It's official, it is goin to be a digital Pen

[Steve Bellayr]

Other than the outward appearance/style how would this camera be any different than a number of retro digitals? Rolleiflex did one which did not get rave reviews.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I think the market for all this stuff is really Japan, anything with the slightest hint of retro is a must have.

 

[PhotoMat]

what are they going to call it? "olympus pen d" is already taken.

I hope it doesn't have image stabilization. I don't think PenIS would be a smart marketing move.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Wow, unless you guys have some inside information about Olympus that isn't evident on the Pen 50th anniversary celebration link, I
The suggestion that there's more to come implies, to me, anyway, that there's going to be more information on PAST Pen cameras.

You could well be right. No, we don't have anything more than a couple of obscure and enigmatic comments (in Japanese). So we could all be having a great time building something in our minds that doesn't exist, and we'll end up having our self-created expectations disappointed.
Anyway, not long to wait, either way. We'll either be excited, dismayed or full of advice for Olympus as to what an opportunity they missed and what they should have done instead.🙁

 

[Al Patterson]

It would be nice if they could come up with something as innovative as the PEN. We'll know in a few weeks.

 

[lemalk]

Wow. A lot of bashing. Oly, Apple, FourThirds, Leica...

As many others have stated (and I'm glad there's some defense of the E system), I think the new Digital Pen (or whatever it's called) shows a LOT of promise. I'm holding off on a D-Lux 4 purchase to see whether this new camera fits the bill.

On a completely superficial level, the design intrigues me - anything without a mirror hump is a step forward.
I just hope, as Steve Jobs says, Olympus doesn't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by neutering the camera's design or functionality from the prototype that's been shown.

 

[gavinlg]

I wonder if this new Olympus Pen will have Image Stabilization?

🙄

Yes, it will, as said by olympus in numerous interviews. I'm not sure why you'd think thats a bad thing either - it'll have it built into the sensor, meaning you get about 2-3 stops of handholding ability from every lens.

And the 110 film format is 17mm x 13mm, with one sprocket hole, just to set the record straight. So 4/3 and m4/3 is very close to 110 format in size.

~Joe

Who cares? 4/3rds can hold its own with full sized 35mm sensors, let alone APS-c sensors from Canon and Nikon and Pentax which are only a tiny % bigger than it. Refer to the picture I posted on the last page - ISO 1250 pushed to 2000 and it's clean and sharp. The "small sensor" comments are vague and generally made by people without any experience in the system.

if you are happy with iphone photo quality - that clearly shows that apple's brainwashing machine still works good. they make high-priced garbage that all other companies have by much smaller prices, they have services thousands of miles away, they take you great money for products and for every repair - and because of that people think that that is some great elite company.
i hope you realize that there are tons of products for asian market which you never see on west - and a lot of them are very much ahead of apples products.
and yes - as someone else stated - samsung is korean...

He never said he thought the camera was good quality, he was talking about the interface, and I agree with him. Apple knows how to make an interface - the iphone is nothing short of brilliant. Not that it's relevant to this

Other than the outward appearance/style how would this camera be any different than a number of retro digitals? Rolleiflex did one which did not get rave reviews.

There's a huge difference - the m4/3rds camera will have a 4/3rds style sensor - the same used in Olympus DSLRs, which is considerably bigger (around 10 times bigger) then the sensor in any compact camera bar the sigma DPs, of which the sensor is similarly sized. All other compacts have sensors the size of a dust mite. This means DSLR quality in a tiny camera. Plus, it has interchangeable lenses.

I think the market for all this stuff is really Japan, anything with the slightest hint of retro is a must have.

I don't think the camera is going to be "retro" in the same way that the new Nissan GTR isn't "retro" despite being a name and lineage dating back 50 years. It's going to be designed to sell.

I hope it doesn't have image stabilization. I don't think PenIS would be a smart marketing move.

It will according to Olympus, and I don't really understand why you wouldn't want it?

