E-500 Info

[Kansas Ron]

This does not seem to be faked info. There are some places that say E-300 and should say E-500. Also, check out the new lenses.

http://www2.olympus.dk/consumer/6739_E-500_Specifications.htm

Post edited by: Kansas Ron, at: 2005/09/12 12:00

[Den]

Looks nice enough. No doubt it\'ll sell for the same money as a Nikon D70 - around the £700 mark (which is what I got my E-1 for). Hopefully, it\'ll give the D70 a run for its money: don\'t know why anything so loud, inelegant, and poorly constructed could sell so many units...

[iansk]

Is this site genuine? As well as the E-500 it also has new lenses: the EM-3535 35mm Macro, EZ-1818 18-180mm, and the EZ-1745 17.5-45mm.

Anyone any ideas as to the prices for these? I presume they are to complement the E-500 so will be bottom of the range.

I hope the 35mm Macro isn\'t the lens on the the roadmap as I\'m still hoping for a 25mm prime!

Ian

[Idanst]

I dont think the information is realy true :huh:

[Kansas Ron]

There is a lot of discussion on dpreview.com. The website is Olympus Denmark. The body is the same as the \"leaked\" picture of the silver body seen late last week. The page appears to be a work in progress, having used their E-300 page as a template. Overall, there is a lot to indicate that this is the real deal.

[admin_old]

I don\'t know if its true. But if it isn\'t they did a lot of work on a site. I like the little body though. It would be a great second body. Nice size. That is what I am looking for.
T

[iansk]

I\'m not sure whether to believe it or not as the web address is the proper danish olympus site, although I cannot find a link to the page from within the site.

Ian

[iansk]

I\'ve just tried the last part of the url onto the UK Oly site and it comes up with the same info, so it seems pretty genuine, look here http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/6739_E-500_Specifications.htm

[Den]

Tony, what do digital photographers use second bodies for? I can just about understand it in the old days: one b&w, one colour; 28mm/80mm, backup so you can still take pictures on the off-chance your main camera packs up... but surely this doesn\'t apply in today\'s world of Photoshop conversions, zooms, and depreciation on digicams being the nearest thing photography\'s seen to insanity for a long while?

[Ian]

Den wrote:
Tony, what do digital photographers use second bodies for? I can just about understand it in the old days: one b&w, one colour; 28mm/80mm, backup so you can still take pictures on the off-chance your main camera packs up... but surely this doesn\'t apply in today\'s world of Photoshop conversions, zooms, and depreciation on digicams being the nearest thing photography\'s seen to insanity for a long while?

Why do I need a second body? A number of reasons:

1. I do some paid work and am looking to get into more weddings. You need a back up in case sh*t happens.

2. I do a fair bit of sports (but this applies to many subjects). I use the 150 which is fixed and there are times when you need a different lens available very quickly, say with the 50-200 & EC-14, or maybe you need a shorter focal length. Saves a bucket load of time.

I am eagerly waiting for news of the E3 when my E1 will become the backup. Hey and me, with mt E1 cap and E1 vest will look even cooler with2 camera bodies (only joking!). ;)

[Kansas Ron]

It is also showing up on the Netherlands site. Seems to be all of Olympus Europe.

[Den]

Okay, Fair enough....but Tony, please, please, please, post a picture of yourself with all that gear slung round your neck!

[pixelman]

I only hope the specs are good. After all I shoot with an E300 and it looks strange but sure makes nice pictures

[admin_old]

I usually don\'t carry around for fun 2+ bodies. That is what my grunts do... However, having a cheap lightweight body would be nice, walk around body.
I would also like a 12+ MP body. That would be the main, E-1 backup, and E-500 for pleasure. 500 for personal shooting. E-1 and E-3 for paid work. That is the thought at least. Maybe sell the E-1 and go down to 2 bodies... I love the camera though. I probably would never sell my E-1.
Usually I only carry when by myself very little:
http://tspore.smugmug.com/photos/29470180-M.jpg

Post edited by: tspore, at: 2005/09/12 15:47

[admin_old]

