Nice to know there's going to be one, at some point in the future....

Not entirely convinced by the design though, but it is just a prototype.

Ultimately the spec, image quality and how it handles is more important than what it looks like I guess. ;)

Thanks for posting Michael

Andy

Well, I’ve been saving for the E-1 replacement for three years already. I don’t think “A successor to our current E-1 flagship will also be introduced next year. Work….is ongoing” and a display of stripped mock-up sounds very reassuring. They don’t even (dare?) to promise early next year (PMA).

Good news for those looking for cheap, used E-1s I guess. Yesterday I got an email from one hoping to get just a little more than 1/10th of what we paid for the E-1s in 2003 for his used E-1.

additional pics: http://dpnow.com/forum2/showthread.php?p=1039#post1039

mmmmmm....I really want to love it, but it is one ugly beast!!

Maybe by the time it's ready for release, like the ugly duckling it will turn into a beautiful swan?

PLEASE!! ;)

Andy

It's a mock-up camera... and who cares about the battery grip? Take that off and it looks OK to me. Given historical timelines for Olympus, it will be another year before it is released and nearly that long before we get some specs. Add an additional year plus for pricing discounts and it looks like my trusty E-1 will be used for some time to come! But I do look forward to seeing more about this new camera in the next year.

What a happy day this is!!!!!

I love it. The design may not be the final result but this is a bold initiative in design and I like it myself. I completely agree with Edwin and that was my reaction too. You dont have to have the vertical grip/battery. I have two batteries that I alternate and I have never had any problem with that set up whatsoever.

Ok we dont have specs but what we do have is a committment to build the camera which removes all the uncertainly about what future does 4/3rds hold. The future is here and I am really excited about this development and will be first in the queue here in Dublin when it is released. I really do hope that there will be more news released soon re specs and release date next year, the earlier being the better of course.

Naturally Oly wont make it's innovations public until nearer the release date but the design has me intrigued. It does look big on first viewing but I've seen a couple of comparison shots over on dpreview and it's not really that much bigger than the E1. I love its chunky design. Roll on next year!

I can't find the person or the post that this refer to, but really?

"Olympus also announced their interest in using wood as building material for their cameras. Check the message posted by ykok. "

Wood? What the f___? Is Oly looking at making an Olympus/Deardorff wooden 4/3s field camera with rise, fall, shift, swings and tilts? How about a bellows to go with it too? The world's smallest field camera? No, I suspect not, but what is wrong with metal? Not even cars have had wood in them since teh old "woodies" of the late 40s and 50s. (Well, maybe for inside trim.) Somebody please find what this refers to.

I can see the headlines... "OLYMPUS GIVES PHOTOGRAPHER A WOODIE!"

Hi Edwin,

IMHO using wood is almost impossible. Why? Wood can shrink or enlarge with weather conditions. It´s only used for mock-ups! Olympus want to keep their new E-3´s specs tightly sealed ;-) I have a strange feeling that it will be a huge difference between this mock-up and the final release of this new forthcoming camera. Happy to see Eugene likes it but I must say I am very disapointed with their design. It´s simply disgusting. I am very classic. I don´t like too much curved and soft edges. I love OM system sharp edge finish but the same related to cars, I love Lamborghini Diablo ;-)

So I wonder if they will make an E-3 woodie?

Interesting when you look around the different sites alright.

Look at the size of it in this guy's hand in the first photo here at this link http://dpnow.com/forum2/showthread.php?p=1039#post1039 In this context, it's not really that big, assuming of course that the guy's hand is your Joe Average.

It is of course highly unlikely that WHYSIWYG when it's finally released but what the hell, there was so much much angst about this camera that I believe it's time to party a bit now. It's very good news. I'm sure there will be some very pleasant surprises with this one.

About the wood. Yes it brings a whole new dimension to the term chip and a lot will hinge on it ;-) I saw that comment too and was amused by it. There will be lots said about this over the next while. I am really hoping there will be some more snippets of info when Photokina kicks off in the morning.

I think we are bark-ing up the wrong tree to expect much in the way of hard information on the E-3. The size looks good to me and I actually like the looks of the camera. The US site has a .pdf file on the new camera that has "official" Olympus images of the camera. The thing looks very ergonomic to me, especially the battery grip.

