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[OM] Another digital PRoduct Information reLease FrOm OLy

Subject: [OM] Another digital PRoduct Information reLease FrOm OLy
From: Pschings@xxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2004 08:20:59 EST
Those of you who've been on the list a while will probably remember that I've 
done some consulting work with Olympus in the past. Well, the next salvo of E 
system body announcements is approaching, and again they've given me the OK 
to give you guys (and gals) a little preview.

First, the small stuff:  A new handle mount flash, with a guide number of 
70(!), plus a pair of new focusing screens are going to make it to the price 
list.

Next, on the lens front, 2 new zooms are to be announced. The first is what 
Olympus calls an ultrawide zoom, a 7mm-15mm f2.8 constant aperture, giving 
14mm-30mm equivalent. We're talking wiiiiiide here. Unfortunately, as you would 
probably expect, if you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it.

The other zoom is a little more affordable. A 15mm-50mm f3.5-4.5 "economy" 
zoom. This zoom, along with the price reduction on the E-1, which I'll get to 
in 
a moment, should get you into the E system for around $1,000.

Now the really interesting stuff. Two new bodies are being introduced. First 
off, the E-2. Not a lot of big surprises here. Kodak has developed a new 8 
megapixel (3300x2475) sensor for this beauty, the big surprise is it's a CMOS 
chip. We should see better noise performance than in the 5 megapixel E-1. Most 
of 
the other changes over the E-1 are incremental - faster AF with better 
low-light performance in particular. For a frame rate expect something around 
3fps 
for 20 frames. The E-2 looks and feels just like the E-1, and takes all of the 
same accessories (flashes, grips, etc...) Expect the E-2 to be priced about 
where the E-1 is now. The E-1 price will drop significantly, of course, and 
don't expect it to stay on the price list after the end of the year. There is 
talk 
of an E-1 to E-2 upgrade program, but none of that has been finalized yet.

The big news is the E-X. This is the body Olympus had hoped would be the E-1, 
but technical difficulties delayed release. Unfortunately it's a little 
bigger than the E-1/E-2, but with good reason: It has interchangeable backs! 
Initially three optional backs will be available, a 5 megapixel, with a 
slightly 
improved version of the E-1 sensor, an 8 megapixel (with the E-2 sensor, of 
course), and... drum roll please... an 8 megapixel back with integral 
electronic 
image stabilization! About 10 percent of the pixels around the edge of the 
frame 
are reserved to allow for the stabilization, so images from the IS back will 
be a touch smaller than from the other 8 megapixel options. Almost all of the 
electronics are contained in the backs, so expect future backs with not only 
higher resolution and lower noise, but also improvements in image capture speed 
and quantities.

Perhaps even bigger news is the fourth back Olympus will be announcing (but 
not releasing yet). Believe it or not, the next big thing in digital is going 
to be... film! That's right, a film back for the E-X, producing 1/2 frame 35mm 
images, should be available by the end of the summer! The image circle 
produced by the digital Zuikos is well suited for the 18x24mmm format. The film 
back 
even has an LCD screen, which is necessary to allow access to some of the E-X 
functions and menus. Film advance will be motorized, and to be honest the 
whole thing is a bit large, but handles fairly well. The back can be swapped 
out 
with film loaded if you remember to put in the dark slide. The big surprise for 
me was they left out DX film speed setting - you have to set film speeds 
manually. So far Olympus has Fuji on board to help support processing of the 
1/2 
frame images - they will be providing low cost upgrades to their minilab 
systems which will allow for 1/2 frame support. Dust off your Pen's, guys!

E-X pricing is interesting. Olympus has taken the "give away the razor to 
sell the blade" strategy and priced the basic body quite low, but the backs are 
rather expensive. Figure an E-X with the 5 megapixel back to be priced about 
the same as the 8 megapixel E-2. The E-X with the IS back will probably go for 
about a $1,000 premium (street price) over the E-2, but you get IS with all 
your lenses. Before you take the next leap, IS won't work with your OM Zuikos 
and 
the MA-1 adapter - the camera needs to know lens focal length in order for IS 
to work.

That's about all I can divulge at this point. I hope everyone has a wonderful 
April Fool's day!

Paul Schings


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