The real strength of that camera is that it will be able to use all current (like the external Flashes the SEMA-1 Mic the VF-2 viewfinder) and upcoming PEN accessories. Well done Olympus!!!
Olympus ticked nearly every box with this one:
Not present:
- 1/1.63" sensor (matches LX5, exceeds others)
- f/1.8-2.5 lens (matches EX1, exceeds others)
- 3" OLED LCD
- Two control dials, one iof which is around the lens
- Hot shoe
- Wireless control of off-camera flash
- Image stabilization
- HD video (720p)
- Articulated LCD
- Multi-aspect ratio sensor
- Ultra-wide angle
I'm glad to see Olympus back in this space after all these years.
I'm actually excited about this camera after having given up on these small sensor serious compacts (except for the Ricoh GRD3).
I can certainly see this being a fourth worthy contender for the crown that the S95, LX5, and EX1 are fighting for, but I don't see what about this camera would make someone conclude, sight unseen, buttons unpushed, that it will be BETTER than any of those, let alone all of them.
Yes, the speed of the lens throughout the range sounds impressive and that's a point in its favor. Hopefully the optics are as good. But beyond that, it just all seems like tradeoffs to me. As an LX5 shooter, I'd be very hesitant to give up its 24mm wide angle, its incredible hyperfocal setup, and its very quick response and lack of shutter lag. If I was an S95 owner who valued pocketability over some of the other features, this wouldn't lure me away from that. If I was an EX-1 owner, I suspect I'd be pretty addicted to the articulating OLED screen and maybe the 24mm wide, and would be hesitant to give those things up. So this looks like it may be good on a lot of fronts, but it may lack key strengths that each of the other have that may have drawn their owners to them. Aside from the slightly faster apertures at the longer end of the zoom, I don't see anything here that would pull me away from what I have. Or would have caused me to choose it if I was just now looking for one of these cameras. Worth a look, for sure, but I don't quite get the unseen enthusiasm...
-Ray
I'm not sold on the Oly yet, but to call its lens "slightly faster" at the longer end of the zoom is quite an understatement. The S95 is f4.9 at 105mm, the LX5 f3.3 at 90mm, the Oly at F2.2 up to 100mm, beating the Canon by about 2 1/2 and the Panasonic by clearly more than one stop. I believe the last time I saw a fixed zoom this fast at the long end was with the Leica Digilux 2 (f2.4 at 90mm).
I can certainly see this being a fourth worthy contender for the crown that the S95, LX5, and EX1 are fighting for, but I don't see what about this camera would make someone conclude, sight unseen, buttons unpushed, that it will be BETTER than any of those, let alone all of them...