Olympus at PMA 2010 + Mirrorless E series

[soundimageplus]

Some great pictures of the Olympus stand at PMA 2010 including the 9-18, the amazing underwater housing for the Pens and cameras fitted with a Novoflex adapter and Minolta and Canon lenses.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/pma2010/Olympus/

Plus the possibility that Olympus is planning to go mirrorless for all models including E-series DSLR's.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/olympus_e_system_mirrorless_in_two_years_probably_news_295133.html?aff=rss

 

[Brian Mosley]

Wow, that 2nd link is very interesting...

With the traditional dual curtain shutter removed as well, Mr Pelkowski said that a fully electronic shutter could be introduced that would make extremely high frames rates such as 20fps possible. 'Soon the AF system in the Pen cameras will be as fast as that in the E system DSLRs so there it will be possible to get just as good AF performance without the mirror system.'

Very confident!

Cheers

Brian

 

[Herman]

Hi, thanks for the links.
I agree on what Brian said.

Kind regards, Herman

 

[hodad66]

very interesting!!

 

[soundimageplus]

Olympus 14-42 on GH1

I agree with you all. Its fascinating stuff.

I was wondering who would be the first to consider going completely mirrorless.

It is the future and with other developments, such as the shutter and the previously mentioned sensor improvements, could signal a real change in the camera market.

The comment in the AP interview 'Up until we launched the Pen cameras all manufacturers were doing was fitting a digital sensor in what is ultimately a film camera body – there was nothing different. But with digital and electronic technology we can make cameras so much smaller.' is something that I appreciate hearing from someone who has real influence over what kind of products come onto the market.

The conservatism that exists in the camera options that we are offered, may be about to change, & as far as I'm concerned that's a good thing.

It would be great to see some real innovation in camera design. Digital was a revolution, but came dressed in reactionary clothes. It would be nice to see the medium reflect the message.

 

[SimplyEd]

PMA this year is crazy... lots of new stuff with new technology...

 

[Raimondi]

I am not surprise as the main advantage of SLR mirror design is wysiwyg but with the rapid development of EVF, this advantage has become less appealing than ever. EVF also allow real time view of Depth Of Field which I find it very useful .... I predict that very soon, SLR mirror design will simply become a milestone in camera development history in museum.

 

[hodad66]

My last mirror fell off...... 5D. To Canon's credit they
paid for the repair......

 

[Chow Monkey]

My last mirror fell off...... 5D. To Canon's credit they
paid for the repair......

How did you manage to do that

 

[hodad66]

How did you manage to do that

actually it was quite common in the 5D for those of us
living in warm / humid climes. For quite some time they
were acting like it wasn't their problem. I had purchased
mine used from Ebay and a year later, in the middle of
shooting my GF's fashion show..... no image. Took off the
lens and there it was lying in the bottom of the sensor box.

 

[Chow Monkey]

Wow, I was lucky than. I've brought my 5D to tropical climates often and everything is still fine..

 

[Iansky]

Olympus leads the race and I suspect that Canikon will now have to sit up and pay attention or they will be left in the shadows for non Pro spec cameras.

I cannot see the Pro level cameras losing their mirrors for a while, they are well established in the market and earn a nice living from good high quality cameras that are pretty much spread between the Canikon clutch of pro users where they have dominated for a number of years.

Eventually, when they have really high quality EVF's that have been fully integrated and accepted then we may see a swing but I suspect not for a few years.

It is a good move for Olympus though, they need to recapture their place in the higher end of the market and the middle ground is probably ready for a good quality EVF led camera that can drive the interest and thus demand.

I must say though, the gentleman in the second link does look a little scary - not sure if he reminds me of someone from the Adams family or X men.........no insult intended to him, just bad camera angle!!

 

[Djarum]

I can't wait for the 14-150....

Dj

 

[McDuff]

hmmm, make the electronic viewfinder 5ft. long "periscope" you wouldn't have to bend over.

 

[Iansky]

Yeah, try and carry that in your pocket though..........you might make many friends but for the wrong reasons!

