From above, the Olympus 50th Anniversary Pen camera looks a lot like a flying craft out of Star Wars (original eps. 4-6). You know, kind of space-age but a little clunky and not that slick. Well, that's exactly what Olypmus was going for with this camera. Something that was aesthetically reminiscent of the long lineage of Pen Cameras circa 1959.

What will instatly blow you away about this camera is that it's lens is interchangable. Yeah. It's just a matter of snap-locking a big elephant-gun-of-a-lens on this baby and you'll be photographing the sweat on a cheetah's brow from a thousand paces! Olympus has gone into a bit of detail too with this camera providing a beautiful retro-styled leather case for the machine and a hot-shoe footing for a flash. Below are a couple of pictures of the original Pen Camera (1959) and a further development along the line (1962). It's great to see that Olympus has done a gun job in repeating the aesthetic, although I would whinge about there not being a view finder a la Canon G10.

Olympus will go on about this being the perfect in-between camera for those that don't like the bulk of an SLR but want the picture quality... blah blah blah. But really, this camera is all about conversation. You pull this out at a family function or some soiree of import and you and your Pen will be the talk of the room, though I hear it does take a pretty nice snap of Uncle Wally.