If the Olympus E-620 was a cheap Four Thirds camera, consider the E-600 an even cheaper Four Thirds camera.

Essentially an E-620 without the perks, the E-600 looks to be the exact same 12MP camera as its older sibling with the same 2.7 inch rotating live preview screen. But to bring the cost of a fully loaded 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 lens kit down by $100, the aptly priced $600 E-600 removes a few key features:

• backlit buttons (ouch)
• three art filters (no biggie)
• two-shot multi exposure mode (half ouch)
• aspect mask control (half ouch, it allows you to crop the viewfinder to the aspect you are shooting)

So if you were considering an E-620 and care about the end product alone (your photos), it's probably worth saving the extra $100 to reinvest that cash into more glass—assuming you can wait for its release this November. [Imaging Resource via Electronista]

Send an email to Mark Wilson, the author of this post, at mark@gizmodo.com.