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Olympus Updates Pen Line With E-P3

Olympus announced three cameras in its Pen series of interchangeable lens compacts today. Two are replacements for existing models, and one is a new ultra-compact to compete with the increasingly tiny Sony NEX series and Panasonic’s new smaller GF bodies. All of the bodies feature the same basic guts and are differentiated by body and control options instead. Not to say that’s a bad thing. While the sensor sticks at the same 12ish megapixels that Olympus thinks is the sweet-spot for these types of cameras, the processor has been upgraded to new TruePic VI processor, and the AF has been improved with a new Frequency Acceleration Sensor Technology (FAST) system. And by “improved” I mean I’ve heard tell it can check AF 120 times a second and Olympus is already talking about it rivaling many DSLR AF systems. There’re 35 AF areas, and you can group them into 3×3 areas for tracking active subjects.

Other features across all models include ISO support up to 12,800, 1080i HD video, three-mode in-body Image Stabilization, the most effective dust-reduction system I’ve ever used, multiple aspect ratios, multiple exposure, and the Pen series’ infamous Art Filters.

The E-P3 sits on top of this new line-up as the flagship. It looks largely like the E-P2 before it, so, no surprises there. It’s still got a bunch of physical buttons and a mode dial, and it has the advanced hotshoe port to support the external viewfinder or the nifty macro light. In enhancement news, the grip is now removable via a thumb-screw mechanic, so you can use it or not as suits you. Also, the 3″ OLED display is up to 614,000 dots resolution and is touch-enabled, including touch to focus. The E-P3, being the top of the Pen line, also has a built-in flash, for what that’s worth to you out there. Looks like it’ll come in black, silver, and that cool retro white and tan that I continue to love so much. For more pictures and the full press release, hit the jump.

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Sigma to mount up Micro Four Thirds and E-Mount

Following on the news that Sony’s released the specifications for their 18mm flange back E Mount (which we so failed to blog about yesterday), Sigma announces that they’ve taken up the mantle (mountle?) and will support the format. They’ll also be generating lenses for the growing Micro Four Thirds market.

I’m not terribly surprised, they’re one of the few manufacturers that produced lenses for my own dear Olympus Four Thirds mount (I’m still working up the gumption to pick up their 35mm f/1.4), and with big O’s abandonment of consumer-level D-SLRs, it’s no wonder they’re willing to produce for this newer, and growing, piece of the market.



Carl Zeiss Joins Micro Four Thirds, Apparently Won’t Let Schneider Kreuznach Have Al The Fun

Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement that Schneider Kreuznach was joining the Micro Four Thirds bandwagon, Carl Zeiss has now announced it’s on board as well. Zeiss, who really shouldn’t need much introduction, is of course another old and well-storied name in the lens business, and having them join as well is probably a good indicator of how successful the Micro Four Thirds system has proven this far. We’re excited to see what lenses start showing up for those Oly Pens and Panny G-series bodies now.



Olympus Announces E-PL2, New Lens Steals the Show

Well, yesterday at CES Olympus went official with the successor to its popular E-PL1 Micro-Four Thirds shooter. On the camera front, we’re not exactly re-inventing the wheel here. The 12.3 megapixels remains the same, as does those being on a Four-Thirds DSLR sensor with a 2x crop factor shoved into a tiny, retro, rangefinder body with point-and-shoot controls around back (although they’ve grown up a little, I see a jogwheel back there now).

So, what is new? Apparently some new and re-tweaked creative filters (more excitingly, they’re now usable in manual control modes), and a second-gen accessory port up by the hotshoe. That new port will still accept the first gen accessories, like the viewfinder, but will also support new ones like a swank macro lighting kit with two LEDs mounted on poseable metal goosenecks, and the new PENPal bluetooth file transmitter, which should make cables a thing of your past for getting pictures onto your laptop.

And there’s the new 14-42mm lens. It’s still 14-42, it’s still 3.5-5.6, so, what’s changed, you ask? Well, this one is a brand-spanking new MSC branded lens (Movie- and Still-Compatible). Much like the lenses from Sony’s NEX system, this new MSC lens has silent autofocus so it can be used during movies, and supports twist on lens attachments like a fisheye adapter or a macro adapter to change how the lens behaves. While I was formally quite skeptical of these sorts of glorified filters, there was no denying the fisheye adapter for Sony’s system rivaled most true fisheye lenses, so, we’ll go ahead and assume the Olympus system is equally faith-inspiring.

Shipping for the Pen E-PL2  is supposed to start this month, but you know how that goes. MSRP is just under $600 with the new lens. Not too bad, O.

More pictures, as always, past the jump.

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Olympus Releases All Black E-P2 Kit, Jody Grober Is The Likely Audience

If there’s one thing my boss is good at, it’s helping pros get the equipment they need. If there’s a second thing, it’s complaining when cameras don’t come in “professional” black. So, Jody Grober, this kit is for you.

