43 Rumors

I have an Olympus EP2 Its not as good as an canon or nikon entry level dslr. Its noisy (sound), has slow AF and the UI is cumbersome. Only thing thats good is the IQ compared to compacts. M 4/3 are competing with Point and Shoot cameras not DSLRs.

Nice article but don’t underestimate the r&d and marketing of Canon. They will launch a similar product. Just a matter of time..

Interesting article. Zone-10 have come with some peculiar predictions recently: Panasonic L2, Olympus E-340 and now the talk about Olympus revolutionizing shutter design, Kodak re-emerging with 4/3 sensors and a striking new approach to deal with limited DR, to be also pioneered by Olympus. As much as I want to believe all this, IMHO most of it is speculative. The E-3 replacement will surely pour some light on current developments.

CR102, I agree with you about the peculiar predictions. The L2/340 prediction is very likely to be true, but maybe not with those specific model numbers or control layouts. As we all know, Olympus and Panasonic have the maddening trait of introducing models with little to no resemblance to any prior models. The E-3 doesn’t have any similarity to the E-1, the E-300 and E-330 were orphaned, the E-4xx series is completely unlike the E-5xx series which is unlike the E-6xx series or the E-30. Among the m43 models, the EP1 and EP2 have no resemblance to the EPL1 (and we’re still waiting for the in-camera EVF version which should have arrived this month). Panasonics L1 is completely unlike the G1/GH1 and the GF1 shares no inherent traits with any of the above.

What is especially irritating is the introduction of a great feature in one model which is never seen again. The E-330′s Live-View A-mode comes to mind and we’re probably going to be hard-pressed to ever see back-lit buttons again. I could be wrong, but product managers are strange this way–they look at the overall sales of cameras and see that cameras with backlit buttons only accounted for xx% of the total, so therefore it’s a low selling item–even though that particular camera (E-620) has been a top seller. When you stick a feature in only one model and you have a half-dozen models on the market, of course it’s only going to be a fractional seller.

This is why predicting what is to come from Olympus and Panasonic is so difficult. Camera “mules” seen in the wild are mix and match of prior and future cameras and usually are special combinations designed to reveal “leaks”. Therefore coyness is necessary on everybody’s part to keep from revealing too much. This is high-stakes poker for the manufacturers.

Quite a bit of that article makes sense. Far fetched predictions or obvious conclusions. Who knows who will bring these technologies together first, olympus? maybe. maybe not. As EVF’s get better and better (which they will) – does it make sense to have that mechanical mirror and large prism? Contrast detect autofocus is still slower than phase, but its already accurate, someday it will be lightning quick. Shutterless design? its coming. 20fps? Without a mirror or a shutter all you need it the hardware to process the images quickly. Right around the corner. Compact Flash just released their new specifications 5.0 did you see the storage and write speeds???? Improved sensors, dynamic range, more powerful in camera processing. As we speak. One thing is for certain. With 6 m4/3 cameras released in a year, each on better than the last, its hard to decide when to jump in and buy one. Wait a month and there is something new on the horizon. Going to hang back and see what comes out in the next month or two, then bite the bullet and buy one.