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[OM] Olympus AF SLR

Subject: [OM] Olympus AF SLR
From: William Sommerwerck <williams@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 05:56:40 -0700
"1. Olympus owns an OM-AF mount already, there is no need of R&D for
that. 

 2. Olympus does use fast and reliable AF SLR machinery on IS series. 

Conclusion: Olympus might design an OM camera simply by modifying an IS
body and mounting an AF-OM bayonet on it."


Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. The mechanisms used for the IS
cameras are not the same as those that would be used in an
interchangeable-lens SLR.

One of the advantages of a fixed-lens SLR is that the designer is free
to do things he could not do if the lens were interchangeable. He can
have only one group of elements move (that is, the lens doesn't have to
focus as a unit), or have multiple groups moving differentially. This
is, in fact, how the IS-10 works.

Although the principles involved are the same, you can't just put an OM
mount on an IS body. There are too many differences in the mechanism.

In my opinion, Olympus's _big_ problem would be designing AF lenses that
fit existing bodies and are easy to focus manually. Olympus cannot
afford to have two lens lines.

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