The new E-PM1 compared with the [shoplink 19904]Olympus XZ-1[/shoplink] (Click on image to enlarge).
As you know Olympus will announce three new PEN cameras and the 12mm f/2.0 and 45mm f/1.8 lenses on June 30th (Click here to see the official Olympus invitation). And on top you can see the very first image of the tiniest of the three PEN’s the Olympus E-PM1! The other two cameras will be the E-PL3 (with tilt-screen) and the E-P3 (no tilt screen, built-in Flash). The main new feature of the Olympus cameras will be the new ultrafast autofocus that will beat the already fast [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] AF and it will be even faster than the AF of most current DSLR cameras!!! Also the sensor and imageing engine will be new (I hope to get some more news soon about that). Don’t miss any rumors: Join us on Facebook and Twitter! Subscribe our RSS feed!
A good source had the chance to play a little bit with the new smallest PEN. And this is his hands-on report (I have rewritten the report to hide the language style):
“The E-PM1 is really very small. The body size is very similar to the [shoplink 19904 ebay]XZ-1 (Click here to see it)[/shoplink] (similar depth and height, and a little less wide. Autofocus speed is awesome (faster than the [shoplink 21666 ebay]E-30/E-5[/shoplink] by any means). And the AF is not only fast, it’s accurate! It has touchscreen, but it also has enough buttons like the [shoplink 14832 ebay]E-PL1[/shoplink].) Overall it is a camera you can handle very easy. Looking at the size of the E-PM1 it might will not sue the [shoplink 23257]BLS-1/5 battery[/shoplink], I am not sure about that but I think it could use the [shoplink 23258]Li-70B battery[/shoplink] from the XZ-1?
All three new PEN cameras do have touchscreen and a new circuitry that reduces power consumption and increases the battery autonomy.
Editor’s note: The new Panasonic GF3 is a bit smaller than the E-PM1 but that camera doesn’t come with built-in image stabilization and doesn’t have the same usability (the E-PM1 has more buttons).
Questions to sources: Do you know the price of the camera?
Links cameras/accessories mentioned in that article:
Olympus XZ-1 at [shopcountry 19904].
Olympus E-PL1 at [shopcountry 14832].
Olympus E-30 at [shopcountry 21666].
Olympus BLS-1/5 battery at [shopcountry 23257].
Olympus Li-70B battery at [shopcountry 23258].
Reminder -> Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct