olympus? wait, thats a big sport- event every 4 years isnt it? 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ....you ... ignoramus! ;-)

I don't think so. Besides the fact of Olympus' recent "problems", the company is known for it's innovative work in the field of camera technology. Remember, all were laughing when Olympus integrated the socalled "live view" mode to a DSLR camera (to the Olympus E-330, I made some fine images with this device!). Meanwhile all other companies have "live view" implemented to their DSLRs. Or look at the dust removal system, Olympus' system is known for working best of all. And so on. The new mirrorless cameras surely will do a big technical step forward with the developments Olympus will show soon. I don't know if Colmar knows more details, but I'm excited to see the next Olympus surprise.

Peter

I agree with Peter. I don't think that Colmar was teasing you, Johan. It seems like he has some inside information that he is not able to tell anybody about (cf. NDA).

http://www.43rumors.com/

Olympus are going to unveil a bucket of ice-cream instead of a camera.....

That'll get a few Wows

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Frédéric,

I like the way you're thinking!

Colmar

Remo - I know Swiss German has no spelling rules, but you misspelt  the name of the sporting event!

This looks nice:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/rashbre/6800658863/

Indeed it does. All it needs now is a FF sensor, very fast primes, useable viewfinder and MF, plus fast AF. I'd prefer all this in a rangefinder style package than SLR though. Easier to get your eye to the viewfinder when you have a big konk like me ;^) Don't understand what the benefits are of doing it SLR style compared with RF. The viewfinder ended up in line with the lens for obvious reasons with SLR, but with EVF it can be anywhere, so the most obvious place is the top left corner (when viewing the back of the camera) like the M9.

Yep! I liked this very much from the Olympus E-330 :-)

At this stage of the game, surely the last thing it needs!

It'll come in a "rangefinder package" - no mirror, no mirror slap noise and lots of other "non-rangefinder" benefits.

It'll go down as a classic design, I feel!

Looks kak!

:-),:-),:-)))))

Where on earth does an Englishman learn this!

I think the trick here is to spot what has been Photoshopped and what not - for a regular here at 1X, spotting "Photoshop work" shouldn't be that hard.

Even I am now not so sure! It is becoming much harder because some people are economical with the truth & getting better at it!

You know the saying gerard - "the truth will out".

Of course the dentist knows it as "the tooth will out".

 Maybe for some, this release will be painful.

What's 'Photoshop'?

" Maybe for some, this release will be painful. " Colmar, I had hoped more for gainful, but I suppose painful it will be if it resembles some of those pictures from the previous century? I have to side a little with Bob here, I think, unless you have more inside info, perhaps?

;-) As I said to you before Johan - I cannot say more about this than I already have. All of us will have to wait until Christmas, which will occur long before 25th December this year.

I myself am no Photoshopper - although I have been known to "adjust" the "odd" image before. Odd as in 1,3,5,7 ...

There are new images available here:

http://www.43rumors.com/

They themselves aren't the whole truth.

I guess we only have to wait until Wednesday. If that's a close representation though, I can't say my heart is skipping a beat. More of a heart murmur. That said it's all about usability and image quality. For me, it's already in the negative because of the viewfinder position. That's a big boo boo in my book.

Maybe the image quality will swing your "boo boos" to"yeah yeas". 

Wonderful image quality, about which I cannot say more.

I like the look of the thumb grip. The M9 was like a bar of wet soap.

The latest images on www.43rumours.comm look closer to the truth, I think. They seem "better balanced" and the camera looks nice. Now the BIG Question: BLack or Silver?

My OM-1 was silver, but I think black will be better for street. I hope it will work with other M4/3 lenses as I love my 14 & 20mm Panasonic pancakes. That said, I'd like a faster and wider pancake. A 9 or 10mm would be just right.

My Om-2n that got stolen was also silver. Rebought one here in Switzerland a few years ago, this time black. Later also an OM-4, black too. I'll probably go for black this time again; sort of better for streetwork I also think.

I like the rumours of a 12-35 and then 35-100 Panasonic lenses - EXCEPT these will have image stabilization built into the lens in all probability. Then I would have bought IS twice - body and lens! Talk is of F2.8 or at a stretch F2.0 lenses.

I like my OM-2n more than even the later OM-4. The OM-2n had the controls so well-balanced. Not too many buttons - simplicity right through. OK, no spot metering, no highlight/lowlight button. But, so simple, such a wonderful photographic tool.

A photographers camera.

To add to this technical thread, there is this week a nice analysis by Thom on small sensors (Nikon 1) and dynamic range. It is all about how to work with your tool and how good you understand it.  http://www.bythom.com/

Come on then all you Olympic, sorry Olympus fans, its Wednesday the 8th. Tell us why we should be rushing out to buy this new offering and not the D800......
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..don't take it too seriously, I'm only being inflammitary

I'm sorry John, but I bought a new car last year.

