Whatizit?

Remember Izzy the Whatizit? He (or it) was the ill-fated mascot of the summer Olympics games in Atlanta in 1996. The name (or actually, the question, whatizzit?) came to mind when I found the above photo on a German web site, photoscala.de. They found the images on a Chinese language site, DPnet.com.cn. Note the Micro Four Thirds and Panasonic logos on the camera. It apparently has interchangeable lenses, and maybe that means also an interchangeable optical viewfinder. Could this be the first of the Micro Four Thirds cameras--and might it be that non-Leica digital rangefinder I've been asking the Great Pumpkin for?

Here's my free-form interpretation of the Google-translation of the German:

"Anticipation has been running high since Olympus and Panasonic announced the Micro Four Thirds System. What, exactly, will the cameras look like? Does this system have a future? (Garbled translation...then...)

"This photo has added to the conjecture. We don't know if there will be an optical viewfinder, but in this photo it appears that there will simply be a rear LCD monitor. If this camera has an optical or very good electronic viewfinder, we want it. But we don't know if these pictures are leaked product shots, or simply photos of concept cameras. We'll know more when Photokina starts."

So...whatizit?

Whatizit?