olympus

Michael Zhang

Olympus Crisis Deepens: Allegations of Fraud and Plummeting Stock

Update: Olympus has released an official response to the allegations.

Since Olympus abruptly fired CEO Michael Woodford (pictured, on left) four days ago, the company's stock price has fallen from roughly ¥2,480 to its current price of ¥1,417, a 43% drop that wiped out nearly $4 billion in value. As we reported yesterday, Woodford is now asking the UK to investigate the company's financial practices, and is claiming that he was booted when on the verge of exposing fraud.

Michael Zhang

Olympus Announces Three New PENs: the E-P3, E-PL3, and E-PM1

Olympus unveiled a boatload of Micro Four Thirds gear this morning, including three new PEN cameras, two new prime lenses, and a flash. All three cameras pack a 12.3 megapixel sensor with ISO that goes up to 12,800, a speedy new autofocus system (the "world's fastest"), and 1080i HD video recording. The E-P3 (shown above), the flagship camera of the PEN line, features an all-metal body, a pop-up flash, and an OLED touchscreen. It'll cost you $900 when it's out in August 2011.

Michael Zhang

Olympus Ditching DSLRs in Favor of EVIL Cameras

Olympus is ditching the entry-level DSLR in favor of its Micro Four Thirds mount PEN line of EVIL cameras. In an interview with Fotopolis, Toshiyuki Terada -- the Product Manager of Olympus' SLR Planning Department -- is quoted as saying,

We do not have concrete plans to replace the E-620 and other recent SLRs. The entry level SLR class can be completely replaced by the Pen system in terms of performance.

Later in the interview, Terada seems to say that leaving the DSLR market entirely is one of the company's goals.

Michael Zhang

Olympus E-5 and Samsung NX100 Officially Unveiled After Much Leakage

Looks like the rumors were dead on. Both the Olympus E-5 DSLR and Samsung NX1000 EVIL cameras have been officially announced by their respective companies with exactly the same design and specs that have been circulating the blogosphere. Camera makers haven't been doing a good job at keeping their news under wraps as of late.

Michael Zhang

Olympus Set to Unveil the E-5 DSLR

The above teaser was leaked late last week, revealing that Olympus has a E-series DSLR announcement on September 15th. It is rumored to be the E-5, which will succeed their E-3 flagship DSLR, and comes about three years after the E-3 was announced. Rumored specs include a 12.3 megapixel sensor, HD (720p) video recording at 30fps, 5 fps shooting, in-body image stabilization, swiveling LCD display, 11 autofocus points, build-in wireless flash, and ISO that goes up to 6400.

Jessica Lum

Olympus Patent Reveals Adjustable Aspect Ratio, Photographer’s Eye Detection

Canon may have revealed its plans for the Wonder Camera yesterday, but Olympus also quietly released something of its own to marvel at.

According to a newly published Olympus patent, originally filed in 2004, a new camera may be in development that is designed to make consumer point-and-shoots even more intuitive for casual photographers.

Michael Zhang

Olympus Ships 1,709 Compact Cameras with Virus Preloaded

Olympus Japan released a notice to customers yesterday warning that 1,709 of their Stylus Tough 6010 point-and-shoot cameras were accidentally shipped preloaded with a worm. While the camera is not at risk, Windows users may be infected when the camera is connected to their computer via USB.