks to you I'm now certain the E-P1 will be the one for me. I can't wait to take the first shots as today after weeks of snow, ice and rain it's a beautiful sunny day without clouds in the sky.

A few weeks ago the body-only version was cheaper than the 14-42 kit version. At the moment the body-only version of the E-P1 costs around the same at Amazon as the 14-42 kit lens version at ebay. So I will go for the kit lens to begin with.

@traveler_101
During my research I also considered the pancake, especially because of its sleek design. But the prices for the pancake kit of the E-P1 are quite high at the moment, so I will buy the pancake later. I then still have to decide whether to buy the Oly 17 mm or the Pana 20mm, but that's a different story. I will follow the link you mentioned the next days and weeks and take it from there.

@adash
As to the thumbnail preview for nautilus, I found the gnome-raw-thumbnailer. CR2 files are now previewed but the thumbnails for ORF files have just changed from the default picture icon to a black box with a grey stripe at the top. Is this the plugin you were referring to or is there another plugin out there?

adash · « **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2011, 05:44:24 AM »

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CR2 files are now previewed but the thumbnails for ORF files have just changed from the default picture icon to a black box with a grey stripe at the top

I remember that situation after a fresh install, but I do not remember how exactly I fixed it. I remember however installing almost anything that had to do with RAW from Synaptic.
Unfortunately that's what I can currently recommend. Searching around gives no idea what extensions are currently active in my Nautilus session.

Panther · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2011, 07:38:46 AM »

One word about the E-PL2..,,One person that I've seen is selling theirs due to the "red dot" issue and shooting sunsets...

As far as the E-P1 is concerned, look around...refurbished E-P2s are available for about 550 USD

voyager · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2011, 07:43:05 PM »

Olympus hasn't made a statement about the red dot issue yet?

adash · « **Reply #7 on:** March 06, 2011, 11:01:19 PM »

What's that red dot issue?

bigfoot · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2011, 07:06:40 AM »

Right now Amazon is running the E-P1 kit with 17mm lens and VF-1 optical viewfinder for ~$445. That is cheaper than I purchased mine a couple of weeks ago and is an awesome deal.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

cosinaphile · « **Reply #9 on:** March 07, 2011, 09:42:17 AM »

i can seee this has been aanswered well,

getting a kit zoom is a very cost effective way of building a useful lens arsenal

i love the ep-1 i own 2 of them i would buy a cheap slr lens adapter
and get some manual glass too a fast 50ish 1.4 or 2 and a 135ish2.8 , its a real joy to use fast glass at double the fov equiv
[ great for tele , sucks for wide]

gerogeriggallin · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:18:56 AM »

Quote from: fiedldi on March 06, 2011, 01:08:14 AM

1. Should I buy the 14-42 mm kit version just to begin with or rather the body-only-version to look out for a good lens later?

I bought my E-P1 with 14-42mm kit zoom (which is great when the conditions are good, i.e. light) and acquired the Lumix 20/1.7 later (which is great even in a low light situation).

Quote from: fiedldi on March 06, 2011, 01:08:14 AM

4. I'm using Linux (Ubuntu) with Gimp for editing the photos. Which Linux-software would you recommend for managing the pictures?

As already answered, nautilus. Raw preview works for some reason on my Debian Sid machine. Related packages:

$ dpkg -l | grep nautilus ii libnautilus-extension1 2.30.1-3 libraries for nautilus components - runtime version ii nautilus 2.30.1-3 file manager and graphical shell for GNOME ii nautilus-data 2.30.1-3 data files for nautilus ii nautilus-sendto 2.28.4-2+b1 integrates Evolution and Pidgin into the Nautilus file manager $ dpkg -l | grep ufraw ii gimp-ufraw 0.18-1 gimp importer for raw camera images ii ufraw 0.18-1 standalone importer for raw camera images ii ufraw-batch 0.18-1 batch importer for raw camera images

adash · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:46:12 AM »

That's a similar output from my Ubuntu 10.04 LTS box:

