Rumors, we have rumors about the Olympus E-3 successor. From one day to the next we are hearing that the sensor is 12MP or is it 15MP? The body is modular, but yet it isn't. What is the real story?
The fact is, Olympus has chosen to play an extremely coy game with the E-3 replacement. I don't believe I've ever seen such misleading and misdirection as Olympus has played this year. And for very good reason. For being as close-to-the-vest as they are, untimely leaks have plagued Olympus through the years.
One technique Olympus has chosen to use, knowing full well that trade secrets are going to be compromised is to have multiple "prototypes" and preproduction models in circulation. If the new camera has 10 new features, for example, no one prototype will have more than three in it. And the three that each prototype has is carefully identified with each tester. This way, when there are leaks, it is easy to determine the source.
The latest rumor is the E-3 replacement (popular belief is that it will be named the E-5) will have a 12MP sensor and be essentially a warmed over E-30/E-3. Oh, it'll have 720p video capability and somehow be able to be nearly as good as the Canon 7D.
Let's do a little history lesson folks. The E-1, when introduced, had several features not seen or commonly seen: Sensor Ultrasonic cleaner, pixel-mapping, an ultra-quiet shutter, 4/3 format and so on. The E-3, the introduction of which was so tardy that Olympus forfeited whatever professional and advanced photographers it had to Canon and Nikon, did have many innovations brought together into one professional package: Live-View, Swivel-mount display, vastly improved viewfinder, sensor-shift image-stabilization and a number of other forgettable features. Great camera, marginal sensor with horrid dynamic range issues. (I won't mention that they really screwed up the ergonomics--the E-1 will go down in history as among the best ever, but Olympus couldn't leave it alone).
The pattern is set. Olympus used the E-1 and E-3 to bring to market technical advancements and innovations which no other manufacturer dare do. What makes us think that it is plausible they've decided after three years of engineering effort and investment to just shove an updated sensor (and 720p video) into a rehashed E-3?
No. The new camera will be innovative. It will have features which will make the competition sit up, take notice and copy. The question is, what are those new features and what will it look like?
Here are a few things that they could be:
1. Kodak sensor with massive dynamic range. It would not be unreasonable to expect a sensor with as many as 18 stops (plus, minus 2 stops) of dynamic range. I could see 12MP in this case.
2. Panasonic sensor with electronic, non-mechanical shutter. Silent operation, unlimited shutter speeds. How they address the rolling shutter issue is the mystery.
3. Rotating sensor. Tilt detection is already in place with the E-30 and E-620. We already have sensor movement in the X and Y axis. A rotating sensor to auto-level would be logical.
4. Oversized sensor. Not much of an innovation as the Panasonic GH1 already had it. If the new camera shares the same sensor as the GH2 this is highly likely. One remote possibility is an oversized sensor which covers both vertical and horizontal area. No need to rotate the camera for verticals.
5. Modular design. To what extent? I don't know, but it is logical as it would address both legacy FourThirds and Micro FourThirds.
6. Electronic Viewfinder. The advancements in EVFs makes this a real possibility.
7. Hybrid EVF/OVF. Several ways to do this.
8. A true four or more color sensor array.
9. Hybrid AutoFocus. Of course, to make it work, they'll probably add another 20 pulses to the pre-flash and it still won't focus in anything short of bright sunlight. But we'll take ANYTHING we can in that regard.
10. Touchscreen control with possibly a detachable display.
11. And so on. There are other possibilities that may make sense. Look at Olympus other technologies they design, build and sell to the medical industry. Also, look very carefully at Panasonic's new Micro FourThirds mount professional video camera system. Many design and feature hints reside there.
