New Olympus flagship camera

Here's the successor to the E-1 Olympus camera.

 

http://www.photokina-show.com/0406/olympus/digitalslrcamera/olympusesystem/

No, that isn't "the successor to the E-1 Olympus camera." Its a "concept model" showing what the successor to the E-1 might look like.

 

 

I was talking to two Olympus reps in our store two weeks ago and they were saying how Oly was showing a mock-up its E-1 replacement under glass at Photokina. Puzzeled, I aksed why Oly didn't just put an imaging chip with halfway decent resolution in the E-1 last year and sell the camera as the E-2, while working on a more ambitious flagship. I didn't get a clear response.

 

 

The E-1 was overpriced and had too little resolution when it was introduced- 5 Megapixels at a time when even entry level DSLRs from other companies had 6 Megapixels on bigger chips. And that was three years ago.

 

 

Oly's E-500 currently has 8 Megapixels and costs $500. Why Oly hasn't fielded an E-1 replacement by now is beyond me.

If a non-selling concept model that has no released specs and which no one is allowed to touch is a flagship, then the flagship is sinking.

<small><i><blockquote>

 

Oly's E-500 currently has 8 Megapixels and costs $500.

 

</blockquote> </i> </small><p>

 

Which is the same price cameta.com is selling new E-1 bodies for now.

<i>...then the flagship is sinking.</i><p>

No big deal, it's waterproof!

WGAS; Technology moves on & so will Olympus. I can make good images with 5Mp thankyou very much.Can anyone else remember when someone said; WOW 1 MP what will come next!

There is much more to Photography than MP's & frames per second.

I for one am becoming tired of the endless numbers race.

I have good solid Nikon film cameras & a good & solid Olympus E1.All make good images when my mind is clear! One of the attributes my cameras have is that bad weather does not deter my using them.

with the advent of the digital optical system! photography is almost dead! maybe the next thread should read..IS PHOTOGRAPHY DEAD?

Well, is Olympus waterproof, or is it just going down with the 'ship?

There is much more to Photography than MP's & frames per second. I for one am becoming tired of the endless numbers race. I have good solid Nikon film cameras & a good & solid Olympus E1.

 

Amen. I'm in exactly the same positiion (although just sold my last Nikon & Nikkormat film bodies & lenses at a camera show). 5 MP has done just fine for me to this point. Moving concept into production just to hit a certain date seems pointless. Olympus can rest on the revenue from it's medical (endoscope) division so it doesn't have to keep up with the Jones's in the DSLR world. Look how many cars have been introduced, plagued with design flaws just so they could be rolled out for the "New Model Year" (can you say Pontiac Fiero?).

"($500) is the same price cameta.com is selling new E-1 bodies for now."

 

 

Which also confuses me- Oly appears to have stopped making that E-1 and is blowing them out without a replacement set to hit the market any time soon.

Correct. But these prices have been available all summer. Additionally, on its ebay store, Olympus itself is selling refurbed E-1s for around Cameta's new prices.

 

If Oly was merely waiting for a new sensor, they at least would have had a final body available at Photokina for findling. It's just too strange that this many years after the E-1 introduction they don't even have a body ready for handling in September 2006.

"It's just too strange that this many years after the E-1 introduction they don't even have a

body ready for handling in September 2006."

 

I agree. At this juncture, a mock-up of a possible camera does not inspire confidence.

But Olympus has always marched to the beat of a different drummer. Maybe they will

ultimately produce a jaw-dropping camera that will shame all the skeptics.

There are few secrets in the semiconductor world. I cannot imagine any new product that will be considered a generation ahead of the competition, let alone anything matching it with that 4/3 sensor.

Here is a very interesting and encouraging interview regarding Olympus' plans for future development. Still can't tell whether the E-1 replacement will be revolutionary or merely very good with lots of features.

 

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1022&thread=20246190

Interesting they tell you in advance how the planned obsolesence will work. Talk about a throw away world.

Olympus cannot make the sensor any larger, we see no evidence of any semiconductor breakthroughs, the competition has effectively decided to move up to 10MP for the low end (and 6MP for the really low end), and there's nothing but promises to wait another 4-5 months for something they refuse to even outline (why not?).