Olympus Micro Four Thirds concept unveiled

Following hot on the heels of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

22 September 2008 14:52 GMT / By Katie Scott

Olympus has already promised to wow crowds at this year's Photokina tradeshow with a new Four Thirds DSLR concept, but there's more...

The camera manufacturer is also going to unveil a prototype built to the new Micro Four Thirds standard (some pics of which have already been leaked online and it's a retro wonder).

Panasonic beat Olympus to the post claiming its Lumix DMC-G1 to be the world's first Micro Four Thirds system camera - a standard the two companies jointly created.

This standard eliminates the internal mirror found in digital single-lens reflex cameras, so models can be smaller and lighter.

The 12.1-megapixel Lumix DMC-G1 took the title of the world's smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera, weighing in at around 385g.

But just how dinky the Olympus model will be is still under wraps and it will be a prototype on show at Photokina, as opposed to a working model.

Olympus is simply saying: "The forthcoming camera will bring dramatic reductions in size and weight to the Olympus E-System".

It also adds that it hopes the new model will appeal to those
who currently find DSLR cameras to be "big, heavy, and difficult to operate".

As well as the new DSLR, Olympus is promising new Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lenses and an adapter so snappers can use their existing Four Thirds lenses on the new Micro Four Thirds cameras.

It concludes: "The product name, launch date and retail price of the first Olympus interchangeable lens type digital camera based on the Micro Four Thirds System will be announced in the future".