Olympus introduces the FIRST digital SLR designed from the ground up

[Dan C]

The Olympus E-1.

To clarify, this is the first interchangeable lens SLR designed from scratch to be digital. All other digital SLRs up to now started life as traditional film cameras and are based around existing lens mounts.

This new concept means that Olympus is able to design a line of lenses that only have to cover the smaller CCD imaging area rather than the full 35mm frame. It saves money and helps produce huge apertures.
Nikon has a few lenses designed specifically for their digital SLRs, but they haven't taken the concept very far just yet.
The downside to this idea, of course, is that the "digital" lenses won't work with your film camera.

This E-1 supposed to be a professional camera but if the format takes off it'll trickle down to cheaper SLRs.
It's been quite a while since Olympus marketed a full professional system, the brilliant OM series. Despite the qualities of that system, Olympus could never really compete in the pro market with Canon and Nikon.

Dan C

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/olympuse1/

[Dan C]

Here's another, less sprawling review with several photos from different angles.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/e1.html

Oly has taken out ads in some trade publications, including News Photographer, so I guess they must be serious. They're gonna have to work hard to survive the digital era, it would be a shame for this innovative company to go under. :sigh:

Dan C

[Michael]

I still have my OM-2n System from 1978/79! Still working great and never had a problem in any kind of climate...One fine SLR...This looks promising...I knew eventually Olympus would make a digital SLR! Neat...:)

[Dan C]

Originally posted by Michael
I still have my OM-2n System from 1978/79! Still working great and never had a problem in any kind of climate...One fine SLR...This looks promising...I knew eventually Olympus would make a digital SLR! Neat...:)

Years ago I was given an original OM-1. It was an early version that didn't accept an auto winder.
I loved the OM cameras. Tiny jewels, the closest an SLR ever got to feeling like a fine rangefinder. But when I started to think I'd pursue photography as a profession, I knew that it was necessary to invest in either Nikon or Canon gear (and in my case it was Nikon).

My favorite Oly cameras have always been the little happy snap ones. I have a couple of weird Pen half-frame models. And their clam-shell point and shoots were always excellent. I had an original Stylus P&S for years that I used to take thousands of happy snaps! It had a simple three-element lens that was TACK sharp. I dropped it several times (always accidentally, of course) and it never stopped. Oly cameras were quirky, reliable, and always fine picture takers. :thumbsup:

Now I'm using a nice Olympus C-5050 digital camera for happy snaps. 5 megapixel, loaded with features. It's a very good camera but lacks the weird charm of the old film Oly cams.

Dan C

[danstone]

Originally posted by Dan C
They're gonna have to work hard to survive the digital era, it would be a shame for this innovative company to go under.

Judging from the very informative and thorough review posted at the link above, I'd say they still have their work cut out for them. The Canon EOS-10D is noticeably sharper, as well as having quite a bit less RGB noise/luminance noise, than the Olympus in the test results.

The fact all my standard EOS lenses will continue to work on the 10D is a huge benefit that would also sway my decision in this case.

Hopefully, future generations of these 'digital' lenses may start to tip the balance the other way.

Thanks for posting the info.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by danstone

Judging from the very informative and thorough review posted at the link above, I'd say they still have their work cut out for them. The Canon EOS-10D is noticeably sharper, as well as having quite a bit less RGB noise/luminance noise, than the Olympus in the test results.

The fact all my standard EOS lenses will continue to work on the 10D is a huge benefit that would also sway my decision in this case.

Does anyone know if the CCD in the Canon EOS-10D is the same as a 35mm frame?

I'd really like to have a camera system where I could use a digital body for some shots, and switch to a film body for my other shooting. Not having to duplicate lenses.

I really do like my Olympus point and shoot, since it does have some SLR-like features and takes nice photos. I hope they do work out a nice SLR system for digital...would be sweet. :)

[Dan C]

Originally posted by Rudy@A&MCorner


Does anyone know if the CCD in the Canon EOS-10D is the same as a 35mm frame?

I'd really like to have a camera system where I could use a digital body for some shots, and switch to a film body for my other shooting. Not having to duplicate lenses.

I really do like my Olympus point and shoot, since it does have some SLR-like features and takes nice photos. I hope they do work out a nice SLR system for digital...would be sweet. :)

The Canon 10D has a magnification factor of 1.6X. Not good news for those of us who enjoy using wide angle lenses.
The camera can make very impressive images but it's autofocus system seems to suffer from a bit of indecisiveness, sometimes producing unacceptably soft images. Their D60 and the super lame D30 also had this "quirk".

Dan C