So to be honest, I really wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a "full-frame" 4/3's camera body or even a full-frame digital OM body. or more properly a reintroduction of the paradigm Olympus started with the Pen F half-frame SLR. it's not being designed from the perspective of using manual-focus glass, but from the perspective of a new paradigm in camera and lens design. Micro Four Thirds is poised to produce the bodies and lenses that 4/3's was supposed to deliver on to begin with, but again. Unforunately, Olympus has not really been able to keep the promise on body and lens size with the exception of long lenses. The point of 4/3's is not just reducing sensor size, but reducing camera body and lens size. It's also resulted in Canon releasing two different lens types for what is essentially the same mount, EF and EFS. this creates massive confusion in talking about focal lengths and field of view of lenses. Unlike Canon, which offers no less than three different sensor sizes on the same mount as well as film bodies. Which means that 4/3's lenses and sensors are considered full frame already. Since Olympus never had a successful AF lens line, they decided to start from the ground up with designs. Yes, Nikon and Pentax maintain the basic mount shape, but it's not the same linkage, so Nikon and Pentax manual focus lenses are reduced to the same stop-down metering just as on other cameras (and I think Nikon's won't even meter!) So, like EVERYONE ELSE, Olympus is designing digital cameras from the perspective of using digital lenses. theres not a single DSLR manufacturer out there interested in producing digital cameras specifically to take manual focus lenses. Meantime, a number of OM lenses are going through their paces on larger sensor Canon bodies, which has been enough to boost second hand values for some of the more popular OM lenses. ![]() Micro 4/3rds is an attempt to boost volumes by attacking a segment that has been largely neglected so far - a pocketable quality compact, with the added benefit of interchangeable lenses. A sensor cost advantage of say $25 is easily lost in trying to dilute fixed cost overheads and R&D on lower volumes: if the advantage had remained over $100 it would have opened a wider market. I think John Robison's history contains some interesting observations. I'm sure Olympus have been shocked by how fast technology has reduced costs for larger sensors. We have moved from $8000 to under $2000 for a 24x36mm DSLR already, and that is before the new steppers enter the equation. Now APS sensors cost as little as $50 or so - and even 24x36mm full frame ones are coming down in cost sharply as production experience builds yields and steppers capable of exposing the entire frame area in one shot hit the production lines for Sony/Nikon and Canon. A Canon D30 was $3,000 at launch back then - and yields on APS size sensors were low. Well, that was a good point back when Olympus made their design decisions for the 4/3rds system: however, the world has moved on. ![]() Which would waste some of the long side of their frame. With that size, the crop factor at 8X10 prints would only be 1.33 compared to full frame 24X36 sensors One of their larger professional bodies and still keep the 38.57mm flange to sensor distance of their currentīodies. But perhaps they could design a 18X24mm sensor (finally, 1/2 frame again) that would shoehorn into OfĬourse, if they put in a larger sensor they might have to increase the flange to sensor distance, leaving no roomįor adapters. What I've read from several sources Olympus had hope that 1/2 frame would develop into the "new" 35mm standardĪnd that other makers would produce their versions of system 1/2 frame cameras. ![]() By 1967 however, development started on the OM system that was introduced in 1972. In the 1960's they were committed to 1/2 frame SLRs with their Pen F system that Although Olympus is "committed" to the 4:3 size sensor does not mean they will neverīring out a larger size sensor.
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