Olympus E-3 Unveiled

Hot on the heels of major DSLR announcements from Canon and Nikon, Olympus has unveiled a long awaited update to their top-end DSLR, the E-1. The new model will be called the E-3 but few details are available other than those posted on a Korean website.

Canon 40D Specs Revealed

A leak at Amazon.com's website with info for the new 40D reveals the following specs:

Product Features

• 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor
• Large 3.0-inch LCD display with enhanced Live View and broadened color gamut
• 6.5 frame-per-second continuous shooting capability (for bursts of up to 75 Large/Fine JPEGs or 17 RAW images)
• sRAW mode; 35-zone metering system; integrated Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit
• Powered by BP-511A, BP-511, or BP-512 lithium-ion battery pack; stores images on CF cards

Technical Details

• Resolution: Approximately 10.1 million effective pixels (total pixels: approximately 10.5 million)
• Recording pixels: 3888 x 2592
• Sensor type: CMOS sensor, with primary R-G-B filtration
• Sensor size: 22.2 x 14.8 millimeters
• Pixel size: 5.7 microns square
• Lens focal length factor: 1.6x
• Sensor dust removal: EOS Integrated Cleaning System; active removal of dust by vibrating front low-pass filter; automatic removal of dust spots, in Canon Digital Photo Professional software (v. 3.1 or higher)
• Maximum frames per second: 6.5 frames per second (fps) at full resolution
• Maximum number of frames / burst: JPEG: 75; RAW: 17
• Shutter speeds: 30 seconds to 1/8000, plus Bulb (1/3 or 1/2-step increments)
• Flash sync speed: Up to 1/250, with EX-series Speedlites
• Anticipated shutter durability: 100,000 exposures, based on Canon test methods
• Computer interface: USB 2.0 (Hi-speed)
• Image recording storage media: CompactFlash (CF) cards (type I or II, including Microdrives)
• Card compatibility: "FAT32" compatible--OK for cards over 2GB
• Image format options: JPEG (choice of "Fine" or "Normal" compression); RAW (Canon .CR2 RAW file format); RAW + JPEG (any JPEG file size available; JPEG file written as separate file)
• Analog to digital conversion: 14 bits per channel (16,382 separate tones from brightest to darkest, for each channel)
• Resolution options: "Large"--3888 x 2592 (approximately 10.1 million pixels); "Medium"--2816 x 1880 (approximately 5.3 million pixels); "Small"--1936 x 1288 (approximately 2.5 million pixels)
• Highlight tone priority: Expands tonal range of bright highlights by about one stop; ISO range limited to 200 to 1600; activated by C.Fn II-3-1
• Live View viewing options: Camera's LCD monitor; computer monitor, via USB; computer monitor, via wireless transmitter WFT-E3A
• Manual focus: Viewed on LCD monitor, with option to magnify focus area 5x or 10x
• Autofocus: Possible--C.Fn III-6-1 active, press AF On button; mirror drops down temporarily while AF On button is pressed, allowing AF to function
• Silent mode Live View shoot: Mode 1: First shutter curtain remains open; shooting up to 6.5 fps possible; Mode 2: Quieter option; 2nd shutter curtain doesn't close until user's finger is taken off shutter button
• Accessory wireless transmitter: Canon WFT-E3A (optional, dedicated wireless transmitter)

Digital SLR market grows by 75%

According to data from CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) digital SLR shipments are up 75% overall in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. The digital camera market overall grew at a slightly less increase of 27% over the same period last year.

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