Olympus have officially announced the new E-PL1s Micro Four Thirds camera, a slightly upgraded version of the E-PL1, together with a new 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. Both camera and lens will only be available in Japan for now.

The new Olympus E-PL1s + 14-42mm Mk II kit lens. Picture courtesy of Olympus.

The camera is essentially the same as the E-PL1, but now features shooting at 6400 ISO, and uses a different battery. The lens, on the other hand, is a completely new design, labeled “Movie and Stills compatible”, which means it now has the same super quiet and blazing fast autofocus that was introduced with the 9-18mm and 14-150mm lenses. The new kit zoom is also lighter than the original version. If it is any different in its optical quality will be seen once first reviews pop up on the net — I’ll keep you posted!

Links:
Olympus’ official announcement, translated via Google
The news on dpreview.com
The news on photoscala.de (in German)