I've been of the opinion and remain of the opinion that there will possibly be two new cameras introduced to follow the E-1 and E-3 legacy. Logic tells me that FourThirds is dead. If I was the product manager at Olympus I'd say "merge" the technologies and go to one common lens platform. This means that the new camera MUST be modular in some form. It must take both legacy FourThirds and Micro FourThirds. Introducing just a FourThirds E-3 type of body doesn't sell lenses. Who will be buying more FourThirds lenses for a dying platform and why buy Micro FourThirds lenses that wouldn't fit? I am expecting a modular camera as well as the long predicted Micro FourThirds camera possibly of a rangefinder like design (except the viewfinder would be EVF) or even one that looks like an OM body. After all, they resurrected the Pen and if you place an E-P1 next to an OM-1, you'll see an uncanny resemblance in size and shape.
Twelve (12) megapixel sensor in an E-3 body? I almost laugh at that. It just doesn't make sense. And if this is actually true and Olympus really is that stupid I will personally deride that decision mercilessly. I just can't imagine that they are that incompetent. But if they are, well, it sure makes choosing my next camera much easier.
Olympus, please grab the next ring. You won't get anywhere hanging on to the same ring any longer.
I recently purchased three boxes of various camera "junk" and found these two lenses. These are in excellent condition and include their bubble cases. The 35mm lens has perfect glass, the 80mm has slightly less than perfect glass, but neither have any cleaning marks or obvious flaws. I am asking $75 (USD) for the pair (plus shipping costs via USPS). Paypal accepted. Please contact me at
to purchase these gems for the Retina cameras.
Careful preparation and planning can be trumped by the unfortunate positioning of a cloud. The following photograph was the planned picture with the moonrise emerging in the catwalk. The timing of the photograph is exactly when the moon was in the precise position. Great shot, eh?
Since this shot was not going to be successful and knowing that it would be a few minutes before the moon would rise high enough to clear the cloud layer, I went driving down the country lanes looking for something to make the trip worthwhile.
Cow and Moon, Panasonic DMC-L1, Zuiko 300mm F4.5 Lens
Along one B-Level road (unmaintained, 4wd recommended) I spotted a hillside with a number of Hereford cows on it. This one cow was standing on the crest of the hill which was far enough above the road to give me another moonrise. Fortunately she stayed in one place until after the moon had risen enough I couldn't get any more pictures.
I'd be very pleased to have both GPS and WiFi capabilities built into my camera. But even more importantly, I'd like to have a barcode reading functionality. That would make school and sports photography so much easier.
Why WiFi? If you don't know, you probably don't need it. At this point, for the professional photographer, this is becoming pretty much a required feature.
Why GPS? GPS, combined with the accelerometers would be the groundwork for intelligent pano merging as well as sunrise/sunset timing, positioning and aiming. Imagine with me, for a moment, that you want to get a sunset picture with that lighthouse positioned directly in front of the sun from 2km away. The camera could guide you to the exact spot to stand and on the live-view display give you guide-marks to precompose the shot, complete with trajectory lines. Also, based on the global position, altitude and time/date, the camera can calculate white-balance. I think I'd just appreciate having accurate time-code in the camera.
I'd really like to see Olympus implement the iPad/iPhone/iPod operating system in the camera, or the Android OS. This way the camera becomes highly programmable and an integrated communication device. Just look at what all is possible with the iPhone and you can see how nice it would be to have just a fraction of that capability in a real camera that takes quality pictures. Of course, after driving this cargovan of a camera all day, you'll want to get out the sportscar (Leica M) and go tooling down a twisty road...
I don't think we'll ever see a programmable OS in an Olympus camera anytime soon. They are forward thinking in many ways, but that innovative? Probably a bridge too far. Sony or Pentax might. But one can dream.
This program is highly recommended for planning your shots. I have it running on both my laptop and iPad. A little trial and error will be required in figuring out how to position yourself in relation to your subject being photographed. The program is photographer-centric, not subject-centric which is better more often than not, but for the silhouette shots, you'll have to work a little harder at getting the lines to intersect.
