Olympus Expands Micro Four Thirds PEN Line With New 12.3MP E-P2 And Two New Lenses

If you want the excellent low-light performance and changeable lenses of an SLR in a form factor closer to the pocketability of a point-and-shoot, Olympus’ PEN series of mirrorless, Micro Four Thirds cameras have always been easy to recommend (See our review: Olympus PEN E-PL1 Camera Is Almost Perfect). Now they’ve expanded an already great camera line with a new model… as well as a couple of new lenses to fit onto it.

The Olympus PEN E-P2 is a black smart looking 12.3 megapixel mirrorless that comes with a matching M.ZUIKO Digital Ed 17mm pancake lens and a matching FL-14 flash. All together, the kit will cost $999.99 when it drops in October… although if you’d rather exchange the flash for a black VF-2 electronic viewfinder, you can opt for that and pay about $80 more.

In addition, Olympus has expanded its lens line-up with a pricy new 75-300MM zoom, which (at 35mm equivalency) Olympus proclaims to be the world’s smallest and lightest 600mm super telephoto lens. It’s priced at $800, but don’t expect spectacular low-light performance, since it is specced for an f-stop range between 4.8-6.7. It will drop in December.

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As for the other lens, it’s a far cheaper 40-150MM (35mm equivalent is 80-300mm) affair rated at f4.0-5.6. It will cost just $299 when it is released in November.

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