Olympus has finally heard the clamor for an upgraded version of their Pen-EP1. However, the thing is: yes, they have made some tweaks here and there. But they have also made a monstrosity that I cannot even look at.

The new Olympus Pen E-PL1 has an interchangeable lens, Micro Four Thirds (M4/3) camera, pop-up flash and a direct video-record button. The body, however, loses its sleek and compact style because of the lens and the two innovative thumb dials. They are then replaced by one top-plate dial and a whole lot of buttons.

Also, this Olympus Pen E-PL1 has in-body image stabilization and a possible built-in microphone once you hook a mono mic on it. There are also Live Guides that will let you tweak the colors and other parameters of this device. Another cool feature is that you can pair this camera with an Olympus remote flash and control them from afar.

This Olympus Pen E-PL1 will retail for $600 with a Zuiko 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 in March this year.