(Wired) - Olympus is taunting tigers at the zoo with its new digital "Pen" camera, the E-P1. The "tigers" in this case are the self-appointed camera snobs, who will undoubtedly maul this bold, retro-styled shooter for not being expensive enough, powerful enough or big enough to qualify as a "real" camera. But the ambitious consumers at whom it's aimed will have a hard time understanding this strange new device's appeal without first hearing a 10-minute lecture about sensor size, interchangeable lens mount standards, optical viewfinders and high ISO speeds. The resulting camera is beautiful, fun to use, yet not entirely practical. It's pricey too (9 at Amazon.com: [URL]http://xrl.us/PenEP1A[/URL] ). As a result, it probably won't become a massive bestseller, but that's beside the point. What it will do is win design awards, turn heads, and kick- start camera makers to put a little more thought into their designs, rather than mindlessly churning out variations on the same tired theme year after year.. Continued: [URL]http://xrl.us/PenEP1[/URL]
