Olympus CEO disclosed release date of M4/3

[akira]

<p>A popular Japanese news site tells that Olympus CEO Mr Kikukawa disclosed the release date of Olympus' new M4/3 system at the results briefing held on May 13th.</p>

<p>According to the news, the product line-up will be disclosed on June 15th and hit the marked during the first week of July.</p>

<p>The news also added that the design of the mock-up:<br>

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/parts/image_for_link/151026-10823-1-1.html<br>

which has been displayed at various trade shows will be changed to a large extent.</p>

<p>The speed of the pancake lens shown above is not yet disclosed (sigh).</p>

[starvy]

<p>i don't like that light brown leather patch, however, with a different colour, the look would not disappoint many a minimalist. i'd love a black version! depending on the price, i would love to acquire this with a ltm adaptor! it seems like a seriously fun camera and something many a photographer, aspiring for lighter and simpled bodies would love. i am not going to save up for the sony a700, i shall get this as my next camera! i so wish leica would follow suit and offer a micro four third body as well :)</p>

[yoshio]

<p>Ahh ... my first SLR was OM1 then Canon stole my attention my first digicam was Olympus then Nikon stole my attention (with Coolpix 950). I am wishing this Olympus be good enough to take me back to them.</p>

[vivek iyer]

<p>Interesting that they made an announcement about a release date with no details while showing a mock up for nearly an year.</p>

<p> </p>

[Aoresteen]

<p>Does the M mean that it will be in Leica M mount with a 4/3rd sensor? Or does it mean it will be an OM mount with 4/3 sensor?</p>

<p>Either way, I'm buying as I have a full Leica M kit and a full OM kit as well. Let the fun begin!</p>

<p>Good news indeed!</p>

[ronhartman]

<p>Cool looking camera.<br>

Maybe there will finally be a really small 4/3 format camera.<br>

But knowing Olympus, additional dedicated lenses will be slow in coming.</p>

[ben_obryan]

<p>Errrm, the "m" is for micro. The format is micro four thirds. You can mount M lenses with an appropriate adaptor.</p>

<p>I have a horrible feeling that they are going to drop the ball on this. The press release talks about substantial changes from the original design (which was a minimalist approach - almost an absence of design). You have to question what has taken them so long....</p>

<p>I think many potential buyers (me included) have already bitten the bullet and bought the Panasonic offering. Olympus' offering is going to have to be very compelling and/or pretty cheap if they are going to get in with any market share....</p>

[Greg M]

<p>I think we all know it won't be cheap, so....<br>

<br />Micro four-thirds is Panasonic-land anyway. Other than compacts, and in light of their failed DSLR line, micro four thirds is THE main line of Panasonic still image business at this point.<br>

<br />Olympus has a line of DSLR's that's getting better and better. Micro four-third is NOT going to replace that lineup. Anyone expecting this to be Olympus' landmark product is just setting themselves up for a letdown.</p>

[vivek iyer]

<blockquote>

<p>Micro four-thirds is Panasonic-land anyway.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Not really. The m4/3rds mount is a almost the same (you can mount an Olympus Pen F Macro 38/3.5 lens on a m4/3rds body with a shim and focus to infinity) as the Olympus Pen F, only the registry is shorter.</p>

<p>Panasonic had earlier used the Olympus Pen F mount (again slight variation, different registry and format) for the WV closed circuit CCTV cameras.</p>

<p>It still is an Olympus Pen F mount (for me anyway).</p>

[akira]

<p>Anthony, as others explained, M4/3 means Micro Four-Thirds. Leica-M to M4/3 mount adaptor is easily available now, so you can use Leica-M and Leica-L (with usual L-M adaptor) on M4/3 cameras (currently Panasonic G1 and GH1 only) retaining infinity focus.</p>

<p>The audio file of CEO's briefing speech can be heard on Olympus website. During his speech, he revealed that he had always been saying the design of mock-up is "ugly" (lol), that the design will be changed drastically, and that he was sorry because the final design cannot be shown yet.</p>

