It's March 5th, and, as promised, Olympus has revealed
two new digital SLRs. The first is an upgrade of the Europe-only E-400 called the E-410, and the other is an all-new 16-oz. compact DSLR called the E-510 (all the pictures in this post are of the latter). Both have live-view LCDs and the E-510 has in-the-body anti-shake image stabilization.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLqXYo9ujK7wpoEv21q3QtTag2Ltp9oG99XmRRwar6trAIIpKqx_SuZxDNMIl1vNWy8OdBAHV2iC5LKGz6I-Ax1gHMVSJ29Se5-6lUbP_dT4gXLuAHuGX9vwS6ETpKRWPN51fg8O5OG4/s400/E510_Front.jpg)
The big news is that neither have Kodak CCDs; both have 10-MP Matsushita LiveMOS sensors. This is apparently the same MN39960 LiveMOS image sensor imager jointly developed by Olympus and Panasonic for the Lumix DMC-L1 and the Olmpus E-330 (or something closely related). The sensors offer live preview on the cameras' LCD screens and low power consumption. So far, this sensor has not been notable for good high-ISO performance, but both new cameras sport a brand new processing engine called "TruePic III," so we should reserve judgement on that until actual test reports start showing up.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRi0m4xIYG4bMH24PlpflRwqM2CnTthHgpxwwxRGtEVO2-uAXZaN64zyLFGLZpo73r-oFUjEDNYR_eyYd392G7eviaFPy-KuNXkM0t2tKSMOHVO4IzNYg6bteWFLUdfcA1GcqOwOGWpTQ/s400/E510_Top.jpg)
On the down side, neither camera has an articulated LCD screen, which will limit the usefulness of the live preview somewhat; I would have liked to see 90-degree articulation for waist-level viewing at least on the larger camera. On the good side, both will apparently be available in North America, and the E-510 (which looks "the business," as the British say) is about the perfect size, shape, and weight for a carry-around, note-taking-type camera—quite close to the "digital OM-4T" that some of our readers were asking for just the other day.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-2TesTKfkixgZZF5RQwS2wkwDJKTIHCYkEVMNTsdEfbX5fmc3pOOqT91EVxsPavzC7ni9ArnWy0oCfPuo85AJsLL4JL3z9rX_kT6tp_143OreAsnPydfHsm4McU0yhJK69COcean9Tk/s400/E510_Right.jpg)
(Click on any of these pictures to see larger versions.)
Posted by: MIKE JOHNSTON
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