Wow, unless you guys have some inside information about Olympus that isn't evident on the Pen 50th anniversary celebration link, I can't imagine how so many of you think that the very short video suggests there's going to be a digital Pen. The suggestion that there's more to come implies, to me, anyway, that there's going to be more information on PAST Pen cameras. And if they're talking about 50th anniversaries, they could string this campaign out for the next 10 years, as they plug the various full-frame Pens and then the half-frame SLRs on or near their respective 50th anniversary release dates.

My sense of Olympus is that, while the company over all is doing well, the camera division is in a lot of trouble. Whether the camera division even remains viable may depend on whether Olympus is acquired by some bigger company that's ready to invest a lot of money into the photography division.

People have been saying olympus is in trouble for years - they're a smaller camera company that march to the beat of a different drum than nikon and canon. They're much MUCH bigger than leica for instance, and their main specialty is actually in medical/optical, which is a large portion of the company and does very well. Their 4/3rds e-system also does quite well.

Olympus themselves have said "june 15th" will be the date for the new micro 4/3rds.

sources:
http://translate.google.com/transla.../05/13/10823.html&sl=ja&tl=en&history_state0=

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/15/olympus-micro-four-thirds-throwback-set-to-launch-early-july/

 

[gavinlg]

For those that are still doubting that this is coming from Olympus, here you go:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/oima_slr_microfourthirds.asp

 

[gavinlg]

And here is a summary of what's expected so far:

Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera
12 megapixel
video
no built in flash
3.0 LCD screen
900$ -999$ with kit lens
a second more advanced/featured camera released end of the year
14-42 kit lens
17 2.8 lens
no EVF
beige and black
mid-June announcement and second half of July availability

If you want to follow the internet rumors for this camera, have a look at this site - http://43rumors.com/
They rightly predicted the recent e-450 weeks before it was announced, so they have a somewhat proven track record.

 

[rover]

Nothing there to excite me. Just another tool to do the same thing. I don't need another camera system, and for that price it is way out of what I would be willing to pay for a P&S. Add the lack of a wide fast lens, I will be better served with an LX3 and maybe pick up a Pentax K7 as an upgrade from my K10d. I won't be buying anything before it is formally announced, but unless it is really tiny, it won't find it's way into my possession.

 

[PhotoMat]

fdigital:

Reread my post. Carefully. 😉

 

[Pickett Wilson]

These threads are always fun!

We're all kind of hopeless. 😉 The "next" new camera will be the one that will complete us, finally reveal our talent, fit in our pocket, make grainless 16x20's at ISO 12,000. Our photos of the kids, and strangers on the street, will set the art world on edge with this miraculous tool. And I don't currently own a single camera that isn't capable of producing photos far beyond my abilities and the abilities of most other photographers.

Sure is fun to buy new toys, though. 😉

 

[gavinlg]

fdigital:

Reread my post. Carefully. 😉

whoops, I didn't see the humor on first glance - well done! 😀

 

[historicist]

I agree with you about the current designs, but neither the F3 nor the F4 were good examples of interface design - the F3 with a shutter speed display that can only be seen in sunlight or managing to find and press a tiny tiny button located in an awkward place without moving your eye from the finder. And the F4 pretty much had a physical control for every feature.

The Canon T90 I think is the best example of a totally new interface design which allowed both an increase in camera features and a simple control system, it's quite apple like.

 

[aizan]

do they mean the camera will be beige and black, or that there will be a beige version and a black version?

 

[ishpop]

More than anything I am excited to have a small-ish camera that can take any type of lense via adapter and (hopefully) have a nicer form factor than the G1 which bores me.

I probably will not be putting my digital zuiko lenses on it though, would be a mismatch, heh.

 

[Terao]

I hope it doesn't have image stabilization. I don't think PenIS would be a smart marketing move.

Oh I don't know - for some a camera compensates for inadequacies in that area. BCSD applies to equally to cameras as it does to cars, those big zooms always attract the ladies 🙄

 

[back alley]

it's not really official, is it?

 

[gavinlg]

not until they announce it, which is what everyone is waiting for. No one knows what it's going to look like or even final specs. pretty exciting!

 

[Kent]

I hope it doesn't have image stabilization. I don't think PenIS would be a smart marketing move.

Muuaahhaahaaahaaa! ROFL! That's a good one!