Camera Labs

It look like a great camera and with the interchangeable lenses makes it really something to consider. Life with out a viewfinder is good, but with out a built-in flash it's almost impossible.

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Going nowhere slowly

There is a photoshopped all black one floating around, but there is no all black one announced. One has some black parts, but not nearly enough to be called black.


While I'm here, I had further thoughts on the AF speed. Is it the body, the lens or a combination of the two?

Hopefully someone will try this soon:
Oly lens on Pana body
Pana lens on Oly body
...and see how this affects the AF speed relative to sticking with own brand.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I would like to have AT LEAST a led/xenon flash similar to cell phone ones!!!!

I don't have the cash but my mouse pointer is hovering rather too close to the pre-order button on Amazon

Thinking a bit, I wonder if the decision not to fit a flash is due to the small size. A small flash will only have a short range. But here we have a relatively large lens on small body. I wonder if the risk of a flash shadow would be too much.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

After looking at some full-res photo samples, I can see the IQ is comparable to entry-level Olympus DSLR's. That's pretty good. I also like the lens compatibility with 4/3 lenses and those m4/3 lenses from Panasonic.

I couldn't care less about the lack of a built-in viewfinder, but the lack of a built-in flash is indeed annoying.

Overall, since I haven't invested in any DSLR gear yet, I can clearly see this camera was tailored, at least in part, for people just like me and this is a definite potential purchase.

All I need is a date of release... and perhaps the Gordon Laing seal of approval on this camera.

I think I'll keep my C-2100 aka UZ1 from 2000,it was the best digital camera Olympus ever made even though it was only 2MP. I'm really looking at the upcoming Pentax K 7 as my next camera..if it lives up to the hype, I already have plenty of Pentax lenses.

Barry

What's with the slow AF??? If Panny can make a decent contrast based AF on the G1 and GH1, why shouldn't Oly have matched that? Geez. It's useless to have interchangeable lenses if the contrast based AF system (which is the only AF option in a m4/3 camera) is no better than the contrast based AF on the E620, which is painfully slow even compared to my Panny TZ5. Might as well get the Panny LX3.

Other than the slow AF, I like the new camera. Those samples on that other website for ISO800, 3200 and even 6400 look pretty good. Best 4/3 high ISO sample pics I've ever seen. Now, how about combining that into a SLR camera Oly?? Why couldn't Oly have done that with the E620? The E620 would have been AWESOME.

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!

Armanius,
I noticed you own a Panny TZ5, I had a TZ4 and it was an awesome camera...had to get rid of it since I realized I missed the optical viewfinder more than I thought. Despite that, the shots at the full 10 X zoom were amazing and I only paid $168 for it brand new. I'm just wondering who this camera is marketed for. Checked Amazon and they want over $700 for just the body. WAAAAAAY overpriced if you ask me.

Barry

Perfect for the lightweight strobist too.

Small camera to go with those small flashes.

I'll definately be keeping an eye on this, I did want an APS-C sensor instead of 4/3 (i hate the sensor ratio) but if I had the money just now i'd definately get this, epecially for holidays etc, pack 3 primes, 2 zooms and a small flash - all taking up about the same space as my 70-200 does!

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

You can always crop Still over 10MP at 3:2.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Hi folks,

Olympus USA has a nice feature on the hstory of the Olympus PEN line which you can read here. The page also includes a link to some videos.

In the meantime, from that page here's the family tree from '59 to '66:

..........Pen (1959).................PenEE (1961)..............PenEE (1961)...............PenEES (1962)

...................
.........................PenEES (1962)................PenD (1962)...............PenD (1962)

And now we have (at a different scale, of course):

.......................................
.......................................................Pen E-P1 2009

If I didn't already own a Powershot G10 I think I'd be ordering one of these even before the test results come in. Micro four-thirds rocks.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Hey now, lets quit bashing the autofocus until we get reviews of a production model in. All the reviews so far have been preproduction models with preproduction firmware.

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E-3!
12-60 2.8-4.0
12-60 2.8-40 [Also going]
40-150 3.5-4.5
70-300 4.0-5.6
Fl-48

Hey, that's what happens when Oly lets that other website do a review of a pre-production unit. If Oly thinks that the production units AF system is going to be a snappy performer, they should tell us right now. If Oly doesn't want people to make judgments based upon the pre-production unit, don't release it into the hands of reviewers. Can't get the publicity and exposure and not get criticism. Can't have it both ways. That being said, the camera looks cool!

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!

While there always have been disclaimers on pre-production firmware, I can't recall a time when there was a significant difference on production units. Not saying there wont be, only that it is more wishful thinking than something likely.

If I hadn't already spent next month's pay I'd also be looking at pre-ordering right now.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I'm not going to comment on AF until I've tested a final production sample, but yes it would be disappointing if it doesn't at least approach the snappy AF performance of the G1 / GH1.

It's funny, the human condition is to always want more and complain about what's missing or could be done better - such as the relatively low res screen here, but it really does seem that with most new cameras, there's at least one major omission - and here it is the lack of a built-in flash. I know it would have been small, and I know it could have made the body a bit bigger, but I really think it could have done with it.

That said, it looks a lot more usable and flexible than the Sigma DP1 and that's its only real competition in this form factor.