Yes. Agreed.

Seems like people expect there will be a replacement for E-1 in the shelves in a year from now. Do you think that camera will be competitive with new cameras from other brands? Or will it, like E-1 did, be lagging behind/be outdated almost before it is released?

And which cameras will it compete with? Top Nikon and Canon models or cheaper cameras like D200 and 5D?

It's hard to say at this stage but my impression is that it will compete with at least the 5D and the D200. What I see so far gives me faith to stay with 4/3rds. I think now there is an upward developmental curve. I dont need D2X or 1DsMkII size files. Nor do I need a camera with new this or that every year. They almost got it really right with the E1. 10mp+ with better auto focussing and a bit better noise performance will do me fine but I have an idea that Oly will surprise us with something more.

I dont get what some people over on dpreview are moaning about. I think the design of the E3 is really quite radical even though we dont know the specs yet. I think in all honesty that those who were expecting an identical E1 body were perhaps looking for more of the same but a bit more so to speak. I suspect that Oly is going to put something quite developed inside this new camera. It made me smile to read all that moaning and groaning on dpreview from people who wanted extra this and extra that in the new E3 and cram it all into exactly the exact same size body !! ;-)

I think that now is an exciting time for 4/3rders. The E400 small and compact, the E3 on the other end of the spectrum. Things are looking up in Oly land.

Not just Oly land either. I think there are some amazing developments going on in digital imaging at the moment. I am absolutely fascinated by the Leica M8 and I may well treat myself to this next year as well as hold onto my Oly gear. In many ways that system is truly a 'small' system size-wise if ever there was one. I tried an M6 in a shop over the weekend and I loved the rangefinder set up. Yes I know it has its limitations etc etc but then again every system does. I have followed with great interest the threads on the new Leica forum on dpreview and have immersed myself in reading up about the system lenses etc etc. Even if I never go that route I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about it.

Some other developments worthy of mention is the Pentax K10. Yes I know that they are a bit short on lenses at the moment for that system but it's well worth keeping an eye on it. Reviews thus far are good. Weather sealing to boot as well. Thats no longer an Oly preserve solely.

I think that it will be an interesting year in 2007......

I don't think we will know the answers to your questions until the release of the camera, Caroline. But I firmly believe that it you want only the best camera, you had better be prepared to buy a new body (and maybe lenses) every few weeks to few months. Doing so means you never really know your tool, and that is all a camera is, a tool.

For me the best camera is not the one that is better than such-and-such brand at any moment. It is the camera that produces a file large enough to be useful, colors nice enough to be used directly out of the camera as a JPEG if neccessary, and one that performs well in situations I shoot in, and most of all a camera that is familiar whose controls I can use without actually thinking. I expect the E-1 will do all of those things for me for an additional couple of years for me. Was it outdated before its release? No, not for me. It is still very up to date for my purpose.

Edwin

I agree, of course, that anyone who would want the best available at any time have a problem. :-) Summer 2003 I remember waiting for Canon 300D, but thought it looked so cheap and poor that I decided to wait for E-1. When it came I knew Pentax would release something good a few months later, but wouldn’t miss being able to make pictures with a dSLR by waiting more months. I would have waited if I had known that it would take four years before there would be an upgrade or replacement of E-1.

Olympus thought 5mpix would be enough, but they were wrong. Now they’ve obviously had problems making an upgrade/replacement of E-1 and I just wonder if they will be able to make an E-3 without making similar or other miscalculations. E-3, like E-1, will probably be good enough. More than good enough. But will costumers feel that way if (when) they see equally good and better cameras to the same price and maybe cheaper from other brands? Compete with Nikon D200 and Canon 5D? Or Pentax K10? One to two years after those were released? Wouldn’t that be a confession of failure?

Will E-3 sell to other costumers than those who have already spent some money on lenses and other accessory? If I were to buy into a system when E-3 comes the E-3 would have had to be very good (quality and price) compared to what other brands had to offer. Very good because I would then know that they needed four (!) years to make an upgrade/replacement of E-1.

If you are not satisfied, move on. That's OK.

I tried to get my brother to buy an E-1 three months ago, because they were CHEAP and built like a rock. And Because I love mine.

