What a surprise. Olympus has taken the Pentax approach and created the colored [shoplink 18844]E-PL2[/shoplink] cameras. The website civic.alum.hk published those pictures (Click on them to enlarge).

Image source: Davelweinn at Flickr

A 43rumors reader sent me this picture he of a new underwater housing he made for himself! Inside the massive case he uses the Olympus E-P1. He also bought the new [shoplink 18405 ebay]Nikonos to MFT adapter which is available at [shoplink 18405 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and put the famous [shoplink 18406 ebay]Nikonos underwater lenses[/shoplink] on it! Nice job! Click here to see the picture of the back on flickr.

Chapeau Olympus!
Panasonic, Samsung and Sony were too busy in presenting their “boring” 3D stuff (that’s just my personal take on that) and Olympus has taken the chance to become the King at the CES when it comes to camera announcements. Finally Olympus presented a high-end compact camera and they made almost everything right with the XZ-1! Chapeau! The E-PL2 is less exciting but at least it has some nice upgrades and a lot of new accessories to put on it. That’s more than any other (a part maybe Samsung) had to offer at CES. 70% of our 43rumors readers do like both new cameras. That’s a huge success! Of course it is to see how many of them will really buy them!

A good beginning makes for a good ending!
The same sources that gave me details about the new E-PL2 and XZ-1 are repeating to me that there will be a lot more to come from Olympus!  There is at least a new pro model, + very likely a new E-P3 and at least three real pro pancake lenses to come during the next few months! The E-P2 successor and the new lenses should be announced at the CP+ show which takes place in February in Japan. But let’s wait what our sources will tell us during the next weeks before to get into any conclusion.

Note: Panasonic will also announce a new MFT camera and two (or maybe three) lenses at CP+

So I have little time for rest and a lot of work to do on 43rumors. Good news for you and not so good news for my girlfriend :(

43rumors

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Preorders

Olympus E-PL2 at Amazon.com (no preorders just notify)
Olympus XZ-1 at Amazon.com (no preorders just notify)
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Interesting notes

– Engadget has been the first to publish the new Olympus camera news. At the same time Panasonic announced a bunch of new compact cameras.
– XZ-1 costs $499 and E-PL2 $599!
– The collapsible M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II MSC is 25% lighter than the previous generation (but maximum magnification of 0.19x rather than 0.24x).
– MAL-1 Macro Accessory will retail for around $150 USD
– There is a very interesting kit les comparison (old vs new kit) at DSLRmagazine (See chart in the middle of their review).
– According to DSLRmagazine the E-PL2 has a slightly larger dynamic range than the Olympus E-PL1
– We now added a POLL at the bottom of this post. Participate! Let us know if you like the new Olympus cameras and accessories!
– 4 Reasons Why the Olympus EPL-2 and XZ-1 Will Dominate in Sales (ThePhoBlographer).
– the other m4/3 and the xzl1 can’t use the penpal accessory(Forum Olympus France)

Reviews

Olympus XZ-1 Review . Part 1 at davidchuaphotography.com
Olympus E-PL2 Hands-on Preview (Imaging Resource)
Hands-On With Olympus’ Brand New E-PL2 Camera, 2011 Line-Up (Crunchgear)
First Look: Olympus E-PL2 review (Pocketlint)
E-PL2 First Take at CNET Asia
Olympus XZ-1 announced and previewed at Dpreview.
Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed at Dpreview.
Olympus E-PL2: la Prueba (DSLRmagazine)
New Olympus Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2 Camera (Tvsmith.my)
New Olympus XZ-1 Flagship Compact (Tvsmith.my)
Quesabesde “Olympus XZ-1: toma de contacto”

Image samples

E-PL2 image samples at Letsgodigital.
Olympus XZ-1 image samples on Flickr.
E-PL2 Studio scene comparison (JPEG) + image samples at Dpreview.
Hands-on images at Engadget.
Olympus E-PL2 photos at Photographyblog.
Olympus XZ-1 Hands-On Photos at Photographyblog.

Video samples

Olympus Pen E-PL2 quick video test (Pocketlint on Youtube).
Olympus E-PL2 HD 720p video sample (DPnow on Youtube).

User impressions

Dale is in Las Vegas and tested the new cameras: “I played with both the E-PL2 and XZ-1 tonight here at CES.THe PL2 is quite lovely. IT feels amazing in the hands, and has a finish that is easy to love. Olympus had the PenPal on one of them. They told me that while it’ll Bluetooth send to a phone, it doesn’t necessarily work with a PC…yet. I told them they need to get on that.
The XZ-1 is less impressive than I hoped, but I think I like it better than my [shoplink 17288]LX5 Panasonic[/shoplink]. It feels a bit light and cheap in the hand, but the glass is very nice, and I was able to take some nice test shots even in crappy casino ballroom lighting. This thing is going to sell like hotcakes.”

Press release

The Pen lens converter presentation at olympus.
Systemkameraforum (german)
Pen and Tell blogspot (German)
Nouveau Olympus XZ1 : Ze bombe (Forum Olympus France)
Olympus PEN E-PL2 : encore plus mieux…(Forum Olympus France)
Introducing all new Olympus cameras (Olympusamerica).
TheDigitalStory
4 Reasons Why the Olympus EPL-2 and XZ-1 Will Dominate in Sales (ThePhoBlographer).
Photoscala (german E-PL2 press release)
Pekkapotka
E-PL1.net forum
Engadget
Dpreview (Panasonic unevils S series of budget compacts)
Dpreview (Panasonic introduces Lumix DMC-FH5 and DMC-FH2)
Dpreview (Panasonic announces Lumix DMC-FP7 and DMC-FP5)
Dpreview (Panasonic debuts Lumix DMC-FH27 and DMC-FH25)
Focus Numerique (Article about the new Paasonic compacts)

Olympus XZ-1 Camera Hands-On Sneak Preview

Olympus E-PL2 Pen Camera Hands-On Preview

I am not certain yet about the exact announcement hour. But usually Olympus announces the new stuff at 6am in the morning (London time). Panasonic should also announce the new compact cameras very soon (no Micro Four Thirds camera form them).

As usual I will collect al interesting news and reviews in one post. If you found something I didn’t already post here drop me a line! Thanks!

3,601 43rumors readers voted the poll for the best (Micro-) Four Thirds product of the year. And the winner is the [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] with 1,150 votes (32%)!
That’s probably not a big surprise. The [shoplink 15659]Voigtländer 25mm[/shoplink] lens is on place two with 598 votes (17%). And on third place we have the [shoplink 17163]Olympus E-5[/shoplink] with 530 votes (15%). As you can see the high-end products are on top of the list. The Panasonic G10 had 4 votes only….that’s why BHphoto discontinued it? :)
And the worst placed lens is the Olympus 40-150mm lens with 6 votes.

The product of the year 2009 was the [shoplink 14828]Panasonic GF1[/shoplink].

Those are the results:

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