The image quality (noise at higher ISO, sharpness and detail) is pretty impressive. Read a related forum reaction on DPReview.

The 500D’s JPEG output is a lot closer to the EP-1’s, but even here the little Olympus has the edge when it comes to pixel-level sharpness – despite the Canon’s higher nominal resolution. There’s really not a lot in it though, and in a print you’d be unlikely to see any difference in detail at all. The 500D’s color and contrast is a little more muted, and again it’s handling the roll-off of highlights a little more gently (and again, the difference would be less at ISO 200), but as both cameras offer extensive control over image parameters this is really only relevant to those who never change a single camera setting.

Lenses used were the Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Telephoto Macro ED on the E-P1, and Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard / Medium Telephoto on the T1i / 500D / Kiss X3.

It’s clear to see that Olympus – as usual – is doing a great job with its out of camera JPEGs, and at a pixel level the E-P1 produces, sharper, crisper output than the Nikon, and the punchier default contrast, sharpening and saturation mean that the results are more immediately appealing. You’re not going to see a huge difference at normal magnifications (and turning up the Nikon’s rather conservative sharpening evens things out a little), but there’s no denying that the little Olympus is giving the D5000 a good run for its money (though again the rather harsh highlight roll-off produces slightly clipped tones at ISO 100).

Lenses used were the Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Telephoto Macro ED on the E-P1, and Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S Nikkor on the D5000.

Not surprisingly given the family ties (and the fact it’s the same lens), the output is very, very similar, with color, contrast and saturation almost identical. Look a bit closer and you can see – even in a JPEG – that there are some differences. The most obvious is the EP-1’s visibly better pixel-level sharpness (thanks to a lighter anti-alias / low pass filter), though we also noticed that the highlight roll-off is a little harsher than the E-620 (something confirmed in our dynamic range testing) – it’s better at ISO 200, but still not as good as the E-620. Overall though, it’s great to see that Olympus hasn’t just delivered on its promise to match SLR quality – it’s actually surpassed it.

The lens used on both cameras was the Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Telephoto Macro ED.

Click on the thumbnails to go directly to the information page for that image, and from there, you can click through to the original full-resolution picture.

Image types available: Building Dome / Architecture, Scenes at the Beach, Sailboat, Car (an Audi) Boot / Trunk, Pebbles.

(Pop Art Filter sample) (Pop Art Filter sample)