Hasta La Gadget!

Olympus’ PEN E-P2 is destined to be a fine product, we’re sure. What we aren’t sure of, however, is how exactly the company came up with the nearly laughable MSRP. The second-ever Micro Four Thirds offering from the outfit is up for pre-order right now at Amazon, though the $1,099.99 asking price is just far too lofty for us to recommend snagging a place in line. That said, you’re still probably interested in learning more about the device, so we’ll be pointing you in Gadling‘s direction for that; the crew over at our favorite travel blog managed to snag one of these buggers early, and exterior color aside, we’re told that it looks practically “identical to the E-P1.” Hit up the links below for a closer look — just keep your credit card far, far away until we see a full review.

[Thanks, Misael]

Olympus’ $1,100 PEN E-P2 up for pre-order, played with early originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We heard way back in August that an E-P2 could be on tap for a late 2009 release, and while it doesn’t appear that the actual ship date will happen before next year, we’d be shocked if Olympus didn’t come clean with its second Micro Four Thirds camera here soon. We’ve seen leak after leak after leak, and now we’re staring at what appears to be a few press images of the not-yet-released camera. Reportedly, the 12.1 megapixel shooter will feature AF tracking, an electronic viewfinder, a black color option, 3fps shooting and a 720p movie mode. Nothing earth-shattering, but an appreciated update nonetheless. We’re told that it’ll be available across the pond in January for the mildly stunning price of £849 ($1,406), but at least that sum includes a 14-42mm lens. Or so they say.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Olympus E-P2 leaks out again, brings along lofty price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Olympus’ E-P1 micro four thirds camera only hit the market a few months ago, but already it seems as if a successor is inching closer to release. A peek at the outfit’s official Chinese website shows a panel and link for a “new” E-P2 camera, though it seems as if the page it’s listed on isn’t quite complete. Still, we’re guessing there’s a reason of some sort it’s listed, but we’re still struggling to find the patience required to see this whole thing through.

[Via 4/3Rumors]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Olympus E-P2 leaked in the most insignificant of ways originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen plenty of the Olympus E-P1, but when we dropped by Olympus’ booth today at IFA we just couldn’t resist slapping on the biggest lens they had, courtesy of the micro four thirds to standard four thirds adapter, and shooting a bit of dramatic show floor footage. The verdict? It’s totally impractical, especially because there’s no autofocus during video with certain lenses, meaning we’re stuck working the manual focus ring, D90-style. Still, we didn’t expect anything different, and our short film entitled “People Wandering Around, Totally Out of Focus” really made the effort worth while. Oh, and for our money? The white model is about twice as sexy as the gray. Videos are after the break.

Continue reading Olympus E-P1 meets 50-200mm SWD lens monstrosity, hilarity ensues

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Olympus E-P1 meets 50-200mm SWD lens monstrosity, hilarity ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been wondering when Panasonic would do something a little more interesting with a Micro Four Thirds sensor than simply pack it into an SLR-style body, and it looks like the new Lumix DMC-GF1 is the first step along that road. First leaked early last month, the spec sheet aligns pretty closely to the similarly sweet-looking Olympus E-P1, although most of the numbers max out a little lower: 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor with ISO 3200 sensitivity, 720p 30fps AVCHD Lite or Motion JPEG video (sorry, no mic input), three-inch LCD, and HDMI out. (In terms of size it’s a wash: the GF1 is less wide, but it’s a tick taller, and they’re both about the same thickness, although the GF1 has a built-in flash.) Ready for the bad news? Panny’s going to be selling this thing in two kits come October, one with a 20mm/f1.7 “pancake” lens and the other with a 14-45mm/f3.5-5.6 zoom, and both are priced at $900 — not including the optional viewfinder attachment. Yeah, that’s a lot of scratch, especially since the E-P1 has slightly better specs and lists for $800. We’ll see what street prices look like after a couple months, but for now we’re, oh, let’s say, “waiting to be convinced.” Full press release after the break.

Update: Well, what do you know? PhotographyBLOG has a nice gallery of sample shots up to give you a solid idea of what this bad boy’s capable of.

Continue reading Panasonic goes rangefinder with the Lumix DMC-GF1

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Panasonic goes rangefinder with the Lumix DMC-GF1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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