Olympus Micro Four Thirds prototype and Four Thirds E-A1
When it seemed that Panasonic was having the Micro Four Thirds field all to itself with the Lumix DMC-G1, Olympus presented at Photokina a prototype of its own idea on how a Micro Four Thirds camera should look. Clearly, the effort is in making a stylish product, with retro look and more in the line of Leica models.
By avoiding sized down versions of existing Four Thirds models is actually a cool move. Not everything needs to look like a DSLR and by the prototype it is evident that Olympus achieves its aim. The brushed metallic look gives a touch of finesse and robustness, now we have to wait and see whether photographic performance is in line with classy looks.
The second important announcement by Olympus in the DSLR field is that early in 2009 it is planning to start selling the E-A1, a model between the E-520 and the E-3, in an effort to fill the gap between its enthusiast and professional reflex models.
The E-A1 will have some E-3 features like high-speed 11-point autofocus and of course in-body image stabilisation (the claimed 5 stop gain sounds great but has to be seen in practise) as well as sensor dust protection and weather sealing.
Competitors will be Canon’s 50D, Nikon’s D90 as well as models from Pentax and Sony.
