DSLR thoughts please

From the linked page:

Phil: This is without doubt the most exciting digital photography announcement this year. It's fair to say that this "extension / addition" to the Four Thirds standard is finally able to deliver on the original promise of that format; considerably smaller and lighter lenses and bodies. Olympus are however keen to stress that this in no way replaces Four Thirds which will continue with new Four Thirds bodies and lenses in the future.

Kinda sounds like dpreview isn't that anti-Olympus after all.

I really think the whole lack of mention of the E330 doing realtime LV (A mode) in the A350 review was more a matter of the different reviewer. Phil did the E330 review and while he didn't really like the E330 overall (small/dim viewfinder, didn't like the non-traditional shape, didn't like the LVA/LVB split and limitations at the time) he did seem to like the idea of the LVA implementation...since he claimed it was all his idea anyway.

I guess I'm not sure what to think about the micro-4/3 announcement myself, except to think this probably means there ain't much chance for an "E-430" as rumored....unless they take innovations designed for u4/3 (u is short for Greek mu in my lazy-typing) and backfill them to upcoming 4/3 systems. They do say this isn't the "death" of 4/3 but they'd have to say that to maintain present sales, no matter how heartfelt that is. Does eliminating a mirror and abandoning for good the SLR design mean a possibility of faster shooting?

And at this point we've REALLY hijacked the original poster's intent....SORRY!

And at this point we've REALLY hijacked the original poster's intent....SORRY!

No, not at all, this is great information. I never would have known about the different types of LV if not for this thread. I went and played with a Olympus at the weekend, I've got a friend with a Nikon D300 (he's a topside photographer only) who says LV is useless, and now I see the difference. So in general it's really helping. It's going to be intriguing to watch the developments over the next few months.

You should try the LV of sony a300/350

"Kinda sounds like dpreview isn't that anti-Olympus after all. "

Yes, but just compare the review of oly E330 from March 2006 and the canon40D for example from October 2007. (I guess you already did)

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse330/page27.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos40d/page29.asp

There is 3 cons for the LV of E330 and in case of canon 40D they just mention one con, the lack of contrast detect AF in LV.

In my opinion the pioneer LV implementation of oly is still better than the one used in canon 2 years later. Oly was bashed while canon was acknowledged for a subpar system.

Olympus is very innovative:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08080501...ofourthirds.asp

I agree with you; I've always loved Olympus cameras for this reason, starting with the Pen-Ft and OM-1

I think though that Olympus has always built and marketed cameras oriented to the amateur and high end amateur market with an emphasis on compactness which has not been something that pro and semi-pro photographers tend to worry about as much. From my own experience with older Olympus cameras (I have not owned a newer DSLR Olympus, only P&S) they are also not built as ruggedly as higher end Nikon and Canon cameras. Their emphasis on compactness may limit somewhat their expansion into full-frame etc.

they are also not built as ruggedly as higher end Nikon and Canon cameras