First impressions of the E1

[dirk]

Finally the E-1! Let's hope that it is also the camera that we were hoping for feature/quality wise

The E-1 seems really to be significant smaller then other Digital cameras, which is a good thing for daily uses and usability.

Here are some pictures on the dp-now.com site where you get a good idea about the size.

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I will add more images in the scan section, because of the bigger size and some small ones in this thread.

Bear in mind that we have since a couple of weeks the Olympus pdf file with a detailed explanation of the advantages of the 4/3rd system in our scan section:

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Dirk

 

[dirk]

I do not know why Olympus makes so many press releases on one day, but we will upload them anyway, so you pick yourself what is interesting and what not

So here is another one:

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another press release in pdf

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(25.2 k)</td></tr></table></center>

 

[admin]

And here some pictures:

 

[admin]

And here the one of the lenses:

The lenses are called Zuiko lenses by the way

 

[dirk]

Dpreview has published a few minutes ago a first preliminary test with a pre-production model:

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[dirk]

And Olympus launched a new website dealing only with the new 4/3rd system 30 minutes ago:

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[dirk]

And last but not least some official test-images from Olympus made with the E-1:

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[dirk]

we uploaded the official sales broshure of the E-1 into our scan/download section:

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[dirk]

Another review of a pre-production model is here:

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[mdb]

Hi Dirk,

Olympus apparently launched more than one website on the E-1:

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[dirk]

On dpreview.com there is a nice comparison of the E1 vs. Canon 10D and Nikon D100 in terms of weight and size. The E1 is clearly ligther. This would confirm the marketing arguments of Olympus for the 4/3rd system:

Canon EOS-10D Canon EF 28 - 70 mm F2.8 L 44.8 - 112 mm 1692 g (3.7 lb)

Olympus E-1 Olympus 14 - 54 mm F2.8 - F3.5 28 - 108 mm 1174 g (2.6 lb)

Nikon D100 Nikkor 28 - 70 F2.8 D AF-S 42 - 105 mm 1520 g (3.4 lb)

So the E-1 with an equivilant zoom is over 300g lighter than a Nikon D100 and over 500g lighter than the Canon 10d. In general the body of the E-1 is slightly smaller than the other two. This sounds good!

The E-1 has a pentaprism type viewfinder like a normal 35mm film-SLR camera. This is different to the E-10 and E-20.

The E-1 has an interchangegable focussing screen. The viewfinder seems to be a lot better than the one of te E-20. Focus position is clearly visible.

There seems to be no physical connection between the focussing ring of the lens and the lens elements themselves. This is new for people of the old style 35mm film slr. I do not know whether I like this. The lens tells the camera that the focus ring has been turned, the camera instructs the lens to change the focus position. Sounds weired...

"Supersonic Wave Filter" is responsibel for a kind of automatic dustr removal from the chip, each time you turn the camera on. This is new and Olympus is the first manufacturer, which is using this in digital SLR's. For more details please look in the broschure in the scan section.

The E-1 has both, USB 2.0 and firewire, which is very convenient for every user and a good investment in the future developments of the computerindustry.

CF write speed seems to be faster than with the E-20.

At the current time, no reviewer is allowed to write something about image quality or show test-images. This leads to some confusion of the photo-community and it shows obviously that the E-1 is not yet at the stage, where it will be (hopefully) in October in terms of quality image output.

Time will tell...

 

[reheintz]

The camera looks impressive and I will most likely go for it as soon as it comes out (just waiting to see some s&le images). I am curious though, how images will turn out using the 50-200 lens without a tripod especially while hiking in the hills. Any thoughts?

 

[iberger]

I was at the press conference, so I've seen s&le images (excellent quality) and hefted the camera. The E-1 body is a bit smaller than most SLRs (noticeably bigger than my OM-2n)--narrower, just about as high, and chunkier because of the hefty grip. It is also a great deal lighter than film SLRs. And of course the lenses are smaller and lighter for the same coverage. The grip and the camera's proportions should help in holding it steady. But the light weight cuts both ways: On the one hand, it means less vibration-countering inertia, which should cut steadiness. On the other, it is less likely to fatigue the photographer's hands.

The promised consumer version (no details given) will probably be out next year.

 

[dirk]

Hi Ivan,

can you disclose more details about the images that you ahve seen at the press conference?

Which size, which Iso rating, which subject, which lens was used etc.

Thanks in advance

Dirk

 

[iberger]

The images that impressed me were poster size, but I have no data on the ISO, lens, etc. At least one was a photo of a professional model.

 

[bdcolen]

It all depends upon how well you can hand-hold a long lens. If you can do that successfully with film at a given speed, you will be able to do it successfully with the E-1.

B. D. Colen

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[reheintz]

Ivan & BD Colen,
Relative to the E20 which I am using at the moment, it seems that the E1 is a bit smaller/lighter? I find that the weight of the E20 is just right for a steady hold and even better with the 1.4x TCON attached. I guess I will find out when the system becomes available. The grip is most likely better or at least as good as the one of the Exx cameras.
Thanks for your comments.
Roswitha Heintz