Digital SLR Blog

Enter the Olympus Space Project 2009  Contest and get a chance to win the limited Olympus Space Kit. The kit is not for sale and consists of two transparent lens caps (ø 67 and 72mm) and an earthgreen camera strap. One can win this kit by signing up and registering their new E- System product. The Olympus Space Kit Promotion runs from May 20th until June 30th and one register here.
 

Olympus has released updates for the following lenses: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 8mm F3.5 Fisheye, 18-180mm F3.5-6.3, 70-300mm F4.0-5.6 and the 90-250mm F2.8. The update fixes the sequential shooting when using C-AF on the E-3 and E-30. For more information go here.

Olympus Europe has added a Lensfinder page on their website which is aimed at helping Four Thirds users ascertain their lens requirements. Located in the Buying Advice section, the Lensfinder page has Four-Thirds focal lengths from 7 to 300mm (14mm to 600mm in 35mm equivalents).  You can check out the feature here.

The National Park Foundation (NPF) and Olympus recently announced a new photo contest. The 2009 Share the Experience Photo Contest will run from May 4, 2009 through December 31, 2009 and will accept entries that have been taken in any of the national parks in the United States.

The Grand Prize winner’s picture will grace the cover of the 2011 "Federal Recreation Lands Pass," and he/she will also win an Olympus E-3 digital single lens reflex (DSLR) Camera Kit, plus a five-day, four-night trip for four to the Federal Recreation Area of their choice.

For more information go to www.sharetheexperience.org.

Firmware Version 1.4 is now available for the Olympus E-3 camera. The update improves the AF operation in firmware version 1.3. No other details have been given by Olympus. For more information go to http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

The new Olympus E-450 DSLR has a resolution of 10 megapixels and features a 6.9cm/2.7” HyperCrystal II LCD with 176° viewing angle. The camera also includes three in-camera Art Filters and  comes equipped with the TruePic III+ image processor. The Olympus E-450 is available in the following configurations:

• Olympus E-450 body only
• Olympus E-450 Lens Kit
(E-450 body with ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens)
• Olympus E-450 Double Zoom Kit
(E-450 body with ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 and ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm 1:4.0-5.6 lenses)

[Via DCI ]

Shutterbug recently reviewed the Olympus E-30 and their analyses focuses heavily on the camera’s “Art Filters” and Multiple Exposure function. The E-30 was found to have an impressive feature set and the compact body easy to handle. The large LCD preview screen works great and image quality in both Raw and JPEG modes turned out to be impressive.
 

The Olympus  E-3 DSLR is going to space! Olympus is commemorating its 90th anniversary by launching the Olympus Space Project where Dr. Koichi Wakata, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut, will take images of the earth with the Olympus E-3 throughout his three-month mission on the ISS.

Images captured by Dr. Wakata will be available on Olympus' Web site at http://olympus-space-project.com .

Steve Morgenstern from DCI was able to test out the newly announced Olympus E-620 and head over here to check our first impressions review. The Olympus E-620 not only works for point and shoot users but also for serious amateurs. The body may be smaller than other DSLR however the camera doe offer full manual exposure controls and extensive customization.

"Working with a pre-production sample of a camera, particularly when it's a good two months from ship date, is no way to draw buy-don't buy conclusions, but we are genuinely intrigued by the unusual Olympus E-620."

The Olympus E-620 is not only the latest DSLR on the block but also the “world’s smallest and lightest creative D-SLR with built-in image stabilization”. Featuring a 12.3 Megapixel High-Speed Live MOS sensor, the  E-620 also includes Live View, a 6.9cm/2.7” free-angle HyperCrystal III LCD and  offers Art Filters, a Multi Exposure mode and five different aspect ratios. The  Olympus E-620 will be available at the end of April 2009 for  a retail price of $699.99 body-only.


