Note: This post will be continually updated with new links. Reload the page from time to time.
Preorders:
Full presentation page at Amazon (Click here).
E-PL5 at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
E-PM2 at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
XZ-2 at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
60mm macro at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
12mm Black prime lens at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
Interview:
Akira Watanabe at Amateur Photographer (via NC).
previews, hands-on, reviews:
E-PL5 at Engadget, Techradar, PocketLint, Dpreview, Photographyblog, Size comparison at Photographyblog, TheVerge, Imaging Resource,
E-PM2 at Engadget, Techradar, PocketLint, Dpreview, Photographyblog, Imaging Resource,
XZ-2 at Techradar, Photographyblog, DSLRmagazine, Imaging Resource.
60mm macro at Robin Wong, Pen And Tell, Photographyblog, DSLRmagazine, Zuikoholics.
15mm cap-lens at Photograpphyblog, Photographyblog, DSLRmagazine,
Image samples:
E-PL5 at Dpreview, New watercolor filter,
E-PM2 at
XZ-2 at
60mm macro at Pen And Tell,
17mm prime lens at
15mm cap-lens at
press releases in all languages:
E-PL5 /E-PM2at Cnet Asia, Clubsnap, ThePhoBlographer, Techradar, Dpreview, Photographyblog, Quesabesde, DSLRmagazine, Photoscala, OpenPN.
XZ-2 at Cnet Asia, Clubsnap, ThePhoBlographer, Engadget, Techradar, Dpreview, Photographyblog, Quesabesde, Photoscala, OpenPN.
60mm macro at ThePhoBlographer, Dpreview, Photographyblog, Quesabesde, Photoscala, OpenPN.
17mm prime lens at ThePhoBlographer, Dpreview, Photographyblog, DSLRmagazine, OpenPN.
15mm cap-lens at ThePhoBlographer, OpenPN.
12mm Black lens at Photographyblog, OpenPN.
Videos:
E-PL5 at OlympusPen, OlympusPen_2,
E-PM2 at
60mm macro at
17mm prime lens at
15mm cap-lens at
Poll:
Please read reviews and watch the image samples before to vote!
[poll id=”155″]
92 Responses
At last they make a fast 17mm ! I wonder why it took so much time…
Some really interesting things about these new Pens. First the Olympus PEN EPL5 has 1080p @ 60 FPS AVC-HD video. That is a first for Olympus to have AVC-HD right?
It also has 8 FPS continuous shooting. That is even better than GH3.
where have you found info about 60p video? it’s 60i everywhere, and sensor has probably 30p output
The E-PM1, E-PL3, and E-P3 pens have have AVCHD video. The E-M5 also has it, and better compression in the standard video, which I imagine the E-PM2 and E-PL5 will have also. I don’t believe the previous cameras had it.
60mm seems to be very nice for makro. But for something like FT 14-54 for mFT we have to wait another year? 🙁
Still no m43 12-60mm f2.8-4? Not even on a road map? 🙁
Bah another year of waiting before Olympus gets it ;<
Some m4/3rumors sources defined this new PEN line as a revolution (compared with the previous line). While the upgraded sensor is very welcome, I wonder what could they find as revolutionary in these “new” line of PENs.
Where have you been? Olympus’ advertisements have been rife with hyperbole since the E-P3 came out with it’s RESPECT commercials. I’m still not sure whether we were supposed to respect the camera or we were to be respected for using the camera…
Then we were promised that the E-M5 was “Photography Redefined”. As much as it is a fantastic camera, they never really did say how it redefines photography. More like “VF hump redefined”.
So, as you can see, never trust Olympus marketing.
it’s the same camera as last year, with a new sensor.
so now most of it is 2 or 3 years out of date, except the sensor and the lenses.
” except the sensor and the lenses.”
The two most important parts.
Lenses aren’t part of the PEN line. Upgrading the sensor is hardly revolutionary as everyone does it.
Is there any word on the Oly black 45mm f1.8? Or is it not coming at all?
Yes, a black 45 mm limited edition will soon come for 600$, lens hood will be included !! collectors will be so happy ! Prepare the Vaseline !! :p
1) 60mmf f/2.8 – 19cm from end of lens or from sensor?
2) 17/1.8 – when in shops?
3) 12mm f/2 – new lens? joke…
4) 15/8 – toy, why so expensive
17mm 1.8 due 1st half 2013. metal build.
Focus distance given for lenses is always from the sensor. It s the working distance that is measured from the lens (sometimes quoted for macro lenses).
