The retro-styled Micro Four Thirds Olympus Pen E-P1 digi-cam has been ruined, sorry enhanced with a "dazzling makeover" by Crystal Roc.

Now covered in hundreds of "sparkling" Swarovski crystals it will be available exclusively to order from Harrods' Micro Anvika department.

In a special limited edition wooden box, which includes "two lenses" (no details provided - presumably the 14-42mm zoom and the 17mm "pancake" lens) and a matching flash, the crystal-encrusted Pen gets a price tag of ?1999.99.

Those not interested in stuck-on crystals would do well to hang on for the launch of the next-gen, slightly tweaked Olympus Pen E-P2, due in January.

Tags: Cameras Digital cameras Olympus Olympus Pen Micro Four Thirds Harrods Crystal Roc Swarovski Micro Anvika

Olympus Pen E-P1 gets Swarovski treatment originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:10:57 +0000

Olympus has unveiled the second edition of its PEN series, the E-P2, and we were lucky enough to get hands-on and have a little play with it. As you might hope, it retains the chunky body and reassuring weight of its predecessor, while still being small enough to stick in a jacket pocket.

We were only able to grab the briefest of looks in a dimly lit room, so we didn't get much chance to play with the new art modes, but the hot-shoed electronic viewfinder was impressive, as was the level of detail able to be captured in relatively low-light conditions from the camera.

Whether it's worth the extra ?150 over its predecessor, however, is more open to debate. It's certainly an improvement, but it's questionable whether price premium is a little too steep. Be sure to have a little play with both models before making a firm decision.

Tags: Cameras Prosumer cameras Micro Four Thirds Olympus 12 megapixels Olympus E-P2 Photos

PHOTOS: Olympus E-P2 digital camera originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:30:52 +0000

Olympus has unveiled a new version of its E-P1 camera called - you guessed it - the E-P2. The second edition matches its older brother in every way, but exceeds it in several, too.

For starters, there's now an electronic viewfinder available, that plugs into the hot shoe on the top and Olympus reckons it's twice as bright and packs three times the contrast of any other model on the market. It can also capture 7 minutes of HD video along with high-res still shots.

There's two new art filters - "Diorama", which captures tilt-shifted images, and "Cross Process", which alters colours to create a "surreal" look to a picture. Both can be applied to both stills and video. The other addition is that of AF tracking - keeping focus even if a subject moves around - and a colour adjustment mode called iEnhance.

The camera will be available in black only from January 2010 and costs ?850. The E-P1 will continue to be sold alongside it, for a little less cash, so the option is yours.

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Tags: Cameras Prosumer cameras Micro Four Thirds Olympus 12 megapixels Olympus E-P2

Olympus unveils E-P2 camera originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:17:31 +0000

Olympus has followed up the June launch of its retro-chic Pen E-P1 with the new E-P2 Micro Four Thirds digital camera.

Adding a port for an electronic viewfinder or external microphones, the E-P2 gets two additional "Art Filters" as well as the new i-Enhance function, said to be "for even more creativity and image enhancement", AF tracking, remote slideshow control (via HDMI) and perhaps the biggest improvement of all - the ability to record 7 minutes of AVI format movies in 30fps at 1280 x 720p HD resolution.

Specs include a 12.3-megapixel Live MOS sensor with dust reduction and image stabilisation, up to ISO 6400, 3-inch HyperCrystal LCD, 20 shooting modes, face detection and the camera takes SD or SDHC memory cards.

Available in classic black from January 2010, Olympus are hoping these improvements over the original will see consumers shelling out around ?850 for the new snapper - a ?100 more than the dearest E-P1 bundle.

Tags: Cameras Olympus Micro Four Thirds DSLR cameras Olympus Pen E-P1 Olympus Pen E-P2

Olympus Pen E-P2 announced originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:52:46 +0000