Olympus E-1

from dpreview

A five megapixel CCD sensor

Came with a new line of 4/3 System lens mount.

Another interest option is the 'Supersonic Wave Filter' that clean the CCD at each camera start-up by shaking the CCD.

With a 50mm macro and an 11-22mm zoom, this could be a winner.

Ike. Get to work!

With a 50mm macro and an 11-22mm zoom, this could be a winner.

 

Ike. Get to work!

These aren't available for other digital SLR's? I don't see how the 11-22 is better than the 12-24 or how the 50 is better than the 50/60/105/180/200/70-180 offerings. Not to mention the lower resolution, higher cost, and general lack of lenses. The performance had better be great if it's to have any chance.

Keep in mind that according to the article, the 11-22 has a 35mm equivalent of 21-44. Although that's pretty nice, it's still not as good as the Nikon 12-24 in terms of wide angle coverage.

Just my $0.02...

Tom

They also have a 1.4 teleconverter that might go nicely with the 50mm macro. The combo would have effective magnication like the D100 w/ 60mm yet with a working distance half way between the 60 and 105.

For more technical info, have a look at

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A.HTM

especially page 5 on optics.

I hope a dome can be fitted to my LMI Titan to make it work in that system.

Otherwise I'm not really excited. A few really neat features, excellent body, but they can't come in at this price to compete! By the time this camera gets to market the next prosumers will be on the horizon from fuji and nikon at or below this price point. And the oly pro-only lenses are pricey!!! making startup even more costly. At that price it could only appeal to pros and serious (wealthy) amateurs, who likely already have investments in nikon or canon glass.

List it at 1/2 the discussed prices (lenses too) and we've got something to talk about!

Hi!

The body is close to the E20 but some of the buttons have been moved a bit. It takes more than a dome to get it working inside an E20 housing.

I've followed this piece with interest for some time. The lenses are tailored to meet the requirements of CCDs so there might be a boost in quality. Compared to the E20 e.g. I'd appreciate the ISO 800 (up to 3200) and the larger CCD.

The 11-22 was announced pretty late, compared to the other lenses. There might be some more to follow as wide angel is the range where the 4/3 system has a big advantage over other SLR systems (see the explanations on the Olympus pages).

There's at least the Raynox Fisheye converter which could be used with the 14-54 zoom to get even more than 180° angle. The Converter was built for the E20 but might fit with a step-up (62mm -> 67mm) to the new lens. As soon as I can get my hands on the camera, I'll test it. I've got sample images With the E20 and the Raynox converter on display on my web site (from my latest trip to México).

If companies like Sigma or Tamron join in to support the 4/3 line things will improve. I'm afraid, that this will take some time though.

As soon as there's a body and 14-54 (and 50 macro) available I'll check what's necessary to have my Bruder housing modified. If the new system keeps the promises, I'll swap, for sure.

Helge ;-)=)

I see a few changes from the E20, but the important stuff looks all the same - shutter, menu, select buttons. I don't need much else!

Hi!

As far as I noticed, the main and sub dial shifted a bit, the program wheel too. I use them quite often since I started to dislike the program characteristics. I'll try to get some more precise info about the diferences. Maybe I manage to convince Olympus to be a bit cooperative and give me this info before they launch the sale.

It would help me to get my housing prepared in time before the next trip.

There's another point that came to me, regarding the Nikon 12-24: there's still this nasty 1.6 (or so) factor and in the end, the light doesn't reach the CCD in an optimal angle. Could be that you end up with more image but less quality, according to the explanations why they defined 4/3.

Helge ;-)=)

The field of view norms are "defined" by 35mm, so it is easy for us to visualize using the 1.5X concept. Similarly the 4/3 cameras have a 2X multiplier. The difference is that there isn't wasted glass projecting image outside the area of the sensor. Same applies for olympus. The DX lenses are optimized for digital sensors - how that affects the angle of incidence of light, I'm not sure. What I do know is that the image quality I get from my D100 with traditional lenses is far better than I ever got with my E20 - especially noise-wise. The bigger chip in the E-1 may address that to some degree. This camera seems to implement 2 year old technology very well - 5MP, improved AF, faster buffer - all the things the E-20 should've had at its intro. The auto sensor cleaning seems to be the only innovation.

Further, how will they ever sell lenses in that price range???? This is not a system that will tempt anyone to switch from Nikon or Canon, and new adopters will be $ conscious and will find more inexpensive lens options from Nikon and Canon.

There's another point that came to me, regarding the Nikon 12-24: there's still this nasty 1.6 (or so) factor

Not really, the lens is designed for use with the field of view crop. It will vignette on full frame camera.

the light doesn't reach the CCD in an optimal angle

Are you sure? I don't the exact design features with regard to optics on this particular lens. I don't really care either. I prefer to see the results rather than optical claims. Time will tell us how much is hype versus real difference.

