Night Photo Walk: Olympus E-p1 in low-light

Olympus E-p1, Lumix 20mm f1.7, ISO 800, 1/160 sec

I finally got around to check DPreview's review of the Olympus PEN E-P1 today and was surprised at the rating the camera got. First, dpreview recently changed their rating system so the E-p1 which originally received a "Highly Recommended" score has been downgraded to a pitiful 66%. Now, I don't know about you but when I was a kid, a 66% on a test would've gotten me a huge trashing by my parents.

The review concluded that the E-p1 was not good for "Low light, indoor or action/sports/wildlife photography". I went out and tested it on a recent photo-walk one night to see how the camera would perform. I got something like this... (click for bigger version)


Olympus E-p1, Lumix 20mm f1.7, ISO 800, 1/5 sec

None of the samples dpreview presented was shot at night so I don't know how they came to that conclusion. They probably didn't get something like this either...


Olympus E-p1, Lumix 20mm f1.7, ISO 800, 1/16 sec

Or this...


Olympus E-p1, Lumix 20mm f1.7, ISO 800, 1/15 sec

So whatever, dpreview....


Olympus E-p1, Lumix 20mm f1.7, ISO 800, 1/6 sec

Ok so I am being a little defensive with my new weapon of choice but hey, she's been good to me.