This week Olympus announced the Pen E-P2 and it address a few features that where lacking from the E-P1. A welcome addition is the VF-2 viewfinder witch is very much like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1’s video view finder. Rather than the optional optical view finder that you could only use with the 17mm lens on the EP-1 this lets you see what the final image will actually be with the added bonus that you can angle it to 90°, grate for getting those low down shots. When recording video on the E-P1 the sound of the lens focusing could be picked up but now there is a microphone input and the optional EMA-1 microphone adapter that will solve this problem. There are 2 new art filters Diorama and Cross Processing I think the diorama is going to be a fake tilt shift although I can’t be to sure as Olympus have not released any images shot in this mode. I am also very intrigued to see how the cross processing pains out as I have been Known to dabble in some x pro my self. Its a shame that the pen is still lacking a built in flash witch is something the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 dose have.
The E-P2 will be out in early 2010 and will cost £850 and includes the new VF-2 viewfinder.
The Olympus Pen EP-1, E-P2 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 are micro 4/3rds cameras. Micro 4/3rds offer similar features to digital SLR cameras, like interchangeable lenses and having full control over shutter speed and aperture. The added bonus is that they are small enough to fit in your pocket. Other manufactures are planing there own 3/4 cameras so 2010 should be a interesting year for this format. You can read my full review of the The Olympus Pen EP-1 from earlier this year here.
Images from Olympus UK. View more E-P2 images on the Olympus’s flickr stream.
