14 DAY TRIAL // As 2014 draws to an end, we tend to think in retrospect about all the cameras that were launched this year. Most of them were worthy products bringing forth innovations of their own, but in 2015 we hope the standards will be raised.
And if we’re to pay attention to what the rumor mill is saying, this is exactly what will happen. A highly trusted source talking to 4/3 Rumors revealed that Olympus is working on a camera with some pretty amazing capabilities.
Olympus' next OM-D E-M5 camera will borrow something from Hasselblad
According to the information, the follow-up of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 will come equipped with sensor shifting capabilities, so it will be able to produce 40MP images using a 16MP sensor.
The tip says the next E-M5 will be called the E-M5II or E-M5 Mark II and will take advantage of what’s being touted as “sensor shift” shooting. The source claims this is one of their best trusted sources, but even so we should take the info with a grain of salt until we know more for sure.
We’re not being offered a lot of details about the technology, how it works and so on, except that users will be able to capture 40MP images using the 16MP sensor by virtue of shifting the sensor and combining the power of 8 shots into one.
The sensor shift scheme is not a complete novelty. You might remember Hasselblad’s 200MP H5D-200c Multi-Shot beast, which was capable of shifting the sensor in 1/ 2 or 1-pixel increments and combining six shots into one. If you're curious, you can check out some examples of pictures produced like that using the Hasselblad camera.
But the Hasselblad is an enormously expensive device, while the Olympus one might arrive on the market with a price tag that won’t keep most customers at bay.
Will the Olympus E-M5II be able to rise up to expectations?
The upcoming E-M5II sure sounds good, but there’s a negative side to all of this: since multiple shots are used, shooting moving subjects will make for a difficult task.
Olympus will probably make use of its own 5 axis stabilization system to produce the micro-sensor – shifting. However, it will be interesting to see how well the system works in the conditions outlined above.
If you’re curious to know when you get to see this camera appear into the wild, the answer is not long. According to the rumor, the device should make a debut on the market in February 2015, so you won’t have to wait all that long.
