So, sorry, pictures of these are a little less forthcoming, but apparently Oly also formalized the release of it’s very popular 9-18mm f4-5.6 and the very long-lived (for a system as young as 4/3, anyway) 14-150mm f4-5.6 super-zoom for the m4/3 mount. The 9-18 has been a very popular super-wide angle lens for the price point, and the 14-150mm was always the affordable super-zoom, and I don’t imagine those will change with the change in mounts.
Again, more to come.
So, if you read any of the same blogs I do, you’ll have already read about this many times by now, but for those of you who haven’t, or just really want my input on the matter, Oly announced a third sibling in the PEN line-up today.
This new one, the E-PL1, is already being billed as “the affordable PEN,” although in fact it’s the most mainstream of the three that sets it apart. It adds a pop-up flash, and retains the E-P2′s wonderful support for that hot shoe-mounted EVF. The core specs remain in the usual ballpark: 12.3 megapixels on a 4/3 sensor, in-body IS, art filters, and 720p HD video (now with a dedicated record button. Ooh, shiny).
The major changes really are in the design, which doesn’t really sacrifice anything to looks (although a Mr Charlie Sorrel over at Wired seems to be of quite the opposite opinion), with this camera clearly being the true entry-level PEN we’ve been waiting to see ever since it became clear the E-P1 wasn’t gunning for a pro market.
How can I tell? It’s the controls on the rear here. Gone are the “advanced” jog wheels, and enter a few buttons which leave it looking…. yup, like a modern point and shoot. Go ahead, click the image there to see them large. Again, and maybe it’s just my familiarity and love of the E-3 (itself widely known for having a friggin lot of buttons), but I’ll have to disagree with Mr. Sorrel’s assessment of this being a button-heavy mess here too. It’s controls are clearly designed to provide a smooth transition from high-end point and shoots.
Anyway, we’ll have more to come on this shooter soon, but, if you don’t need jog wheels and have been eyeing the Pen system waiting for a cheaper option, it looks like your time is finally coming.
Looking for a flash bracket? Take a word from Derek in the video below.
So, I have to admit, I’d stopped really paying attention to Olympus’ SP- UZ line of super-zoom bridge cameras because they’ve been in a pretty slim market for so long it wasn’t worth remembering their individual specs, it was just enough to point anyone who needed 24x zoom over to whatever the newest model was. Today, though, I want to take a moment to point out that a 30x wide-angle 28-840mm equivalent zoom is nuts. Nuts!
And yet, that’s exactly what Oly’s newest SP- UZ model, the SP-800 UZ, is packing. I mean, seriously, look at that lens barrel. Wowza. It’s also got 14 odd megapixels, a 3″ LCD, and 1.7GB of usable onboard memory. And, Oly’s continued its retro-minimalist controls started on the E-P series here, so the back is very clean and uncluttered. Not so much good news for button junkies like me, but for the target audience of point-and-shoot users needing more reach, it should present a stylish and undaunting interface.
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