Olympus has confirmed that it is working on a new high-end body, looking to deliver the sort of focusing performance that has characterised the recent OM-D compact system camera.

Usually it's the tech press that starts rumours, but in this case, it appears that Olympus itself wants a piece of the action. In what amounts to three sentences, Olympus has confirmed a high-performance body for Top Pro lenses, but little else. 

For those who don't know, the Top Pro lenses are the top lenses from Olympus, offering the max aperture across the entire zoom range. There are six lenses on offer in the Top Pro line, designed for the E-System cameras.

The comments come from Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus's SLR planning department, so the logical conclusion is that another E-System camera is in the works.

When we reviewed the E-5 in 2010, we questioned whether Olympus really had its heart in DSLR cameras, considering the substantial efforts put into the consumer Micro Four Thirds models.

Watanabe is said to have been "delighted with the success of the OM-D … but acknowledged that it did not deliver with the legacy high end lenses from the E-System."

The somewhat cryptic message from Olympus seems to suggest that the DSLR business isn't dead and we can expect to see a high-end body soon, which offers lightening-fast focusing performance.

There's little else to go on at the moment, but if you've been hanging on to your Four Thirds glass waiting for a new camera, then you might be in luck.