Olympus announced a new digital SLR today, the E30 which is placed a notch below their flagship E3 SLR.

Olympus E30

• 12.3 effective megapixels (LiveMOS sensor)
• Four Thirds system lens mount (2x crop factor)
• Sensor shift image stabilization
• SuperSonic Wave Filter dust removal
• 2.7 inch HyperCrystal II rotating LCD
• New TruePic III PLUS imaging processor
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and hotshoe
• Built-in wireless externalflash control
• 11 point AF (Same as E3)
• New Art Filters photo effects
• Large optical viewfinder with 98% coverage and 1.02X magnification
• Live view; with contrast detect AF (no mirror flipping) and face detection
• Multiple Exposure mode combines (superimposes) up to 4 photos together
• 9 different photo aspect ratios to select from
• 5 FPS burst mode up till 12 RAW or unlimited JPEG photos
• Dual memory card slots: CF card (Type I and II) and xD-Picture card
• Uses BLM-1 lithium-ion battery; takes up to 650 shots (CIPA Standard, live view off)
• Available in January 2009 for $1300 (body only)

Olympus also announced a redesigned lens today. The new Zuiko Digital 14-54 mm f2.8-3.5 version II lens now comes with circular aperture and support for contrast detect AF on the latest Four Thirds digital SLR cameras. It will be available for $600 in January 2009.

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