If its true it looks like its about right in weight: (All without battery or grip)
E-1 - 660 g
E-300 - 580 g
E-500 - 435 g
That\'s nice. Of course then when I slap a beast of a lens on it like 50-200, 35-100, or even the 14-35 Its going to be heavy..... But If they come out with the cheap lenses.... It will be quite light.
I am excited about it. If its true. Not the 12 frame IS 8 FPS Fast focus, but as a Digicam replacement. Not bad.
The spec\'s also say it can record movies That is intresting, maybe it will have a live histogram....
T

[marcof]

it certainly looks real enough.
the whole marketing shabam press news item is in there as well (see \"details\")
interesting new lenses.

so, this is the low-end..
where\'s the high-end!

oh yeah.. looks like Oly found a new buzzword:
\"TruePic TURBO\" image processing... :woohoo:
I\'d like one with spoilers please..


the only thing:
why the hell a 17.5-45mm lens?? This seems fairly stupid to me.. okay, 7mm (on 35mm) loss of wide angle, but I can\'t imagine it being cheaper to manufacture than the 14-45mm...

Post edited by: MarcoF, at: 2005/09/12 16:21

[marcof]

I have to add it is also on the main Oly NL page for DSLRS:
http://www.olympus.nl/consumer/6739.htm

[admin_old]

I will Post something as soon as I get an offical press release..... But I think its real
T

[Ian]

It is definitely true, it\'s on the UK website. Bad news is that the 8mm is not for relese until January and the 14-35 f2 has disappeared completely. See below. Not sure what market they are aiming at - cheaper than the E300? One big plus is the 2 card slots.

EZ-1745

EM-3535

EZ-1818

EZ-P3510

EZ-P9025

ED 7-14mm 1:4.0

11-22mm 1:2.8-3.5

14-45mm 1:3.5-5.6

14-54mm 1:2.8-3.5

40-150mm 1:3.5-4.5

ED 50-200mm 1:2.8-3.5

ED 8mm 1:3.5 Fisheye

ED 50mm 1:2.0 Macro

ED 150mm 1:2.0

ED 300mm 1:2.8

EX-25

EC-14

[admin_old]

According to the press release I knew that the 8mm would not be officiall released until January....
http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemi d=34
It makes since that a 35-100 would come out first. It will probably be there bigest seller of the 3 lenses. (Even though I am very excited about the 14-35mm)
So we will have to wait and see.

[First Light]

I\'ve tried the links to all three Olympus sites and none connect to any E-500 information. I even tried entering the URLs by hand. It seems that the E-500 webpages have been taken down. Did anyone save the pages (perhaps create a PDF of them)? If so, how about posting the details here so the rest of us can see it?

[Whorehay]

i think they took it down.

i\'m kind of sad about the 35mm F/3.5 macro. I was hoping for/expecting a 35mm F/2.0... now I might just have to splurge for the 50mm F2 or get an OM 50mm F1.8 for my low light photography.

Post edited by: Whorehay, at: 2005/09/12 21:31

[admin_old]

Here you go...
http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemi d=2

[Dean P]

Here you go...

http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/textfiles/6739_E-500_Specifications.htm

I sure hope we hear something about E-3 soon.

Dean

[admin_old]

Ha... Beat you its on the home page.
Mine is from the Olympus Site....
I think its true.
T

[jebir]

tspore wrote:
The spec\'s also say it can record movies
T[/quote]

Where?

Cheers, Jens.

[Ian]

This will be a superb camera,

8mp, 2.5\" screen, 2% spot meter, 2 card slots, ISO selction in1/3rd stops, second curtain flash sync, full-time manual focus (with appropriate lenses).

Bodes well for the spec of the E3. I hope it is this well thought out.

[Idanst]

Movie recorder means different type of sensor which mean lower quality.

[borgunit]

You want to wait. Look at the last paragraph. The contents contain a E-300, not E-500. I have seen a few fakes posted already elsewhere. Not sure why you would want ot fake it but its happening.

[llpoolej]

I think it is pretty much speculated to be a planted leak from Oly. Kinda like the way the 5D was leaked \"accidentally\"

It will be good for Oly to come out with SOMETHING new. I am looking forward to the E-1 replacement and finding out what that is. I do think this will infuse some excitement though

From a business standpoint, they will sell more low end units and make more money from an E-500 vs a professional DSLR. I can see the reasoning of relaasing it before Christmas. Most pro users don\'t get their cameras as a present B)

[Kansas Ron]

I would speculate that the reason the box contents listed the E-300 was that they used the E-300 page as a template and are still in the process of completing it. From other postings I have seen that it \"should\" be released in October. If so, it could be officially announced anytime.