He bought a Nikon. He put the camera away carefully into a padded case one night last week on vacation. The next time he took the camera out, the back element in the lens had slipped out of place. He had to send the whole camera in to get a replacement. After using his new camera for three days, he could not figure out what the black spots were on the images. (Dust on the sensor.) He also had the plastic thing short out in rain. I have never had any of those problems.

I like niche equipment and purchase carefully. Olympus is not made for everyone. That's OK. You can always buy a Conon or a Nikon. It is not a matter of being "good enough" for me. I don't like that phrase at all in fact. It is about the total package for me. I don't need a Rolls Royce to go to the grocery store. But I still like a nice car.

.*lol* But that’s a part of the problem Edwin. People don’t need a Rolls Royce to go to the grocery store, but all things being equal that’s probably what they would choose if they could. And then there would be less motivation and resources for the makers of the other cars to go on producing and developing better models and sooner or later they might even give up making cars altogether. Unless they figured out they needed that car production to be able to sell scooters and bicycles.

I believe Olympus needs a top end camera that is perceived/considered by the general public as good and competitive compared to other brands to be able to go on selling compacts and cheap/simple dSLRs (which is clearly where they see the best potential for making money and where they direct resources both in terms of development and marketing). Why did your brother buy Nikon? Probably because he has heard that Nikon is good while Olympus’ flagship is three years old and no one really knows if they will be able to make something equally good or better than the others and when… or if the 4/3 standard will survive at all. People buy cheap and poor Nikon and Canon cameras because they have good top end cameras. They have heard and read about Nikon and Canon’s best cameras and that makes them believe all their cameras are good.

I just hope Olympus will make a good camera and continue making the buyers of compacts subsidise their flagship(s). ;-D

Paul bought a Nikon because he had old Nikon glass. He is 58 years old and has photographic experience older than my own, but not as broad. He knows nothing about flagships. He wanted to use his old glass from the 80s. In fact he thinks my camera is "too professional" for him, not that it was "outdated almost before it was released".

I suggest that if you really don't like the camera you have, and think the new one will not be good enough or outdated before it comes out, cut your losses! Sell it all now and buy into a new system that is current, if not futuristic! ;-)

I am done making comments on this thread. We all make out choices, and I see no need for endless arguements about corporate decissions I have no power to influence. Olympus bashing from people that have Olympus is silly. It's just a tool, and if you don't like your tool, get something that suits you. Simple.

EEE

I actually think this design looks good. It also looks very promising ergonomically. Although I fell in love immediately with the ergonomics of the E-1, I never thought it was a good-looking camera.

Eugene, your positivity is most refreshing! All the recent doom & gloom nonsense on the DPR forum had been starting to affect me but right now at least some of my faith has been restored.

It strikes me that the only reason for Oly to put the E-T on display is because of the influence of Oly customers. It still seems early days in so far as there are no specs announced as yet, so it is very much conceptual and early days. Some sort of development along these lines has been pushed by many on the various public forums for months. If this mock-up is'nt in response to that, then why bother at all?

I think the camera looks fine such as it is, but I would like to know a bit more about it's specifications. Hopefully they will offer more in this regard before too long. I see this as an indication of Oly's intent to replace the E-1 and to alleviate certain fears that it would withdraw from this market sector altogether.... again because Oly system users have made lots of noise.

I don't doubt there is an extremely good camera in them, but still the question is when?

In the meantime, as Edwin says, there is nothing to stop you enjoying the E-1 anymore than there was when you first bought one... and right now, if you need the specs offered by others, then it's to others you should look.

Plenty of folks have already done that of course; many run their E-system in parrallel to C or Ns. However, the whole point of an SLR system is that doing so shouldn't be neccessary, at least to me. It should be all things to all people within what the format allows. That some have felt the need to move or augment, does suggest to me a degree of failure on Oly's behalf to ensure such moves weren't neccessary.

As for Eugene's M8!... Well, as someone that came from RF photography to the E-1, THAT system looks extremely interesting. If I had £3000 spare, then I wouldn't blink in hesitation over buying one since I have some M lenses still.....so ultimately I suspect that I will go back to RF photography because it offers reasonably compact cameras and lenses, (fast primes ;-).. and I prefer the 'wide-open' viewfinder experience of a RF over the tunnel vision of an SLR.

