More rumors

Aug 29, 2007 09:35 GMT  ·  By

It appears that Olympus' next advanced/professional DSRL will not be the E-P1, as rumored here. The company struggling to popularize the four-thirds format has unveiled its new flagship model, called the E-3.

There's no press release, so information on the new camera is scarce. However, rumors say that we might be dealing with a new type of sensor, which is extremely similar to the Foveon design. Apparently, the new sensor will give users 10 megapixels of resolutions. As a quick reminder, the Foveon sensor features three layers of pixels "resulting in sharper pictures, truer colors, and fewer artifacts"

Unfortunately, other than the pictures there is no additional information. It remains to be seen if the document leaked by Olympus in July tells the truth about the upcoming flagship model. Here's an excerpt from our July report.

"Just like the E-1, the new E-P1 is said to be a professional camera, albeit the lack of a built-in vertical grip puts it in the Nikon D200, Canon 30D league. As expected, Olympus has included the proprietary anti-shake system that allows for slower than recommended shutter times to be used and stabilizes any lens mounted on the body. Other "no-surprise" features include the Live View system, the dust reduction technology and the splash proof design. Regarding the anti-shake system, Olympus promises it will allow shutter speeds 5 stops slower; if this turns out to be true, the E-P1 would have the most effective reduction system on the market, albeit some experts claim that specifically tailored stabilization technologies found in Canon and Nikon lenses are superior to the body-based ones.

The interesting and less expected specs are related to the autofocus module and the continuous speed. According to the leaked information, the E-P1 will have 11 cross-sensor points, a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 and 5 frames per second. The 11 cross-sensor points are probably the most important improvement since they will allow photographers to use the camera for sports or other tasks that require a blazing fast AF, one of the major complaints of the 2003 released E-1. Other leaked specs include a 10MP Live MOS sensor, a swiveling LCD and wireless flash control in three groups."

The difference between the July document and today's announcement is that, at that time, Canon and Nikon had not come up with their latest 40D, 1Ds Mark III and D300 and D3, respectively, which really puts a lot of pressure on Olympus.

Let's just wait until October-November and see whether Olympus can take a DSLR swing at either of the big players on the market.

We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is .

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

E-3
E-3
Open gallery