Olympus has revealed their E‑P1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera. Feast your eyes:
I’ve never taken the Four Thirds system very seriously. The sensor is smaller (2× crop) resulting in poor high-ISO performance. They’ve touted this as an advantage because it means they can design a smaller camera. The problem was the Four Thirds cameras weren’t significantly smaller at all. And because the system was completely new, the lens selection was limited.
But this E‑P1 does change things. It can’t even be called a DSLR because there’s no mirror or pentaprism. Because there’s no mirror box, the body is significantly smaller than an SLR. It looks like a rangefinder, but it features a TTL viewfinder, albeit electronic.
I still think it’s more a curiosity than anything, but it does feature some very interesting design elements. I have no doubt that this is the direction at least some mid- to high-end digital cameras will take.
And isn’t it deliciously retro?!
Image from Akihabaranews.
Deliciously retro indeed! Catwalk material. 😉