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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