43 Rumors

What’s the story with prime lenses? They are mentioned in the headline but no details in the post.

Never though I’d see the day, but there it is:
By the day Olympus realeases it’s first High End m43 body, Panasonic will already be on it’s 4th generation one:
G1-GH1-G2-GH2.
Talk about sleeping on duty! (
Not only that, but they have the spite to release YALEB (yet another low end body).

I can’t belive what should make the E-PL1 such great, i didn’t was impressed by the E-P1/P2 neither, but they are much better, no question. A Camer without a Wheel? even compacts have wheels, WTF! I can’t see how it did get a red-dot??? More the E-P2 should get one but not that mutant of a compact, sorry eh, i’m an olympus user myself, but the E-PL1 is just a joke!

A new High-End PEN makes sense because the newly announced Olympus E-PL1 is stealing the show of the E-P1 and E-P2.

Explain. The E-PL1 is quite a cripled cam.. Not in the same league as the E-P1/2

@Ole

The difference in IQ is only marginal. It’s the quality of the lenses used which has the bigger impact on the image..

Yes, the lack of fast lenses is a problem.. That’s why my m43 is purely the cam for travel and my Canon 5D for more serious stuff..

But fast prime with high price, huge size or low quality will still let people down, again.

So you lose your bet about 2 April announcement. Sigh.

It’s nice to learn that Olympus thinks of m4/3 as a full system with high end products. We should expect a slim body, perhaps slightly wider and taller than the Pens, but not mini-DSLR shaped like the G/GH.
I’m very curious whether the high end m4/3 and the coming 4/3 flagship are indeed two separate bodies.
The real news in this post are the primes.

CR102 said:

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The new 4/3 flagship has to be a full size DSLR with a “pro” level specification, not another m4/3 offering. If it is a “micro” then a lot of people will be leaving Olympus for another brand.

I doubt there will be a high end m4/3 camera from Olympus this year. As others have commented, there are not nearly enough high end lenses available for such a camera to become interesting. Also, the definition of high end is unclear. I see two options. First, A serious camera with built-in EVF, a weather sealed for around €1000, and Second a superb E-3 successor to work with the great fast zooms of the 4/3 system. But for the first option, fast (and weather sealed) m4/3 lenses would be required. The second would require faster AF through either a smart adapter or redesigned 4/3 lenses. Either route seems too elaborate to realise within the year.

The effort of Olympus should now directed towards marketing and selling their existing m4/3 cameras. I think Olympus see the release of new cameras as an easy way to generate exposure, but they should get the products on the shelves and into the hands of consumers.

The fast reiteration of models can also hold people back from buying a camera, by which time more companies will have entered the market. The introduction of the E-P2 after the E-P1 has left buyers in doubt. The E-PL1 is aimed at different users, but still of interest to more enthousiast buyers because it has equal or better specs in many ways. Yet they are held back by a number of small points (no wheel, small and low res screen). So basically, all these models are in the same general class (compact interchangeable lens camera) and all have certain shortcomings (either no flash or no wheel). Making it worse is that pricewise there’s not much differentiation either (e.g. when you add the EVF seperately to the E-PL1 it’s almost the same as the E-P2). Perhaps Olympus should just make one model that includes all the feaures and sell it at a competitive price of around €700 with the 17mm pancake, but I fear it’s too late for that (it would only add to the confusion).

Panasonic seem to be more effective at distinguishing the models: G1 (compact dslr style; replaced after 1.5yrs by G2/G10), GH1 (hybrid stills/video; replacement after 18 months would point to autumn 2010) and GF1 (compact interchangeable lens camera; to be replaced spring 2011?). Now that’s a logical approach as these cameras are clearly aimed at different kinds of use (mind you, the GH1 will have to be distinguished more clearly from the G2/G10 in its next iteration).

IMHO a high end m4/3 camera from Olympus needs a new AF system. It’s not just the speed that needs improvement. It also needs much smaller AF points so you can AF on small things like birds without the background throwing the focus off.

@Ole
Did i talk about the Results? And if you know how to handle a Camera, results are always better than in Automatic, or Scene Mode, and the PL1, just give you a comfortable way to adjust Aperture and Shutter, No Wheel, this is a Compact Camera with a big sensor and changeable Lens, but who of those guys who don’t care about Aperture and Shutter, want to change Lenses?

No sorry, the Powershot of my girl, actually most Compacts, and for sure all those in the higher price range (but still cheaper than the E-PL1) gives you better and easier way to control of Aperture and Shutter. I will go even harder, the E-PL1 kills the serious photography!

“The new 4/3 flagship has to be a full size DSLR with a “pro” level specification, not another m4/3 offering. If it is a “micro” then a lot of people will be leaving Olympus for another brand.”
including me, I’m already some time eyeing with the Canon 7D!

With any luck the Oly macro will arrive ahead of schedule (I seem to remember the Oly road map having it coming out in “Spring 2011″). It makes sense to think it might be released concurrently with a high-end body. It’d be particularly good to get some advance info on the lens – I really need something concrete to dissuade me from thinking seriously about the Pana/Leica 45mm/2.8! The latter certainly looks nice enough, but for many, including myself, it’s hard to justify at its price point – despite the obvious desirability of having a fully-functional native lens in that range.

If Oly could put together a scaled-down but optically very similar m4/3rds version of the 4/3rds 50mm macro, and sell it for a similar or a cheaper price (ie, considerably cheaper than the Pana/Leica), I would be a happy camper. Ideally such a lens might even incorporate a couple of design improvements over its 4/3rds sibling (eg subtler autofocus).

It’s kind of a shame that Oly and Pany will probably end up with relatively duplicative lenses in this bracket. As with regular 4/3rds, Oly seems committed to developing combined macro/pseudo-portrait lenses rather than dedicated portrait primes, and Pany seems initially to be pursuing a similar strategy. I can see the logic in this. However, given the clamour for a dedicated m4/3rds portrait prime, it would have been very interesting if one manufacturer had put out a “premium” macro lens (like the Pana/Leica) and the other had put its resources into developing a cheaper macro (eg like the 4/3rds 35mm) AND a small tele prime, optimised for portraits. Complementary lens lineups mean more choice for m4/3rds users, and I’m sure the respective sales figures would have made for interesting reading.

Anyway, who knows – maybe a portrait prime will surface as part of the next extension of the Pany road map.