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E1 - Remarkable features

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Geir Ove

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Hello,

Quoted from IR:

( http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A2.HTM )

I find this very interesting: In light of all these capabilities, maybe the camera isn't that expensive? It's interesting to see that Olympus is the one who does something to take DSLRs to the next level, and not Nikon or Canon...

Geir Ove
 
Hello,

The text was missing in the other posting: Trying again:

Quoted from IR: ( http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A2.HTM )

"Some of the biggest news though, is how the Zuiko lenses interact with the camera and its CPU. In a remarkable intelligent combination of optical and digital technology, the Zuiko lenses communicate with the camera's processor, informing it of not only their current focal length setting, but the geometric distortion inherent to the lens at that focal length, and even the amount of edge darkening (sometimes called "vignetting") it has. The camera can then use this information to digitally correct the images in the camera. Thus, images shot with Zuiko lenses and the E1 show virtually zero geometric distortion at any focal length, and can optionally be corrected to remove any edge darkening caused by light falloff in the lens elements. This is an absolutely unique capability, and one that could catapult the image quality obtained with Zuiko lenses beyond literally any others on the market"

And the Innovation continues:

"the E1 has another advantage as well: Rather than a conventional "interline transfer" CCD, the E1 uses a "frame transfer" sensor manufactured by Kodak. The frame-transfer technology boasts higher saturation voltages and lower noise levels than the more common interline-transfer design, promising both excellent dynamic range and lower than average noise for E1 production models."

Read more about it here: (Under heading "Image Sensor")

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A5.HTM

Geir Ove
 
Without image samples, so far this is marketingspeak (though may well prove true). They say the lens features "could catapult the image quality obtained with Zuiko lenses beyond literally any others on the market", but is it confirmed by their actual testing? Fuji's superCCD was also billed as total image quality revolution.

--
Misha
 
Hi Geir
the 'atmosphere' of the 'first looks' is all pretty positive (Phil included).

if it lives up to the hype, then I'd say it definitely doesn't seem expensive

IF

here's hoping
kind regards
jono slack
Geir Ove said:
Hello,

The text was missing in the other posting: Trying again:

Quoted from IR: ( http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A2.HTM )

"Some of the biggest news though, is how the Zuiko lenses interact
with the camera and its CPU. In a remarkable intelligent
combination of optical and digital technology, the Zuiko lenses
communicate with the camera's processor, informing it of not only
their current focal length setting, but the geometric distortion
inherent to the lens at that focal length, and even the amount of
edge darkening (sometimes called "vignetting") it has. The camera
can then use this information to digitally correct the images in
the camera. Thus, images shot with Zuiko lenses and the E1 show
virtually zero geometric distortion at any focal length, and can
optionally be corrected to remove any edge darkening caused by
light falloff in the lens elements. This is an absolutely unique
capability, and one that could catapult the image quality obtained
with Zuiko lenses beyond literally any others on the market"

And the Innovation continues:

"the E1 has another advantage as well: Rather than a conventional
"interline transfer" CCD, the E1 uses a "frame transfer" sensor
manufactured by Kodak. The frame-transfer technology boasts higher
saturation voltages and lower noise levels than the more common
interline-transfer design, promising both excellent dynamic range
and lower than average noise for E1 production models."

Read more about it here: (Under heading "Image Sensor")

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A5.HTM

Geir Ove
Click to expand...
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
in the camera digitally corrected geometric distortion – is that like revolutionary Photoshop plug in correcting geometric distortion? if so – I do not want it :)
Geir Ove said:
Hello,

The text was missing in the other posting: Trying again:

Quoted from IR: ( http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A2.HTM )

"Some of the biggest news though, is how the Zuiko lenses interact
with the camera and its CPU. In a remarkable intelligent
combination of optical and digital technology, the Zuiko lenses
communicate with the camera's processor, informing it of not only
their current focal length setting, but the geometric distortion
inherent to the lens at that focal length, and even the amount of
edge darkening (sometimes called "vignetting") it has. The camera
can then use this information to digitally correct the images in
the camera. Thus, images shot with Zuiko lenses and the E1 show
virtually zero geometric distortion at any focal length, and can
optionally be corrected to remove any edge darkening caused by
light falloff in the lens elements. This is an absolutely unique
capability, and one that could catapult the image quality obtained
with Zuiko lenses beyond literally any others on the market"

