43 Rumors

In my humble opinio we all are waiting for a E-3 proud succesor, since they’re innovating in m4/3 but most profesional alike body needs an update, now!.

Specially in very specific fields: high ISO, colour range, speed shooting…

Another humble opinion:
The area for an E-3 successor may have significantly increased with the appearance of the Canon EOS7D, with pro image quality and a pixels size that is exactly the same as the one of the Olympus E-30. My feeling is that Olympus may have understood that the reception of their next flagship camera will primarily be evaluated upon its dynamic range and potential for dealing with high isos. Assuming that the Fuji rumors come to reality, the use of a Fuji sensor could proceed from an agreement where the m43 mount + Fuji sensor could remain the privilege of Fuji for its forthcoming m43 camera whilst Olympus could be allowed to use this sensor for the classical 43 mount. I happen to own (and use) a Fuji S5 Pro and the main issue for some people has to do with its inability to deal with sports or other domains with high fps: I don’t think one can expect strong improvements in that perspective but, to my opinion, the image quality of the S5 Pro still has no equivalent in 2009.
Two other opinions / wishes: first, I have the feeling that Olympus gets more and more convinced by the relevance of the EVF approach to building cameras and may start a new range of semi-pro cameras with classical mount but without any OVF; this makes sense since this would reduce the size of the camera and this is what Olympus has been attempting to do since the early days of the 43. Second, a pure wish : I still own a Olympus E-1, even though its L-shape is everything but classical, and this is (by far) the best built camera I have ever own. A careful look at the recent Pentax K7D suggests that Pentax may also have remembered this camera when building theirs. As the Olympus E-3 had been criticized for 1/ its sensor, 2/ its size that is about the same of the big Nikons, they may have worked also in that direction.
PS: hope that was too long!

Well, the 620 will be a year old in February so I would think a 720 would be coming along…. (but please put back the “old” grip like the 520). Seems that these entry level models are “upgraded” more frequently and need to be to keep competitivie with Canikon.

BUT, The E30 was announced in Oct or Nov of 2008 so it is now over a year old, and the E3 was announced about 2 years ago…. SO I would think it more likely that one of these two models will be “upgraded”. Personally, I would love to see an E3 in an E30 body; or a E30 in a E520 body.

low end classic 4/3 has gone with the dodo (E4xx & 5xx for sure, E6xx possibly also wont get updated), E3 replacement is also uncertain, if m4/3 proves more successful than it already is than maybe their will never be E3 replacement. What Olympus may do is a new model inbetween the E620 and E30, the name is not important E30.20, E32 or E820. by 2013 classic 4/3 will be a museum affaire + a minority of die-hard users, I also think that oly & pana will eventually become one thing possibly also Leica with them => “Panolyca Group” or something like that! these are my catastradamic predictions for classic 4/3.

I can’t believe they would introduce a new pro body without one or two standard/portrait prime lenses to go with it, not counting Sigma or the macro lenses…

The E-3 replacement announcement will make my decision of whether to stay with Oly or jump to Nikon for me. The one thing they can change to make me stay is a clean 3200 ISO and useable 6400.

I would really like to see something that perhaps bridges the mid and high end levels. The only way to do this without ultimately compromising is to make it modular. The core body could be a sensor, lens mount, manual controls, connectivity ports, that’s it… no battery, no EVF, no LCD, no media holder, nada… Then accessorize it as needed. Compact street photographer could get away with an EVF attachment and a battery / CF module. Studio portrait guy could go HDMI / display port out to large monitor, run off of AC power supply, add flash synch, and store directly to a computer or attached hard drive. Filmmaker could add audio timecode, large capacity brick battery module, matte box, bottom plate, and LCD display… If it sounds familiar, I think it is the approach taken by another company…

Hi Tim, no as brave as the Ricoh design is, I feel it is fatally flawed in that the lens and sensor are married together, so might be good for someone who only needs 1 or 2 lenses, but sort of rules out a lot of other people. I did say lens mount… Even SLR cameras has some modularity, such as extended battery, power motors, hand grips, flash system, but obviously could never separate the film back / EVF due to the design of SLR cameras. With digital, there it would just be taking modularity to the next level as the technology lends itself… This can be done without sacrificing form or function. I do propose the elimination of a through the lens viewfinder of an SLR, though, so some might beg to differ on that point. There are a lot of different high end professionals, so modularity would help Olympus satisfy a larger number of people. It worked for RED (or at least it will when they start shipping new cameras)….

i still think the E3 successor wont come until photokina. im guessing an E-530 or E-30 successor with video is more probable

while an E3 successor will be great, the market for this pro-spec camera wont be as large as a mid-spec camera. I do hope if ever it will come, it will be closer or a bit smaller to the size of an E-30 but with the same weather-sealing and functionalty

To Catastrophile,
my personal conjecture is that if there is nothing around Photokina 2010, this will be over. However and as long as Olympus is not completing high-end glass for the m43 mount, the pro factor remains on the 43 side.

Sincerely I didn’t read you all yet, but I agree with one strong sentece; E3 replacement may decide me to stay in Oly or go to Nikon.

To KLH: The mFT system development consumed Olympus’ time and money so upcomming FT system is not developed in same speed like it was before the mFT starts. But FT system products can gain from mFT development (like E-620 series)… Yes, new 4/3 glass would be great (I’m still waiting for more fast primes, at least at normal focal length – 20mm or 25mm f2.0 High Grade lens, with superb image quality performance wide open). I think lenses are the key (and better investment) not a camera body, because digital bodies getting older in relatively short time and good glass remains longer. I like classic FT system because it is not mainstream like Nikon or Canon do and Zuikos are great and Olympus cameras are well built even their reasonable priced entry-level DSLRs. And E-3 camera deserves proud successor that is for sure.

J’aurais pu écrire cet article en francais… C’est ma langue!

However, being able to read and write in english, I’m a regular reader of this most interesting web site.
Unfortunately, I cannot read spanish (for now) so I missed CAGIMA57 opinions… Too bad

In my opinion, if one can read in english, he must write in english (or get help to do so)

Please, lets make our insights and opinions available to everybody!

Thank you, merci, gracias, danke schöne, etc…

Well I still use Google translate Spanish speaking order that you understand what I say.

Very good, I’m from Madrid, Spain, using Olympus E-1 and E-400, I have several lenses Olympus, I would say too, but I’m with Studio-L, if Olympus does not provide evidence of a new Olympus Pro I’ll think about it much change to Nikon and see that I have trouble saying this, but an E-3 I will not buy, and has spent the time to invest in something that takes two years on the market and look forward to new and fresh technology in my hands and how not to use the HD video function with my glasses …. we have to wait 21-26 Sep 2010?
Translated by google.

i’m growing impatient with Olympus and I’m considering dumping Olympus in favor of Nikon D700 for the full frame sensor = high ISO and great DOF.

I really like my Oly glass (7-17, 14-54, 50-200) and I want to buy the 35-100, but I’m spending a dime on Oly til they can show me commitment to a pro-level camera.
I don’t feel that Oly has a pro-level camera and maybe they never will? The camera is the weak link in this system and now I’m considering dumping the system.
Build a pro-level camera… for get the video…. If I want video, I’ll buy a separate video camera.