From Photo Industry reporter: While Olympus expects to talk with other digital camera makers about standardization of lenses, it will reveal at photokina 2002 a sensationally new interchangeable lens digital AF SLR that uses a 4/3-inch CCD sensor, roughly half the size of that used by present pro digital cameras but right up with them in megapixels. The series of Olympus lenses, from extreme wide angle upwards, will not be compatible with any silver halide imaging camera system that can also be used with other interchangeable lens digital SLRs. It will be far smaller and lighter than the lenses of any other digital AF SLR. These exclusively digital imaging lenses, it�s predicted, will deliver equal or better results than can be obtained by cameras now trying to span both silver halide and digital imaging with one series of lenses. Since it will be virtually impossible for Olympus to field a complete lens system at once, Olympus hopes other lens makers will jump on the Olympus-mount bandwagon and produce optics for the new digital Olympus camera. A whole series of amateur to professional Olympus digital cameras using the new lens system is planned, but it appears that the first model will be a high-end amateur camera costing a fraction of present interchangeable lens digital cameras. Olympus points out that by using a smaller 4/3-inch imaging format, the cost of the sensor will be less and the cameras far smaller and lighter than the 35mm camera lens digital SLRs. Or Getting on the Bandwagon? The Japanese digital imaging camera industry talks officially about all systems co-existing. But unofficially, some think that if Olympus is successful, its daring new system�freed of the need to work with a pre-existing silver halide capable series of lenses�may sweep the larger, heavier, more cumbersome present digital interchangeable lens SLRs into history. Pentax has shelved present plans to produce a 24x36mm sensor digital SLR compatible with its silver halide 35mm series of optics, stating that the forward surge of digital imaging technology has already bypassed the features of the camera they had on the drawing boards.
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