Olympus Pen (E-P2) Leaks Out

05Nov09

On the Internet, there are no secrets, especially in the tech industry. Rumors leak out by the dozens and for the last few years, the insiders who leak documentation on gadgets are hitting the mark almost exactly.

Today’s leak is the Olympus Pen (E-P2). The E-P2 is the second coming of the Pen (EP-P1) that was released a few months back. Almost immediately after the E-P1 hit the streets, rumors were already spurring around on what the E-P2 would have. Sure enough, the E-P2 may fix nearly all the deficiencies that many photo-heads found in the first one.

The EP-1 was a redesign of the famed classy Olympus PEN 35 mm film camera. Despite the film camera not being pen-like in any aspect, it was called PEN because of its small size and portability. The PEN was the worlds first half-frame camera at the time. Thanks to the micro four-thirds system, developed by Olympus and Panasonic, Olympus was able to recreate the camera for the digital era while keeping the PEN’s iconic body mostly intact.

During my stay in Hong Kong this past summer, the E-P1 was the camera to drool over. Not as large as even the smallest DSLRs on the market (Nikon D40, 60, 3000, 5000/Canon XSi, XS, T1i to name a few) and not as compact as a point and shoot, micro four-thirds cameras are somewhere in the middle. With nearly the same optical features and manual controls of a DSLR, but in a much more compact body, its a win for everybody. Of course, like all things that are beautiful and shiny, the E-P1 would have put a hole in my pocket, roughly about $800 USD worth of patching necessary I’d estimate. My uncle who is a major photo-buff but only as a hobbyist was going to buy one, but smart thinking told him otherwise; the E-P2 was already on the horizon.

Although Olympus has yet to officially announce the camera, here is what we know according to source 43 Rumors:

12 Megapixel: Plenty, this is double my Nikon D40

3fps: More continuous shooting frames never hurts

Stereo Sound: Sounds good. Pun intended.

AF tracking: I love sharp images.

1.44 million dot electronic viewfinder with 100% field of view: OMG. A 100% viewfinder would sell me immediately. I’m sick of 95-97% view finders.

8 Art Filters (two more than the E-P1 ….. Diorama Filter and Cross Process): I’m not big on these, but its nice to have.

i-Enhance function (color boost): Vivid. More vivid. Redder reds, yellower yellows. Yes.

230K LCD
X1/180

All in all the specs look great on paper, and Olympus may still have some surprises we don’t know yet! The E-P2 will cost about 950 Euros or about $1,409. That’s expensive, but did I mention it will come in black? Ooooh, black. Release date is scheduled to be around January 2010. Delicious.

43 Rumors

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Tags: camera, digital, digital camera, e-p1, e-p2, electronic, electronic view finder, eyefinder, lcd, mega pixel, olympus, olympus pen, pen, pixel, rumor, viewfinder