Still though, as I've always said, the E-1 is a nice camera.

Best wishes- Andy

Edwin and Andy: This is not about me being happy or unhappy with E-1 and time before an upgrade/replacement comes or me changing system or not (or using two systems). I just use me/I as an example of how costumers think and behave.

I think it’s quite evident that Olympus has a problem attracting those costumers who are willing to spend much money on camera bodies and lenses, and that they also had so from the start with E-1 not selling as well as they had thought it would. I doubt that will change unless E-3 turns out to be something very special to a competitive price. And this time round they will probably also need to make something that would make users of other brands want to change system (and “loose” whatever they have invested in glass for their previous systems).

If they make an E-3 which is just OK or average compared to what others make I believe the buyers of that camera will only be those who already have invested much in Zuiko glass and dedicated Oly fans. Are there many enough of them to make E-3 profitable? And will an E-3 sell well enough to make Olympus go on and start making an upgrade/replacement to E-3? If not the E-x series is a dead end.

Without a working and selling/profitable E-x camera I don’t think we can expect to see new pro lenses, and a camera system without the lenses costumers want/need will sell even less (unless Olympus decides to make unprofitable lenses as a prestige project. Both Canon and Nikon do – make showcase lenses that in themselves are loss projects, but good for their reputation).

Olympus’ digital camera strategy so far seems to have been to cater for those new and fairly new to photography (point and shoot cameras, and cheap dSLRs with point and shoot camera features). Olympus may have done so in hope that they will stay loyal when upgrading to better cameras. But Olympus cameras are tools – just as you say Edwin. Not a religion with loyal worshippers. Someone with a point and shoot or for example an E-500 with kit lenses is “free” to buy into whatever system he/she wants and don’t have to take previous investments in glass into consideration when deciding which system to buy into when he/she upgrades to semi-pro and pro cameras/systems.

I agree with you Andy that it shouldn’t be necessary to run several parallel systems. Also Nikon and Canon users may have several bodies. I don’t think anyone expect one body to have it all, but it is quite reasonable to expect a system to have it all or something closer to all than Olympus have.

Well this is very exciting news for us E-1 owners. Too bad it's only a mock up, who knows know long it'll be until it's a REAL camera. I remember a mock up for te E-1, and it was a while before anything real.

This body seems huge, which I like. The body is a little different , seems a bit more sleek with all those angles in the body. Should be interesting to see the final product.

It'll be forever until we know whats "under the hood" on this model. Which is what I was really looking forward to.

The future of the pro E system is getting interesting. A lot of Leica lenses coming out, and a new body. That's a winning combination.

I'm set with my E1 for sometime to come. It's still nice to know that something's in the works.

I bought my e300 year and half ago and it was my first DSLR. It convinced me to depart with my money by its innovative ultrasound cleaner and it's big pixel counts then. Having got hooked I got lens after lens and soon like everyone on this forum thread, I was waiting for Godot, sorry e3, and the 100mm macro indicated in the lens roadmap. Well, having gotting tired of waiting. I abandoned the idea and started experimenting with old lenses, mainly M42 lenses. These were the lenses I wished I owned when I was a poor college student. And I am having a ball with them, playing with these new old toys shooting bugs and spiders with extension tubes and reverse adapters. So accept it, Olympus is not as rich as Canon to be able to roll out model after model of DSLR. The e1 is still a darn good camera, judging by the quality of the work you all produce on the screen and in print (the prints in the recent Toronto's Pikto convinced me so). If you can wait then treat the launch of e3 eventually as a nice surprise (I hope so), else get a Canon or Nikon and keep the e1 as a backup. In fact if you are really after megapixels, even the full frame Canon DSLR pales in comparison to the DSLR with medium format image sensor. But lugging kilograms of equipment in the field is not my cup of tea. I am not making a living with photography.

Hi Caroline, I would like a good used e1 at one tenth of the 2003 price. The recent prices I found in eBay are still around USD700, but these are for new ones. I go to the swamps and streams often nowadays to shoot insects. An e1 with my ZD lenses with water-resistant seals would be great assets.

