Digital camera enthusiasts know the Olympus PEN series for its multimedia capabilities, good interchangeable lenses and optics that are pegged as Superior by the camera maker. If you love how portable point-and-shoot cameras are but also want the extra features found on a digital SLR, then the new Olympus PEN E-P5 digital camera could be just what you need.

It is hard to believe one and half years have gone since the Olympus PEN E-P3 met its release date, so some fans of this type of camera might feel the wait for an upgrade has been a long one. The new features on the PEN E-P5 have been considered a little behind, considering other digital cameras have had these for a while now.

You will notice the design has changed quite a bit, which looks more like a PEN F film camera but still featuring the retro design the PEN E-P3 had been known for.

We have seen a number of digital camera reviews for the new Olympus, although today we wanted to feature a specs comparison we found comparing the Olympus PEN E-P5 vs. PEN E-P3 and OM-D E-M5. The specs are also put side-by-side with a few other digital cameras, including Sony’s Alpha NEX-6, the NX20 from Samsung and also the Fujifilm X-E1.

You can see the full comparison of all the above models via Cnet. Would the Olympus PEN E-P5 top your pick of these digital cameras, or is there another model that’s your number one choice? We have embedded two videos below, which includes a hands-on review and Olympus’s official trailer.

The SZ-12 is the more compact of the two and is equipped with a 24x lens. Some of its other key features include 720p HD video recording capability, dual image-stabilization and a 14 megapixel camera. The SP-620UZ meanwhile is a larger UltraZoom camera equipped with a 21x lens. It also has HD video recording capability as well as 3D caption capability, using offset 2D image combination, and a 16 megapixel sensor.

Both cameras also feature 7 fps continuous shooting capability, are preloaded with Magic Art Filters which can be used to edit images before they are uploaded, Eye-Fi wireless memory card support and boast a 3” LCD display. If you are interested in getting happy snappy with either of these two cameras the Olympus SZ-12 is expected to hit the shelves in March and will set you back $199.99, while the Olympus SP-620UZ comes out this month according to Slashgear’s report and will also set you back $199.99.

In related news Olympus has found itself at the center of a lawsuit against its executives and president over a scandal which could end up with them inheriting a hefty $47 million in compensation. According to Reuters, the scandal concerned the ‘dodgy’ acquisition of deals which led to the firing of the company’s British CEO Michael Woodford when he questioned the acquisitions. $1.7 billion is reported to have been accounted through the fraud.

Are you impressed with these two new cameras from Olympus? Will you be purchasing either of them later this year?

We already knew that these cameras were coming; it seemed that Olympus were the last to tell us. However, do not let this spoil their day, as these are three very impressive shooters. These are very powerful cameras, which will not take long for you to discover once you see some of the images and HD videos that they can take.

What makes these cameras so good is how they can offer the power of a big bulky camera, but has the mass of a compact model. There are not many cameras on the market that can do this, and those that can cost a small fortune – although we do not expect these three models to be cheap.

First up is the PEN E-P3. This is the flagship of the PEN family and is said to have the fastest autofocus system in the world. DSLR users always hate to look at compact cameras, as they feel that they lack in features and controls, but we think that this will be a great substitute.

The PEN E-PL3 is the middle of the range from, yet is still very powerful. If you do not want to compromise on image quality, then you should certainly consider this model. Some users fear difficult cameras, but you will be pleased to know that the E-PL3 is very easy to use.

The third and final camera from the new Olympus rage is the baby of the bunch and comes in not one but six different colors. They know that more young and active people will choose this camera, so made sense to offer more than just silver or black.

There seems to be an issue with the price, as it is only the PEN E-P3 that has one. Those who want this model will have to part with $900, which on the whole does not seem as bad as we first thought. Olympus has yet to share the price of the other two models, but we do expect them to be cheaper – although not by much. The camera maker has also been a little shy with coming forward with a release date; in the meantime maybe you should brush up on their specs and other details here?

It looks like Olympus are planning to release a camera called the EP-3, full details are currently scarce, however a leaked photo recently showed up on SlashGear with some rumored specs and features, however for now we mustn’t take things too seriously.

SlashGear’s article suggests that the EP-3 will feature a 12 megapixel sensor which supports an IOS range of up to 12800, they also say that the camera will feature a new autofocus system which is faster than what previous Olympus Pen range cameras were capable of. Other things worth mentioning include the noticeable pop-up flash, a large touchscreen display on the rear, 1080i 60fps video recording and the lack of a viewfinder, that said it looks like you will be able to attach an external EVF.

Below we have embedded a photo which shows the rear of the camera (on the left), as you can see there are lots of buttons and two dial wheels, one on the top which will choose certain modes and one on the rear for menu navigation, if you compare the rear of the camera in this leaked photo you will see that it is very similar to the EP-1 (on the right), which suggests that Olympus did not want to change what they think is a winning formula.

