There is one big deal on the Olympus E-Pm2 double kit which now sells for $399 at Amazon. And the reason for such a great deal is simple: The successor will be announced sometimes between May and June!
A couple of store managers told us Olympus discontinued the E-PM2 and E-P5 cameras and they are now discounting these products to clear their stocks.
There is no info about the specs of the E-PM3 and E-P6 cameras but as usual with Olympus we can expect incremental changes only. Recently Olympus manager Watanabe also made it clear that the bets position for the EVF is in the middle of the camera in line with the optical axis. This rules out the possibility of a sort of “rangefinder styled” Pen camera.
5 Responses
The idea that the central evf is better since in axis with the lens is, imo, outdated and simplistic.
Since in the evf wysiwyg, it’s not the few centimeters that could make the difference. Instead, I think that the central hump bothers many ‘pure’ mirrorless users, who went this route to have the smallest possible camera with the highest possible iq.
Right, and even if that was the best place for the finder, it wouldn’t “rule out” a different, “second best” solution for a new PEN series camera.
Yeah, kinda ridiculous to say that the best place for an EVF for finder is center.. not sure if that small distance in position from a upper corner mounted and center mounted would be that different in use.. I mean it doesn’t really matter anyways since you’ll get a center line with lens regardless since it’s an EVF.
But, if it’s a true rangefinder (or even semi like in the Fuji X100/100S & X-Pro 1), then that would make a difference, obviously.. but, once you switch to EVF it’s all in line with lens axis anyways.
Wherever they want to place the EVF, the E-P5 replacement should have one. If you’re dealing with the bright sun, the rear panel isn’t always going to be that usable.
The E-PM2 is a bargain now, and will remain so for the foreseeable future – I doubt this will change with the replacement.
The E-PM2 is not for everyone though, with it’s single dial, tiny grip, semi-plastic colored body, and single Fn button.
The E-P5 kit, with the 17mm 1.8 lens and add-on EVF is somewhat a bargain as well, if you need this setup and are prepared to pay a little over $1000.