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Page 1 of 9 The E-3 Development Story - Part 1
Copyright 2007 Zone-10, Newton, IA 
Just launched, the new E-3 marks an important watershed for the most innovative, and perhaps outrageous, camera maker Japan has ever known. The E-3 represents more than just a fitting replacement for the E-1. It is an all-important signpost for the future of Four-Thirds.
While many of us do not think it’s a make-or-break model – there are bread-and-butter DSLR models like the E-510 that are more crucial in that sense – but growth for the Four-Thirds standard will hinge on what is in store for the industry that the E-3 is about. In this detailed multi-part article, take a walk down the development annals of the company that brought you Yoshihisa Maitani, the OM System and the E-1. Acknowledgements and thanks for information and images in the article to Olympus Imaging Corporation, Shinjuku-ku, Japan. [ The Olympus E-3 Development Team ] I. Strategic design direction Asakura, Yasuo General Manager Product Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: Technical strategy, Four-Thirds platform design and performance specifications, technical roadmap, performance conceptualisation Watanabe, Akira General Manager Digital SLR Product Strategy Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: E-3 product development, market vision, design requirements, value conceptualisation II. Body design and architecture Funakoshi, Yasuo Senior Supervisor Design Centre, Product Strategy Division Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: Body concept and design, control layout and geometry, durability standardisation, surface engineering Kataoka, Setsuya Team Leader Product Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp
Areas: Body structural design and construction, materials engineering, assembly, fabrication and body casting Ogasawara, Yuji Manager Product Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp
Areas: Body construction, weatherproofing, functionality, TFT LCD panel, system operability, E-3 form factor design, LiveView development Suzuki, Noriko Senior Supervisor Design Centre, Product Strategy Division Olympus Imaging Corp
Areas: Super Control Panel graphic user interface, colour engineering, drill-step logic Kunishige, Keiji Manager Platform Department, R & D Division Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: SRBO design engineering, control ergonomics and aesthetic functionality III. Prism finder and viewfinder Ito, Kazumi Team Leader Optical Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: Viewfinder lens group and prism finder design, image pickup technology
IV. Shutter and drive systems Iwase, Shigeru Senior Supervisor Product Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: Shutter system, mirror box and motor unit, direct-drive cam mechanism design, aural engineering
V. SSWF dust-removal system Kawai, Sumio Team Leader Product Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp
Areas: SSWF glass filter, image sensor assembly hermetic design, piezoelectric actuator development, SSWF geometry VI. SWD AF technology Areas: TTL phase error-detection mechanism, distance sensing technology, high-speed concurrent processing, A/D converter, sensor unit fabrication and mounting, SWD technology, AF sensor unit, encoder, direct drive rotation detection system, manual focus mechanical design Kikuchi, Tetsuo
Senior Supervisor
Electronic Device Department
R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Kindaichi, Takeshi Team Leader Electronic Device Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Yokoyama, Kunio Manager Optical Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp VII. SWD Image Stabilisation Kobayashi, Kazuya Manager Electronic Device Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: Gyro sensor design and development, SWD motor actuator design, image stabilisation unit (CPU), fixed and moving frames
VIII. Image sensor and LiveView Komiya, Masaaki Manager Electronic Device Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp
Areas: LiveView design and development, LiveMOS sensor design, heat management, power management, ceramic packaging, signal processing IX. Four-Thirds lens development strategy and design Areas: Zuiko Digital lens development, Four-Thirds optical specifications, performance design Ogata, Yasuji Team Leader Optical Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Takase, Hiroshi Assistant Manager Optical Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp X. Image processor, dataflow architecture, power management and operating platform Onomura, Kenichi Senior Supervisor Electronic Device Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: TruePic III development, image processing, noise reduction circuitry, colour management and adjustment algorithm Tomizawa, Masaomi Manager Platform Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: Imaging platform and hardware architecture, power management, Noise Filter III technology, advanced detail reproduction technology (LPF/HPF), advanced proper Gamma III technology, RAW compression technology XI. Standard and wireless flash management Okubo, Mitsumasa Senior Supervisor Product Development Department R&D Division, Olympus Imaging Corp Areas: RC Data Transfer System, FL36R and FL50R design and development, Super Control Panel flash management user interface
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