Like everyone involved in the development of the successor to the E-1, Mr.Shigeru Iwase, who was in charge of developing the drive system including the shutter and mirror, considered it his responsibility to strive to achieve the very highest possible goals.
"For the drive system of the E-1's successor, we set high technological targets worthy of a flagship model and then went on to achieve them.
"For example, with the shutter, we had to figure out how to deal with contradictory issues like how to achieve ultrafast, high-accuracy control while reducing the amount of energy required to power that control.
"Essentially, a large force is required to drive the shutter and mirror at ultrahigh speeds.
But this is usually accompanied with an increase in the mechanism size and energy consumption.
"Therefore, we started by reviewing the shutter mechanism, with the idea of developing an ultrafast shutter with very low energy requirements and higher durability.
First, we found that energy consumption could be reduced by reducing the number of gear shifting steps.
"We also placed the cam in a position close to the shutter and mirror to reduce the number of parts used in transmission.
"With direct drive, transmission loss is reduced, fewer intermediate parts are required, and accuracy is increased.
"Additionally, we used metallic parts to improve accuracy and durability.
And these parts were further improved thanks to the use of high-strength engineering resin with excellent wear resistance.
"Based on the fundamental concept of the E-Series, we adopted a variety of ingenious new technologies and concepts to obtain the highest image quality, to improve the accuracy of the sub-mirrors, and to enable quiet, smooth action."