I’ve voted for 17/1.8 just for the hope it would be less expensive than Pana 20/1.7.
But – unfortunately – both of us know well that it won’t be the case…
is the 17mm going to be another non-black lens?
@Admin
new art filter “watercolour” samples here http://olympuspen.com/en/artfilter/ scroll down…
looks pretty good :-]
Thanks!!!
should of mentioned images samples and specs here http://olympuspen.com/en/penlite/e-pl5/ and http://olympuspen.com/en/penmini/e-pm2/ and http://olympuspen.com/en/lens/60_28_macro.html
Filters really are a joke lol
what is wrong with laughing?
GH3:
http://www.dslrmagazine.com/digital/camaras-evf/panasonic-gh3.html
Grande Alberto! 🙂
The new Pens will control the OIS in Panasonic lenses. You can choose if you want OIS or IBIS when you mount a lens with OIS. I hope this will come in the next firmware for the E-M5.
Nice to see the E-PM available body only. I do think the price for body only should have been about a hundred cheaper for the body only and 14-42 kit however.
first video of the new e-pl5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bHqtS1WAww&feature=plcp
like it so far
Nice video an nice cam. It doesn’n look cheap. Grettings to the Ländle.
Camera looks ok, but if I were a prospective buyer, I would be wondering what the camera could do that she couldn’t have done with her phone.
Nice to see the E-PM available body only. I do think the price point for both body only kit and the 14-42 kit should have been a hundred cheaper.
Admin, do you know more about the pricing of the macro?
Some sources say 600 EUR in Europe, and other say 499 USD in the USA, and it can be preordered there at this price.
Thanx
Amazon price is here: http://go.redirectingat.com?id=19445X767302&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FOlympus-MSC-60mm-2-8-Lens%2Fdp%2FB0096WDK0K
admin,
any news on European preorders?
Amazon states that they only ship to US
Thanx in advance…
I am checking.
thanx, you’re a star 😉
Perhaps I’ll get the E-PM2 in one year when the price touches 300$.
It could be a photographic complement for my GH2 and some very specific needs (like IBIS on long legacy teles).
Either that or trade the GH2 for a GH3 if it is financially more advantageous.
It’s a pity that 17mm is not at least f/1.4.
Panny’s 20mm still looks better for me (and probably cheaper).
Panny’s 20mm is great – but the AF is a bit annoying.
I’d rather have the FOV & tiny fraction extra bit of light gathering of the Panasonic, but the Olympus might win just for being a bit more usable.
Pen and Tell are Oly- fanboys. But the 60mmm seems to be really amazing – better 2/50mmm.
Same level than 1,8 /75MM? Or even higher?
499$ seems to be ok. I hope not 599 Euro.
that Akira Watanabe interview at Amateur Photographer all sounds good, Olympus are reading the current and future market/trends well… “We have a roadmap and there are some key technologies but I can’t disclose…” ;-]
ps
good to Chris Cheeseman of AP being nicer to Olympus
@Olympus after long sight : when will you do things like everybody does ?
Still this lack of scrolling button on the right corner
It’s not that difficult to throw some weird designer (just thinking about making different) out
look at Sony, they eventually got it right !
Sorry admin, a can’t post in the official way.
Three new Schneider-Lenses announced:
Super-Angulon 14 mm/2.0 Weitwinkel-Objektiv (10 Linsen mit 4 asphärischen Oberflächen, Maßstab 1:10 bis ∞)
Xenon 30 mm/1.4 Universal-Objektiv (7 Linsen mit 1 asphärischen Oberfläche, Maßstab 1:10 bis ∞)
Makro-Symmar 60 mm/2.4 hochgeöffnetes Makro-Objektiv (8 Linsen, Maßstab 1:2 bis ∞)
Oh dear! Another super 60!
Oooh! A Schneider-Kreuznach macro?
Do you have a link?
http://www.photoscala.de/Artikel/Dreimal-MicroFourThirds-von-Schneider-Kreuznach
Excellent! Thanks!
I LOVE the industrial design of the Schneider-Kreuznach M4/3 lenses! Clean, modern and non-fussy.
If IQ and manual focus is good, then it may be time to retire my Nikon 60mm f2.8D macro!
Can’t wait to see the Schneider and Oly macros go head-to-head.
+1000
Photoscala. Will post this soon. Damn also GH3 is coming now 🙂
Admin: your side is super – but it breaks down. 🙂
I know 🙁
link???
