Olympus PEN Mini E-PM1 review

Is the smallest Olympus CSC as easy to use as it promises?

Olympus PEN Mini E-PM1
The 12.3MP compact system camera comes in a range of colours

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

The ESP metering system produces balanced exposures in even lighting conditions

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

The Dramatic Tone art filter heightens contrast and is especially suited to high contrast scenes.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

The Pin Hole Camera art filter darkens corners and adds a retro colour cast to images.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

The Grainy Monochrome Film art filter has a particularly gritty appearance, with noticeable grain and very high contrast.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

The Pop Art filter increases colour saturation to incredibly vivid levels.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

Manual control is possible, but can be a little fiddly to operate when compared with higher-end Olympus PEN models.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

Using a wider aperture lens can help reduce noise as a lower ISO setting cane be used. This night shot was taken with an Olympus 12mm lens at f/2.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

The small size and fast autofocus make the E-PM1 ideal for street photography and grab shots.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

Colours are reproduced accurately using standard colour settings.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

Colour saturation can be tweaked in the menus, enabling more or less vibrant images to be produced.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

The supplied 14-42mm kit lens has a minimum focus distance of only 25cm, making it suitable for the occasional close-up at maximum zoom.

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

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Olympus pen mini e-pm1

Dynamic range is good, with plenty of detail being recorded in both highlight and shadow areas of images.

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