<p>Even though the mount is near-compatible to Pen F, I think that on of the main reasons for the initial success of G1 which seems to be took over by GH1 was that Panasonic incorporated its experience of professional video cameras (especially that excellent EVF, movie capability and AF capability of 14-140 lens during video shooting). On the other hand, the only piece in hand for Olympus seems to be the in-body vibration reduction. I'm not sure how successfully Olympus will be able to compete with Panasonic.</p>

<p>Personally I'm more interested in Olympus' lens line-up than the body.</p>

[GerrySiegel]

<p>Navel gazing thoughts...Speculation is the life blood of forums and why not, is like "baseball talk" for the graphic minded.</p>

<p>Ah yes. Five years ago, when I bought into the E system, the talk here and thereabout was bordering sarcastic and dismissive. You may remember the comments re "Oly-nuts" buying a 'pig in a poke' and the jeering reports of Herr Reichmann of Luminous L, who believed the APS-C sensor was smaller than any serious phtotographer should consider. And that legacy lenses and installed user base were the true faith. " Dead end system," No competition in the market place. Guess what? They are still hangin' around...less dismissive, yet dismissive like racehorse touts ( Hey, buddy, don't bet on that old nag. She has a hidden limp...)<br>

Olympus last big interview which is around somewhere disclosed that Olympus will ride both horses ( fourthirds and micro four thirds.) For me, who is satisfied with one or two lenses, I plan to invest in both. They serve different needs. As did my Canon FD series and my Bronica SQA. Panasonic is new to the game,yet I am of the opinion that they are putting their heads together with Olympus. And that Olympus will pull some surprises. -SURPRISE ME,- Olympus!</p>

 

[GerrySiegel]

<p>PS, Afterthought. The lenses are the true gems, Akira, that I agree. Whether they are too costly- as alleged- depends on point of view and budget.</p>

<p>I just got the B and H new products catalog. Look at the prices of Summicrons.. Like family heirlooms,they. (14 karat. Rolex priced). The two focus systems of 4/3 and m4/3 is a little fuzzy to my mind, but not a killer. Nikon had its little differences with old and new Nikkors as I remotely recall, not so?</p>

[john_robison3]

<p>Well finally! I just hope that it isn't burdened with the million little buttons school of control. Whats wrong with a shutter speed dial on the body and aperture control ring on the lens? Apparently they are beyond the scope of modern day designers trying to make a camera do everything and be foolproof at the same time. Anyone knows that you can't make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.</p>

[akira]

<p>John, I suppose new Olympus M4/3 body would be less burdened with the buttons because the body seems to have an LED display only: you don't need either to kick-in live view mode or to select EVF/LCD and this way you could omit at least two switchs!</p>

<p>Panasonic has already announced that it's pancake lens (fast standard lens) would be "20/1.7". I strongly wish that it would have ignited Olympus' rivalry to develop 20/1.4 pancake! 21/1.4 would do for me perfectly, too. :D</p>

[akira]

<p>Gerry, I think Nikon (and Nikon users for that matter) has been suffering from its own great legend. Nikon has produced tens of millions of lenses in the same "F" mount and have created so many followers, which is highly admirable. However, the compatibility issue has become so complicated that actuall choice and usage of the lenses for the entry-to-midrange models are very, very limited.</p>

<p>Now that I have moved from that Nikon to the Panasonic, I enjoy breezing the fresh air created by the legacy-free environment. Of course, the lens choice is very limited at this moment, but I believe the situation should change dramatically towards the end of the year not only by releases of dedicated lense but also, hopefully, many more different mount adaptors.</p>

[yoshio]

<p>Akira-san</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Now that I have moved from that Nikon to the Panasonic, I enjoy breezing the fresh air created by the legacy-free environment. Of course, the lens choice is very limited at this moment, but I believe the situation should change dramatically towards the end of the year not only by releases of dedicated lense but also, hopefully, many more different mount adaptors.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I guess that you are not then using an adaptor and enjoying the many legacy lenses (of course they are simple to operate for an old generation man like me).</p>