You bought a car thinking you could take pictures with it, dear me, German organisation and efficiency that I thought you were famous for has very much gone down in my estimation.....

:-)

Hi John.

It seems to be making a splash ;^)

My OM-1 *is* silver.

You need a 'life laundry' K.

Can you lend me $20 Bob?  I need to shoot and process a roll of film.

I can do better.

King Douglas, Esq.

You'll be fine on the street with it Bob, no one will take you seriously as a photographer with a 30 yr old design, you'll be left alone to snap away to your hearts content.....

;-)

No ways - get the D800. It is technically a much better camera - higher resolution in terms of MP-count and DR and firmness and weightiness of body, legendary Nikkor lenses. Heck, surely it trumps this little Olympus on all counts, especially on price but not value for money. That's probably why we can expect Nikon to sell them in their 1000's if not millions!

To me, it makes little sense to purchase something from any manufacturer that benefits the manufacturer far more than yourself. The D800 will enable you to print prints to the size of your wall - except almost no one is printing nowadays anymore with the iPad-era on us (witness how few prints are being sold on 1X) . Even the 16MP of this OM-D is actually overkill. So you'll have bought a Nikon-black white elephant!

For "opportunistic photography" this OM-D  is EXACTLY what I've wanted for so long. It even reminds me of my genuine OM's - not as beautiful as the OM-2n, but somehow close. I walked around the city of Zurich today, with no camera but this OM-D would've fitted in my coat pocket so easily with an equivalent 28-84 lens on it.

Are there things that I don't want or need in the OM-D? Heck, plenty after a cursory glance through dpReview. Cameras have a million functions in them that I probably will never use but somehow have to be there to sell. 9 frames a second for me they could keep. I am less happy about the new kit zoom that it comes with from 24mm to 100mm equivalent - I think it too slow and big for the price, but it does have a macro feature to attract newcomers, so OK.

Oh - the other thing with the 36MP cameras - it is just the thin end of the wedge. You'll need an upgrade to the computer plus bigger CF-cards or whatever, all to store stuff that you're never going to print to wall size! Like I said, purchasing something that actually helps the manufacturer more than yourself!

I think Henri Cartier Bresson would have liked the OM-D concept.

Go well,

Colmar

WAIT!!!!!

What can I expect from you, Clyde, when I submit my address to you? ;-)

I dunno, as Bob, he's the one giving away stuff...and not bothering to spread around the love!

No one does with any camera ;^)

I've plenty of love to spread around Clyde. 

Here is Colmar's new baby:

http://sonyalphalab.com/2012/02/the-olympus-om-d-e-m5-weather-sealed-micro-four-thirds-camera-specs-preview-pics/

Still someone interested in a D800 from ... what was the name of this company ...? :-)

Peter

I said at the start of the thread that this is a camera I actually WANT. My order will be going in soon - the Missus gave her approval!

OK, good on ya mate. So naive question here. If I bought one of these would I be able to use my collection of very fine Nikon manual focus primes/?

Clyde, with an adapter yes. The backfocus on these is about 20mm while all lenses from the 35mm era are around 43mm say (some minor differences amongst them). This means the roughly 23mm required for the adapter is there. Such adapters are able to be bought on Ebay.

I just picked up a Metabones adapter for the GF1 to Nikon and it's very good quality. It will also fit the Oly, which is a bonus. The only thing is it will only work with the older lenses with an aperture ring. The 85mm F/1.4 is interesting. I'll see if I can find an example for you.

Nikkor 85mm F/1.4 @ 1.4 on Panasonic Lumix GF1.....

So some of you know me fairly well. And as you might have read in another thread I was sort of planning on getting a D800 when it came out, now waffling a bit towards the D7000. I have no problem shooting manual focus and center weighted exposure (pretty much what I do 80% of the time now anyway w/ film). Also, upgrade path is from D90 to...?

Do you guys think this might be something for me to consider?

Clyde, I cannot really say about your own situation. But, for me I am looking for a small "street camera" and will get the OM-D with the 14-42 Zuiko for this purpose. i'll also get an adapter for my range of manual focus Zuikos, similar to your own Nikkors. Of course, us older film shooters are used to "manual photography" with the older kit, since it was manual focus anyway. As you say, this is where you're coming from. Regarding the purchase of a "too capable camera" - I wrote about this in 43 above. Go well, Colmar

Clyde, forget the Oly with adapter and (large) lenses - it may look awful in combination. Fully agree with Colmar - if I'd start with an Oly, better get the small system lenses.

This made me laugh......

