September 22, 2008: OlympusImaging Corporation (President: Masaharu Okubo) today announced that ithas begun development of an interchangeable lens type digital camerabased on the "Micro Four Thirds System." /)i)wxi
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Development of the camera will bring dramatic reductions in size andweight to the Olympus E-System, and will comply with the new Micro FourThirds System standard jointly announced with Matsushita IndustrialCo., Ltd.(Panasonic) on August 5. /)i)wxi
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From September 23 through 28, a concept mock-up of the camera will beexhibited at "Photokina 2008", the world's biggest trade fair for thephotographic and imaging industries held at Köln Messe, Cologne,Germany. /)i)wxi
The global market for interchangeable lens type digital cameras isgrowing steadily, but still only accounts for a 7% share of the totaldigital camera market. Considering the much larger share held byinterchangeable lens type digital cameras when film was the dominantimaging medium, it seems that there is still ample room for salesgrowth in this category. Market surveys, however, indicate that morethan a few customers choose compact models because they find digitalSLR cameras to be "big, heavy, and difficult to operate." /)i)wxi
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The Micro Four Thirds System standard was established to meet this needby enabling the development of radically more compact and lightweightinterchangeable lens type digital camera systems. The camera currentlyunder development will be the first Olympus camera to comply with theMicro Four Thirds System standard, and interchangeable lenses thatcomply with the standard are also moving ahead. In addition, users willbe able to mount existing Four Thirds System wide-angle, telephoto, andmacro lenses on Micro Four Thirds System bodies via an adapter. /)i)wxi
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Product name, launch date and retail price of an interchangeable lenstype digital camera based on the "Micro Four Thirds System" are notdetermined now. /)i)wxi
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Olympus Imaging is also committed to the Four Thirds System, and willcontinue to expand its line-up of digital SLR cameras to satisfy abroad spectrum of customer needs. This includes the professionalphotographer, aspiring artist, hobbyist, and everyday consumer. /)i)wxi
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Outline of the Micro Four Thirds standard /)i)wxi
The Micro Four Thirds standard was designed and developed to maximizethe performance potential of digital imaging technology, and to extendthe benefits of the Four Thirds System standard for digital camerasystems. /)i)wxi
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When compared to the Four Thirds System standard, the primary distinguishing features of the Micro Four Thirds standard are: /)i)wxi
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Approximately 50% shorter flangeback distance (mount-to-sensor distance) /)i)wxi
Lens mount outer diameter approximately 6mm smaller /)i)wxi
Electrical contacts in mount increased from 9 to 11 /)i)wxi
Image sensor diagonal dimensions are the same for both Four Thirds System and Micro Four Thirds System standards. /)i)wxi
TheMicro Four Thirds System enables users to enjoy the same high imagequality of the Four Thirds System's 4/3-type image sensor in a muchmore compact body, and also take advantage of significantly morecompact lenses, particularly in the wide-angle and high-power zoomrange. /)i)wxi
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The Four Thirds System offersthe benefits of compact, lightweight performance, and the new MicroFour Thirds System takes this still further to enable development ofultra-compact interchangeable lens type digital camera systems unlikeanything seen before. /)i)wxi
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The new Micro Four ThirdsSystem also incorporates a greater number of lens-mount electricalcontacts for the support of new features and expanded systemfunctionality in the future.