[machts gut]

<p>This is a bit off topic, but what are your experiences with manual focusing with the Panasonic? I have the E-410 with an adaptor for OM-lenses, but I don't use them very often, because I find focusing only accurate with live view, which is not really convenient for snapshots. The magnification of the prisma is simply too low. The EVF should theoretically offer better solutions.</p>

[vivek iyer]

<p>Stefan, I have/use an E-410 and use a G1. The difference is stark.</p>

<p>The G1 live view focusing is better than any (that includes a Nikon F2 with split prism screen or a rangefinder) focusing in terms of accuracy. </p>

<p>It is a slower because of the minute fiddly buttons one has to engage in order to do it correctly. One has to get used to it.</p>

[akira]

<p>Yoshio-san, I have used different lenses of various mounts (RMS, C-mount, M42, Leica-L, Olympus OM, filter thread--for reverse-mounting) with Nikon D2H and D40. And I've already made up a Nikon-F-to-M4/3 mount adaptor combining parts of BORG and Nikon K-ring set. The great thing about M4/3 is that you can even use aperture priority auto mode with non-Panasonic lenses!</p>

<p>Stefan, I have G1 and have used Ai Nikkor 105/2.5 and non-Ai Micro Nikkor 55/3.5 using the adaptor mentioned above on G1. I even tested Olympus Zuiko Macro 38/3.5 with G1 at 4x magnification. I have owned and used Nikon F2 and Leica M3.<br>

And, I would just echo what Vivek said.</p>

[yoshio]

<p>Stefan</p>

<p>like the two answers above I have positive experiences too. As you mention live view is handy for focus of MF lenses. The EVF provides live view with the advantage of light shading (handy outdoor in bright light) and with the advantage of diopter compensation (handy for those of us who are <strong>not</strong> getting older but their eyes are).</p>

<p>I feel comfortable with getting focus right at f5.6 on my FD 28mm lens and FD 50mm lens this way <strong>without</strong> resorting to the magnification tool. When I have a tripod then I focus with lens open then stop down. As you say for snapshots much will depend on available light as the liveview compensation does get contrasty and jumpy in dim interiors especially when stopped down below f5.6</p>

<p> </p>

[peter_wang6]

<p>I'm a Canon user (Elph for P&S, 5DmkII for primary shooting), and when I saw the announcement on <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/olympus-micro/">Wired</a> even I got excited about it. This looks like a great camera! I could really see it gain traction among amateur photographers because it has the compactness of a P&S but the flexibility of a system. That, and it also has a much more generous sensor than the puny 1/2.5" - 1/1.7" sensors found in typical P&S. Even pros can appreciate it. As long as the pixel density isn't made too high (please Olympus don't try to squeeze 15 MP into it just because you want to market it against those 12MP Cybershots), I can totally see myself using one.</p>

<p>And is that a <strong>hot shoe</strong> I see on it? That is awesome. Imagine...the flash unit is larger than the camera.... LOL</p>

 

[machts gut]

<p>Thanks for shareing your experience. I guess I will wait how the announced Oly looks like, but I'm pretty sure I'll make the step away from the E-410.</p>

[patrick j dempsey]

<p>Anyone who has been holding their breath since August of last year... this wait's for you. Either Olympus is perfecting the most awesome camera ever, or they are banking on curiousity and anticipation to sell an underdeveloped lemon. Don't they realize that the longer the wait the higher the expectation and the more damaging a lackluster product is to their reputation? Cases in point: Star Wars 1 and Indiana Jones 4. Two movies we would have been better off not even having. If the M1 ads feature George Lucus.... run like hell.</p>

[larry_myers4]

<p>I really hope that the M-100 turns out to be a decent camera, that thing looks absolutely beautiful.</p>