I think that this is a fabulous strategy. This gets Olympus back in "the
game" with the following advantages:
1. No worries about past system compatibility. They're free to design for
ONE purpose, digital.
2. Smaller sensors, lenses and lens mount than their competition. This
harkens back to the OM-System days of a lighter system vs. their
competition.
3. No compromises on image quality.
4. The opportunity to become the founder of a new, digital lens mount.
Perhaps Olympus digital mount will be the Pentax Screw-Mount of the early
21st century? Let's hope that they don't kill it by charging too much in
royalties.
5. Issues?
- I hope that they've allowed some growth room in the sensor size or the
sensor density. If the pixel density doesn't increase enough at their
maximum sensor size (dictated by the lens and lens mount designs), they
they'll paint themselves into a corner and make the system a dead-end; while
the larger lens mounts of their competition allow larger sensor sizes. My
first-take would be to move to a higher sensor density to better record fine
detail. But I know that strategy comes with problems of dust, etc.
- Installed bases - The other big digital SLR manufacturers, Canon and
Nikon, have a huge installed base of third-party lens manufacturers that
offer solutions for their cameras. Olympus will have to address that
problem too.
6. Hmmmm... I wonder if manufacturing costs will less for the smaller lenses
that the digital SLR will take? Probably yes, but the R&D and Marketing
will swamp the mfg costs. And these lenses will probably cost more
initially as is the norm for bleeding edge products.
But the world is getting more interesting, finally. It's not just more of
the same grafting of old and new products. I could see myself buying one of
these in 2-3 years.
BTW, I just got a Canon Powershot G2 as an early Christmas present from my
family. It's very nice. Pictures to follow.
Skip
From: ClassicVW@xxxxxxx
Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [OM] New Olys
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 21:28:28 EST
Here's the main paragraph of the Photo Industry Reporter article. The new
interchangeable-lens digital SLR *will not* use existing Olympus lenses....
I attempted to supply a link to the article at the end of the paragraph...
While Olympus expects to talk with other digital camera makers about
standardization of lenses, it will reveal at photokina 2002 a sensationally
new interchangeable lens digital AF SLR that uses a 4/3-inch CCD sensor,
roughly half the size of that used by present pro digital cameras but right
up with them in megapixels. The series of Olympus lenses, from extreme wide
angle upwards, will not be compatible with any silver halide imaging camera
system that can also be used with other interchangeable lens digital SLRs.
It
will be far smaller and lighter than the lenses of any other digital AF
SLR.
These exclusively digital imaging lenses, itâ??s predicted, will deliver
equal
or better results than can be obtained by cameras now trying to span both
silver halide and digital imaging with one series of lenses. Since it will
be
virtually impossible for Olympus to field a complete lens system at once,
Olympus hopes other lens makers will jump on the Olympus-mount bandwagon
and
produce optics for the new digital Olympus camera.
<A
HREF="http://www.photoreporter.com/2001/12-01/features/the_way_it_is.html";>Click
here: PHOTO INDUSTRY REPORTER: Issue 9 Number 21: The Way It Is by
Herbert Keppler: Whatâ??s New in Japan? Plenty?</A>
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