Olympus Australia is giving twenty people the opportunity test drive the new Olympus Pen E-P1 camera for 4 weeks. Three of those twenty people will have a chance to win a brand-new Olympus Pen E-P1 camera and two lenses.
Read on for more details.

Olympus Pen E-P1 camera

with 17mm lens mounted on body, and 14-42mm lens on left

photo provided by Olympus, used with permission

The recently-announced Olympus Pen E-P1 camera has generated a lot of interest recently, with various photography-related blogs I subscribe to mentioning it recently, including Chase Jarvis, norbs (and again), Alex Wise, engadget and DPS.

It's an interesting camera, and uses the micro four thirds lens system. This allows Olympus to pack an interchangeable lens system into a camera that is much smaller than a regular DSLR.
For existing Olympus DSLR shooters, there's an MF-1 Four Thirds System Lens Adaptor available, which allows the body to accept many of the other Four Thirds format lenses.



A brief summary of the key features:

• uses micro four thirds lens system
• 12.3 megapixel sensor
• image stabilisation (in the body)
• HD video (1280x720p at 30fps)
• ISO100 to ISO6400
• 3" LCD screen

Note that it doesn't have a built-in optical viewfinder, but requires the use of the 3" rear LCD display for liveview. An optional optical viewfinder (VF-1) is available, and mounts in the camera's hotshoe.

The Olympus Pen E-P1 really appeals to me because of its small size, compared to a regular DSLR camera. While I don't see it replacing my DSLR, I can certainly see something like the E-P1 complementing it, as its small size makes it a lot more portable than a DSLR, yet it still has the flexibility of interchangeable lenses.

As Chase Jarvis said recently, "the best camera is the one that's with you", and that is very true. A full-sized DSLR is a little large to carry around with you all the time, but the Olympus Pen E-P1 is much smaller than a regular DSLR!



Twenty people in Australia are being given the opportunity to be among the first to try out the Olympus Pen E-P1 camera. To register for this, you need to provide your contact details, three photos you have taken, and a brief description (40 words) of why you should be allowed to use the camera.

Olympus-selected judges will review all applications, and will judge them on the answers you provide to the various questions, as well as the artistic merit of the three photos you submit.

The 20 finalists will receive

• Olympus Pen E-P1 Camera
• M.Zuiko ED14-42mm F3.5-5.6 Lens
• M.Zuiko 17mm F2.8 Lens
• 4GB SD Card

to use for a period of one month (20 July 2009 to 20 August 2009).

During that four-week period, finalists need to upload between 50 and 100 photos per week (all taken with the Olympus Pen E-P1, of course) to Olympus' website. The 20 finalists are required to return the camera, lenses and memory card at the end of the month.



The general public will be able to vote for the photos uploaded by the finalists, and the three finalists with the highest number of votes will be declared winners, and will each receive a brand-new Olympus Pen E-P1 Camera, M.Zuiko ED14-42mm F3.5-5.6 Lens and M.Zuiko 17mm F2.8 Lens valued at $1,799 each.



Visit the Olympus Pen E-P1 Test Drive website today to sign up for a chance to test drive the camera, and also possibly win a camera and two lenses!


Be sure to read the terms and conditions - Olympus gets full licensing rights to all the photos submitted to Olympus by the finalists during the four-week trial.


Update (July 2009): The gallery of photos submitted by participants in the Test Drive competition is now open and ready to accept your votes. One voter will win an Olympus E-P1 with 14-42mm lens.