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Olympus E-P2
In the summer of 2009, Olympus announced the beginning of a new era of small, interchangeable-lens digital cameras, as the company debuted its first Micro Four Thirds-system camera, the Olympus E-P1. Less than five months later, the company introduced the P1’s sibling — the Olympus E-P2 — retaining many of its predecessor’s features, but with a variety of important differences. The company is continuing to align its Olympus E-P series cameras with the old PEN system of film cameras, dating back to 1959, and like the previous model , the E-P2’s style reflects that heritage.
The Olympus E-P2 uses the same 12.3-megapixel sensor from the E-P1, capable of both still and HD video capture. Body styling is also largely unchanged, with the biggest difference being a change in body color and finish. Where the P1 was offered in either silver with black trim, or a white with tan trim limited edition, the P2 gets a new color scheme. The body itself is still stainless steel, but now has a thin layer of black paint under a clear coat, giving a translucent black finish, accompanied by black trim panels. Looking a little closer, the other main difference is the addition of a new accessory port reminiscent of that in Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-GF1. As with the Panasonic GF1, the Olympus E-P2’s accessory port allows use of a hot shoe-mounted external electronic viewfinder, the VF-2. Olympus’s external EVF has a rather higher specification than that from Panasonic, though, and the company is also using the port to allow for external microphone use via an optional adapter.
