It was honestly bound to happen: and now it has. According to a report from the Wall St Journal found by Imaging Resource, Olympus will kill off their V series of cameras. The V series were always the more affordable options, but the problem is that those camera sales are being eroded away by mobile phones. There isn’t any word on the other point and shoot cameras like the XZ-2 and XZ-10, but when one thinks about Olympus these days, we often think about the Micro Four Thirds line of cameras. With the arrival of the EP5, the lineup has full mobile connection though it is also possible with Transcend Air cards for the rest of the pen lineup.
These cameras are designed to offer users something that they can’t get from their phones: better quality. The images are then easily ported over to the devices and then shared to the web. However, someone will soon need to put apps like Instagram and Facebook in the cameras without the use of the Android system.
Despite this news, the company had a tremendous stock rise today. According to the Wall St Journal report though, other manufactures such as Canon are even struggling with point and shoot sales. And for years, Canon Powershots were the absolute best that one could get. But with the recent competition from Fujifilm’s X series and Sony’s RX series with significantly larger sensors, we’re not very sure that the small sensor camera market can survive.
Lots of news came out of today’s MAX conference from Adobe. But perhaps one of the most out of the blue announcements we saw is the latest announcement from the company of their latest pieces of hardware. Coined the Mighty Pen and Napoleon Ruler, they’re being demoed to work on an iPad and are meant to be used together. The pen is pressure sensitive and will let you use loads of different tools with the click of a button on the pen. It seems to be working together with some sort of Adobe software or app. When used together with the ruler, it makes drawing even simpler–such as making arcs even simpler.
They’re also showing off a bunch of different features that are taking advantage of the new Creative Cloud suite. But the video after the jump will show you more.
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The Olympus EPM2 is the successor to the EPM1: a camera that was very much the barebones of the Olympus PEN system. With the upgrade to the EPM2 though, the camera is in many ways the EP3 but even better in many aspects. Targeted at the user that wants something very simple, it can indeed be that type of a camera providing that you don’t go digging through the menus. Once you do that, you subject yourself to a couple of user problems that might not be the easiest to deal with.
Despite those inconveniences, the camera can still wow you at times. Oh, and before you ask, the strap in the image is the from the Olympus Pen Premium Case.
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Anyone else remember when the original digital Pen camera came out? It was beautiful, and everyone raved about it wildly. Remember the leaks that came out and how everyone finally got super excited about Micro Four Thirds? Well then how many of you remember Kevin Spacey’s Olympus Pen Commercials? If you don’t then you may want to check them out down below after the jump. They were pretty awesome and in a convenient playlist that will play the videos back to back for you.
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Olympus today is announcing their latest PEN model cameras. The Olympus E-PL5 and E-PM2 replace the E-PL3 and E-PM1 accordingly and bring a couple of new features and updates to the product line. Not long ago, I actually had hands on time with the cameras but the images were lost when the SD card I shot on became corrupted.
Either way, one of the most notable updates to the PEN camera line is the fact that they will have software to work specifically with the Toshiba Flash Air cards to wirelessly transmit photos. Originally, the card was supposed to come bundled but in between the time that we received the briefing and the announcement, the company gave us this statement, “Due to extenuating circumstances, the Toshiba Flash Air card will not be bundled with the new PEN cameras upon immediate distribution. Although plans are still a work in progress, our plan is to offer a rebate for a free card with the purchase of either an E-PL5 or E-PM2. All the new cameras menus and the app will still be optimized for the card.”
Now let’s take a look at some of the other specs.
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The Olympus EP-3 (or E-P3 or EP3) has been in my hands for a little bit over a week now thanks to the kind folks over at Olympus. They also sent over the gorgeous new 12mm F/2 (or 12mm F2) lens for review with the camera as well as the new kit lens. This review will not be the special field review that we do with many postings in a journalistic fashion, but instead it will be one super long and thorough review. With a list of defining new features to separate it from the predecessors and other cameras announced, does the EP-3 have what it takes to become a hit?
Update: You can also get the 12mm F/2, 45mm F/1.8, Olympus EP3 (black)
or the Olympus EP3 (silver)from Amazon.
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