Will there ever be some fast zooms and fast tele lenses for this m4/3 system?
The new Pens can be switched to a smaller AF point and they have an automatic HDR function, that can combine several exposures automatically. Hopefully these will be added to the E-M5 too.
Any info if the IBIS can be used during capturing video?
Below are a few new features for the PM2 from the Olympus website:
SMALL TARGET AF
New “small AF target” achieves the pinpoint focus. Focus on an AF point, within an AF point.
IMAGE ROTATION IN PLAYBACK
When the image is shot at portrait position, image is automatically rotated in playback.
CUSTOMIZABLE SELF TIMER
Self-timer customizing function can be utilized in various situations, the best is for self portraits. Control start times and shooting intervals. Start time(1-30sec) / shooting interval (0.5sec, 1sec, 2sec, 3sec) and number of shots （2~10).
does E-PL5 have the same?
Aaargh!! These new PENs (and the XZ-2) are among the ugliest camera’s I have ever seen. In hinsight the E-P1 had the cleanest lines and was the most beautiful.
My verdict on E-PL5
Pros:
new sensor
touch screen
1/250s flash sync!
removable grip
~180° screen rotation
8fps burst
stereo mic
ISO 100 – in dpreview specs (?!)
uses the same battery as older PENs
16:9 screen aspect ratio
Cons:
no built in EVF
no built in flash
still no proper grip, has to be added ( but at least can be added )
no second wheel
no HDR mode
no multi shot NR modes
no in camera panorama mode ( not that I need one badly, but it would be nice )
no app support, which could make up for all these software shortcomings
All in all, not overwhelmed, halfhearted effort by Olympus, but this will be my next camera unless Oly makes one with EVF and/or flash or some other manufacturer starts putting IBIS in its mirrorless bodies. Let’s hope that post Photokina surprise has EVF and flash built in ;).
Very tough call for Olympus… the ultimate PEN we are all looking for is basically the OM-D rearranged into the PEN layout with a top-left EVF. I hope they do it but I can understand the management-type may not think it’s a wise decision.
Perhaps that is why there is no E-Px camera this time round, in case they do decide to go ahead with such a camera. There is the added benefit that we don’t expect as much from an E-PLx as we do from an E-Px so we are not overly disappointed by the shortcomings of the E-PLx lol
Official specs at http://www.olympus-europa.com/site/en/c/cameras/pen_cameras/pen_lite/e_pl5/e_pl5_specifications.html .
1/250s flash sync confirmed, no ISO 100 :(.
Actually there is an HDR capability in both the PL5 and the PM2 according to the Olympus website.
I don’t understand what they mean by
Multi-Exposure
Max. number of frames
2 frames (shooting)
3 frames (editing),
but if there is HDR, that’s it.
No, there is no HDR. There is an expanded bracketing mode for out of camera HDR editing.
From http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-epl5/olympus-epl5A.HTM: “The new HDR mode automatically combines multiple shots–we don’t yet know how many–into a single exposure with greater dynamic range than is possible in a single exposure. There’s a user-selectable step size between exposures of either 2 or 3 EV.”
putting the looks aside… I must admit getting OM-D IQ in a package as small as the PM2 is really quite amazing. I would sacrifice mode dial (99% A mode user here) and tiltable screen for a very small and neat pacakge.
… now only hurdle is to see how tolerable is the new 460k screen…
Urgh. So near and yet so far. I can live without a flash, but no thumbwheel (not even the vertical one from the E-P3) = control nastiness. Those rotary-dial-round-a-4-way-pad things are horrible to use and in the wrong place to change settings one-handed. Even Panasonic went this way, removing the dial from the GF3 (my GF2 has one, which is why I got it over the GF3).
And the names are a mess – how can you have a PEN Lite with no PEN standard? Does this mean they’re keeping the E-P3? With the old sensor? Or is this an implicit admission that the EM-5 is a PEN in all but name (despite their protestations to the contrary; ‘it’s a whole new line’ blah, blah).
I guess I’ll just have to get an EM-5 after all – which is presumably what Olympus wanted!
“I guess I’ll just have to get an EM-5 after all”
+1
E-P3 is is still on their website, while there is a huge price/spec hole between E-PL5 and E-M5.
So the EP-3 is being kept? The ‘top-spec’ PEN has the worst sensor and processor? :-/
Have Olympus gone stark raving bonkers? The EM-5 is looking more and more like a happy accident than design genius.
I believe there is a higher spec Pen coming. “Maybe, maybe not,” but probably.
