Olympus release 60’s inspired flagship PEN E-P5

Olympus are celebrating their 50th anniversary by releasing the PEN E-P5. This flagship model takes design cues from the 1960's but features some high tech internals.

The Micro Four Thirds camera is home to a 16 megapixel live MOS sensor, 5 axis image stabilisation and Wi-Fi support. The mirrorless camera follows 2 years after the E-P3, which was a big seller for the company.

The camera is using the 5 axis image stabilisation system which was used in the high end, expensive OM-D E-M5. It can deliver an ISO range between 200-1600, expandable to 25,600. The engine can handle up to 9 frames per second shooting, although this is lowered if you have all the settings and resolution at maximum.

Focus peaking is a new feature, added to help with manual focusing. The mechanical shutter can handle speeds up to 1/8000th of a second,  a first for a compact camera like this. The camera features a built in flash and has a 1,037k dot LCD three inch screen, which can be tilted. There is also a VF-4 electronic viewfinder with a 2,360k dot display. It will switch between modes when it detects an eye in the viewfinder.

The Wi-Fi capabilities will be welcomed by a large audience and it can connect to Android and Apple smartphones to share images and even to enable remote shooting. Remote shooting is a cool feature which lets you see the camera image through your smartphone screen.

The camera can also record full HD video at up to 30 frames per second.

The Pen E-P5 measures 122.3 x 68.9 x 37.2mm and weighs 420g. It will be available in silver and black and white versions. The pricing is set at $1,000 for the body only when it goes on sale in June. They will also ship a kit bundle, featuring the M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f1.8 lens.

Kitguru says: No confirmed UK pricing yet, but it won't be cheap.

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