And the Innovation continues:

"the E1 has another advantage as well: Rather than a conventional
"interline transfer" CCD, the E1 uses a "frame transfer" sensor
manufactured by Kodak. The frame-transfer technology boasts higher
saturation voltages and lower noise levels than the more common
interline-transfer design, promising both excellent dynamic range
and lower than average noise for E1 production models."

Read more about it here: (Under heading "Image Sensor")

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A5.HTM

Geir Ove
Click to expand...
 
revolutionary or not – when we get our hands on it – enlarging the photos to 600 % – beware Olympus :)
zettlers said:
Geir Ove said:
Hello,

The text was missing in the other posting: Trying again:

Quoted from IR: ( http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A2.HTM )

"Some of the biggest news though, is how the Zuiko lenses interact
with the camera and its CPU. In a remarkable intelligent
combination of optical and digital technology, the Zuiko lenses
communicate with the camera's processor, informing it of not only
their current focal length setting, but the geometric distortion
inherent to the lens at that focal length, and even the amount of
edge darkening (sometimes called "vignetting") it has. The camera
can then use this information to digitally correct the images in
the camera. Thus, images shot with Zuiko lenses and the E1 show
virtually zero geometric distortion at any focal length, and can
optionally be corrected to remove any edge darkening caused by
light falloff in the lens elements. This is an absolutely unique
capability, and one that could catapult the image quality obtained
with Zuiko lenses beyond literally any others on the market"

And the Innovation continues:

"the E1 has another advantage as well: Rather than a conventional
"interline transfer" CCD, the E1 uses a "frame transfer" sensor
manufactured by Kodak. The frame-transfer technology boasts higher
saturation voltages and lower noise levels than the more common
interline-transfer design, promising both excellent dynamic range
and lower than average noise for E1 production models."

Read more about it here: (Under heading "Image Sensor")

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A5.HTM

Geir Ove
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hello,

People does NOT seem to be occupied with the many NICE features of the E-1, but there are many of them, NOT FOUND on Nikon D100 or Canint 10D (as far as I know)

The view-finder has the following nice features:

From: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A4.HTM :

" First and foremost, it's a true 100% viewfinder , showing all of the final frame area. I've never understood why this isn't more common among SLRs, but it's a simple fact that relatively few SLRs (either film or digital) have truly precise viewfinders -- most seem to top out at around 95% coverage. Second, Olympus designed the E-1's viewfinder optics to have an unusually high eyepoint, making it a pleasure to use for eyeglass wearers. Third, Olympus designed a new microprism pattern for the E1's focusing screen, using a "deformed octagonal" structure to reduce moire in fine detail. Finally, the E1 supports interchangeable focusing screens, allowing the user to select a screen most appropriate for their usage"

Cudoz to Olympus.

Geir Ove
 
zettlers said:
in the camera digitally corrected geometric distortion – is that
like revolutionary Photoshop plug in correcting geometric
distortion? if so – I do not want it :)
Click to expand...
It's revolutionary if you do it to the raw file, in linear 12 bit mode. It's even more revolutionary if you do it before you do your corrections (especially correction for chromatic aberration) before you do the Bayer demosaic step. Comparing the results to what you get trying to correct an image in 8 bit, gamma scaled color, is like night and day.

Doing the calculations on a linerar image is important. That's why Dersche's Panorama Tools (I assume that's the plugin you were talking about) attempts to linearize the image via gamma correction, but it's still not as good as working with real, raw images.