The most similar camera to the EP-3 which is currently on the market is the EP-2, you can find out all about this camera over at OlympusAmerica.com, as you can see the main difference in design between this and the EP-3 is the fact that the EP3 has its own pop-up Flash, everything else looks pretty similar.

If you want to find out a little more about the EP-3′s technical specifications check out this link, to see three different (blurry) photos of the EP-3 check out this link, the latter link includes a comments section where people are less than happy that there is no optical viewfinder, does this bother you?

Someone else in the comments section was frustrated by the fact that the UI and general navigation looks similar to what Olympus has given its cameras before, do you see this as a problem?

According to a recent article over at pocket-lint.com by Ben Crompton, Olympus claims that the LS-20M sound recorder offers users ‘recording studio sound quality,’ as well as full HD movie recording at 1920 x 1080 (30fps) with image stabilizer.

The device also features expandable storage via SD cards, adjustable microphone sensitivity, a 4x digital zoom, a 2.0-inch color LCD display at the front and a 1.46-inch LCD data screen that displays important information such as audio levels, time and battery status.

As noted over on the olympusamerica.com website, the LS-20M sound recorder’s HD video compression format makes it simple to upload your videos onto web-based content sharing websites such as Facebook, iTunes, YouTube and Vimeo.

Other features include voice activation, which begins recording automatically once a certain level of sound is reached, a self-timer and USB and HDMI connections. Would you buy the Olympus LS-20M PCM recorder?

Both these cameras come with a backlit 16-megapixel sensor and dual image stabilization. More interestingly Olympus is claiming this pair to be the first to capture both 16-megapixel stills and full 1080p HD video simultaneously.

As reported by Slashgear the ‘MR’ on the SZ-30MR stands for ‘Multi-Recording’ and means that whilst videoing in full HD you can also capture the stills. What’s different about this compared to cameras that have similar features is that the stills being captured are also full HD. Other cameras can only take stills in a much lower resolution whilst shooting videos.

As far as specs go, both cameras are similar with theSZ-20 featuring a 12.5x optical zoom and the SZ-30MR a 24x zoom. Also the SZ-20 will not have the Multi Recording function.

Both these cameras go on sale this month, the SZ-30MR costing €329 and the SZ-20 costing €219. What do you think of these new cameras from Olympus? Is the simultaneous capture something you will find handy? Let us know below.

In terms of specs it has a 14 megapixel CCD sensor, it offers 18x ultra-zoom thanks to its 28-504mm wide-angle lens, on the rear there is a 3-inch high-resolution LCD you can store your media on SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards (up to 32GB), you can see a full breakdown of technical specifications here.

The camera will allow you to take photos at a maximum size of 4288 x 3216 (4:3) or 4288 x 2416 (16:9) also you can capture video at 720p and there are plenty of neat features, the most impressive being its 3D Photo Mode. Something may interest you is that you can take upto 220 shots from a single charge.

This camera weighs 215 grams and measures in at 105 x 67. x 37.9mm, if you are really into your digital cameras you can see Olympus‘ full press release here which goes into detail about the SZ-10′s specs and many impressive features.

The Olympus SZ-10 will become available in March 2011 and should cost roughly $249.99, as standard you will get the camera, battery, USB cable, wrist strap and all of the manuals and software you usually get, however I am sure there will be some optional SZ-10 accessories to choose from as well.

However, there is an alternative, as Micro Four Thirds cameras is something of a stepping stone between the two, and the new Olympus PEN E-PL2 is a fine example of this.

Olympus had a good showing at the recent CES event, PC World has yet to get their hands on the device, but were still able to offer an early preview, just to give an idea of what to expect. Elias Plastiras seemed to love the improved autofocusing system and the extra art filter, but felt let down with the lack of Full HD video recording.

Plastiras believes this to be a vast improvement over the PEN E-PL1 – hopefully they can elaborate on this once they offer a full review. As with all cameras the price is a deciding factor, so you have to ask yourself if you are prepared to pay $599? This is currently the price that Olympus has on its website, so visit them for more details on all the features and specs.

Stuff.TV learned from Olympus the reason why they decided to use their iZuiko lenses in this sub-£400 camera, and that was to help reduce ghosting and flare in the lower range. So let us go over some of the specs, features and also accessories that are already available for the new X-Series camera.

Some of the features and specs include: 10-megapixel, 4X iZuiko zoom lens, HD video recording, dual image stabilization, underwater housing and much more. Then there is the accessory port, which Olympus has already built a number of products for.

There are two flashes available, the FL-14 and the FL-36R Flash; the price for these are $199.99 and $229.99 respectively. The next accessory is the Macro Arm Light (MAL-1); the price is $59.99. For details on other accessories for the XZ-1 compact camera visit the official Olympus website.