Planting the moon directly behind a structure like the cell-tower is a little more challenging than a subject on the horizon. But for this moonrise, if you are in the northern hemisphere, try to locate yourself on an east-west road or path to the west northwest of the subject. As the moon is rising, if you want to keep the moon and subject aligned you'll be walking east with the tripod.
Use this site to determine when an Iridium Flare is going to occur near you. Those who have never seen an Iridium flare are in for a treat. If at all possible, if this is your first time, go to the center of the pass. Make sure you have an accurate clock source as they only last for a few seconds and you have to be looking in exactly the right place. Use the star chart to find the spot to look, or have some kind of compass and angle-finder if you plan on precise placement of the flare with some terrestrial object.
Jack Horkheimer, the host of Public Television's Star Gazer" and long-time director of Miami's Space Transit Planetarium died Friday, August 20th at the age of 72.
I grew up watching Star Gazer and I drive my wife nuts on Saturday nights when his brief program comes on. As a star gazer myself, Jack's advice and story telling brought the mysteries of the night sky down to earth and revealed that the sky isn't quite as static and unchanging as we'd think it is.
Jack, tonight I'll get the camera out and make a night sky picture in your honor.
Mother and Child, Olympus OM-3Ti, Zuiko 35-80, Fujifilm NPZ
American White Tail Deer photographed during a walk in the Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve outside Grinnell, Iowa. I came upon these deer when I crested a hill. I had the camera's exposure pre set and the shutter cocked. I was able to get this one picture, as the sound of the shutter scared them off.
About 20 minutes later I turned around and took this picture.
Sunset and Dead Tree, Olympus OM-3Ti, Zuiko 35-80, Fujifilm NPZ
DoF calculators generally use the same algorithm to determine far and near limits of in-focus objects. This is determined by an acceptable "Circle of Confusion" which varies depending on the application. Most CoC values are based on an average viewing distance of an 8x10 print. As print sizes go up, typically viewing distances increase. But not always, as there are some applications, like a double-truck spread, that will require tighter values. A point where an object is no longer in focus isn't a hard limit, but is the point where the average human eye will see the loss of sharpness in the object.
But is the calculation a hard and fast formula or do you have to take into account the specific design of the lens? I have noticed that some of the modern "made for digital" zoom lenses have a tendency to deepen the effective DoF of an image beyond what the calculated numbers would say.
For this article I compared two test photographs taken with the OM Zuiko 24mm F2.8 lens and the Panasonic Leica 14-50 F2.8-3.5 lens at F4.0.
Full Image of a highly detailed scene, Panasonic L1, Leica 14-50 at F4.0
Click on "read more" or the article title to see the full text and sample images.
UV "protection" filters are not too unlike putting plastic runners over your carpet or slip-covers over your furniture. In theory they "protect" against something, but who or what are you saving it for?
The sunspot flare that you are experiencing is highly likely being exasperated by the filters. One of the easiest tricks in the book for improving your photography is usually just removing the "protective filter" and keeping the glass clean.
Nowadays, we have the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. You can buy these "protective" films (as advertised on this very site) to go over the glass. Again, why? Why put up with the additional surface to look through, the ugly look, the reduced effectiveness and accuracy of the touch-screen? To protect it from SCRATCHES? It's awefully hard to scratch this new glass used in these devices. If you are going to scratch it, chances are you're going to break it first.
But we do these things to "preserve value". Ooooooooookay. Again, for what/whom are you doing that? Unless trashed, most used lenses are pretty much about the same price regardless of whether you used a protective filter on it or not. As to cell-phones and other consumer electronics, they have no value, used, anyway. The moment a new model comes out, your existing one is nearly worthless.
UV "protective" filters serve a purpose if: 1. You're photographing around water, 2. You're photographing an industrial site with abrasive and oily materials in the air, 3. You can't help yourself from sticking your fingers on the glass all the time, 4. You smoke and the haze builds up on your equipment, 5. You're photogaphing at high-altitude and need a UV filter, 6. You don't use lens caps, 7. You photograph motorsports from the fence opening on the outside of a turn.
