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Re: [OM] E-1 first impressions

Subject: Re: [OM] E-1 first impressions
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:32:35 -0800
W Shumaker wrote:

I really wish I could believe Olympus made a great camera with the E-1.
With an OM-4t viewfinder, I can really preview what I will get before I press
the button, and I think makes a difference in my photography. I'm disappointed
by the reports I have read on the reduced viewfinder.

To be clear, the E-1 viewfinder is as good or better than the 4T in showing all that will be in the image. However, that view is visually smaller in the E-1. This is analogous to (although greater than) the drop in viewfinder image magnification from the 0.92x of the OM-1/2 to the 0.84x of the OM-3/4. The percentage of the image that ends up on the film shown in the viewfinder remained the same through all these camera bodies at 97%

In the long run, I believe the optical viewfinder will go the way of the dodo. Optical SLR viewfinders are limited by the grain of the screen and the abilities of the human eye. Sure they are crummy today, but the technology continues to march on. Once reasonably priced small displays reach the resolution of view screens, they actually become preferable for a several reasons. They eliminate a lot of bulk, weight and mechanics in the camera. They show the image as it will be captured, from the imaging sensor, brightness and visual size become easier to engineer and the image can be magnified for more precise focus. Instead of carrying around something awkard like the Varimagni, how about just pressing a button once for 3x and twice for 10x magnification for fine focusing. Any hits from older folks with eyesight not what it was?

The core technology, the CCD, can be purchased by any camera company to make a 
camera. All
Olympus can really do is package the ergonomics in a better way than
another, but the basic guts will not be far from the competition.

Electronics in the form of hardware and firmware clearly makes quite a big difference. Sensors, hardware processors and firmware are largely developed by camera manufacturers, although some source pieces to each other.

I guess you can same the same about film cameras...

Yup, even more so, since all the image capture and processing technology is out of the camera manufacturers' hands.

Moose



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