Photokina 08: Olympus Previews Stylish Micro Four-Thirds

We saw this prototype on the Olympus stand at Photokina in Cologne.  It demonstrates just how much the launch of the Micro Four-Thirds system might change the form factor of digital cameras.

It's much like some of the mock-ups we saw when µ4/3 was first floated.  Back then, it was all about ultra-flat compacts, with Leica-like styling and 'pancake' lenses.

Olympus have gone for a rather striking red and silver color scheme, but it's in terms of size and shape that the arrival of µ4/3 promised so much. 

The world's first production model to use the system, the Panasonic G1 has already been criticised for being too bulky and not making the most of what the µ4/3 has to offer.  It was hardly much smaller than a fully-fledged bridge like the FZ28, for example.

We must stress that this photo only shows a prototype, and we haven't yet seen any details of a specification for Olympus' first µ4/3, but this is certainly one of the most interesting cameras we've seen recently.