The white XZ-1
UPDATE: Sorry! The source made a mistake. The announcement will be made on Thursday the 6th and not on Tuesday the 4th!!!!!
On Thursday Olympus will announce the new Olympus E-PL2 (with same [shoplink 14832]E-PL1[/shoplink] sensor), the new XZ-1 high end compact camera (with [shoplink 17288]LX-5 sensor[/shoplink]), three new converters, two new underwater case, the pen module, a new close up spotlight and a bunch of new compact cameras (VG-120 VR-310 TG-310 TG-610 SP-610UZ). I guess the official time release is 6-7am London time (January 6th). The new accessories should be in Stock very soon in January. The E-PL2 and the XZ-1 will probably hit the stores in February. Panasonic will also present a new bunch of compact cameras (including the new S-series) but I don’t expect any more than that from Pana. I was told that nor Canon nor Nikon will make any big announcement so the Olympus E-PL2 will be the only new large sensor camera to be presented at the CES show.
As usual follow us on 43rumors. I will make you a nice summary of all previews and interesting links. I also do hope you will keep following me after the E-Pl2 announcement. I already have been told that Panasonic and Olympus will make major product announcements by late February-early March! I expect new Micro Four Thirds lenses and cameras from both of them (at least 2 cameras and 5 new lenses!). UPDATE: it looks like Sony could show a new NEX but as prototype only (see SonyAlphaRumors). And I forgot to mention that Samsung announced the NX10 copy..the NX11 LOL! (Via x-rumors)
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25 Responses
Bring it on Oly, make a splash!
LOL In the 1st sentence it should be E-PL2, right?
they are going to get steamrolled at the show if they dont announce something relevent. they need to announce the ep3 and if they dont they are in trouble
CES primarily deals with consumer electronics (hence the name!) so Oly’s line-up is actually quite good already
and if they dont they are in trouble
Oh, I’m sure they’re shaking in their boots. 🙂
Admin – Please give us some news or rumors also of the new Pany S series if you have any? You have already released a lot of information on both Oly new models and specs of all Sony compacts but nothing on Panasonic other than model names?
I think the XZ1 will be a very interesting model only would love to see a m4/3 version of the same.
This is a great set of releases for Oly at CES. Well done! They actually both look like really nice cameras. Another nice thing about Oly is that when they say they release cameras, they are usually available. I find Panny’s release are slow in coming out.
Hopefully it won’t be too long after CES that we start hearing about the more “serious” Oly products….
“Olympus will announce the new Olympus E-P2 (with same E-PL1 sensor)”
Yeah, okay… im really gonna stick with my E-P1 for another year for sure.
I think it’s sad that in the timeframe Oly and Panny have been using the same 12-MP sensor, intel has released three (3!) new CPU architectures.
Just the realities of production cost as m4/3 not as large a market as APS-C for now hence costs more to produce so would increase the cost as was the case with the GH series. The APS-C cameras for now have this cost production advantage inspite of larger size since most of their sensors all produced by Sony in larger volume.
That XZ-1 looks like a lovely little camera. Olympus finally realised they need to improve their P&S line-up first in order to get upgraders to trust their PEN’s. Sharing accessories between the XZ-1 and an E-PL1 (or 2) is a nice plus.
E-PL2 looks like a good update to the E-PL1. It covers most of the complaints with that camera. We don’t really know about the controls on the back, but quick AF-lens and high res screen will make it much more attractive compared to other camera’s in the segment. Oh yeah, design is much improved too.
Interestingly, it seems that Olympus and Panasonic have strengtened their sensor and parts cooperation. There was a lot of talk about Olympus shopping elsewhere for sensors, but now they even buy the compact sensor from Panasonic. Not saying it’s good or bad, just an observation.
> a new close up spotlight
BTW, what macro lenses for m43 are available?
I found only this:
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/macro.html#i_045mm_f028_panasonic
But it’s from Panasonic….
Legacy lenses with adapters work just fine, and manual focus is really usable for macro work anyway.
The Zuiko OM 50mm F3.5 (100mm on 43 or m43) is a very good manual focus macro lens! (with om->m43 adapter) … you can find this lens for $100 US Dollar on Ebay
This is a very compact and lightweight lens for a PEN!
Examples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roosjeh/4469155533/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roosjeh/4450779433/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roosjeh/4450779125/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roosjeh/4448570616/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roosjeh/4447795177/
As previously mentioned, the Panny 45/2.8 is a great (if expensive) option.
The Oly 4/3 50/2 (1:2) and 35/3.5 (1:1) on a 4/3 adapter are also good albeit will not autofocus on earlier G bodies.
There is an upcoming Oly 50mm macro lens sometime this year.
And of course, legacy macro lenses are also an option.
> new compact cameras (VG-120 VR-310 TG-310 TG-610 SP-610UZ)
this must be some kind of a revolution at Olympus .. till now there was only “mju” and “FE” series…
SP610? Something interesting?
(SP600 was big UZ with 15x zoom .. which is now usually in smaller bodies)
Hopefully this new range will mark a resurgence in the image/design/build quality of the lower range Oly compacts!
will the xz1 have the same multi-aspect sensor as LX5 or just a 10mp 1/1.6″ with a single aspect? the latter possibilit would be like what we have in (m)4/3, all of the 12mp 4/3 camera’s have a single aspect (4:3) sensor except for GH1 (and GH2 but it is not 12mp), of course you can still shoot 3:2 or 16:9 using G2, GF1/2, or one of the Pen’s but cropping would be involved if using anything other than 4:3 on these cams, GH1/2 & LX3/5 allow ou to change the aspect while maintaining the same diagonal length of the imaging area.
my “Y” key often lets me down. need a new keybord.
OK as the specs are official today, we now know the answer to the question:
“will the xz1 have the same multi-aspect sensor as LX5?”
it is a resounding NO:
xz1 full size 4:3 = 3648 x 2736
xz1 ~ ~ 3:2 = 3648 x 2432
xz1 ~ ~ 16:9 = 3648 x 2056
while LX5’s 4:3 = 3648 x 2736 (same same)
3:2 = 3776 x 2520
16:9 = 3968 x 2232
Any word on price?
i don’t know if it is just me, but the e-pl2 looks reasonably good – but i will hold out for a higher grade body to upgrade my e-pl1 with.
i think the flash on the e-pl2 looks like a design flaw in comparison – the e-pl1 flash recesses into the body, whereas this one sort of sits on top, like a good few knocks could damage the lifting mechanism/flash. on the e-pl1 the body would guard it.
i can’t wait to see what the iso performance is like. this and the new lens would make it a much better performing kit!
The EPL2 is really good, spec-wise it’s at least on par with EP2 and with better image quality(if one accepts EPL1 to have the best JPEG output). And it does not look as fugly as EPL1!!!
i like the look of the e-pl1. but i do think this is an improvement.