At its heart, it’s the same E-P2 with 17mm f2.8 pancake prime that’s been available for a while. So, you’re talking 13 megapixels, a 3″ LCD, full-time LiveView, Olympus’ dust-reduction system and in-body sensor-shift image stabilization, and those find-them-fun-or-hate-them-passionately art filters (including multiple exposure.) And they’re adding the previously optional FL-14 flashgun to the package. And the lens and flash are now black.

Think you can handle that? Good. Estimated pricing is about the same as the current kit without the flash, so, basically you get the black paint and the flash for free. Can’t beat that, now can you?

Coming, er, sometime?



Olympus M.Zuiko 75-300mm Reaches 600mm Equivalency

Like zoom? (Zoomy!) You know you do, come on… And that’s why you’re excited by Olympus’ new M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm f4.8-6.7. Because, for those of you not hip to the game, on the Four-Thirds and Micro Four-Thirds system, there’s a crop factor of 2x, meaning a 300mm lens will appear to have the same zoominess a 600mm did on 35mm film bodies.

For the record, 600mm is a lot.

I mean, 600mm is often the longest lens any manufacturer will make in a 35mm line-up.

So yeah.

As always, the name really tells you most of it, like that this lens is a little slow at 6.7 on the long end. What the specs don’t tell you is it weighs less than a pound and is a little over 4.5″ long as pictured. Yeah, seriously. Not even 5″ traveling size gets you 600mm equivalent. And, it looks pretty nice to boot.

Estimated retail? $900 or so. But you’ll pay it, because you know you love the zoooooooom!



Olympus Announces m.Zuiko 40-150mm f4-5.6

For all you Micro Four-Thirds fans, Olympus has a couple new ones today for you, starting with this new M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 which ways all of 6.3oz and, like in the big-brother Four-Thirds line, compliments the kit 14-42mm to make a fully covered 28-300mm equivalent range in only two compact lenses.

Now, I used the Zuiko 40-150mm that came out back with the E-410, and it was a nice lens. Compact and light, and fairly sharp. A bit slow, sure, but it was like a fifth the size of the 50-200mm I replaced it with (a lens that was so big in comparison I nicknamed it the “Leviathan”). So, I have every faith this newer, more compact model with the same range and f-stops will be a rather similar performer, and will be just fine for general use.

Also, it reportedly uses a silent motor, so it can autofocus during movies with being heard over the din of your memories.

Estimated retail when it starts trickling in? About $300 bucks.



Panasonic Micro-Four Thirds Camera Users Are Sexier

OKCupid, an online dating site which I may or may not be fond of myself, has let loose possibly the best blog article ever, where they have collected data on user attractiveness and correlated it against the EXIFs of the photographs. The results are kind of amazing and definitely interesting to read through. They looked at the results based on camera type, aperture, flash usage, and time of day. Some of the key findings? Interchangeable lens cameras make you hotter than point-and-shoots, and they’ll both make you way hotter than camera phones. Flash makes you look 6-8 years less attractive (not that many working shooters couldn’t have already told you that), and big, wide apertures add attractiveness to your shots. No, really, keep it at f3.5 or lower, kids.

Oh, yeah, and apparently people using Panasonic Micro-Four Thirds shooters like the GF1 or GH1 are just way totally sexy. Or something.

They break down how they collected everything in their post, which is worth reading in detail before running off and making big scandalous claims that Canon shooters are homely. Seriously people, be responsible with tantalizing data taken out of context. We’re obviously not to be trusted with it, so it’s up to you.



Panasonic to Debut 3D Conversion Lens for G-Series Shooters

Not got quite enough scratch shoved under the mattress to buy one of those 3D-ready camcorders Panasonic’s talking up? We feel you. Did you purchase one of Panasonic’s very nifty Micro-Four Thirds G-series cameras with a good video mode, like the GH1 or G2? Yeah? Well, boy-howdy, you’re in luck! In addition to the camcorder, Panasonic is promising a 3D lens converter for its G-series mounts by the end of this year.

For those scratching their heads and looking blankly at their screen, the idea is the lens splits one image into two, the same way we’d see it with two eyes. So, the left- and right-halves of your sensor are recording slightly different versions of the same scene. You lose half your horizontal pixels, but you gain 3D. Ta-da!

Now, while any Micro Four Thirds shooter could mount this (Olympus’ Pen series uses the same mount), at this point a lot of the functionality will be in the firmware, so until we hear anything otherwise, we’ll assume this a Panasonic-only thing, k?



Winners in Olympus E-PL1 Contest Announced

The winners of Olympus’ recent E-PL1 contest have been announced. 6 finalists are getting a free Olympus E-PL1 Micro Four Thirds camera and five grand to flesh their video proposals into real projects. Then, one of those six will be chosen as the grand winner and the creative staff sent to the Olympus-sponsored US Open Tennis Championships, where their work will be aired on the giant video board at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Not too shabby.

All six video proposals are on Olympus’ YouTube channel. Or in the press release. Both linked below.




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