Yes you are right. However 'Best' usually ruins colours, so the information is about meaningless.
Well it is usually difficult to get better colours than Oly engine does. But YMMV.
Hmm... I found a more significant difference when I checked, but it was some time ago and I can't seem to find the files. Overall, I would agree that it's not a big deal in practice.
Yeah, the Fuji is excellent for DR. Though I have to say that if you expose to the right, the D700 is pretty darn good too.
May I ask where you see that? If it is the table of Raw Headroom stats, I am interested to know which one you think most relevant as a measure of raw DR (ACR default, auto, or best).
I corrected above. Bernstein has the correct figures for ACR Best. However I think that Jpeg DR is more significant.
I agree.
I'll take what I can get!
You may well be right. I guess my numbers were based mainly on the notion that the original E-3 was brought in at $1700, and this camera would be somewhat less ambitious in terms of the amount of new R&D required. Similar to the Pentax K-7 or whatnot.
Yeah, that would certainly be easier.
Basically what I've been thinking too. And weight isn't an absolute for me. Neither is size. I just know from experience that an E-3-sized camera is a pain to carry around the neck all day when scrambling up boulder fields and whatnot...
Sadly I would agree there too. Pentax is in a rough spot and I don't know if the K-7 will save them.
Sure. That's basically what Pentax did with the K200D.
$900 sounds plausible for the camera. But given the 14-54 is around $550, I don't think you'll see a kit that low. Not for a while, anyhow.
I wouldn't be surprised. There is one issue though, with pulling weather-sealing down-market: you're going to get less careful users (and more of them) with differing expectations for the weather-sealing (e.g. weather-sealed != water-proof). This means more warranty claims to work through. Given that the actual definition of weather-sealed (and the warranty on such products) are already subject to debate, I can foresee a certain amount of headache here.
A number of folks have been suggesting that. I'd love to see it, and I think it would sell very well at that price. That said, I think making a 14-150 to the same level of optical excellence as the rest of the HG line, especially at that price, would be a tall order. It would however be the first (and only) weather-resistant superzoom on the market...
Well, I find the difference in size of the E-5xx and E-6xx series pretty minimal, so I've no objection to starting with the former.
It's an ambitious price point, for sure. But I don't see Oly releasing a camera like this just because it's what the faithful want. They need to know it's going to draw new users to the system - users who appreciate sturdy cameras and good glass. A new user needs at least one lens to get started. You can either have it be an objection ("$900 for the camera plus another $550 for the lens? That's really starting to add up ...") or a selling point ("Wow, if I buy the kit that sweet lens is only $250! And I can afford a memory card, extra battery and bag and still stay under $1500.")
Maybe even differentiate the lens a little bit from the competition and make it a 14-100 f/4 ...
Well this has been discussed by DPR. They said that Oly could have clipped blacks, but instead decided to leave more headroom in the shadows, therefore with more details but also more noise.
Fair enough - I'm just a bit skeptical they can afford to discount the 14-54 to that extent (I think the lowest I've seen it sold for new was in the $450 range). It would certainly be in their interest to provide a good normal zoom kit lens in the $300 range. Nikon's 18-105 is a good example of what can be done in that area...
Theoretically, it shouldn't be terribly difficult - take one of those 18-135/4-5.6 APS-C designs and put a 1.4x focal reducer on the back. In practice, I suspect it may be a bit trickier though.
Of course. Similarly, I have seen it claimed that the D5000's Standard Picture Mode has slightly less DR than Neutral Picture Mode because the former achieves its greater contrast by clipping to black sooner.
I was thinking of low-light high ISO shots with regard to DR and noise. I should have said that. But you're right, the current sensor is very good as is.
Fair enough. Guess I'm being a bit greedy.
Okay, got it now.
I'm not so sure about that. I'd simply say that unlike the previous generation, it has no glaring flaws.
I wouldn't call that greedy! Only the weather-sealing would likely require major work on Olympus' part.
Yes, that would bring you back to the E-30 successor not to the 620 one.
