14 DAY TRIAL // There seems to be quite a bit of activity on the photo and video camera market lately, as Olympus has now joined rivals Sony and Panasonic with a new product, namely the PEN Mini.
Summer is always the season of tourists, meaning that cameras are one electronic product that usually see a sales rise in this period.
Considering this, it is not at all surprising to learn of the coming of Panasonic's new Lumix models, nor of the item invented by Olympus.
Granted, summer is at an end, but this only means that the back-to-school season is getting to the climax, providing yet more occasions worthy of being immortalized. Indeed, Olympus has joined in on the fun, again, this once creating the PEN E-PM1, otherwise known as PEN Mini.
Basically, it is a 12.3 megapixel camera (it features a Live MOS sensor) with interchangeable lenses and a TruePic VI image processor, plus a 3-inch LCD screen. All in all, it should have no trouble shooting high quality images and 1,080i video.
"The Olympus PEN E-PM1 is the ideal camera for those interested in DSLR quality in a compact camera design. It's fun to use, super powerful, and its small size means it's the 'goes anywhere you go' PEN camera," said Katie Roseman, senior product manager, Olympus Imaging America Inc.
"Whether you're recording your child blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, capturing an elaborate candle-lit table setting at your favorite restaurant or chronicling a vacation, you will never worry about missing a fun or spontaneous moment with the PEN Mini by your side."
Olympus made sure to add some more features to the PEN Mini, like an SD card slot, USB 2.0 support, RAW image capturing, mini HDMI and a Li-ion battery, plus an ISO sensitivity range between ISO 200 and 12800.
$500 is what prospective buyers will have to part with if they want the item. Sales start next month, September 2011, in purple, white, silver, black and brown colors.