I'm not too impressed w this design; seems like Oly wants to conform w the rest of the DSLR crowd; it looks more like a Canon now than a Oly, and an ugly one ; I've always like the squarish shoulder of the E1 giving it a masculine looks + the asymmetrical design for better handling of the lens on the left side and better and more grip on the right side ...now they 've gone full circle back to the design of the film bodies w the room on the left for that imaginary film spool and do away w the 2 wheel design :-(( ...i'm quite disappointed and with the announcement of the fuji S5 and the Sigma sd14 i can see myself looking elsewhere but Oly .... Cheers (but no cheers) :-((

I'm underwhelmed. Without completely spilling the beans on what they have planned, I'd like Oly to announce 'minimum' sensor specifications for this new camera. That could give me enough confidence to invest more in glass while waiting for E-whatever to arrive. I'm not enamoured of the cosmetics of the concept design (it looks like a Canon to me) but, let's face it, that is less important than what the camera can do. I take it for granted that ergonomics will be as good or better than E-1.

I love my E-1 more as time goes by simply because of the way it handles. I've grown accustomed to it and it's second nature for me to use it - very quickly if I need to. I also happen to think that the E-1 is a handsome little beast with its asymmetric design. I would love its successor to be as cool looking!

This announcement is way better than nothing at all (the 'bone' Edwin mentioned some months back) but I'm still sitting on the fence...wanting desperately to hear something a little more concrete that will tip me over the edge and make me buy the 7-14 I covet.

10-12Mpx could instill a few years of confidence in me if the camera is a continuation of E-1 quality lead.

...I wouldn't place too much emphasis on trying to figure out what the un-named dials and buttons do. If this camera is to introduce some ground breaking features (which I believe it will have to in order to draw critical mass of new sales and 4/3rds 'pro' converters) Oly won't be giving any clues away in the concept mock-up. There may even be a few red herrings in there to keep competitors guessing.

I still have my fingers crossed.

Very much agree with your .... 'meant to add' Rob. In these days of industrial esponiage and the dog eat dog competition of the dslr market, it would not make any sense whatsoever for Oly to show it's cards until it is ready to ship the camera. I am increasingly confident that we are in for a treat on 07. If this is the design they end up with (and it would not make sense to put out something they will not produce; doing it this way gets feedback for them) , then I for one really like it and it grows on me more with each viewing even though I know that some see it as ugly etc etc.

Thanks Michael - good to know that in real life it looks better, especially as we had similar gut reactions to the design. I'll trust you on your findings ;)

At the end of the day, if it's a significant improvement on the E1 (which I love BTW) and it has competitive specs when compared to the competition, I'll be happy to part with my hard-earned cash. Which I'm sure Oly will be delighted to hear.... ;))

regards

Andy

oh, meant to ask, did you find out whether the grip is fixed or detachable?

cheers

Michael,

Thanks for that which confirms my own initial impression. I will go further and put myself out on a limb and say that I bet Oly is much further advanced with the E3 than they are saying and people are hypothesizing about. I bet that there are a few working models out there with Pro's as we speak but that it needs fine tuning and Oly wont reveal what's in it until it's ready to go into production with it. May be proved wrong but who cares, it's on the way, that much we can be sure of. Oly would not put out what it has done unless they're sure they have something to produce once the specs are signed off on.

Did you manage to get yerr hands on the Pentax K10 Michael?

Strikes me that is the camera Oly should be producing for us in the meantime while they come up with the whizz-bang whistles down the line.

With respect to the L1 and it's lense... I notice that the 25mm f1.4 has it's aperture ring at the end of the lense barrel, not crammed up agianst the body. Seems odd to be throwing the location of teh aperture ring all over the place if you are after a camera with great 'feel' don't you think?

Andy

The E1 cost me a fortune when I bought it - and I expect it to last me for years - it should not necessarily be replaced - it can be updated - that is the advantage of a software/firmware device. My Nikon FTN served me for 30 years+, and the Nikon FA for nearly 20 - I can't afford to replace my E1. It may well be surpassed by another top end model, but I hope it will continue to be supported and upgraded for a long time to come, after all it has not stopped being a great camera capable of taking great pictures!