CENTER VALLEY,
Pa., February 7, 2012, 9:00pm - Today Olympus builds upon the 40-year
legacy of the OM SLR
film camera series and marks the beginning of the new digital imaging
era with the launch of the Olympus E-M5, the first of the new Olympus
OM-D (OM Digital) Series of Micro Four Thirds products. Designed to meet
the needs of advanced photographers, the Olympus E-M5 is packed with a
built-in electronic viewfinder, superior image technology, blazing fast
speed and total creative control in a classic, rugged body ready for
sand, sun, sleet or snow.
Evoking the classic design of the original OM Series introduced 40 years
ago, and transforming it for the modern age, the Olympus OM-D Series is
a new and entirely unique Micro Four Thirds camera system. It combines
outstanding features found in the Olympus E-System DSLR line with those
of the compact Olympus PEN Series to meet the requirements of discerning
photographers who demand more performance and portability from their
interchangeable-lens cameras.
From DPreview -"With
the launch of the E-M5, Olympus harks back to one of its most
fondly-remembered camera systems - the Olympus OM range of 35mm SLRs.
The E-M5 is the first camera in an OM-Digital lineup that will run
alongside the PEN series and, according to the company, its Four Thirds
models. For reasons of clarity, it should be stated that this isn't a
continuation of that line - the OM-D models won't be SLRs and are based
around Micro Four Thirds, not OM lens mounts. However, they do embody
the spirit of the much-loved camera line - a small, well-built camera
designed for enthusiasts. And, particularly in silver and black form,
the E-M5 is one of best looking cameras we've encountered in some time"
..........more at
DPreview
From TechRadar -
"The
launch of the OM-D E-M5 doesn't really come as a surprise with hints
coming directly from Olympus through their recent less than subtle
advertising campaign. The first of the OM-D range of cameras is now here
and brings with it a new product range for Olympus, sitting between the
PEN and E series DSLR cameras"
..........more at
TechRadar
Link to the
Olympus Site for more information,
camera image gallery and quick technical information
From Engadget - "Olympus
has embraced the camera designs of yesteryear for several generations,
from its first Micro Four Thirds models to last year's E-P3. But now the
Japanese camera maker is stepping up its retro game, announcing a brand
new line of Micro Four Thirds cams. Meet the OM-D. A dramatic departure
from the more modern-looking PEN cameras, this new line of mirrorless
models, specifically the E-M5, in many ways duplicates the design
elements of the 1970s-era OM System. The first consumer camera in that
SLR lineup, the OM-10, served as clear inspiration for the slightly
boxy, black or silver and black magnesium alloy digital model we have
today. We were able to spend some time with the Olympus E-M5 before
tonight's announcement, and were very impressed with what we saw"
............Read
More and Excellent Video!
From
Imaging-Resource -
"Another
first for the E-M5 is its new, higher-res sensor, with 16 megapixel
resolution. It doesn't stop there, either. The E-M5 boasts what Olympus
is calling the world's first 5-axis image stabilization system, capable
of correcting for horizontal and vertical shift, rotation around the
central axis of the lens, yaw, and pitch" ..........more at
Imaging-Resource and keep an eye on
their excellent
Comparometer!
From
DPReview - "Pentax has
formally announced the K-01 K-mount mirrorless interchangable
lens camera and a revised 40mm F2.8 pancake lens to match. Built
around a 16MP APS-C sensor, the camera can mount most of the
lenses the company has ever made. It features sensor-shift image
stabilization, a 920k dot rear LCD and can shoot at up to 6
frames per second" .............Read
More
From
TechRadar - "The Pentax
K-01 is clearly an attempt by Pentax to stand out from the wide
variety of options that are now available in the ever expanding
compact system camera market........Read
More
From
Pocket-lint - "Looks
wise it's
very retro funky. Designed by Marc Newson, it is treated
with an SP (Super Protect) coating to repel dust, water
and grease and its finish is a combo of machined
aluminium and natural rubber with the dials constructed
from high-quality aluminum alloy".......Read
More + Marc Newson video.
A hands on video from Richard
Butler of
Dpreview
and read the full hands on 'preview' at
Dpreview.
