Just a prototype. No real detail, and nothing about any upcoming lenses. Maybe PMA will offer more. The pictures of the prototype are pretty cool, I think.


http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08092208...four_thirds.asp

They punt on a viewfinder?

Hey! Just what I never wanted!

Hmmm, not far off what I asked for though. I wanted a tiny little box which would take my ZD lenses as a backup. Beyond that, though, slip the Panasonic 20/1.7 on (if it's any good), stick it in your pocket and go. There has to be a catch! Oh yes, it's not very pretty ...

Well, come to think of it, you could buy a nikon D700 and 14-24 to shoot static landscapes at base ISO and 14mm with. Or you could pay a lot less to get the same 12mp with this and the upcoming pany 7-14 or even the old oly 7-14 and get the same results. It would be a lot smaller and lighter as well. Given, it's less flexible once you start getting into other situations, but you can't say it utterly lacks any advantage in any situation. I mean, that's besides the obvious benefit of being able to stick it in your pocket and have DSLR IQ with you wherever you go, and not getting stopped at events because you have a "professional" camera, because you've just got this and a telephoto the size of your fist in your pocket.

I, for one, want one, but I really do also want the EVF.

The omission of the EVF is a bit puzzling. It would seem to me that anyone knowledgeable enough to understand the advantages of a u43 camera over the tons of other similarly-sized (and generally much cheaper!) compacts, would care enough about compositon to be bothered by the lack of a VF. Speaking as an Olympus owner and fan, I for one will not touch any camera without a VF of some type with a 39.5 foot pole.

I think it's cool. Would be a nice pocket, slim pocket cam.

No viewfinder.

I notice it has a hot shoe right above the lense. But, if no optional optical finder to attach, I will not consider the camera.

Agreed. A hotshoe finder would be great.

Unclear: an interview in Chasseur d'Image apparently describes this as not even a prototype but just a "concept model". That is, a painted balsa wood trial balloon, or a statement that "we are far from ready, but plan to make something about this size, about next year".

I just hope it has in-body IS to use with my existing 50-200: lens-based IS is the main weakness of the Panasonic G1.

Like many 4/3 users, I wait with interest to see what Olympus turns up with. I love that they look like they will produce a tiny box like this - I can see many uses. But if they stick a viewfinder of any substance, plus image stabilisation, plus all the other things people want, we won't get the tiny box. I would baulk at the hideous colour but then, I don't really care what a camera looks like, more what the images it produces look like!

Don.