Cameras

The Olympus EP3 and 12mm F/2 Shoot Some Video

Chris Gampat
No Comments
07/13/2011
2 Mins read
Chris Gampat the phoblographer ep3 with 12mm coney island (1 of 21)ISO 100

Ever since the first test in our full review, you’ve been asking for more video samples from the Olympus EP3 (or as the EP 3, E-P3 and EP-3 as you like to call it. So without further adieu, here they are with the 12mm F/2 (12mm F2) being tested. Samples and analysis are after the jump.

Video Samples

Here’s one of my good friend Brian Bennett talking about his own homebrewed beer. Video was shot in full 1080i.

This video of the Olympus EP2 was shot using the EP3 in 720p 30p AVI mode. The lens attached is the 17mm F/2.8. It was placed on the Vanguard Nivelo tripod.

Analysis

It’s worth it to note that the camera’s image stabilization is actually quite good. However, one should also consider that this was filmed with a 12mm lens which acts like a 24mm on this camera. At anything that wide, mostly any camera shake will be compensated for in the exposure settings.

What both Brian and I found weird were the color shifts at times when shooting the video of him. A part of me wonders if it had anything to do with the ISO settings, I was shooting this at ISO 1600 (and it looks damned good to me.)

It’s not all about the image quality though; sound is also an important factor. The sound from this camera was good enough for most uses, but it picks up the sound of whoever is behind the camera much better. The microphone can also pick up the sounds of the lens being manually focused. In a case like this, perhaps a follow focus would have worked better.

Unfortunately, the camera’s amazing touch to focus feature isn’t available in video mode. That’s a factor that’s absolutely killing it to be quite honest with you.

Even worse, working with the MTS AVCHD codec is also a pain to do. On my Macbook, it required me to download some freeware software and then convert it into a format that will work in iMovie. It didn’t even work on my PC! My PC used to be my editing machine back in college when I used Sony Vegas Platinum Pro.

So would I use the Olympus EP3 for video? To be honest, I prefer my EP2’s easier to work with AVI files and it takes wonderful video quality. If not, I’ll opt for my 5D Mk II or 7D since I have an investment of lenses into it. But I’m a special user: my opinion may not be yours.

Please Support The Phoblographer

We love to bring you guys the latest and greatest news and gear related stuff. However, we can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of the items mentioned, please do so by clicking our links first and then purchasing the items as we then get a small portion of the sale to help run the website.

12mm f2 autofocus e-p3 ep-3 ep3 olympus quality review video
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.