Over the weekend, Olympus UK dropped a bit of a bomb on their Facebook page. In a pretty vague but dramatic status update with the headline, “BREAKING NEWS!!,” they appear to (sort of, maybe) confirm that they intend to continue their E-System digital SLR line. Or at least that’s how many readers are interpreting the announcement. It’s been two years since the E-5, Olympus’s most recent digital SLR, was announced (Olympus E-5 announcement). They’ve introduced a whole bunch of new Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras in that time and there has been much speculation about whether they plan to continue their digital SLR line. So this is exciting news.
The Olympus UK Facebook update, which has been posted all over the Web now, said:
“Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus Imaging’s SLR planning department, confirmed today that the company is definitely working on a body to deliver the focusing performance expected by users of the Top Pro lens series like the ground breaking 90-250 f2.8 fixed aperture zoom. Watanabe has been delighted with the success of the OM-D which has pushed the boundaries of performance for system cameras but acknowledged that it did not deliver with the legacy high end lenses from the E-System. Whilst further information wasn’t forthcoming, he was keen to emphasise that Olympus is actively developing a solution and will announce more details in due course.” |
The key details in that statement are the emphasis on lens compatibility and auto focus performance, and that it doesn’t specifically mention what format the new body will be; only that it will be, “a body to deliver the focusing performance expected by users of the Top Pro lens series like the ground breaking 90-250 f2.8 fixed aperture zoom.” It’s hard to know exactly what to make of that statement except that it likely involves phase detect auto focus for improved continuous auto focus performance. There’s also much talk on the online camera forums about a mythical “E-7” camera body. The bottom line is this is all speculation and only Olympus really knows. But it does sound like there’s a new high-end body in the works and they’re working on better auto focus performance. I’m definitely curious about what they’ve got cooking. Whatever it is, it will probably be revealed at the biennial Photokina tradeshow that takes place in Germany in mid-September.
We’ll keep you posted if and when there’s more news…
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