Olympus Pen E-P5 review – Noise, resolution and sensitivity
These images show 72ppi (100% on a computer screen) sections of images of a resolution chart, captured using the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens set to f/4 . We show the section of the resolution chart where the camera starts to fail to reproduce the lines separately.
The higher the number visible in these images, the better the camera’s detail resolution is at the specified sensitivity setting.
The E-P5 uses the same 16.1-million-pixel sensor and TruePic VI processor as the OM-D E-M5. It is a multi-aspect sensor with 17.2-million-pixels in total, offering views of 4:3, 3:2, 1:1 and 16:9.
The full 4608×3456 resolution is available in 4:3 format, with 12-bit raw files approximately 17MB in size. This enables 100% prints sized to 15.4×11.5in and with a print resolution of 300ppi.
We used the 75mm f/1.8 (150mm effective) lens set to f/4 to record our resolution charts with the E-P5. Under these conditions, the camera can resolve up to the 28 marker at ISO 200 (and the extended low ISO 100 setting), which is a solid performance. There is, however, an impression of detail even at the very end of the resolution charts, which is impressive.
I would be happy to use the E-P5 all the way up to ISO 800. At ISO 1600, luminance noise starts to become evident and from then on through to ISO 25,600 there is a gradual decline in the dynamism and crispness of detail as luminance noise increases. The highest ISO setting also shows significant chroma noise in raw files without noise reduction applied.
