E-500 real or fake? What do u think?

[hammer_400]

My take:

Seems to me more like a 'leak' than a fake.... i viewed the webby
http://www2.olympus.dk/consumer/6739_6749.htm and its also
on all the oly europe sites... chateau d'images (french magazine) also claims it's real....

seems to fit in with what has been flying around, a new lower end DSLR. not an e300 replacement, but rather like the d50 to d70s...
seems like oly will be going to rock the bottom of the market by pricing it very competitively... on the website they mentioned various kits including one without the lithiom battery and charger, instead a case witch excepts lit cr2's... this could be to cut prices even lower as they would not have to package the blm and charger...
the new 17-45 also would keep costs even lower as the lens would not have to be designed as complicated to maintain the retrofocus wide angle..it only has 8 elements compared to 12 on the 14-45mm...

also from the webby... the new lens line-up would include....


17.5-45mm (35mm-90mm) f/3.5-5.6
18-180mm (36-360mm) f/3.5-6.3

and they also mentioned dates for the following...
if i remember correctly...

14-35mm (35-70mm) f/2.0 (Jan 06)
35-100mm (70-200) f/2.0 (Oct 06)
90-250 (180-500mm) f/2.8 (Nov 06)
35mm (70mm) f/3.5 MACRO (Jan 06)

the MTF chart for the 35mm macro was also up... seems to be veri good and has only 6 elements, and hopefully it will be cheap...

also new eyecups... ep-5 and ep-6 for e-500 and e-300....

 

[ParkertR]

im inclined to believe that it's real. i could be wrong, but try to prove otherwise.

 

[drektster]

i think olympus is aiming for a comeback with the production of affordable camera and attract people (like what we used to be) who only looked at nikon and canon when they buy their camera.

today, at my friends wedding. i find that olympus not only produce fantastic image under interior lighting( without flash).

to my surpise it has that hill on top. (e500)

 

[ykkok]

I vote Real (I could be wrong though)

The reasons are simple, the E-500 is to address these common *pains* that people usually complains about :

1. Lack of lenses (now the 3 new 'super-entry-level' and 3 Pro lenses are out)
2. Expensive lenses (the 3 new 'super-entry-level' lenses should be very affordable)
3. Horrible E-300 design. (now conventional look - with the 'hump')

I'm just worried that Olympus will jeopardize their legendary ZD lens quality, especially if they are forced to release those super entry level ones.

Let's hope for the good and choose to believe only when Olympus officially announce it.
*It could be a spoof

 

[say123]

i think i will vote for real...

going through the dpreview.com saw many posts..
managed to download off someone's webspace and saw the new lens. (the info for the lens is taken down).

so i think its better to be real!!! :bsmilie:


anyway hammer, where do you get these dates? the webby too? is it taken down?
searched didnt find any link..

14-35mm (35-70mm) f/2.0 (Jan 06)
35-100mm (70-200) f/2.0 (Oct 06)
90-250 (180-500mm) f/2.8 (Nov 06)
35mm (70mm) f/3.5 MACRO (Jan 06)

 

[Artosoft]

Fake...

Where is the e-300's built-in flashlight design that can be pop-up when using external flashlight?

Arto.

 

[kktan]

Real or Fake??? I don't care as long as it's fun.

I voted real.

:cheers:

 

[chancy]

My extensive readings of analysis by dpreview's Olympus forumers' points to the direction that this should be the real E500.

Someone replicated the specs at
http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/textfiles/6739_E-500_Specifications.htm

The LHD1 (CR123 battery adapter) is an interesting development as a practical power source if it sees the light of day. I wonder if it'll work on my E1

Curious I am to see a departure in body shape & style from the E300 and the naming convention to distinguish their range of models. The move of major makers seem towards budget entry level market segment. Intense competition lies ahead.

Cheers,

 

[nightpiper]

i vote real.

i m a little skeptical about 2 lenses:

1) 18-180mm. from Oly? or pana? i wud believe it totally if its a sigma.

2) 35mm macro. why the F3.5? 70mm is also very good for portraits, indoor stage & product shots. shud left it as F2 i think.

it will be a nice backup cam or a traveller's companion. :lovegrin:

my next question is:
any existing 4:3 owners want to 'upgrade' it?

 

[hammer_400]

the website seems to have been taken down... so all my linked images are down too...
but looking at how much and how detailed all the info was it'll hard-pressed to think its fake...

the dates were on a 'lenses' page on the website... cannot remember exactly the dates but i'm quite sure the 35-100 had october 05 with it...

wrt to the 35mm macro, the design seems rather simple, 6 elements and no ed lens.... hope its affordable... it may just be Oly's answer for a cheap prime....

also the pics of the 17-45 and 18-180 showed them being marked differently from the 14-45 and 40-150 lenses... they just had the markings zuiko digital in white ala sigma dc lenses. No silver sticker...

with all these lenses the oly lineup will look awesome....

 

[tao]

it will be a nice backup cam or a traveller's companion. :lovegrin:

my next question is:
any existing 4:3 owners want to 'upgrade' it?

Hardly an upgrade for current 4/3 users huh?

For the E-1 user, you probably don't want it unless if you want a backup camera that is light for travel purposes. And you lose the weather seal and all the 'pro' features and superb tank-like body that made you choose the E-1 over the E-300 in the first place.

For the E-300 user, such as myself, I will lose the built quality of the E-300 which feels very solid in the hands and certainly much better built than the other makes in the same price range. The E-500 looks like it will be built the same as a plasticky 5D or 350D to me and most probably we will get a noisy and cheap-sounding mirror slap to go with that. Also, I believe that some features in the E-300 such as the battery grip, external + internal flash capability, etc will be gone.

My verdict is that the E-500 will appear as the cheapest DSLR in the market to increase Oly's market share.

 

[pscion12]

translation from another website

from a spanish forum

 

[ykkok]

If it's true, then this model will be the replacement for C-8080.

 

[bariq]

If it's true, then this model will be the replacement for C-8080.

I agree with ykkok. The specs abt the new E are spoofs in my view.

 

[tao]

If it's true, then this model will be the replacement for C-8080.

in what way will it be the replacement? price wise perhaps?

 

[bariq]

in what way will it be the replacement? price wise perhaps?

By the looks of it :bsmilie:

 

[ykkok]

in what way will it be the replacement? price wise perhaps?

Absolutely, if it's as speculated, priced lower than E-300.

 

[user111]

should be real

 

[OlyE]

I think is real.

http://www.e1.uwill.to/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=306&forum=7

http://www.4-3system.com/

 

[hammer_400]

It is real!