GX GARNERINGS

^Magnesium Alloy chassis, high grade plastic exterior … NOT Along with the surprise supposedly afforded by the launch of the E-P1, Olympus has secretly hidden another bigger surprise underneath the surface of the camera.  It is "plasticularly" surprising to find the secret underlying the lightness of the camera unfolded in the plastic surgical stripdown below: Surprise One: Lightweight plastic interior (and exterior too?) Surprise One: Lightweight plastic pancake (the 17mm one the left)  [Or which is which exactly according to Olympus ?]        Thank you for joining us tonight for the two pieces of expensive plastic.  In fact, will the camera and lens melt under the sun?  Just wondering. (Photos published by courtesy and copyright of Peter of PhotoRumours ) ----- As an aside, the interior of the GX100 has much more substance than the E-P1. Click on the photo below to watch the stripdown and...

(Nikon and Leica of the enticing retro design to fit with a digitial soul ... er ... and with an important component) Before answering the question, and further to a previous post here about the retro design for digital cameras, first let's indulge in the past and the future emergence of digial cameras in retro looks. That's a task for you: look for the single universal feature in these vintage cameras. First up, this is what you can hardly find to buy. The Russian Cnopm. Then, this is what you probably don't find the money to buy. A Nikon rangefinder resembling a Contax design. I saw this one in a camera museum. This is the IIa of Exakta , one of the very first SLR cameras. A subminiature camera from Tessina of the Switzerland. It featurs a lens of 25mm at f2.8-22. Shutter speeds are between 1/2 and 1/500. It can fit a roll of film! Every winding allows the film to advance for 5 to 8 exposues on each winding. The Answer Now, what is the single universal feature? ...

When the G10 was unveiled, some critics didn't like its bigger size. The E-P1 is more meaty and hefty. Let's continue from where we stopped yesterday. Before we start, I would like to recap two main points in the previous post. First, the M4/3 system is designed with the female and family users in mind. Second, the focusing speed through the LiveView is worthy of your attention. So far, these are the two characteristics of the E-P1 and also the factors for your consideration of a switch or not. What are the other characteristics/ factors? The Strengths of M4/3 2. Shorter Lens-Sensor Distance: The distance between the end of the lens and the sensor in M4/3 is just half of that in the ful 4/3 system, resulting from the deletion of the reflex mirror and the pentaprism. This cotributes significantly to the smaller size of the M4/3 cameras and their lenses. But to me, the size of the sensor is as important as the size of the body and lenses. The cropped M4/3 sensor is not even in...

▲The E-P1 is small, but not as I’ve thought it to be Nevin’s E-P1 day was very well done.  Hat tipped. Now that the E-P1 is ready for sale, photographers are tempted by it in large number.  This blog may have served as one of the rumour mills to push this up; or has it?  Anyway, if it is just for the sake of size which makes you comtemplating a switch, there should be stronger reasons for the voting by foot so, not least because the E-P1 is not really small.  The investment to be poured on the lenses and the body(ies) will be no less that on a proper DSLR system. What is so special about the M4/3 system (I sort of hate the codename of it, which is not great for typing it)?  Does it worth the admission? The birth of M4/3 for whom? The story starts with the 4/3 format, which gave birth to the M4/3 format. As early as in June 2003, the first 4/3 camera Olympus E-1 saw the light of the market, giving photographers a choice in addition to the APS and ful...

A Taiwan tester posted some more photos of the two versions of E-P1 on his blog, most importantly of all the last few photos in high ISO by E-P1; that’s if you’ve not seen enough in Dpreview. The gobsmacking videos are here and here . Oh, I think this is the last from today.  What a full day!

The above comparison table between the M4/3 camera, plus the video below, are the latest report fron Cnet .

The Olympus E-P1 has been officially released and some links to the relevant sites are here . (Source from E-P1 Site )

The first report by a Chinese website (translated in Googlish): Olympus E-P1 is compatible with the micro 4/3 System standard for digital camera lens. "Olympus Pen" comes from .... Continue reading page one and two .

Pending the official release of the Olympus EP-1 in M4/3 system later today, the spec of the camera has been leaked, kudos to the successful marketing gimmick of Olympus: - 13M pixels, 3 CCDs - RAW capability - SD storage - 720p Video recording for 7 minutes in one go or 640 X 480p in 14 minutes - LiveView shooting - Digital anti-shake, whatever it is called - 11-point auto-focusing sensor - ISO 200-6400 - Shutter speed from 60s to 1/4000s - Body in white or black - Body only for around US$917; Kit for US$1222 to US$1324 - 17mm F2.8 lens separately for US$101; 14-42mm F3.6 lens for US$356

▲Latest ad on Olympus Hong Kong for the hand-on session tomorrow Olympus is set to start a global launch of its first M4/3 format camera, dubbed the E-P1, tomorrow (Jun 16). Some lucky Hong Kong users have managed to book for the three hand-on sessions to accompany the launch here. Olympus Hong Kong says that these users will be the first group to play with the camera, with models provided of course. The new camera sheds the mirror and the viewfinder to achieve a smaller size. Rumour has it that the E-P1 assumes a smaller body than the GH1, which has certainly been pined for among many photographers who look for the combination of small size and high image quality. Apart from the top view photos about the new camera wisely circulated on the Internet, there is an addition of a picture of the E-P1. On top of this, news have seemingly be leaked about its kit lens, M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 ED. It is a 28 - 84mm equivalent lens. Price-wise, there are guesses on 1,200 pound...