As an Olympus Visionary photographer, I get the opportunity to test new Olympus products before they go on sale to the general public. This summer, I was particularly excited to get the new Olympus E-P1, or PEN, camera. The world’s smallest 12.3-megapixel camera with an interchangeable lens system camera, the PEN enables you to take high-quality still images while carrying around a small, light camera body. It also includes stereo Linear PCM audio recording and In-Camera Creativity, and has the capacity to shoot High Definition (HD) video.

When I first took the camera out of its packaging, my initial thought was that I loved its design. It reminded me of compact film cameras I’d used in the past: unobtrusive and unagressive little machines that enable you to take photos quietly, without attracting undue attention. This retro styling is no accident: Olympus designed the camera as a 50th anniversary tribute to its groundbreaking 1959 camera, the original PEN.

Considering its size and price, the PEN comes with a lot of great features. Although it isn’t as weatherproof and rugged as the Olympus E-3, my main professional camera body, it does include a rapid fire mode, which allows me to shoot five or six frames in quick succession with one shutter click. The PEN also has the cool art filters that were first introduced in the E-30, including Pop Art, Pale & Light and Soft Focus. I have experimented with all of them, and I especially love the Pinhole and Grainy (black and white) filters.

For many years, I’ve shot a lot of images in the summer as part of an ongoing project. I love to capture spontaneous moments joy of summer fun, as well as those times when the fun unravels a little and tension creeps in.

One of the first things I did with the camera was to take a lot of photos of a young neighbor, Bailey Derr, who modeled for me at a local lake on the first day I practiced with the camera. I love the results. The images shot without the use of filters are pin-sharp, and the color on Auto White Balance is remarkably true. When shooting in low light, I found that images at ISOs of up to 800 look beautiful. I also used the camera’s rapid fire feature to shoot some boys jumping off a dock and some girls doing summersaults in the lake. I found that I could start firing when the action began and with five or six frames I could capture all phases of the action.

I also love the Pinhole filter. While it would be relatively easy to create a similar vignetting effect (where the edges of the image are darkened) in Photoshop, I don’t think that the overall image would look the same. In the Pinhole mode on the PEN, not only do we get a vignetting effect, but the color shifts slightly to a kind of retro Sixies Technicolor cast. You can also work with the aspect-ratio control on the PEN to get a square frame with the Pinhole filter, which further enhances the retro look.

I shot the image below, of a house and flower, at dusk on an overcast day. The Pinhole filter tends to work particularly well in conditions when the light is most even.



In the next shot, of a girl in the lake flipping her hair, I used the rapid fire mode and was able to catch the exact moment when the water was flying through the air.



For me, the small and light body of this camera, along with its creative features, make it a perfect choice for summer shooting. Using the camera’s art filters can enhance the languid, heat-saturated feeling of those long summer days, when it’s easy to cast aside everyday cares. With its art filters and features like the rapid fire mode and HD video, this is a completely up-to-date, powerful little camera, but its retro styling recalls some of the best little cameras of past decades. Bottom line? It’s totally groovy, man.

View Anne Day's gallery of summer images here.