[russ.will]

Seems to be an E-300 with a much larger LCD and a traditional look for consumer appeal. I note the prism is in fact still a cheap mirror box and high ISOs are still not really on the menu.

A welcome addition is the apparently vastly approved metering (49 zones versus 3) and 2% spot (versus 5), but otherwise this is very much an evolution.

I know we are all drooling over the prospect of the next pro model, but the range and perhaps Olympus as an SLR maker is no where without a consumer SLR to bring in the bucks to prop up the \"pro\" model. Olympus can\'t get the volume sales of Pro Nikons or Canons in the short to medium future and so the E-? will be a small volume loss leader. This camera, therefore, may not be as exciting, but it is almost certainly more important to the survival of the breed,

Russell

[Kansas Ron]

Exactly. With the Christmas buying season coming up releasing this during October for sale would be perfect timing. I see Olympus releasing the upgraded pro model (E-3???) in February. We will have to see what they decide about the E-300, since it really fits between the two. They really could keep it as all the R&D has already been done.

[admin_old]

I have seen that all the links on the official olympus pages have been taken down. However, I have not been asked to take down the link.
So we will see.
T

[Kansas Ron]

Since you are not an Olympus employee and it is not their site about the only thing they could do is negotiate with you.

[wazza]

Kansas Ron wrote:
Since you are not an Olympus employee and it is not their site about the only thing they could do is negotiate with you.

But I guess this also means he hasn\'t been asked to take it down, as it would be pretty rude to leave it up if you had been asked to remove it....

[Kansas Ron]

It would depend on the reason he was being asked to remove it. At the very least he could ask for them to confirm the info for him, just for his personal knowledge (and maybe find out the release date). He could also ask for a a \"discount\" on a lens - though they may balk at that since the info has been pretty well spread around. Personally I think the announcement is coming by the end of the month.

[wazza]

Never thought of that.... \"yeah, no problem, I\'ll take it down...... for a big tuna... \".

I just wish I had a copy of it all now.....

Cheers
Wazza

[Den]

I think all members should get a big tuna in return for taking down the link

:-)

[Kansas Ron]

I would settle for the 50-200 (big-mouth bass??).

[jebir]

wazza wrote:

I just wish I had a copy of it all now.....

Cheers
Wazza

I made PDFs of almost all the news in case someone is interested.

Jens.

[First Light]

Thanks Tony for posting the info on this site. Here are a couple of things I noticed:

The E-500 is switching to a mirror box much more like Canon and Nikon use for their low-end dSLRs. I guess this means that Olympus is moving away from their innovative side-swing mirror in the E-300.
The E-500 body is listed as being made of \"engineering plastics\". That\'s sad. I wish they had stayed with a mostly metal body like the E-300.
I hope the E-500 is successful. However, I\'ll be waiting for the E-1 replacement. I like my E-1 body a lot and wouldn\'t want to settle for anything less. It would be fine with me if the E-1 replacement continued to use the same body but with a larger LCD monitor on the back.

[mikefellh]

First Light wrote:
The E-500 is switching to a mirror box much more like Canon and Nikon use for their low-end dSLRs. I guess this means that Olympus is moving away from their innovative side-swing mirror in the E-300.

Well, since the camera shown has the typical SLR penta-type bulge and a central viewfinder, there\'s no point of having the side swinging porro-mirror setup.

Just one more reason why I like the E-300 and it ISN\'T ugly!!!

[Kansas Ron]

There have been many postings on forums about the \"ugliness\" of the E-300. I guess I am in the minority in thinking it is stylish looking. I also find it very comfortable to hold. The ergonomics were one of the top reasons I purchased it (others being Oly colors, sensor cleaner, quality of the Oly lenses). However, I think that Oly does want to sell cameras without having to heavily discount like the E-300 is being. The plastic body is okay, but I prefer the rugged build of the E-300. Guess you have to save money where you can. Also, I believe they are trying to appeal to the general buyer who is now choosing the Canon Rebel XT. A conventional look is easier to sell. The improvements on the E-500 are few over the E-300 and you would expect some improvements to show up after a year or so. I saw a post on another forum earlier saying that the price point (from a dealer) is going to be $1299 Australian. That would be around $999 US. I am assuming that this would be with one kit lens. That really does make the E-300 two lens package a real bargain right now, and I expect it will sell out in between the time the E-500 is announced and actually goes on sale.

