As a fan of Micro Four Thirds system (and proud owner of Panasonic Lumix GF1 ) I was really surprised when I got my eyes on Engadget’s leaked post about new Olympus PEN E-PL1. Soon after the post was removed but I and many other were lucky enough to grab some of this sneak peak info. This new camera will be officially released tomorrow at 15:00 Tokyo time but we already know some information from its leaked full press release and photos.

So what are my impressions about this new member of m43 family? Hmmm.. quite good considering its features . We got the same relatively good performing 12MP sensor as inside E-P1/2, Olympus’s specific In Body Image Stabilization, 2.7-inch LCD screen and of course HD video capabilities together with accessory port for electronic viewfinder or external microphone. That’s nice but we got more! The real new feature is additional flash inside the body. Considering its even smaller size than E-P1/2 I find it really interesting. Remember? Olympus told us before that it was impossible to incorporate the flash into the camera body with previous models but here we got it like nothing happened.

As for these features we can see E-PL1 as something which takes the good from its predecessors and will sell it for “only” 599$ MSRP. Almost half the price of latest E-P2! It is Ridiculously better deal for me but I already got my Lumix GF1 So far it seams that IBIS can make the difference even comparing to almighty Lumix. However not everything look so nice about this camera..

The first thing to notice is its slightly cheaper body design which is in fact too plastic for my taste. Especially the back of the camera with the changed control buttons. We got new dedicated button for video recording like on GF1 but instead we lost both control dials. This is another letdown and it may definitely frustrate many people who are like me and demand direct control for aperture or other exposure settings. On the other hand I can understand the changes in design to make the camera a little bit cheaper and maybe to stop it from entering the waters of its bigger and more expensive brothers

Next thing to comment after seeing pictures is an absence of those cool nice Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17 mm f/2.8 prime lenses as a kit option. Instead we see only classic Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lenses bundled with the new camera. It is not bad but I think that all Micro Four Thirds cameras just look great with those small primes – be it from Panasonic or Olympus. But who knows, maybe there is another option for kit lenses… we will see.

Yes, we will see more about E-PL1 tomorrow and I bet we are not aware of everything yet even with mentioned leaked info. I am prepared so Olympus be better showing something extra at its official release.