I'm sure there are random other examples, but you get the idea.
Think about it this way--the average non-professional hobbiest photographer keeps his camera safely tucked away inside a camera bag until a picture reveals itself. Only then does he/her remove camera from bag, remove lens-cap from lens, shoot picture and then put lens-cap back on the lens and the camera back in the bag. It is not unusual at all for a five-year old lens to have been exposed to the air for less than two hours total. Personally, I can get two hours of air-time on my lenses before breakfast!
Another thing about UV filters which most people don't realize. Due to the disparate materials and the plastics used in the filters and lenses, it is very common for the filter to become statically charged which attracts dust, oils and other gookies in the air directly to the filter. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly my filters become hazy. (I use filters for B&W photography and polarizers). The bare lenses rarely become hazy, but the filters will get so with only an hour of exposure.
Full moon and Cellular Antennas. Location for this photograph was calculated using "The Photographer's Ephemeris" loaded on the iPad. See www.photoephemeris.com for more details on this app. Photograph taken with the Panasonic L1 with Tokina AT-X 100-300 F4.0 zoom lens. Additional cropping and image preparation performed in Picture Window Pro.
Full Moon and Cellular Antennas, Panasonic L1, Tokina AT-X 100-300 F4 Zoom Lens
Reports of the demise of regular FourThirds are now running rampent across the Internet. What is the truth? Will Olympus cease development after the E-4/E-5 production run? Evidence is mounting which shows that this rumor just might have some truth to it. Olympus has a long-standing reputation of abandoning product lines, with the classic OM system being a prime example. As FourThirds never did gain the traction and the universal acceptance so promised, it only makes sense for Olympus to cut losses and move on to something else.
But does "abandon" seem a little harsh in this case? Possible. It is believed development of FourThirds will continue, but not with the aggressiveness of previous years. It makes no sense to have two or three lines of Micro FourThirds cameras, the E-3xx, E-4xx, E-5xx, E-6xx, E-xx and E-x series of FourThirds mount cameras. Olympus has been taking the insane approach to shotgunning products but never giving the pro or serious photographer the time of day. After all these years we've ONLY had the E-1 and E-3 on the market. For being mortal enemies with Canon, Olympus has done a perfect job of forcing us to buy Canon cameras.
Olympus is introducing a new high-end camera, possibly two this year which are supposably targeted at the professional but unless they have a clear path of progression, we must assume that this really is it for any major release to the top-end of the market using exclusively the FourThirds mount. This, however, doesn't mean that it's the end of the line for FourThirds. Zone-10 believes that this may be the final product which is completely independant from Micro FourThirds and will progress towards a hybrid approach with MicroFourThirds.
Very specifically, FourThirds DSLRs with moving mirrors and mechanical shutters will be ceasing. Future cameras will most certainly have the Micro FourThirds mount as the mirror chamber will be eliminated and high-res electronic viewfinders will be the norm. All normal FourThirds lenses will be supported going forward through either an adaptor or through a modular extension on the front of the camera which will not only mount the lenses, but may provide additional functionality such as a beam-splitter for phase-detection auto-focus.
Regardless, Zone-10 is NOT predicting the end of FourThirds, just the merging of the technologies using modular construction and adaptors. Micro FourThirds is hampered in auto-focus technology by being forced to use contrast-detect auto-focus. Performance for professional applications MUST use phase-detection auto-focus. Until sufficient performance increases in contrast-detect occur, Olympus is forced to retain the longer mount-to-sensor distance for placement of either a mirror or beam-splitter to the auto-focus sensor array.
Rumors, we have rumors about the Olympus E-3 successor. From one day to the next we are hearing that the sensor is 12MP or is it 15MP? The body is modular, but yet it isn't. What is the real story?