[Den]

I\'m rather fond of the E-300 styling too... Reminds me of those rather interesting SLR outfit-in-a-show Pen F cameras Oly used to make... But, yes, the amateur enthusiast market is one that aspires to look like pros, and the E-500 looks like it has that much more \'pose\' value...

[Kansas Ron]

I guess I just like that style. i used to have a Minolta Vectis S-1, which had side mirrors rather then prism.

[borgunit]

Just in case this subject has not been exhausted. Here is a site with the rundown on the next cameras from OLY.

http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/articles/history_of_dslrs_future.htm

[Kansas Ron]

I see that a lot of the cameras are a year or more out, which is fine as far as I am concerned. There will be a lot of people on other forums wailing about not having a new camera body for a particular replacement a lot sooner. I really don\'t want to get into replacing my camera body more frequently than 18-24 months.

[russ.will]

I also notice the presence of what looks like a focus rangefinder window as per the old E-10 & 20. This is great for low light focusing, but a pain in the arse if you have a bulky lense hood or filter holder that obscures it\'s line of sight as it stops the focusing.

[Kansas Ron]

I remember back in the 60s (giving away some age hints here, LOL) when each model year for the auto manufacturers brought out \"new car lust\" in the American males (primarily). In the 70s this trend continued and as many of us were able to afford new cars (thank goodness for payments!!) a lot of my friends were trading cars every year. It seems a fair number of people today are doing that with their cameras. Canon certainly is poised to take advantage of the situation, and appears to be releasing new models at regular intervals to entice \"new camera lust\" and subsequent credit card balance increases. Maybe its because I have learned a few things over the years, but I spent a lot of time analyzing my needs, the cameras that fit my needs, quality of the system, lenses that fit my current and future desires, and a body I could be happy with for 18-24 months. I may reach the point where I am counting down the days until I reach 18 months (to keep my wife happy and the credit card balance on a downward direction), but for now I am happy with my decision. Occasionally, I look over at the competition and each time I do I see a reason why the E-300 was my choice. So while the \"pending announcement\" of a new camera from Olympus is a good thing (increase of users in the 4/3s system) I do not see anything I can\'t live without. For a person trying to decide between the E-500 and the E-300 (assuming both are available, at least for a while) I would have to say they need to look at both cameras and their price points, then decide.

[mikefellh]

I don\'t think it\'s new camera lust...I think it has more to do with current technology not being good enough.

I used my fully manual film camera for 20 years and it worked beautifully; I didn\'t need any of that Program or Aperture mode nonsense.

Three years ago I bought a C-700, because it was the first (affordable) camera I could replace my film camera with.

So why did I buy the E-300 a month ago? The C-700 just couldn\'t compete with today\'s cameras.

I intend to keep using the E-300 for at least five years...but who knows what is around the corner then; but for me it will be falling behind the technology, not just buying the latest for the sake of it that would make me want to buy another camera.

[Kansas Ron]

At this point I am not sure what technology would entice me to upgrade, as my E-300 is only 4 months old. I have made 20x30 prints from 8 MP and they look fantastic. Yes, if I had to name a couple of things for improvement they would be less higher ISO noise and faster AF. Unless these were both present and of a huge improvement I would have to say that I would not be interested right now. Given 1½-2 years of incremental improvements the total of those would certainly have an interest. There is no doubt that manufacturers need to keep coming out with new cameras, but once a year to once every two years should be enough. We, as photographers, need to realize that the manufacturers may rehash their offering with handgrip change, different location of dials/buttons/etc. and offer it as a new model. We need to keep in mind that each manufacturer is on a different schedule and if one releases a camera in September with a great new feature that the manufacturer of our line may not be releasing a new model until February or May (unlike the when the auto manufacturers all used to release new models in the fall). We should not be angry if we have a particular brand and another manufacturer releases a model with non-flash focus assist light, or another releases one that has a full frame sensor, another an integrated IS, or another has an auto sensor cleaner. It has been happening and will continue to happen.