mive@BGTUS:~$ dpkg -l |grep -i raw
ii dcraw 8.86-1build1 decode raw digital camera images
ii gimp-dcraw 1.31-1.1 GIMP plug-in for loading RAW digital photos
ii gnome-raw-thumbnailer 2.0.1-0ubuntu6 RAW file thumbnailer for GNOME
ii inkscape 0.47.0-2ubuntu2 vector-based drawing program
ii libgdiplus 2.4.2-1ubuntu0.10.04.1 interface library for System.Drawing of Mono
ii libgraphviz4 2.20.2-8ubuntu3 rich set of graph drawing tools
ii libopenraw1 0.0.8-1 free implementation for RAW decoding
ii libraw1394-11 2.0.4-1ubuntu2 library for direct access to IEEE 1394 bus (
ii libxft2 2.1.14-1ubuntu1 FreeType-based font drawing library for X
ii openoffice.org-draw 1:3.2.0-7ubuntu4.2 office productivity suite -- drawing
ii rawstudio 1.2-5 RAW image converter
ii ufraw 0.16-1build1 standalone importer for raw camera images
mive@BGTUS:~$ dpkg -l |grep -i thumb
ii gnome-exe-thumbnailer 0.5-0ubuntu1~lucidppa1 Wine .exe and other executable thumbnailer f
ii gnome-raw-thumbnailer 2.0.1-0ubuntu6 RAW file thumbnailer for GNOME
ii thunar-thumbnailers 0.4.1-2 thumbnailers for Thunar file manager
mive@BGTUS:~$ dpkg -l |grep -i oly
mive@BGTUS:~$ dpkg -l |grep -i camera
ii dcraw 8.86-1build1 decode raw digital camera images
ii gtkam-gimp 0.1.16.1-1ubuntu1 gtkam gimp plugin to open digital camera pic
ii libgphoto2-2 2.4.8-0ubuntu2 gphoto2 digital camera library
ii libgphoto2-port0 2.4.8-0ubuntu2 gphoto2 digital camera port library
ii metacam 1.2-5 extract EXIF information from digital camera
ii ufraw 0.16-1build1 standalone importer for raw camera images
mive@BGTUS:~$ dpkg -l | grep -i nautilus
ii libnautilus-extension1 1:2.30.0-0ubuntu4 libraries for nautilus components - runtime
ii nautilus 1:2.30.0-0ubuntu4 file manager and graphical shell for GNOME
ii nautilus-data 1:2.30.0-0ubuntu4 data files for nautilus
ii nautilus-image-converter 0.3.0-2ubuntu2 nautilus extension to mass resize or rotate
ii nautilus-sendto 2.28.4-0ubuntu1 integrates Evolution and Pidgin into the Nau
ii nautilus-sendto-empathy 2.30.0.1-0ubuntu3 GNOME multi-protocol chat and call client (n
ii nautilus-share 0.7.2-12build1 Nautilus extension to share folder using Sam

Brianetta · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2011, 04:49:37 AM »

Quote from: fiedldi on March 06, 2011, 01:08:14 AM

1. Should I buy the 14-42 mm kit version just to begin with or rather the body-only-version to look out for a good lens later?

You'll want some sort of lens, surely!

Quote

2. When shooting with art filters: will the E-P1 store a standard version of the picture as well as the art-filter-version?

Yes, it can. Also, if you shoot in raw, you can apply the art filters later.

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3. Which aspect ratio are you using most times respectively which makes most sense when taking pictures?

I shoot in 3:2, because this matches the aspect ratio of the print kiosks in my local supermarket. Framing for 3:2 means I don't get things cropped that I wasn't expecting. Additionally, because I also shoot raw, I can change aspect ratio afterwards if I want, even back up to 4:3.

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4. I'm using Linux (Ubuntu) with Gimp for editing the photos. Which Linux-software would you recommend for managing the pictures?

I use Shotwell, and prior to that I used F-Spot. F-Spot is the better of the two by far. Shotwell isn't ready yet; I'm spending much of my time reporting bugs and tearing my hair out at absent features that are planned for future releases.

Both are great for dumping a selection of photos to Facebook or Flickr, and they let you tag photos (although Shotwell can't search on more than one tag, because that feature's not done yet). Google Picassa looks good, but I haven't really tried it in depth.

For processing raw files, there's basically ufraw, unless you want to buy a commercial application. The one that comes with Ubuntu is too old to know about things like micro four thirds lens corrections, so you need to rootle about for bleeding edge versions of software to do this.

Nautilus is an option of you want to manage everything yourself. It's a bit like suggesting Windows Explorer to a Windows user.

fiedldi · « **Reply #13 on:** March 12, 2011, 03:56:31 AM »

Thanks again for all your answers. Well, I did it, I bought the E-P1 on ebay. The 14-42 kit version that is. Gonna pick it up this afternoon and can't wait to get my hands on this thing of beauty.

Concerning Linux, I installed all the packages mentioned here but still, no previews. I'll investigate this further when the update to the next major Ubuntu version comes up and will use F-Spot and UFRaw meanwhile.

I'm sure there will be lots of questions the coming weeks and months. But I'm also sure I'm in good hands in this forum!

traveler_101 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 12, 2011, 10:38:42 AM »

Great Choice!

Best of luck with the camera.

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #15 on:** March 12, 2011, 11:03:27 AM »

Welcome to E-P1, and congrats on your new E-P1/kit.
Now, let's see some 1st time out Photo's

Kidding, post when feel you're ready.

JonInKrakow · « **Reply #16 on:** May 08, 2011, 10:40:17 PM »

One program not mentioned yet is LightZone. It is a commercial app, and not cheap, but it is available for Linux. It does RAW conversions, using a unique method. When I was running Ubuntu on my Wind, this was what I used, and yes, it handles the Pen RAW files just fine. Check the Ubuntu forums for more info. I think there was some discussion about it a while ago.

-Jon

E-P1 questions (Lens-Kit/Art-Filters/Aspect Ratio/Linux)