43 Rumors

My hope is that this is a wireless display transmitter, to permit unattached live view display/viewfinder operation.

LOL – trust Oly to come up with something juicy

I just hope that they push it to its fullest potential…remote shutter release and unattached live view to a palmtop or laptop would be my vote

For those who have no idea what the port could be use for, here goes: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1041&message=33605383

Two things make this very unlikely that it’s a shutter release:

1) Olympus already makes a wireless remote for their DSLRs, the RM-1, which costs $40 and runs on RF not BT. It is unlikely they’d invest in developing a separate series of Bluetooth remotes because…

2) Bluetooth sucks compared to RF for wireless shutter releases. Bluetooth requires much more power, requires pairing of devices, and works over a much shorter range than RF.

One other tidbit the FCC docs note is that the model number is “PP-1″ so read into that what you will.

Just had an idea. Olympus only makes photo printers, their “P” line. They haven’t introduced a new model since… 2005? Maybe they’re planning on releasing a new model that features wireless printing via Bluetooth, a feature in many newer models from Canon, Brother, HP, Epson and Samsung.

Also in the other post on this site today Olympus expressed their plans for introducing GPS and wireless transfer, so those would probably be included in this model (though you’d think the FCC docs would include information on GPS and wifi chips as well).

I dunno, it sucks that it looks like it prevents the hot-shoe from being used. I’m getting tired of this. I want an accessory port extension cord, and even better a Y cable adaptor so I can use multiple accessories. I really want to use both an external flash and VF-2 at the same time for still shots, and the VF-2 and SEMA-1 for movies. It also would have been nice if the E-5 had the accessory port.

JoeBenjamin:
Yes Olympus had the RM-1 in the C-* cameras, and continued with the classic 4/3rds cameras, but the Pens don’t have the IR sensor to use it. Also, IMHO, the RM-1 is barely usable, and on cameras that support wired shutter releases, I use those and don’t use the RM-1. The range of the RM-1 is pathetic in that I tried to do one of those Christmas family portraits and the RM-1 wouldn’t fire off the camera when I was with the family, and I had to use the old set a delayed timer, hit the shutter, and run to get back in the picture trick. There are already various 3rd party radio based shutter releases that fit into the appropriate RM-CB1/RM-UC1 cables (the RM-CB1 clone works great in the E-3, the RM-UC1 doesn’t always work in the E-P2, likely because the cable is loose or something).

Miroslav, Omgreo:
For just wireless transfers, you should be able to use the EyeFi cards (probably need the pro version if you are going to shoot RAW). For tethered support, Olympus seems to have removed it from the Pens, and has removed the Studio software that was used for the classic 4/3rds DSLRS, so I’m not sure they even think about tethered support any more.

YouDidntDidYou:
Whatever it is, it will likely work on the E-P2 and E-PL1. The E-P1 doesn’t have the slot, the Pansonic G-F1 uses a different slot for its viewfinder, and I don’t think the other Pany’s have an accessory slot.

JoelH, CallaWolf:
There are two different wired remote viewers with shutter release on ebay right now (the yongnuo looks to be the cheapest). It should work for the E-P2 and E-P1 (even though it only mentions the classic 4/3rds cameras that support the same cables), but the shutter release won’t work for the E-PL1, since that camera doesn’t support a wired shutter release). I’m thinking about getting the Yongnuo version, particularly since it uses the same battery as my cell phone.

You know what would be the most useful hotshoe addon? Some kind of lamp that could assist in low light focusing. DIY lamps have been shown on some forums, maybe Oly has listened to users’ complaints.

This is one thing that bugs me about the Panasonic/Olympus partnership. It seems the only thing they actually work as partners on in the lens mount, and the sensor spec. They could have done EVERYONE a favour a standardized on an m43 Accessory port. For sure go at it in terms of what you do with it from there, but why not have accessories that can work on both brands cameras?