Why did Olympus go the 4/3 route?

Marcus Rowland · 10-05-2019, 05:31 PM

Originally posted by Marcus Rowland

You're right, of course. I tend to think of Sony and Minolta as more or less interchangeable, and forgot the current circumstances. But Minolta did offer a couple of DSLRs under their own name before Sony took over, so I think it's fair to say that they handled the change to DSLR without having to reinvent the wheel with their lenses.

Canon, of course, abandoned the older manual focus FD mount completely, with a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from many users at the time including me, in favour of EF. They did take a couple of stabs at AF on the FD mount, but the AF never worked well. But they did this early enough that by the time DSLRs came along the EF system already had a big user base which made the transition much easier, and the old lenses worked fine on digital bodies.

Sorry, I'm partially wrong - the first Minolta DSLR was a 2-megapixel flop that used the weirdo mount they invented for their APS film SLR, not their full-sized mount. But they did launch two full-sized bodies based on their A-mount before Sony took over.

RyanW · 10-06-2019, 05:01 PM

I once had an E-500 really loved the JPG colors. Had the Kodak manufactured sensor if I recall correctly.

Marcus Rowland · 10-07-2019, 10:43 PM

The colours are pretty good, and it's one of the best cameras I've seen for retaining shadow and highlight details. Some pictures I took with it are here:

Olympus E-500 4/3 Format Camera | Flickr

But for some reason I found it a little difficult to compose shots with it, it feels like the viewfinder image is a little smaller than other DSLRs I've used, though I've just checked it against some other cameras and the difference is pretty marginal. Having the camera data showing to the right of the frame rather than below doesn't help, it's a little distracting.

MrKodak · 10-08-2019, 02:52 AM

Originally posted by RyanW

I once had an E-500 really loved the JPG colors. Had the Kodak manufactured sensor if I recall correctly.

Yes, I think it was a Kodak sensor, they were (finally) jumping on the digital bandwagon and started to produce sensors and was one of the first on the 4/3 bandwagon together with Olympus.

---------- Post added 10-08-19 at 02:54 AM ----------

Originally posted by Marcus Rowland

The colours are pretty good, and it's one of the best cameras I've seen for retaining shadow and highlight details. Some pictures I took with it are here:

Olympus E-500 4/3 Format Camera | Flickr

But for some reason I found it a little difficult to compose shots with it, it feels like the viewfinder image is a little smaller than other DSLRs I've used, though I've just checked it against some other cameras and the difference is pretty marginal. Having the camera data showing to the right of the frame rather than below doesn't help, it's a little distracting.

While I haven't tried any of the early Olympus digital cameras I can't say anything about ergonomics but I can confess there was something magical about CCD sensors when it comes to colour compared to modern CMOS.

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10-05-2019, 05:31 PM	#16
Marcus Rowland Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: London Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,079 Original Poster	Originally posted by Marcus Rowland You're right, of course. I tend to think of Sony and Minolta as more or less interchangeable, and forgot the current circumstances. But Minolta did offer a couple of DSLRs under their own name before Sony took over, so I think it's fair to say that they handled the change to DSLR without having to reinvent the wheel with their lenses. Canon, of course, abandoned the older manual focus FD mount completely, with a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from many users at the time including me, in favour of EF. They did take a couple of stabs at AF on the FD mount, but the AF never worked well. But they did this early enough that by the time DSLRs came along the EF system already had a big user base which made the transition much easier, and the old lenses worked fine on digital bodies. Sorry, I'm partially wrong - the first Minolta DSLR was a 2-megapixel flop that used the weirdo mount they invented for their APS film SLR, not their full-sized mount. But they did launch two full-sized bodies based on their A-mount before Sony took over.

10-06-2019, 05:01 PM	#17
RyanW Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 583	I once had an E-500 really loved the JPG colors. Had the Kodak manufactured sensor if I recall correctly.

10-07-2019, 10:43 PM	#18
Marcus Rowland Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: London Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,079 Original Poster	The colours are pretty good, and it's one of the best cameras I've seen for retaining shadow and highlight details. Some pictures I took with it are here: Olympus E-500 4/3 Format Camera \| Flickr But for some reason I found it a little difficult to compose shots with it, it feels like the viewfinder image is a little smaller than other DSLRs I've used, though I've just checked it against some other cameras and the difference is pretty marginal. Having the camera data showing to the right of the frame rather than below doesn't help, it's a little distracting.

10-08-2019, 02:52 AM	#19
MrKodak Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Stockholm Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 226	Originally posted by RyanW I once had an E-500 really loved the JPG colors. Had the Kodak manufactured sensor if I recall correctly. Yes, I think it was a Kodak sensor, they were (finally) jumping on the digital bandwagon and started to produce sensors and was one of the first on the 4/3 bandwagon together with Olympus. ---------- Post added 10-08-19 at 02:54 AM ---------- Originally posted by Marcus Rowland The colours are pretty good, and it's one of the best cameras I've seen for retaining shadow and highlight details. Some pictures I took with it are here: Olympus E-500 4/3 Format Camera \| Flickr But for some reason I found it a little difficult to compose shots with it, it feels like the viewfinder image is a little smaller than other DSLRs I've used, though I've just checked it against some other cameras and the difference is pretty marginal. Having the camera data showing to the right of the frame rather than below doesn't help, it's a little distracting. While I haven't tried any of the early Olympus digital cameras I can't say anything about ergonomics but I can confess there was something magical about CCD sensors when it comes to colour compared to modern CMOS.