Digital Home Thoughts: Olympus to Release LX5/S95 Challenger in XZ-1; E-PL2 Leaked As Well

Rumour times are abound with CES 2011 just next week, so here's something fairly concrete from Olympus. First up is their premium compact entry, coming in to the party really late. It is quite an impressive one though, with a Zuiko-branded lens that is a 28-112mm equivalent f/1.8-2.5 which is mated. That's a nice fast lens. Other rumoured niceties include a 3" OLED screen and HD video. It better support RAW image output!

The other rumour is the E-PL2, the follow-up to the budget E-PL1. The most interesting tidbit is the dongle for Bluetooth (which slots into the hotshoe and uses the connector below it) that allows the camera to send images to your phone. I have been very impressed with what one can do with photos on smartphones, and I think this is a good step towards merging the best of both worlds; the quality of a proper camera and the software on the smartphone. I wish it was integrated though. Photo of the E-PL2 after the break.

Olympus XZ-1 compact camera with a fast f/1.8 Zuiko zoom lens

Olympus E-PL2 Surfaces