Neither product has been announced outside the Japanese market at the current time. Of the two announcements, the more significant is probably the new M.Zuiko 14-42mm II lens, which features an updated design for its optics, autofocus drive, and barrel.

Focal range and maximum aperture are unchanged from the previous lens, but the previous model's collapsing mechanism has been replaced with a new two-stage design. In our testing of the previous lens, we found that its collapsing design induced some issues with vertical blurring in images shot at shutter speeds of between around 1/100 and 1/200 second. If the new lens corrects this issue, it could prove a particularly noteworthy addition to Olympus' Micro Four Thirds lineup.

A change in optical formula for the new lens allows a reduction in weight of some 25%, which falls from 150g in the old model to 112g in the new one. Where the previous lens had nine elements in eight groups, including two aspheric lenses, one extra-low dispersion lens, and one high refractive lens, the new model has an updated optical formula with one less element. With eight elements in seven groups, the new design has no ED or HR elements, but adds one additional aspheric element, for a total of three. The new lens also has a smaller barrel diameter of 56.5mm (down from 62mm), but increases the collapsed length from 43.5mm to 50mm. Filter size has been reduced from 40.5mm to 37mm, which should somewhat reduce the cost of filters.

Another significant change in the new lens design is the adoption of Olympus' MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) design, as seen previously in the M. Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 and M. Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 lenses. Olympus MSC lenses have autofocus motors which are tuned to focus quickly and accurately, as well as silently, making them better-suited for high-definition movie recording. Minimum focusing distance is unchanged at 25cm, but the maximum magnification is now 0.19x (equivalent to 0.38x on a 35mm camera), versus 0.24x (0.48x equivalent) in the previous design. As with the old design, the new lens has a seven-bladed circular aperture.

Compared to the lens, changes in the Olympus Pen Lite E-PL1s are relatively modest. The Olympus PL1s is near-identical to its predecessor externally, with the only visible change being a reduction in the number of silver body panels, with more of the camera matching the coloring of the front and rear panels. Only the thin silver trim piece that spans the camera's width adjacent to the top of the hand grip has been retained as an accent that matches the Pen PL1s' silver main controls on the front, top, and rear panels. Under the skin, there are only two significant differences between the Olympus E-PL1s and its predecessor. Where the E-PL1 offered up a maximum sensitivity of ISO 3,200 equivalent, the E-PL1s reaches a maximum of ISO 6,400 equivalent.

The Olympus Pen PL1s also uses a new BLS-5 lithium ion battery pack, which is intended to ready the PL1s for compliance with new requirements of Japan's Electrical Appliance and Material Safety law. Accompanying the new battery, an updated BCS-5 battery charger is included in the Pen Lite PL1s product bundle. The final change in the Olympus Pen Lite PL1s bundle is perhaps the most significant, from the point of view of potential owners. In place of the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens from the E-PL1 kit, Olympus Pen E-PL1s kits ship with the aforementioned Olympus M. ZUIKO Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II optic.

In other respects, the Pen Lite E-PL1s is essentially unchanged from its predecessor. Other features of note include a pop-up flash, dedicated Movie Record button, Live Guide mode, support for both the VF-2 electronic viewfinder and EMA-1 Microphone adapter accessories, and SD/SDHC card storage.

The Olympus PL1s has only been announced in the Japanese market, where it is available in three body colors -- black, white, or red. List pricing hasn't been announced, but street pricing for the Pen E-PL1s in Olympus' web store is set at ¥64,800 (US$780) for a single-lens kit with the Olympus M. ZUIKO Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II lens, or ¥84,800 (US$1,020) in a dual-lens kit that also bundles the M. ZUIKO Digital ED 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 lens. The Olympus M. ZUIKO Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II lens is also available separately in Japan, with pre-tax list pricing set at ¥35,000 (US$420), and web store pricing of ¥29,400 (US$350).

For more details on both lens and camera, read our Olympus PL1s preview.

Olympus Pen Lite E-PL1s
General
Camera Type	SLD
Manufacturer	Olympus
Model Number	North America: E-PL1s
Dimensions	4.5 x 2.8 x 1.6 in. (115 x 72 x 42 mm)
Weight	16.1 oz (456 g)
Image Capture
Sensor Type	Panasonic N-MOS Four Thirds (approx. 0.85 in. diagonal) 13.10 megapixels (total) 12.30 megapixels (effective)
Filter Type	RGBG
Focal Length Multiplier	2.00
Aspect Ratio	4:3
Image Dimensions	4032 x 3042 (12.3 megapixels) 2560 x 1920 (4.9 megapixels) 1024 x 768 (0.8 megapixels) 640 x 480 (0.3 megapixels)
Image Preview / Review
Viewfinder	No
LCD	2.7 in. diagonal 230,000 dots (approx. 77,000 pixels) 100% field of view
Playback Zoom	14.0x max
Lens
Lens Type	Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 II Zoom Lens 3x optical zoom 37mm lens thread
Lens Mount	Micro Four Thirds mount
Image Stabilization	Yes
Focal Length	14.0 - 42.0mm (actual) 28 - 84mm (35mm equivalent)
Aperture Range	f/3.5 (wide) / f/5.6 (tele) - f/22
Focusing System	11-point contrast detection w/ tracking Does not have AF assist lamp Manual focus possible
Focusing Range	Normal: 10" - infinity (25 cm - infinity)
Exposure
ISO Sensitivity	Auto (200 - 6400), 100 - 6400 (1/3, 1 EV steps)
Shutter Speed	60 - 1/2000 second
Exposure Modes	Aperture, Shutter, Manual
Metering Modes	324-zone Digital ESP, Center Weighted Average, Spot (with Highlight/Shadow mode)
Exposure Compensation	+/- 3.0EV in 1/3EV increments
White Balance	Image Sensor - Auto, Lamp, Fluorescent 1/2/3, Daylight, Flash, Cloudy, Shade, Custom WB, One-touch WB
Internal Flash	Modes: TTL-Auto, Auto, Manual, Off Range: Depends on lens aperture
Flash Exposure Compensation	+/- 3.0EV in 1/3EV increments
Creative
Scene Modes	19 Scene Mode, 8 Art Filters
Self Timer	Yes, 2 or 12 seconds
Time Lapse	No
Movie Format	AVI (Motion JPEG) with audio Max. clip length: 420 seconds () / 840 seconds ()
Storage
Recording Medium	SD/MMC including SDHC
File System	FAT16, FAT32, complies with Design Rule for Camera File System (DCF)
File Format	RAW (.ORF), JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
Connectivity
Video	Standard definition: Yes, NTSC / PAL switchable
Computer	USB 2.0 High Speed
Other	Accessory port, Multi Connector (USB/AV), Mini HDMI
Power
Battery Type	Lithium-ion rechargeable
Battery Form Factor	Proprietary BLS-5
Product Bundle
Software	OLYMPUS Master 2 Software CD-ROM
Battery / Charger	1 x proprietary BLS-5 lithium ion rechargeable battery and charger
Other
Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) compliant	Yes
PictBridge Compliant	Yes
Internal Microphone	Yes
Internal Speaker	Yes
Tripod Mount	Yes, Metal
Remote Control	No
Operating System Compatibility	Windows, Mac OS
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