A close-up look at two new Olympus concept cameras
By Steven J. Barry
Olympus representatives treated PhotoPlus Expo attendees in New York City last week to the first U.S. showing of two concept cameras the company has developed, and one of those marks Olympus’ first foray into the Micro Four Thirds standard it co-developed with Panasonic.
The other concept camera is a digital SLR intended to fit into Olympus’ lineup just before the company’s flagship E-3. First announced at Photokina in Cologne, Germany on Sept. 22, details were still scant on both items; neither has a name, a price, a release date, and no technical specifications are available for either.
The Micro Four Thirds camera is undeniably a looker. It has a sleek, minimalistic design that appears to draw from classic rangefinder cameras. It appeared just slightly larger than some other high-end compact cameras, such as Canon’s Powershot G9.
The camera is the second announced in the industry–behind Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-G1–that complies with the Micro Four Thirds standard, which Olympus and Panasonic first publicly released in August. Micro Four Thirds cameras are designed to be much smaller than digital SLRs, but still useable with an interchangeable lens system.
Photo by Steven J. Barry
“This is going to bring down the size of the interchangeable lens capability,” Olympus representative Rob Baker told Ask The Photographer. “This is just moving down in size and increasing portability.”
He said the camera will include an adapter that will make the camera compatible with lenses developed for the Four Thirds digital SLR standard.
The Four Thirds Standard allows for cross-manufacturer compatibility between some lenses and camera bodies produced by Olympus, Panasonic and Sigma, meaning users of Olympus’ forthcoming Micro Four Thirds camera will be able to use it with a range of full-sized lenses developed by those companies.
Photo by Steven J. Barry
In developing the new micro standard, which requires a shorter distance between the lens mount and the imaging sensor, Olympus was banking on the idea that many consumers want to be able to use a variety of lenses but are put off by the relative bulkiness of digital SLRs.
“The global market for interchangeable lens type digital cameras is growing steadily, but still only accounts for approximately 7 percent of the total digital camera market,” Olympus representatives said in a release last month. “Considering the much larger share held by interchangeable lens type digital cameras when film was the dominant imaging medium, it seems that there is still ample room for sales growth in this category.”
Photo by Steven J. Barry
Baker said Olympus’ other concept camera, the prototype digital SLR, has a “rugged look and feel.” He pointed out that it would have a full swivel LCD, a feature the E-3 has in order to allow added flexibility while shooting in live view mode. Baker said the prototype would fall into the lineup between the E-3 and the prosumer E-520.
“At this point this is really just a technology announcement,” Baker said. “You’re going to see more coming in the first quarter of 2009.”
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