News

Among the CES releases people have been waiting for is the next evolution of the Olympus PEN E-PL2.  The wait is over and the camera has been announced.

Olympus has been one of the leaders in the 4/3s/PEN, not quite dSLR but not point and shoot movement, and their PEN ELP-1 has been popular due to its small size, small price and a matching housing that is small in size and price.  Having shot one recently, it really is a nice balance of features and size.
But back to the new kid on the block.  One of the new features mentioned is that the E-PL2 comes with the new Movie & Still Compatible (MSC) ED m14-42mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens. Olympus states that this new kit lens has a smooth, silent and quick inner focus mechanism to make it fast and nearly silent when recording high-definition movies.

Olympus has also announced the PT-EO3 Underwater Housing for the new camera, which comes as no suprise because of recent, ummmm, release of photos on the 'net of the housing in the days leading up to CES.  Olympus also announced some accessories, including the Macro Arm Light MAL-1 (in the photo),  three convertors - a 120-degree Fisheye Lens Converter, a Wide-angle Lens Converter and a Macro Lens Converter - and the PENPal, which is a Bluetooth-enabled communication unit that stores up to 2,600 images and then transfers them to other devices.

More information on the Olympus PEN E-PL2 can be found here.