The on-line pictures on the web - testing of this camera - well, they look lovely to my eye. Mind you, I suppose the naysayers will find something wrong with them. Luckily 1X is not so much about gear, but making pictures. That's what photography is about - making pictures. Some of the pictures that I will be taking in the future will be with an OM-D. My wife has decided, that I can order one for my birthday. Christmas early in the year!

Damn!! I thought it was all about Photoshop, I just spent big bucks upgrading to CS8!!

I always knew that you are from another planet or from another time or maybe a parallel universe!

Yep!

where can I order CS8?

Rather tell me where one can order the OM-D.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842931-REG/Olympus_V204040BU000_OM_D_E_M5_Micro_Four.html

I better forward this adress to Gretha, my wife!

Colmar, there is a subtle hint that Olympus might use more of the same technology in the E-5 replacement due. While it may not be the ideal street camera, there may be extremely desireable improvements too. If I can find the link, I will post it.

Johan, Olympus have stated that they'll include EVFs in the traditional DSLR at some point. It may be a reference to this, then. The OVF is on its way out, to be replaced bythe EVF. Electronic viewfinders offer so much - you can view in B&W, you see what the sensor is seeing, you get a real-time histogram, you avoid misfocus issues since focus is determined at the sensor, you reduce costs, vibrations go away, the light can be boosted in dimly lit areas, you get to see the colour balance etc. I am running out of space to write all the advantages. Of course, the naysayers will know better. The naysayers were also around when we went from vinyl records to CDs and again when we went to storing on sticks. They were even around when we moved from sailing ships to steam, when we moved from horse buggy to motorized vehicle. The terrible thing here is that the lens system that is used is carefully connected/tied to the distance between focusing plane and back of lens mount. Olympus took the step of having the Micro Four Thirds lenses correct from the start. The existing "big boys" will change their lens systems at some point - they will be pushed that way, by the march of technology and the market. Olympus will then be so far in the lead. A fundamentally good idea is first parodied/ridiculed then grudgingly accepted and eventually admired. This is what will happen here too! Go well, Colmar

since the advent of digital I am 100% convinced that this statement will become true - just surprising that it seems to take longer than expected. Why? Just ask yourself: Why did photographers need (want) the mirror originally? For film, thats the only way to see what you get. Technical difficulties aside, the mirror became redundant with the intervention of the digital sensor. Now 4/3 (Oly, and Panasonic which already moved much longer ago with competent bridges like my old lumix fz-30) start to move completely, and 5-10yrs from now real mirrors will be for the classics and special applications only. I even think the current round of new Nikons and Canons are among the last ones in their range (however I need to confess that both brands belong more and more to the "classics" camp).

Part of the reason is technology. It has simply taken some time for the OLED screens to advance to this level, where they're good enough for the task at hand. OLEDs fundamentally, have a very high refresh rate, have a much wider colour-gamut and so on. However, to perfect the production process and to be able to do it economically has taken time.

The other reason is this:

A fundamentally good idea is first parodied/ridiculed then grudgingly accepted and eventually admired.  Initially no-one wants to adopt new technology/ideas. When some "tipping point" is reached then "suddenly/overnight" it becomes both acceptable and indeed desirable.

I consider it extremely likely that the dominance of Canon and Nikon will be broken. The tipping point will be reached soon.

When all the factors are included into the equation then the idea becomes a compelling one - I mentioned some of the advantages higher up, but also costwise the mirrorless cameras will hold the high ground. For me, it is a matter of time.

I'm 67 years old now.  Even before I retired from the professional ranks I was having trouble adjusting my eyes after prolonged focusing through the eyepiece of my SLR or Hasselblad, but had no trouble at all adjusting from a day of looking at the ground glass of my view camera.

I fully agree with you here, King! I trust that having high hopes of the new OLED-display in this camera will not be a disappointment.

DPreview posted some sample pictures - IMO the OM-D really performs great there.

Some good stuff about it here on Robin's site.....

The missus gave the "thumbs up" for a new camera on 14th February this year - Valentines Day. I knew she was the right one to marry, 28 years ago! I've ordered a black one with the 14-42 kit lens, for street work. Now for the rejections!

Colmar, are you saying you cannot buy your way out of rejects? ;-)

Be assured, even a E-5 wouldn't help here! My rejection list gets longer and longer.

Sometimes I think it could be connected with my types of photographs ...

One man's 'sublime' is another man's poison.  ;^)

The camera arrived. Battery is charged and I've played around a bit. Haven't processed any pictures yet. Build quality is simply outstanding. My OM-Olympus heart is beating a little faster now.

But, it isn't about the camera - it's about making pictures, I know!

You get rejected, too?  I'm impressed. 

When someone says "It's all about the camera", then it isn't all about the camera.

Thus - don't trust camera salesmen.

By now, I've christened it "a Street Camera named Desire"!