Image via ePhotozine

Olympus likes to tease us :) The nice guys over at ePhotozine revealed a cryptic message saying “we’ve been testing these new Olympus PENs for the last couple of weeks and thought you’d want to see them. So here’s a sneak peak at the colours available. There is also a green PEN available, but we were unable to show it, due to it being chewed by someone in the office. Feedback from those who have used the PENs has been extremely positive, with some office members saying it’s the best PEN they’ve ever used. They said they particularly liked the colours compared to other pens they’ve used.”

Now back to some real homemade rumor:
We have been told that the 15mm f/8.0 is officially marked as “accessory” and not as part of the Zuiko lens line. It’s a body cap lens that has three modes, covered, up to 30cmm focus and up to infinity focus..

The patented Konica-Minolta 43mm f/1.4 lens design.

Egami spotted a patent with a surprising content! Konica Minolta patented the design of a 43mm f/1.4 Micro Four Thirds lens! The patent has been filled in 2011. Right now Konica-Minolta is not part of the (Micro-) Four Thirds group but this could change soon. Konica and Minolta have a long history of lens design for rangefinder cameras. Konica designed the [shoplink 33268 ebay]Hexanon M-mount Lens series (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. That includes the superb [shoplink 33269 ebay]Hexanon 50mm f/1.2 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. Minolta made the famous [shoplink 33270 ebay]Rokkor M-mount lens series (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. That includes for example the [shoplink 33271 ebay]40mm f/2.0 pancake (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

This is just to say that Konica-Minolta would add a very high value to the whole Micro Four Thirds system! So let’s hope this is one of those few patents that will make it into…reality :)

Here are the images of the 40mm lens (left) and 50mm Hexanon (right):

[shoplink 23567][/shoplink]
Image on top: The current [shoplink 23567]Olympus E-PL3[/shoplink].

As you already know the new E-PL5 (and E-PM3) will have the same [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] sensor. A source shared some more E-PL5 info. The camera plus 14-42mm kit lens will be priced at around 599 Euro/Dollars which is exactly the price of the current [shoplink 23567]Olympus E-PL3 (Click here to check)[/shoplink]. The source also “heard” that there will be a “large kit” version and it’s easy to guess that this will include the soon to come 15mm f/8.0 lens too! The major changes on the E-PL5 are the new sensor and a better ergonomy.

For my European colluegues: If you don’t care about getting the latest stuff and want to save some money there is a new bunch of refurbished PEN cameras at [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket[/shoplink]. This includes for example:
[shoplink 33244 ebay]Olympus E-P3 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33246 ebay]Olympus E-PL3 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33245 ebay]Olympus E-PM1 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33247 ebay]Olympus E-P2 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33248 ebay]Olympus E-PL2 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33249 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].

P.S.: The E-PL1 is used by my friend Elena to tell you stories about the greek life (greekdiaries.com).
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Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct