Olympus announces 5 megapixel SLR!
By
Mike Tomkins
(Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 20:26 EDT)
Camedia E-20P features SLR-style design, 5 megapixel CCD and some interesting features...
Olympus Europe has today announced the new Camedia E-20P digital camera, the LetsGoDigital.nl website reports. Featuring a 5 megapixel CCD image sensor and an SLR-style design, the E-20P has some pretty unusual features. Perhaps the most significant attempts to answer the relatively slow top shutter speed of the Camedia E-10, by switching from interlaced to progressive scan mode at resolutions of 2.5 megapixels and below. This change boosts the shutter speed from 1/640 second at the top resolution, to as high as 1/18000 second in the lower resolutions.
Another change from the Camedia E-10 is the addition of a focusing screen in the optical viewfinder, to make manual focusing an easier matter. Features retained from the previous camera include the 4x optical zoom lens, CCD-RAW mode, noise reduction and the automatic pixel mapping feature which E-10 cameras can be retrofitted to include. There's also a selection of both SmartMedia and CompactFlash Type-I / Type-II storage with IBM Microdrive compatibility.
Specifications for the Olympus Camedia E-20P are in our database, and specifications highlights follow:
| Specification Highlights - full specifications here | | Olympus Camedia E-20P |  | | General | | Model Number: | E-20P | | Camera Format: | SLR-style | | Image Capture | | Image Sensor: | 5.24 megapixel (4.95 megapixels effective [interlaced scan], 2.5 megapixel effective [progressive scan]) | | Image Resolution: | 2560x1920, 2048x1536, 1792x1344, 1280x960, 1024x768, 640x480 | | Lens | | Focal Length (effective): | 35 - 140mm (4x optical zoom) | | Digital Zoom: | Unknown | | Auto Focus: | Yes | | Manual Focus: | Yes | | Normal Focus Range: | 60 cm to Infinity; 24.5 in to Infinity | | Macro Focus Range: | 20 cm to 60 cm; 8.2 in to 24.5 in | | Aperture Range: | f/2.0 (wide) / 2.4 (tele) - f/11 | | Display | | Optical Viewfinder: | Yes (Optical SLR, 95% accuracy) | | LCD Viewfinder: | Yes (1.8 inch, 118,000 pixel) | | Exposure | | ISO Settings: | Auto, 80, 160, 320 | | White Balance Settings: | Auto, 3000, 3700, 4000, 4500, 5500, 6500 and 7500 degrees K, One-Touch | | Manual White Balance: | Yes | | Shutter Speeds: | 120 - 1/18000 second | | Exp Adj Range: | +/- 3.0EV in 1/3EV steps | | Metering Modes: | Digital-ESP multi pattern, Center-Weighted Average, Spot | | Exposure Modes: | Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual | | Self Timer: | 12 seconds | | Flash | | Internal Flash: | Yes | | Flash Modes: | Auto, Red-Eye Reducing, Off, Fill-in | | Flash Range Description: | 0.6 – 8.9 m (wide), 0.5 - 7.4 m (tele) | | Ext Flash: | Yes (FL-40 external flash sync, hot shoe) | | Image Storage | | Flash Memory: | CompactFlash Type 1, CompactFlash Type 2, SmartMedia, IBM Microdrive | | Memory Included: | 16MB (SmartMedia) | | File Formats: | TIFF, RAW, JPEG | | More Information | | Weight: | 1050 g; 36.7 oz | | Weight With Batteries? | No | | Size: | 129 x 104 x 161mm; 5.1 x 4.1 x 6.3in | | Notes & Features: | 14 element, 11 group lens is all-glass with one ED (extra-low dispersion) and two aspherical elements. Optical viewfinder is SLR-style TTL, with info display and focus confirmation. LCD viewfinder can be tilted up 90 degrees, down 20 degrees, and brightness can be adjusted. Compatible with 3.3V SmartMedia (4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 MB), CompactFlash Type-I/II up to 1GB, including IBM Microdrive. Uses interlaced scan mode at resolutions above 1792 x 1344 pixels, progressive scan mode on CCD with resolutions of 1792 x 1344 or below. In interlaced scan mode, fastest shutter speed is up to 1/640 second, in progressive scan mode, fastest shutter speed is up to 1/4000 second (in all modes) or 1/18000 second (in manual or shutter priority modes only). Shutter speeds up to 1/640 second use mechanical shutter, speeds up to 1/18000 second use electronic shutter. Shutter speeds 2 - 60 seconds in shutter priority and manual modes only, shutter speeds 60-120 seconds in bulb mode only. Burst mode is 2.5 frames per second up to 3 frames in RAW mode, 4 frames in interlaced scan mode, 7 frames in progressive scan mode. Auto exposure locking possible. Auto exposure bracketing feature takes 3 images at 1/3, 2/3 or 1EV steps. As well as resolutions listed above, also has 640x480 pixel resolution. CCD-RAW mode is proprietary; files can be decoded using bundled Adobe PhotoShop plugin. Complies with USB Mass Storage Class (called USB AutoConnect by Olympus) for driverless connectivity with Windows 2000, Me, MacOS 8.6+. Optional accessories include 0.8x wide, 1.45x and 3x telephoto, macro lenses and battery hand-grip. | | |
Stay tuned for further news on this story! We have information about this product under NDA, but recent events in the US have shifted the US announcement time. To avoid violating the terms of our NDA, we've carefully edited the information here to present only that which has been disclosed elsewhere. Stay tuned for more information from Olympus America at a future date.
|
