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Proposal of the Four Thirds System
"When the E-1 was in the prototype stage, we asked professional photographer Mitsuaki Iwago to take some photos,"says Kunio Yokoyama, who has been involved in digital-camera development for going on 4 years. "When I saw them, I was glad that I had this job. I like photos that hit you in the heart. This is a digital SLR that can give you that perfect shot."
Masaomi Tomizawa, who worked on the overall electronics system, including the image processing engine, as well as improving mobility, agrees: "With the superb image quality of the E-1, I would rather people thought about using the camera in terms of creating works of art than recording data."
The motivation for proposing the 4/3 (pronounced "four thirds") system was so that the E-1 would not have to make any compromises between image quality and mobility.
The developers arrived at the 4/3 size after many tough decisions aimed at making a camera that could surpass a 35-mm film camera both in terms of ease of use and image quality. The surface area is about 1 fourth that of 35-mm film. If the CCD is that small, one would naively assume that the lens could be made half the size.
"But the CCD sensor that receives the light is at the bottom of a deep well construction," points out Kei-ichi Mori, head of imaging development. "In order for the light to reach the sensor, it has to hit it straight on. In other words, if the lens doesn't direct the rays of light to the sensor at a near-perpendicular angle, the same amount of light will not reach the four corners of the CCD."
If you decide the size of the image circle using the Fourth Thirds standard, the demands for lens design suddenly jump into focus. "We are selling a total of 6 items, "recalls Yokoyama. "Four lenses, a teleconverter, and one other item. Increasing the performance of each of the lenses was extremely difficult. We worked together with the people at the manufacturing site, "he continues. "And it was worth it. We were able to give all four lenses high potential."
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The Four Thirds System
Uses 4/3 as the standard format for lens and body-mount interchangeability, and for image sensor format. OLYMPUS was the first in the world to propose this system. Kodak and Fuji Film have already agreed to accept this new standard. |
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Kunio Yokoyama
Imaging System Group
R&D-2 Department, R&D Division
OLYMPUS CORPORATION
First encounter with an OLYMPUS product: was the Pen S, when he was 11. Since coming to work at OLYMPUS, he had been involved exclusively with the mechanical design of film-camera lens frames. This is his 4th year working with digital cameras. Yokoyama is in charge of all interchangeable lens design for the E-1.
Kei-ichi Mori
Imaging System Group
R&D-3 Department, R&D Division
OLYMPUS CORPORATION
After the E-10, went straight into the development of a full-frame imaging CCD for the E-1. Even though the CCD has the same 5 megapixels as the E-10, it has three to four times the detail of expression. |
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Digital Workflow for High-speed Processing
The E-Series was developed from the concept of being number 1 in four distinct categories: image quality, mobility, reliability, and digital workflow. The fourth of these, the digital workflow, is unlike film cameras because after taking digital photos, the photographer processes them him or herself. Speeding up this workflow is one of the demands placed on pro-oriented digital camera systems, and for this reason it was included in the concept.
"The electronic system that converts signals from a CCD into image data is like an unsung hero, laboring unseen in the background," begins Tomizawa, who designed the 3-ASIC image processing engine. "With a film camera, once you press the shutter, the photo is already taken. With a digital camera, however, a lot goes on internally. You've got to digitally process the image data, store it to media, and so on. Despite all this processing that has to go on, if it takes longer for the digital camera to takes pictures than a film camera, then pro photographers aren't going to use it."
They mounted a 3-ASIC image processing engine on the E-1, in order to resolve these issues. "Mainly there are three ASICs: One for image processing, one for interface processing, and one for camera control," says Tomizawa. "By running these three in parallel, we can speed up a lot of stuff. Although it took quite a bit of work to meet our initial specifications," continues Tomizawa, an electrical engineer who can't conceal his joy that OLYMPUS has become a Ferrari F1 sponsor. More than the exciting races, part of him probably identifies more with the mechanics who tinker with the car, making minute adjustments. |
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Masaomi Tomizawa
Imaging System Group
R&D-3 Department, R&D Division
OLYMPUS CORPORATION
Tomizawa has no experience working on film cameras. His first involvement with camera development was with digital cameras. He designed the 3-ASIC image processing engine for the E-1. |
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