Olympus Pen E-P5 Micro Four Thirds Mirrorless Digital Camera Body, 16.1MP, 3.0" Display, Built-in Wi-Fi, TruePic VI Image Processor, White

The Olympus E-P5 is the new flagship model in Olympus's groundbreaking lineup of mirrorless compact digital cameras and is filled with upgrades and highly anticipated new features. As with all other Olympus MILCs, the E-P5 is based on the Micro Four Thirds lens mount and the Four Thirds format sensor. The Olympus Pen E-P5 shares the same 16MP sensor as the Olympus OM-D E-M5, which was introduced to rave reviews last year and its designed has been tweaked to more closely reflect design elements from the original film Olympus Pen F, which was sold through the '60s and early '70s.

But the Olympus Pen E-P5's headline features go well beyond cosmetic changes. These include a significant performance boost that Olympus claims puts the E-P5 on par with many enthusiast-level DSLRs, new dials and controls, the first Pen with built-in Wi-Fi and smart phone/tablet remote operation and a bevvy of cool creative functions. I had an opportunity to briefly handle a pre-production version of the camera. Let's take a closer look at this little camera and see if it is poised to make a big impression.

The E-P5 is the largest of the Pen line, but is still smaller than a DSLR and would certainly not be considered hefty. It's a small camera, considering its extensive features and abilities. It has an all-metal construction with a solid feel, with a well-contoured, built-in hand grip that makes the camera easy to hold. Actually, "solid" is a good word to use here, as the entire camera exterior (except for the bottom plate) is a solid mold, with no exterior screws.

New to the E-P5 is a pair of control wheels, one of which is operated by the thumb and the other placed within reach of the forefinger. Both of these controls can be modified to control, say, aperture and shutter speed respectively, or ISO and EV, through menu changes. This is true for many of the other buttons on the camera body. Overall, controls are well organized and easily marked.