[First Light]

mikefellh wrote:
I don\'t think it\'s new camera lust...I think it has more to do with current technology not being good enough. ...
I don\'t agree with the first part of this statement—I think there is a fair amount of lust. :) However, the second part of the statement hits the nail on the head. Digital photography is still very new and we\'re still in the steep development curve. I think things will slow down in the future but not for a while.

When I purchased my E-1 over a year ago, I did so knowing that it was not the camera that I really wanted. So why did I buy it? Primarily for the 4/3rds standard and the great Zuiko Digital (ZD) lenses coming out of Olympus. I had the chance to start fresh and I could pick any lens system that I wanted and the lens system is what I based my decision on.

If you\'re a pro or a devoted prosumer, you will probably spend much more on lenses than you will on bodies. We\'ve all heard this before but it bears repeating. So far, I\'ve spend 3.5 times more on my four ZD lenses than I have on my E-1 body.

I\'m hoping that either the E-1 replacement or Panasonic\'s new 4/3rds body will be the camera I want to keep for several years.

What am I looking for in a 4/3rds camera body? First, I like a lot about the E-1. I wouldn\'t change its ergonomics except for a bigger LCD monitor. But I want lower noise at high ISO (I shoot a lot of candids in low light), higher resolution (for those times when I have to crop a lot or those times when I shoot large groups), and faster read/write to the CF card. Plus, I would be very happy with in-camera IS.

At the time that I purchased my E-1 I didn\'t realize how big of a problem dust would be. I\'m delighted now to have the ultrasonic dust removal system. And I love the water/dust resistant design of the E-1 and many ZD lenses.

[mikefellh]

mikefellh wrote:
I don\'t think it\'s new camera lust...I think it has more to do with current technology not being good enough. ...

First Light wrote:
I don\'t agree with the first part of this statement—I think there is a fair amount of lust. :)

Maybe it\'s just me then...had our last car for 15 years, and only had 50.000km (31,000 miles) on it. So I guess I\'m not one for new car lust either. :blink:

Mike

[borgunit]

Like it was said earlier. The digital age is a different animal from film. You have the same lower end range of ever increasing features and price ranges, but at the \"prosumer\" and \"pro\" range, things get a little trickier. It seems to me, in the \"old days\" the higher end 35mm cameras had high quality but the lenses had to have even higher quality. Now, the limits are continually pushed on both the lens and camera (and actually it may be the opposite, lenses can be had at high quality levels and the camera and electronics trying to get better and better). My OM1 could take as good of a photo as a OM4, just the feature set was different. Now with higher MP sensors, noise reduction, abilities at higher ISO levels, the envelopes get pushed a little higher each year. I guess as I see each new camera come out, I look for it to fix the flaws of its predecessor. I use a E-300 and I consider it to be a great camera for the money. Not a perfect camera but very good one. I guess I am looking for Olympus\' next level camera that does not cost me as much as a used car. I will be very interested in seeing the planned E-3 and its features and price range. Keep \'em coming Olympus.

Post edited by: borgunit, at: 2005/09/16 08:27

Post edited by: borgunit, at: 2005/09/16 08:28

[Kansas Ron]

Maybe there will be a \"leak\" on the E-3 like there was on the E-500. Of course it would be more likely to happen in January.

The question is what happens when Oly does annouce/leak the E-3 info and there are some features missing that people have been hoping to see (some sort of stabilization is the first that comes to mind). You may truly not need that feature, just that another manufacturer has it on one of their competing models. Hopefully people will look at the camera and its features as a whole and try it out before being too critical of it. And I hope they will take reviews as a guide and not as gospel, until they have handled the camera themselves.

[First Light]

Kansas Ron wrote:
...Hopefully people will look at the camera and its features as a whole and try it out before being too critical of it. And I hope they will take reviews as a guide and not as gospel, until they have handled the camera themselves.
Agreed.

[jan56]

Aggree with you Ron as well - my E1 is so wonderfull that I would not sell it. But a nice light built camera for the mountain hike with 1 or 2 lenses only, without the heavy FL50;)
So I\'m only looking for a second body beside the paid jobs and for the \"fine weather\" - for the tough the E1 is perfect... :)
happy shooting anyway,
Jan