 

[goldenlight]

actually it was quite common in the 5D for those of us
living in warm / humid climes. For quite some time they
were acting like it wasn't their problem. I had purchased
mine used from Ebay and a year later, in the middle of
shooting my GF's fashion show..... no image. Took off the
lens and there it was lying in the bottom of the sensor box.

So in fact the 5D was the first mirrorless camera?

 

[Amin]

'I would say that within 24 months the E system will not have a mirror box at all.' Pelkowski said, 'Up until we launched the Pen cameras all manufacturers were doing was fitting a digital sensor in what is ultimately a film camera body – there was nothing different. But with digital and electronic technology we can make cameras so much smaller.' ...

... While explaining that the image quality of the E-P2 is just as good as that of the E3, Pelkowski moved to reassure AP readers that the full Four Thirds system would continue to exist. 'We have a great range of lenses for the Four Thirds system, and they're not going anywhere, but they will be used on smaller and lighter more modern bodies.'

I don't understand. This seems to be a contradiction. The first part of the quote pretty much says that Oly is going fully over to MFT within 24 months, doesn't it? The second part says that full 4/3 will continue to exist. Which is it? Or is he simply saying that full 4/3 will nominally continue to exist because the lenses will still be usable? This is not a good interview to be reading, IMO, if you are a devotee of the regular 4/3 system.

 

[goldenlight]

I don't understand. This seems to be a contradiction. The first part of the quote pretty much says that Oly is going fully over to MFT within 24 months, doesn't it? The second part says that full 4/3 will continue to exist. Which is it? Or is he simply saying that full 4/3 will nominally continue to exist because the lenses will still be usable? This is not a good interview to be reading, IMO, if you are a devotee of the regular 4/3 system.

Well, I take it to mean that the E-System will continue to develop alongside Micro Four Thirds, with some obvious convergence but retaining distinctive differences. There are a number of ways this can be done. Stripping the mirror and prism out of the E-System bodies will allow them to become smaller and lighter, but not necessarily as small and light as the Pen bodies. This suggests in-built EVFs. We can still have a pro spec body, weatherproofed and incorporating a grip substantial enough to make using the long lenses comfortable and balanced. Add on grips can still be available, too. Perhaps we will see a future pro body reverting to the same sort of size and weight as the E-1, but maybe thinner and without the prism hump.

The biggest hurdle I can foresee will be getting the autofocus up to the speed it is now on the E-3, with all the current lenses. I think it is very reasurring that he confirmed the E-System will continue to develop and evolve, rather than be abandoned to wither on the vine in the shadow of the MFT range.

I take it as very good news indeed! :smile:

 

[Amin]

Not trying to be a downer, but a major part of the appeal of removing the mirror is that lenses can be smaller. If none of the cameras have mirrors, then doesn't that make a good number of the existing lenses unnecessarily large and heavy, just waiting to be replaced by the new and improved small/light version with better contrast detect AF support?

 

[goldenlight]

Not trying to be a downer, but a major part of the appeal of removing the mirror is that lenses can be smaller. If none of the cameras have mirrors, then doesn't that make a good number of the existing lenses unnecessarily large and heavy, just waiting to be replaced by the new and improved small/light version with better contrast detect AF support?

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that mirrorless bodies enable significant reductions in both size and weight to wideangle lenses but only marginal reductions to telephotos, because it is the wideangles that no longer need to be retrofocus designs to allow mirror clearance. And even if the existing telephoto lenses can be updated with smaller, lighter versions, isn't that a good thing? I can hardly lift the existing 90-250mm! The main thing is they will still be available and, new and old lenses alike, still supported by an up-to-date body incorporating the latest sensor and processor technology.

Smaller lenses is not the only benefit of removing the mirror. It also paves the way for a silent (yes, silent) electronic shutter with a spectacular increase in frame rates, no need for mirror lock-up on a tripod, longer lasting units less prone to wear and tear and apparently some clever exposure trickery that could theoretically increase the DR quite substantially that I do not even begin to understand. Also, it makes implementation of video much easier and whilst tahat is of little interest to me I can appreciate that it will soon be regarded as a "must have" on all cameras.

I appreciate that this creates a lot of uncertainty but, as a committed E-System user myself, I would say also a lot of excitement and anticipation.