Dials! Dials everywhere, OM-D=Oh My Dials? Olympus really means business with this one. No fancy designer needed here, just the best example of retrography this editor has ever seen, and yes, i include all the recent Fujifilms, and the Panasonic GX1.

Today, we got something that *could* be the brochure or an ad, eve though the text in it appears written by someone too enthusiastic about the E-M5, in a too simplistic tone. However, there HAVE been Olympus ads in the past written in a not too formal English. The text reads:

Wild=The Hungarian blog MLZphoto. Not very much to see here, except for the photos and the identity of the designer. While Pentax used the services (and for some reason, paid for them too) of designer Marc Newson for their K-01, the Olympus E-5M bears the unmistakable design traits of Darth Vader. As a matter of fact, we're 100% positive the E-M5 is just a Tie-Fighter instrument reworked into a camera. This goes a long way to explain the sometimes outlandish claims in the rumoured E-M5 spec list. Now we can just replace the 'best this', tweaked that' and 'revolutionary these' with a simple 'bestest camera ever'. 

Also, we've got something that COULD be the picture of the whole OM-D camera, blog.livedoor.jp has (according to some) proven to be a reliable leak source in the past. More tidbits from 43rumors.com:

"When the screen is tilted, the camera rests on the left hand which holds the lens, and the right hands operates. It’s both better and worse than using an EVF: as I don’t have to bring the camera to my eye when shooting it’s less conspicuous on the street and easier in the composition, but when focusing manual lenses or shooting in the strongest light the EVF is better. Visibility is actually quite good in midday light, and versatility in

So, in the near future, we'll go to Oly's app store, and buy stuff like "9 extra filters", "add x functionality" and such? Woohoo! :(

I think what photographers need foremost is all encompassing firmware updates that really fixes every fixable bug. 

Fight! The newcomer against the establishment, the newest versus the oldest and most mature compact camera system. The results are a bit..unexpected:

Ok, the leaks about this camera are becoming something of a Chinese water drop torture. Are olympus and 43rumors both into this? 

"A new source (Thanks!) had the chance to test the new OM-D camera. He says “the 12800 ISO performance looks similar to the E-P3′s 3200

Wow, we've got what, 6 lens companies in the micro four thirds camp now?  Surely good news for the customers.

OLYMPUS PRESS RELEASE

"The Olympus E-P3's full-autofocus shutter lag in single-area AF mode (center AF position) was only 0.222 second with the 14-42mm II R kit lens at wide-angle. At full telephoto, AF shutter was even lower, at 0.205 second. That's faster than many SLRs! In 35-point "All Targets" AF mode, this

"Even Olympus itself is getting into the act, posting a teaser advert in Amateur Photographer magazine that starts with "Oh My Goodness!", with the "O" and "M" in a bolder font. The next paragraph underneath reads (as reported on Photography Blog): "Was all we said when we first saw

Piece by piece we will soon have a full image of the new Olympus OM-D. Or whatever it will be called. 

800 $/e with just a cap and no hood? It better be the best darn 12mm lwns on the market:

"Sharpness for a wide angle is good wide open, but the corners have at least twice the blur circle as the central area, and thus have a touch of

"In the film days, Olympus' OM line was one of the majors in the SLR (single-lens reflex) world--indeed, I learned photography with my first camera, an OM-10 I used for many years. With the digital-SLR revolution, Olympus started over with a new brand, the E series line, that came

This update fixes just one thing, "Improves focal length display for electric zoom lenses."

"This will be the first digital camera of the prestigious OM series that this year will become 40 years old. The first film camera was the M-1 (launched in 1972) that was than renamed OM-1 because Leica put some pressure on Olympus to change the name (to not confuse it with the

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Fujifilm Holdings said on Wednesday it is considering supporting scandal-hit endoscope maker Olympus Corp although neither side looks likely to move quickly on an equity alliance that Olympus needs to shore up its finances.

Stuff-Review has made a nice little chart that pits the newcomer against the almost established crowd. That's all pretty theoretical though, since 3 of the 4 cameras are practically not available in the majority of the western world:

1. Priced at $1.100 or 1.000 Euro in Europe
2. ​Width 121mm, weighs 425g
3. New in body stabilization and AF system

"A couple of years ago Olympus said that 12 Megapixels were enough and there was no need to increase the Megapixel number on the Micro Four Thirds sensor. I tend to agree with them but I would have been happy to see some sort of new “version” of the current über-used 12 MPX

"It really is a tough decision because like I said, all of these little machines are pretty damn good but NONE are perfect in every way, NONE. As of today, if you want the perfect mirrorless it would have to be a mix of four cameras. If we mixed the speed, metering and responsiveness of the

Despite Olympus current woes, the development and unveiling of the new OM line appears to be on track.  Release date is said to be at February 8th. Olympus put out a full page ad at the back page of next week’s Amateur Photographer magazine. And they higligted the letters “O” and “M"

Seems a groom partner has shown up at last. Still, this is rumor territory, so take it with a pinch of salt:

"Olympus remains a thorny takeover target for potential bidders because the multinational remains

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Olympus Corp. said it is seeking damages from its president, Shuichi Takayama, and 18 other current and former executives over their roles in a $1.7 billion cover-up of losses.

The Japanese camera maker’s auditors

"The Olympus PEN system camera series is known for its creative filters. There are six artistic filters integrated into the Olympus PEN Lite: pop-art, soft-focus, grainy film, pinhole, diorama and dramatic. I personally used Pinhole most often, as this is applicable in most circumstances. Pop-Art and Dramatic also give fun effects. Diorama was a bit of a disappointment. The Art filters are a very fun addition to the camera. "

Well, maybe they have a hint or two about each others existence. FTA:
""One thing that struck me once again while unboxing some new m4/3 lenses is that Panasonic sure seems to not mention the word "Olympus" in their m4/3 materials. Other than acknowledgement of Olympus' trademark of the Four Third and Micro Four Third names

"By looking at the menu, it quickly becomes clear that the Olympus PEN Mini is ideal is for beginner, enthusiastic photographers. For each menu item, if desired, there is an extra explanation available. You can easily read all photo tips and the Live Guide menu gives direct access to important settings, such as aperture and depth of field. The camera itself

Wow, lots of corporate cleavage here. Top pick: Canon confirms introduction of mirrorless line. FTA: 

"Canon Imaging Rong Said Canon will announce its mirrorless and high End Compacts in 2012.
 The Best part of the interview was Canon confirms Mirrorless System is coming in 2012, See more: on October 2011 we have published

"The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f2 may not boast a lot of features, but it does have something interesting up its sleeve. At first sight you see nothing special except for a few depth-of-field marks that seem rather pointless as there appears to be no distance scale on the lens. However, a closer look reveals that you can pull the focus ring back toward the mount, a move that exposes a nicely engraved distance scale that – together with the afore-mentioned DoF markings – allows you to use the time-honoured technique of zone focusing,