New Olympus E450 DSLR follows-up on adorable E420

What sounded like an unbelievable rumor earlier on, talking five new DSLRs from Olympus in 2009, may actually come true, considering there are rumors of two Micro 4/3rds cameras coming up as well (carrot-cam and blue-veil cam).

Today Olympus added a second DSLR to their 2009 line-up, the Olympus E450, a Four Thirds camera that follows up on the adorable E420. It is interesting that the Four Thirds coalition has three out of the five new interchangeable lens cameras announced in 2009. The other two? The Epson R-D1x and the Canon T1i/500D.

Olympus E450 Key features
+ 10mp LiveMOS 4/3rds sensor
+ 4/3rds lens mount
+ no sensor-shift image stabilization
+ TruePiC III+
+ very compact body
+ 2.7" LCD
+ 3.5 fps (8 RAW)
+ takes CompactFlash and the dreaded xD
+ three Art Filters
+ Live View + OVF

Prices and Availability
+ May 2009 and beyond
+ no Japanese announcement even though PIE 2009 is underway !?!??!!
+ USA: 2-lens kit for $700 at QVC initially (does it come with a matching quilt?), then everywhere
+ UK: 450 UK pounds with kit lens
+ Europe: 450e, 550e, 650e for the standard body-only, 1-lens and 2-lens kits

Olympus E450 Further Reading
+ Eight full size sample pictures at Olympus Asia
+ Four differences between it and the E420 says 4-3system.com
+ Four Thirds Photo
+ Four Thirds User
+ detailed specs and differences with the E420 at dpreview
+ DC Resource
+ Olympus Asia
+ Press release at Imaging Insider
+ Overview at Imaging Resource

Reactions to the announcement
+ A 100+ message discussion in the Olympus dpreview forum
+ It's all about marketing says this dpreview forum thread
+ Reactions among Engadget readers