[Via DCI ]

A new firmware update for the Olympus E-3 Digital SLR can now be downloaded from here. This E-3 firmware update will

Allow E-3 users to select the AF target by pressing the arrow keys*
Improve AF accuracy when using fast lenses with f2.0 aperture*
Improve C-AF performance*
Improve battery life when using the HLD-4 battery holder*

Users of of  any Olympus E-System can enroll themselves in the new photography classes by Olympus. The half-day courses will be held at six locations throughout North America and for more information head over to www.getolympus.com/DSLRevents.


The Olympus Photography Classes are scheduled [1] for the following locations:

    February 21: Atlanta
    February 22: New York
    March 28: Toronto
    March 28: Chicago
    April 25: San Francisco
    May 2: Denver

More on the Olympus front. Olympus Europe has announced “Rev up your system” promotion which kickstarted on 1 January 2009. Those who have purchased the E-3 system can choose between the following products:

- ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm 1:4.0-5.6 lens
- ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 50mm 1:2.0 Macro lens
- ZUIKO DIGITAL 25mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens, FL-36R Flash and Swing Bag - FL-50R Flash
- SRF-11 Ring Flash Set incl. FR-1 Adapter Ring

For more information about the Olympus E-3 “Rev up your system” promotion, please visit:
http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/208_20065.htm

Those who purchase the Olympus E-30 D-SLR in the UK are eligible for a free HLD-4 power grip or a FL-36R wireless flash or a Swing Bag. To qualify for the Swing Bag one needs register online on the Olympus website by 31 March 2009 and for the flash and grip by 31 March 2009.

For more information about the Olympus E-30 “Take it away!” promotion, please visit:
http://www.olympus-europa.com/promotion

At the CES Steve Morgenstern from DCI got a chance to test out the Olympus SP-590UZ digicam and to read his first impressions review head over to our main site. The zoom range was found to be a winner and the camera also offered a good wide-angle coverage. However at $450, the camera was found to be pricy.

Lets Go Digital has posted sample shots taken from the Olympus E-30 digital SLR camera which can be accessed here. The DSLR’S sample photos were taken with a full production camera and the website used lenses like the new ZUIKO Digital 14-54 mm f/2.8-3.5 II and the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 35-100 mm f/2.0.

The Olympus E-30 DSLR was recently reviewed by the website biofos and you can access the full review here. When compared to the Olympus E-3, the E-30 performed better and image noise wasn’t an issue till o ISO 800. According to the reviewer, the E-30 has greater photosite density than the E-3  and the images were even acceptable at ISO 3200 and N/F at maximum.

Curious about the imaging performance of the newly announced Olympus E-30 DSLR? Then head over to the Imaging-Resource website and check out  the image samples posted from the cameras. For the uninitiated, the E-30 is a 12.3 megapixel Four Thirds Standard DSLR camera that comes equipped with the TruePic III+ image processor, has shutter speeds of up to 1/8000th sec and also offers Live View framing.

The Olympus Studio software just got updated and now offers remote control and Raw file processing functionality. Olympus Studio v2.22, which has the following changes from the previous version:

  Display of the recorded Aspect Ratio as a frame in the image display window.
  Allows cropping using the Aspect Ratio information recorded in the image.
  Allows Manual Focus control in the "Camera Control" window. (E-30 or later models only)
  Lets users save the current control settings when closing the "Camera Control" window.

  For more info, visit the Olympus support website.

The newly announced Olympus SP-565 UZ has a 20x wide zoom lens (26-520mm*) and comes equipped with a 10 megapixel imaging sensor. This prosumer digital camera also features Dual Image Stabilisation, Advance Face detection, a 2.5 inch LCD screen, and P/A/S/M exposure modes.

The SP-565 UZ will be available in October 2008 for $399.99 ().   It will also include: Neck Strap, WIN/Mac USB Cable, Audio/Video Cable, four AA Batteries, Manual, Warranty Card and OLYMPUS Master 2 Software CD-ROM.