TechRadar has released a 'hands on' review for the Nikon V1
compact camera.
From their website - "We spent some time with a pre-production sample of V1
to get the lowdown on Nikon's camera, which it describes as belonging to
a whole new category, the "ACIL" or "Advanced compact with
interchangeable lenses"
The Nikon V1 is in stock at
WareHouse Express in the UK and
selling at £829.00 with a Nikkor VR 10-30mm
f3.5/f5.6 zoom lens with its 35mm - '27-81mm field of view' which
equates to a 2.7x crop sensor. Read more technical >>>
Nikon 1 Series Cameras and
Nikon 1 Series Lenses
A video from Kai Wong at
DigitalRev on the new Pentax Q 'mirrorless' digital
camera - as a side note, it's nice to see
Kai taking the lead in some very 'classic clothes'.
From the Armoury Website: "Our vision for The Armoury is
to be the most trusted men’s haberdasher in Asia and the byword for
elegance, quality, value, craftsmanship and soul in classic men’s
clothing and accessories" -
TechRadar
has released a 'hands on' review for the Nikon V1
compact camera.
From
their website - "We spent some time with a pre-production sample of V1
to get the lowdown on Nikon's camera, which it describes as belonging to
a whole new category, the "ACIL" or "Advanced compact with
interchangeable lenses"
The V1 is an
expensive 2.7x crop sensor camera with its inter-changeable 10-30mm kit
lens (27-81mm field of view) costing £829.00 in the UK vat inclusive and
delivery extra.
I can't see the ordinary family photographer purchasing it at that price
and any enthusiast photographer will be seeking a compact camera with a
larger sensor?
Food for thought - You can purchase the G3, GH2 and Nikon D5100
larger sensor cameras with inter-changeable lenses for less. The Nikon
D7000 DSLR with kit lens for an additional £149.00 and the Sony NEX-7
with kit lens for an additional £320.00 -
Panasonic G3 Micro 4/3rds 2x
crop sensor camera with a 14-42mm zoom OIS kit
lens selling at £488.95
Nikon D5100 DSLR APS-C 1.5x crop
sensor camera with a 18-55mm zoom VR kit
lens and which delivers a very good specification (it is not the entry
D3100 model) and it sells at £599.00
Panasonic GH2 Micro 4/3rds 2x
crop sensor camera with the 14-42mm zoom OIS kit
lens selling for £719.00
Nikon D7000 DSLR APS-C 1.5x crop
sensor camera with the 18-105mm
zoom VR Lens selling for £978.00.
Sony NEX-7 APS-C 1.5x crop
sensor camera with the black 18-55mm zoom OS kit lens selling for
£1,149.00
The G3 and the GH2 with their 2x crop
sensors and the NEX-7 with its 1.5x crop sensor, have electronic viewfinders
built into the body of the camera.
A Nikon 'Mirrorless'
V1 Compact Camera -
I Don't Think So?
As a compact camera for the
enthusiast photographer, who is seeking to use it as a
main camera
system
or as a second system to a DSLR, I don't think the Nikon V1 sensor is
well thought out?
Perhaps
it will be driven by the 'brand' name but I will not be
considering it as a compact solution to use alongside my 'Full Frame'
DSLR.
The Nikon V1 sensor is 4 times larger than those used in most compact cameras and
2.5x larger than the 1/1.7" type used in enthusiast compacts. It is half
the size of the sensor in a Micro Four Thirds camera and one third the
size of the APS-C format used in most DSLRs.
The previous paragraph says it all, how is the V1 going to compete
against a 'mirrorless' Micro 4/3rds digital camera which has a larger sensor and very compact
inter-changeable
X lenses.
Lets not forget the new kid on the block, the 'enthusiasts' compact -
the Fujifilm X10 which
packs a lot of power and it is small
in the bag when you consider its strengths - the 2/3-inch
sensor which is a great deal larger than
most compact camera sensors, the 'optical' viewfinder in the body and the 'fixed' f2 wide to f2.8 telephoto 28mm-112mm 'field of
view' zoom lens.
