First Look posted for Olympus E1 SLR!
By
Dave Etchells
(Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 09:24 EDT)
I'm afraid this is an awfully sketchy First Look, given that we had the camera in question for less than 24 hours.
I also had a number of open questions about some of the features that have only *just* now been answered, but that I won't get edited into the article until I get back from the Olympus press event for it that's happening tonight in New York. Still, plenty of interesting fodder here for folks shopping the digital SLR market, and I'll have an update sometime after I return from New York. (Maybe Friday?)
The E1 does indeed look like an interesting and very appealing camera, with many true innovations in it. (And its use of a frame-transfer CCD by Kodak is all the more enticing, holding the promise of really excellent dynamic range and noise performance.)
Given the early prototype status of the E1 sample I was given to work with, I couldn't perform my usual rigorous performance tests, so everyone will need to stay tuned for those. I can say though, that the 14-54mm lens that came with my sample does appear to be of unusually high quality. The close integration of the lens and camera system results in amazingly low geometric distortion of the images as well.
All in all, this is definitely going to be a camera to watch, a very worthy entry in the d-SLR derby. Check it out!
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