Folks I am happy with the Olympus strategy of targeting mirror-less and advanced compact segments. I read somewhere that we could expect the first mirror-less “SLR” body which will replace bodies like the E620 and the E520. That means we will have an electronic view finder similar to that used in the E-P2 electronic viewfinder. The only aspect I do not like about the existing micro 4/3 rds view finder is that it goes black and white in poor light conditions. The G1 from Panasonic use the build in electronic view finder and it stays in full color also when in poor light conditions. I find that much more practical and acceptable.

I like the new E-PL2 body a lot and are really surprised with the improvements Olympus did on the grip area of the camera. It will be comfortable in the hand I guess. Studying the bodies a little closer it is clear that Olympus decided for a high quality materials and feel on these bodies. That said I looked at the local pricing today and were surprised to see that the E-PL2 has been positioned just above the advanced compact segment. Wonder when it will drop enough in price to start eating into this advance compact segment sales?

Another really interesting aspect of the new camera is the new 14 - 42 kit lens. I read it focus faster and more accurate when compared to the previous kit lens. It was also designed with a less noisy focus motor. That means in movie mode one will not hear the lens focus. For those guys with the first generation kit lenses there are a good solution to the noisy focus motor. Buy the external microphone and not only will it improve the movie sound quality, the noisy focus motor will also be something of the past.

My compliments to Olympus with these adapter lenses. I think the idea is great plus I trust they will not be as ridiculously expensive as the Panasonic 7 - 14 mm super wide angle, the macro and fish eye lenses. One just do not expect the micro 4/3 lenses to be as expensive as a DSLR pro level lens. What I also like about these lenses or adapters is that they fit into any spare pocket in the camera bag. Another reason we buy the m 4/3 cameras is its size guys. I saw there are a number of other really interesting options for the new body. What I did not like is that Olympus says the new E-PL2 uses a version 2 adapter port. I hope it does not mean that my reasonably new E-P2 suddenly has an outdated adapter port. Please Olympus tell us that is not how you like to increase sales. There is a catch with these new adapters or lenses from Olympus. They only fit the new mark II kit lens or the 40 - 150 mm lens.

Then finally I looked at the new 14 - 42 lens and it seems to be a really interesting new addition. I can just imagine soon there will be a lot of older type 14 - 42 lenses on the 2nd hand market. I hope I can get one to test, it will be interesting to see how it performs against the old kit lens. Below you can see the new lens. The part that extends is now completely different to the older lens. I read it extends a little more than the older lens. If you look close you will see it looks as if it now has a plastic fitting and not a metal fitting like the older kit lens. Do you really need to have the faster focus speed and the silent focus motor?

It is also interesting to see that Olympus has build the new “HDR” filter into the E-PL2. What is more interesting is that some of the art filters are now adjustable. This marks a totally new way of doing photography with these cameras. Planning a shoot with these tunable art filters will come in handy. I wonder why Olympus decided to stay with the 12MP sensor. I guess we will see E5 image quality with the new E-PL2. Olympus never in the past tweaked image quality to position a camera, they rather positioned cameras on application. That means the pro level E5 will be weather sealed, top quality magnesium body for maximum durability and high performance mirror setup. The E-PL2 on the other hand will satisfy a completely different user and therefor also requires top image quality to compete in that segment. On the other hand I do think it would be interesting to hear what Olympus plan for the future in terms of sensors. Most probably the new E-P2 will be showing off some of the secrets we can only speculate about today.....