What about
the Sony NEX-5N and
NEX-7 APS-C sensor compacts with their inter-changeable lenses.
The image quality of that NEX-5N is something else.
You can read more about Micro Four Thirds, Compacts and the Sony NEX
Series by clicking on my blog headings.
For me the
dream has always been a compact and lightweight 'Full Frame'
digital sensor camera with a 50mm f1.4 'prime' lens and a 100mm f2
'prime' lens which are also compact and lightweight with filter sizes of
around 52mm.
Such a FF digital 'autofocus' compact system does not exist but the new
NEX-7 'mirrorless' digital camera with its smaller APS-C 1.5x crop sensor comes very close. Sony
have been very smart is this respect and have brought out an A adaptor to
enable users to use other non E mount Sony lenses. Now Sony have the recently
announced E mount 'manual focus'
Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* E 24mm (36mm field of view) f/1.8 ZA Lens, which to
all accounts offers excellent image quality.
The Canon Solution
The likely first step is to release a G13 compact with a larger
2/3-inch
sensor and a superior
'fixed' zoom f2 lens to the existing G12.........no
threat to DSLR sales there.
The next step and it is entirely possible
that Canon will release a much smaller 'plastic' bodied 'Full Frame' DSLR in 2012,
with a new autofocus system, HD 'live view' video and the body able to 'natively' mount existing EF
lenses. In this way, Canon would not lose the sales of its
existing lens range. With such a camera, Canon could move forward with a
new generation of smaller and cheaper FF DSLRs whilst retaining its existing market share
and could develop new compact lenses.
Also, if it is technically possible - imagine that Canon with that smaller
FF DSLR, removed the mirror and went electronic viewfinder - could they
then mount Canon EF-S lenses to such a camera, even with an adaptor or
electronic switching? In a single evolutionary step, Canon would have
removed APS-C from their manufacturing process, cut those manufacturing
costs and yet maintained all their existing lens sales and support
continuity whilst finding themselves perfectly positioned to move
forward with lens and 'full frame' sensor development in a new 'series' variant
of their existing DSLRs.
The Samsung NX200 is
an interesting compact digital camera with interchangeable lenses.
This compact, yet powerful, camera technology is moving along at a fast
pace but it is a sizeable
Amazon UK pre-order investment for
a camera and 20-50mm lens costing around £699.99.
Over at
TechRadar they have released a
'hands on' review of the new Pentax Q camera. They had a couple of
cameras
for a few hours and managed to perform a short test with them.
From their site - "Imagine a compact camera with DSLR-like
control that accepts interchangeable lenses – that's the Pentax Q.
If compact system cameras are all about small-scale cameras with lots of
control and interchangeable lenses, Pentax has created a winner with its
Q.
Panasonic, Olympus, Samsung and Sony have all been in the CSC market for
some time and are onto their second and third generation cameras, but
the Q is Pentax's first model.
While the other manufacturers use Four Thirds and APS-C format sensors,
Pentax has opted to use a much smaller device. In fact the 1/2.3inch
Sony back illuminated CMOS sensor found in the Q is smaller than the
1/1.7inch device found in compact cameras like the Canon PowerShot G12"
More on this article, which is quite extensive can be found on their
site -
TechRadar
Sensor Sizes - For information about about sensor sizes,
please click on this
Cambridge in Colour link.
I must admit this appears to be a very nice Micro 4/3rds 'prime' lens offering a 24mm
'field of view'.
I reckon the Olympus 12mm will be enjoyable to use but it is to 'wide'
for most of my shots. I prefer the 40mm 'field of view' from my Lumix
20mm f1.7 lens.
However, on second thoughts.............with its f2 wide aperture it
could prove most excellent for night street photography. Kai Wong
at
DigitalRevhas released an interesting 'hands on' video
and the lens sure looks beautiful -
I quite like his 'hands on' reviews at Digital Rev.
Like an alternative comedian his alternative video reviews can be quite
comical and yet manage to deliver a different perspective on cameras
which work very well when combined with the more serious written stuff on
other review sites.
Digital Rev has started to become a weekly visit and there is a lot of
good material, a refreshing change!
cameras
for a few hours and managed to perform a short test with them.