Time will also tell whether this camera will be still born product. Canon and Nikon shooters aren't going to switch unless there is a measurable quality difference and I can't imagine there will be. I mean, are our digital SLRs giving us crappy images?

The appeal may be to those new to digital photography and those who may be upgrading from a consumer grade camera. The problem is the price point. Why would someone pay $2000+ when you can get a Canon 10D for $1500?

This is Olympus' only way to enter the interchangeable lens digital SLR categorey. You have to look at Olympus history. The first 35mm SLR I actually purchased with my own hard earned student loan dollars was an Olympus. At the time there really wasn't much difference between Olympus, Canon and Minolta. I then suffered through the years as Olympus ignored the 35mm market. You could buy the same damn camera almost in 1999 as you could in 1980 when I bought mine. No AF lenses, no nothing in upgrades and product evolution. It was a joke. They had nothing on which to build a digital SLR, unlike Canon and Nikon.

Sorry, off on a rant.

Still, it's there only shot and it's a long shot. If it fails, do you want to be stuck with an investment in the "new" lens mount? Products do fail. Look at the Contax full frame digital. History. Except you can still use Contax lenses on Contax cameras. We will see who jumps on the bandwagon for sure. Kodak and Fuji have there own Nikon compatible SLRs. Fuji could benefit from the sale of lenses. It would eliminate the need for buying/licensing bodies from Nikon, but I believe they will both tread carefully.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Reading the review (not the announcement) at dpreview, there's one thing I noticed that would make it difficult to actually use this in a housing. Many of the functions require that you hold a button and simultaneously turn one of two dials. It may not be a big deal, but I would rather see it work that you push the button once, then rotate the dial. It might not make a difference in usability topside, but it certainly is one more thing that would be tough to do with thick gloves on...

As a side note, as a Canon user with only a modest number of lenses, I have no desire whatsoever to look at switching to the E-1. The only thing that I see as compelling is that there is a wider standard zoom lenses (the 14-54) than what is available for Canon. Maybe the wider zoom (the 11-22) as well, but the range on the Canon 16-35 or 17-40, or the Sigma 15-30 is close enough at that point. If I were a Nikon / Fuji user, there'd be even less compelling of an argument to switching.

Just some thoughts...

Hi!

I think, it may be a great upgrading opportunity for those not already owning an SLR. At least if the price is ok. If I owned a Nikon or Canon and all the lenses I wouldn't switch either.

I've heard of Nikon building dedicated lenses for the D-SLRs. I didn't know that the 12-24 is one of them. That for sure makes a difference.

I use the E20 for quite some time and got accustomed to the push and dial, even with thick gloves.

The idea of pushing a button once and then using a dial for setting is great when you use the camera within a housing. On dry land the other aproach is faster. I bet they wouldn't change this behaviour for a couple of divers. A selectable behaviour would be great. I'll post it in a forum where even Olympus reads entries every now and then ;-)

Helge ;-)=)

All of the professional Canon SLR bodies are like this as well. You have to hold down 1-2 buttons and rotate a dial to make any major setting changes. However, once the camera is set to a certain mode/iso/whatever, you can do things like change aperture and shutter speed by using dials, so it's not that bad.

Many of the functions require that you hold a button and simultaneously turn one of two dials.  It may not be a big deal, but I would rather see it work that you push the button once, then rotate the dial.  It might not make a difference in usability topside, but it certainly is one more thing that would be tough to do with thick gloves on..

Eric,

What bodies and what type of settings do you need to do this with?

Tom

On Nikon bodies, you do this to dial in exposure of flash compensation. You push down one of the buttons on the top right with your index finger, while rotating the command dial w/ your thumb. It's really easy.

Aquatica has a control for doing this "one-handed" I've got some pix in my upcoming S2 housing review.

Cheers

James

Eric,

 

What bodies and what type of settings do you need to do this with?  

 

Tom

Canon EOS-1 series (including the 1Ds and 1D), and EOS-3.

All settings, except for shutter speed, aperture, over/under exposure...

The Nexus housing holds the button down for you so that one-handed operation is easy.

Going back to the topic.... I don not think that this 4:3 strategy of Olympus is going to work. Too high investments in the whole setup and so far I have seen many digital development centers messing around with your photo, if you do not cut it 3:2 before handing it in... :angryfire:

What do you think? My product management experience keeps me very sceptic on this move by Olympus however they have a very high market share and can afford experiments like this. However I think they never managed to position themself successfully in the digital SLR sector.