Will the new PEns be able to show IS effect during LiveView?
That is a serious plus in my book!:-/
Funny how Fuji and Olympus proudly use an image from the same photoshoot:
– http://www.olympus.nl/site/nl/c/cameras/pen_cameras/pen_lite/e_pl5/index.html
– http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/x/finepix_x100/features/page_04.html
And it’s probably taken with a Canikon. 😛
Busted!
same model doesn’t mean same photo shoot, doesn’t even imply same day, but poor choice of models.
Same clothing, same background, same light, same hair day, same make-up, and same lipstick, not enough evidence for you? The only difference is that the Oly one is overexposed and with shallower DoF, probably fake as well.
MJr….you forgot one “same”…..
Same stock agency!!!!!
Admin…Oly hinted at a new external viewfinder. Any info on one?
none.
I guess one or the other took the image from their opponent and faked the exif…
That or they booked the studio on the same day via same agency…
Fail… 🙂
Admin , will we see a Pen E-P5 with EVF included in Spring 2013?
That would be the true sucessor of the E-P3.
At the moment I am seriously attracted to the E-X1 and the NEX6 just because they guessed the FF right.
Will Oly ever realize the mistake they did, by going back to the dSLR shape?
Leave it to the bigger GH3, where it makes more sense. But the E-M5 is an almost pocketable camera ruined by all sorts of protrusions.
The pocketability of NEXes is overstated. With any decent lens it becomes almost as difficult to but into a pocket or small bag as E-M5 with 20/1.7. It’s because of the protrusing hand grip (and the lens, obviously). Fuji X-E1 is another matter, granted. But at least its pre-production model has terrible low-light refresh rate on the screen/evf. Nearly a slide-show. E-M5 in the same conditions provides an absolutely smooth picture. That sealed the fate of X-E1 for me (I admit I was very tempted by the specs and concept on the paper)
The E-M5 with either the 20/1.7 or 17/2.8 quite fits the pockets of my coat, whereas the older G2 for example doesn’t. I guess you have smaller pockets 🙂
They could have created a PEN like you suggest instead of the OM-D, but moving away the viewfinder and getting rid of the hump also means getting rid of the 5 axis IBIS. Probably something that will be addressed in due time, but wasn’t when the E-M5 was introduced.
Replaceable grip!
EM-5 Sensor!
It will not be easy breaking the news to my E-PL1. I am about to crush the little guy’s heart.
Do the series of E-P3 grips fit on the the E-PL5? This seems like a great way to transition your gear to new camera bodies, which don’t seem to have much shelf life.
Buy the Grip, the EVF and the lenses and let the body and sensor underneath improve every 2 years.
Good to know, However my e-P2 with 17mm is pocketable, and that was great. So why not keep the plan with EVF included?
They even issued the 15mm with pocketability as a target.
Many of us are asking this. A RF with built in EVF. Sony and Fuji got it from the start, why should Oly (or Panny) lag behind?
They want to lose sales for lack of a minimal daring?
What alternate universe had Sony with a NEX and built in EVF from the start?
Sony and Fuju’s RF offerings with EVF cost $1000 or more.
Olympus is targeting down market with these.
Olympus targets the OMD up market. And the 5 Axis IBIS which Sony and Fuji cannot touch dictates that the OMD has the viewfinder in the center.
I would rather have OMD steadycam like video and the EVF off to the side.
Will there be an E-P5? Or is the E-P line M and L only?
I would imagine the E-M5 takes the place of the E-P cameras in the lineup, so I would not expect to see a E-P5.
All the industry watchers concur that mirrorless is going to replace at large dSLR. Pens, and early NEX, belong to the pioneering period.
In a very near future, customers will not give a fig about the dSLR or the P&S shape. They’ll want a camera which integrates an EVF with a minimal waste of shape,
There Fuji has made a very good inventory of what it was to be a good camera. Beyond that you have camera phones, which however don’t offer you a fully fledged camera experience.
E-PL5 looks really good, lots of OM-D features in a smaller body. The major failing for me though is lack of a proper control wheel. I have an E-PL2, hate the wheel round the 4 way switch. Just want this one thing fixed, but otherwise the E-PL5 looks like a good upgrade for me.
The EPL5 could have done with a thumb wheel if they really are ditching the top EP line…
Body Cap 15mm – $49.99 expected to ship in October (according Oly Canada web-store)
Link: https://us.buyolympus.com/canada/body-cap-lens-15mm.html