Olympus Announces E-1 Digital SLR
Olympus have announced what they have billed as the “World’s First 100% Digital Interchangeable Lens SLR System”, the new Olympus E-1, which is based on the Four Thirds open standard.
Specifications
The E-1 will have a 5 megapixel sensor with a 4:3 aspect ratio, magnesium-alloy body, 1.8” LCD, ISO range of 100-3200, and interestingly a “Supersonic Wave Filter” which cleans the CCD when the camera is switched on.
A range of Zuiko digital lenses, a flash unit, battery grip and other accessories will also be launched at around the same time as the E-1.
Pricing
DCRP have a handy table of prices for the camera and lenses here; in short, the E-1 will retail for $2199, body only. Digital Photography Now are reporting body-only prices at around ?2,000, or GBP?1,384 (US$2,312).
Availabilty
The Olympus E-1 will be available for sale in September 2003.
Press Release
Here are some snippets from the Press Release that particularly caught my eye:
“Unlike most digital cameras, the Olympus E-1 utilises a Full Frame Transfer CCD sensor, a type specifically developed for the capture of still images. In comparison to Interline Transfer counterparts found in the majority of digital models, the FFT-CCD is distinguished by a larger pixel area, with bigger photodiodes and transfer channels. This means more electrons can be captured. A high signal/noise ratio can therefore be achieved together with a wider dynamic range. Final images benefit from more exposure latitude, greater detail and less noise.”
“For many photographers, speed is the key. That’s why the Olympus E-1 is equipped with three powerful ASICs. This ensures extremely fast image processing and playback. No matter which quality mode or resolution is chosen, thanks to an impressive 128MB buffer and high-capacity working SDRAM memory, up to 12 frames of sequential shooting can be captured at 3fps in every format (JPEG/TIFF/RAW).”
News Websites:
Here’s a list of websites that are all reporting the Olympus news:
A lot of these sites are due to post detailed full-looks of the E-1 at 9am eastern time (they are all under embargo until then), so check back later for more info.