--
Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
Geir Ove said:
the Zuiko lenses
communicate with the camera's processor, informing it of not only
their current focal length setting, but the geometric distortion
inherent to the lens at that focal length, and even the amount of
edge darkening (sometimes called "vignetting") it has.
Click to expand...
Hey, there simply isn't supposed to be any vignetting with this system. It has a new lens mount, twice the diameter of the sensor, and the new lenses (except the telephoto, of course) have "telecentric design", and Oly has a 6 degree limit on deviation from perpendicular incidence in their lenses.

Now, correcting the geometric distortions in camera, automatically, is a really cool feature. Pros don't normally use (or trust) zooms with 4:1 ratios, we tend to favor lenses like the 17-35 (2:1) or 70-200 (2.85:1).

--
Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
Geir Ove said:
Cudoz to Olympus.
Click to expand...
I agree. This camera is full of wonderful, innovative features. In fact, it may be the most innovative camera of 2003.

You've already mentioned many:
100% finder
In camera correction of lens distortion
Frame transfer CCD
New screen structure.

I'll add on my own favorites:
Dust cleaning system
Well sealed body
Magnesium case
Body style eliminates "vestigal" film SLR left side
That 50mm f2.0 macro
User configurable manual focus direction
Variable rate manual "focus by wire"

The reason you don't hear as much about the really remarkable features is that they're all features that could be applied to a DSLR of any image size. They're being overshadowed by all the press about the "4/3 system". I can't understand, for the life of me, why. Claims of designed for digital "from the ground up" are easily debunked by anyone with a relatively good engineering or optics background. I think Oly has shot themselves in the foot with their marketing. Yes, this is going to be a good camera, Oly does some pretty dang good engineering. I really, really wish the marketing had concentrated on that, more than the 4/3 stuff. The reviewers take their cue from the marketing (to some extent). If the marketing has pages about the 4/3 system, and a paragraph here or there about finder, dust cleaner, etc. then we're going to get reviews of the 4/3 system.

--
Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
Joseph S. Wisniewski said:
Geir Ove said:
the Zuiko lenses
communicate with the camera's processor, informing it of not only
their current focal length setting, but the geometric distortion
inherent to the lens at that focal length, and even the amount of
edge darkening (sometimes called "vignetting") it has.
Click to expand...
Hey, there simply isn't supposed to be any vignetting with this
system. It has a new lens mount, twice the diameter of the sensor,
and the new lenses (except the telephoto, of course) have
"telecentric design", and Oly has a 6 degree limit on deviation
from perpendicular incidence in their lenses.
Click to expand...
Well, maybe Olympus is thinking forward, planning for cheaper consumer-grade lenses?

But the distortion is interesting, no more guesswork. ("2% barrel correction? Oops, too much, lets try 1%... Oops, too little, lets try 1.5%...")

And the focus-by wire may have another benefit: The perfect remote controled camera. I wonder if they planned for zoom by wire? Easy to use scuba-housing, anyone?
(10D,S2 or E-1... what to choose, what to choose?)
J.
Joseph S Wisniewski said:
Now, correcting the geometric distortions in camera, automatically,
is a really cool feature. Pros don't normally use (or trust) zooms
with 4:1 ratios, we tend to favor lenses like the 17-35 (2:1) or
70-200 (2.85:1).

--
Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
Click to expand...
--
http://jonr.beecee.org/
 
Jón Ragnarsson said:
Joseph S. Wisniewski said:
Hey, there simply isn't supposed to be any vignetting with this
system. It has a new lens mount, twice the diameter of the sensor,
and the new lenses (except the telephoto, of course) have
"telecentric design", and Oly has a 6 degree limit on deviation
from perpendicular incidence in their lenses.
Click to expand...
Well, maybe Olympus is thinking forward, planning for cheaper
consumer-grade lenses?
Click to expand...
Makes sense.
Member said:
But the distortion is interesting, no more guesswork. ("2% barrel
correction? Oops, too much, lets try 1%... Oops, too little, lets
try 1.5%...")
Click to expand...
And it's not as easy to correct automatically as CA. All I have to do for that is a few FFT autocorrelations. Barrel distortion would mean doing edge detection, and guessing which edges should be straight lines, then solving for correction parameters to fix them. And if the lines wern't really supposed to be straight, the results would be "interesting".
Member said:
And the focus-by wire may have another benefit: The perfect remote
controled camera. I wonder if they planned for zoom by wire?
Click to expand...
No zoom by wire, yet...

