Olympus E-P2 leaks out again, brings along lofty price tag
By Darren Murph 
posted Nov 4th 2009 4:31PM
posted Nov 4th 2009 4:31PM
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.
I really hoped they would get rid of that rubber handle, it ruins the overall look.
100% agree.
I don't think it ruins the look at all - I think it suits it. I also think it would be likely to help a lot with grip - and it's not really a camera you wanna drop with that sort of price.
I dig the black body, but that viewfinder is mighty ugly looking on top of the camera. I sure hope they're upgrading the LCD on the back as well.
Now if there's a thing like upgrading a product too soon... you don't sting your early adopters like that.
At THAT price? They're only screwing themselves over.
Way to blow a good idea, Olympus. An idea that lasted only one generation.
Pretty sick, digging the retro vibe. I wish we had a retro dslr (not the sigma)
Do yourself a favor and get the Panny GH1 for $100 more. Way more features... And its out now, you don't have to wait.
Just a pity that the Panasonic GH1's sound recording is so poor. A small mono microphone and a loud lens. And no external mic option. So, do you really want to record the sound of your lens zooming?...
LondonConsultant: It's still a remarkable amateur tool in any case. If you're into amateur filmmaking it's still a bargain for the quality you get (though IMHO you can do better with a DSLR) - as long as you're willing to record your audio separately.
What, did you think clapboards were just for fun? :P There's a reason they exist.
wait, apart from the LOOK, what's different from the EP-1 exactly? are we supposed to know at this point? because those specs look VERY similar to the current model.
I hesitated long and hard before choosing the GF1 over the EP-1 (which I thought looked a thousand times better than Panny's micro 4:3 offering). From what I see, the EP-2 is like an uglified version of the EP-1 (whyyyyyy?!?!?), and if they didn't solve that camera's main problems (see below), then I really don't see the point..
- slow-as-molasses AF
- low-res LCD
- no built-in flash
they shouldn't have touched the look; that was one of the EP-1 strong points. they needed to fix the above 3 issues.
There were more issues than that.
- No intervalometer for time-lapse
- Remote shutter-release jack (which could serve as a workaround for the above problem) is a ridiculous USB port
- Minimum post-shot screen review time is an entire minute (way to kill the battery)
I don't see the big difference from E-P1 other than an external EVF and the hefty price tag... anyone care to explain?
The E-P1's introductory price in the UK was 750 Pounds, so I'd guess that the actual US price will be something like $999 or $1049. Stop just converting Pounds to Dollars!
LOL at that price.
Olymous always fantasizing being the BMW of the camera world.
LOL. And it's not eve retro looking.
Crap! I just bought my E-P1 last month :( And not to mention a 24" 3.06GHz iMac as well...dammit. I'm on a roll.
Why in the world? The GF1 is the same machine without all the suck. Yeah, it's not as sexy as the E-P1, but it's pretty widely known that Olympus screwed the pooch on the E-P1 and would be making a "fixer" hardware update soon.
Without a viewfinder, and with a LCD that belongs in the year 2006, the E-P1 was a royal bungling of what was supposed to be the triumphant launch of the micro 4/3 format.
i remember seeing black ep1s when first announced but they didnt eventuate. maybe they were ep2's all along
After seeing this, the GF1 might very well be the pick of the bunch. The black is cool, but it is what it can do that counts and I am not sure what they changed on this one that is really worthy of a new rendition. Too bad no integrated flash and/or even an integrated viewfinder - not to mention slow focusing - they have their work cut out for them, but Olympus, come on, step up and kick some Panasonic booty!
no compact integrated viewfinder :-(