Olympus E600 DSLR (Four Thirds) leaked in pictures

Near Valentine's day this year, a rumor from Thailand talked of five new Olympus DSLRs. At the time, a number of people pointed that that number was way too high. But it turns out, that rumor may be coming true. We've already seen the E450, E620 and E-P1, and there is the potential of another M43rds camera. And now, there is a forum-leak of an Olympus E-600 DSLR being spotted out there!

For more on this leak, check:
+ Engadget
+ Photography Bay
+ 43rumors

Opinion + Speculation
This is a little bit of a strange move by Olympus. They already have plenty of interchangeable lens cameras, and it's hard to imagine the need for a camera to squeeze between the E450, E520 and E620.

Unless of course, there is a change in strategy, or more specifically, an acceleration of their strategy. Perhaps the early success of Micro Four Thirds grabbing a big chunk of the Serious Compacts interest-share, prompted them to accelerate their shift of their entry-point into DSLRs to the E600-series and give Micro Four Thirds more "breathing room".

Plus, giving their Four Thirds DSLRs sensor-shift stabilization and a movable-LCD-display would give them a more competitive package when going up against the Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax models.

This speculative acceleration may be corroborated by the fact that the Olympus E450 hasn't made a regular retail appearance in the US market, yet at the same time, Olympus USA is offering refurbished (!) E450 two-lens kits at Adorama for just $430. Not a typo, four-hundred and thirty for a DSLR and two lenses.

We can't recall any other incident where a new model came out first as refurbished, but when you factor in this E600 leak, it perhaps makes more sense.

If anyone has bought the refurbished E450 two-lens kits, we would be interested to know whether they feel refurbished or they feel brand new. Perhaps Olympus is trying to preserve their current DSLR price-range and at the same time, move their E450 stock?