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!