If you’re into photography, you’ve probably been following the announcement of the Olympus E-P1 with some excitement. I know I have! The E-P1 is not a compact, nor an SLR, it’s a Pen; A small camera with interchangeable lenses. The Olympus E-P1 is a Micro Four Thirds camera that, among other things, features 12.3 megapixels, 720p HD video shooting at 30fps, built-in image stabilization, and art filters.

Whether you’re happy (Love the size and the retro look!) with the camera or not (You’re kidding, no viewfinder and no flash?), you’ve got to hand it to Olympus’ PR and Marketing departments, they executed on a good web strategy. The E-P1 launch was fun. They’ve been teasing us for quite a while since the mock-up first appeared at Photokina in September 2008; Mysterious tweets by @getolympus, the videos commemorating the Olympus Pen from 1959, the invitations to the Berlin event, and the sudden involvement of Blendtec. It doesn’t happen very often, but the web was full of Olympus buzz!

So, what’s been causing all of the buzz? Here’s a short recap of the most important rumors and events:

19-4-2009: This is the mock-up camera that was shown at Photokina 2008. A prediction of the camera’s specs is made on 43rumors.com, where else?

29-5-2009: Rumors of the camera’s name emerge on a Korean forum: E-P1 (via 43rumors.com).

1-6-2009: Sketches of the camera’s front are published at 43rumors.com.

2-6-2009: Olympus invites prominent journalists and bloggers to a Micro Four Thirds event in Berlin held on the 15th and 16th of June.

4-6-2009: Sketches of the back of the camera appear on 43rumors.com.

5-6-2009: The first real picture of the camera is leaked, photography enthusiasts on the web are getting excited.

11-6-2009: A very tiny image (120×90 pixels) of the camera and the kit lenses appears on a Chinese forum (via 43rumors.com).

15-6-2009: Stock images of the Olympus E-P1 leak all over the web. Some photoshop the images and add a black model to the line-up.

16-6-2009: The camera is officially announced by Olympus and goes on pre-order at camera retailers worldwide.

16-6-2009: Yes, it blends.

It’s been an interesting launch, and so far, most hands-on previews of the camera seem to be in Olympus’ favor. But, what will the pixel-peeping reviewers have to say about the camera? What are your first impressions?