But there is a focus by wire underwater housing for the Canon digitals on the market. It's probably a capability in the Nikon serial protocol, too, but no one has bothered to crack it yet.
Member said:
Easy
to use scuba-housing, anyone?
(10D,S2 or E-1... what to choose, what to choose?)
J.
Click to expand...
Underwater, I'd probably go 10D.

--
Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
It's a nice aproach, no doubt- hopefully each and every lense is that precise, that they all will work with the same algorithm?
But is it new?

E10/20 have barrel distortion at wide angels- no doubt- still an impressive lense.

But what most users don't know, because they never even installed Camedia 2.5/2.5.1: Camedia 2.5 can do a pretty good job in correcting it- it reads the EXIF data for focal lenght and offers an option to de-distort your immages. I'm not sure if this works on ORF-files as well, because I hardly ever made ORFs.

There are other approaches as well Thomas (Timmermann???) Author of the free addition to Panotools called PTLens (a memebr of our forums) offers settings for the E10/20 with almost all additional glass for free- works pretty good for my E10 and E10/Wcon( there are other calibration files for other cameras he got into his hands as well, or users sent in samples)

If you have an other Camera/Lens setup well he offers to calculate the de-sistortion for you (for free)- just buy some standard millimeter- papers, glue them together and make some shots.

Another approach: FixFoto from j-k-s.com (don't be affraid of the German homepage- the downloaded program can be switched to English).

It comes with a printable sample- print it out (over several pages and glue them together)- make some shots and define some corner points( easy).
FF will generate a personalized configuration for de-distortion for you.

Once you did it, you can even run batches to be de-distorted according to the EXIF-data.

There is even a way to change( eliminate???) CA- have to look into this further, to state, if it works or not-looks promising though.
And vignetting can be adjusted as well, never tried it, but it could, in FF.
 
Joseph S. Wisniewski said:
I agree. This camera is full of wonderful, innovative features.
Click to expand...
...
Joseph S Wisniewski said:
Variable rate manual "focus by wire"
Click to expand...
I've hesitated to mention anything about this because the cameras and lenses that I used were early prototypes. The lenses, in particular, were fairly rough, with sticky zoom actions and other defects.

So with that caveat stated, I'll just say that if the "focus by wire" system isn't a fair bit better -- firmer and more precise -- in the production versions, I'll be disappointed.
 
Joseph S. Wisniewski said:
It's revolutionary if you do it to the raw file, in linear 12 bit
mode. It's even more revolutionary if you do it before you do your
corrections (especially correction for chromatic aberration) before
you do the Bayer demosaic step. Comparing the results to what you
get trying to correct an image in 8 bit, gamma scaled color, is
like night and day.

Doing the calculations on a linerar image is important. That's why
Dersche's Panorama Tools (I assume that's the plugin you were
talking about) attempts to linearize the image via gamma
correction, but it's still not as good as working with real, raw
images.
Click to expand...
Yepp - it is important to do corrections in linear mode. But
it can be done in the computer on the RAW data. The RAW
data is after Bayer interpolation - but I don't think that the
distorsion correction can be done before doing Bayer interpolation.

Roland
 
Hello,

Knock knock. Wake up! There are even more features :-)

2 Noise reduction Systems:

Quoted from IR:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1/E1A6.HTM

"For long exposures, the E1 offers both Noise Reduction and "Noise Filter" settings. Noise Reduction decreases the amount of image noise in long exposures by using a dark frame subtraction method to minimize fixed pattern noise. When enabled through the settings menu, Noise Reduction automatically engages on exposures longer than two seconds, or when an image has significant dark areas in it. The Noise Filter option addresses random pattern noise, which typically occurs in images captured at high ISO settings or in large areas of solid color, such as blue skies, regardless of exposure duration."

Geir Ove
 
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