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Panasonic's GF1

(Credit: Panasonic)

Adobe Systems on Monday released Lightroom 2.5 and the Camera Raw 5.5 Photoshop plug-in, software updates that add support for two high-profile Nikon SLRs, Olympus' ambitious but expensive E-P1 compact camera, and in a minor surprise, the Panasonic's GF1 competitor to the E-P1.

As expected from the beta test, the new version adds support for the Nikon's high-end D300s and entry-level D3000. Also on the list is Panasonic's ultrazoom, the DMC-FZ35.

The downloads are available at Adobe's Web site.

Dealing with the raw formats from higher-end cameras gives photographers more flexibility and quality than JPEG, but it's a hassle for companies such as Adobe and Apple that must figure out the proprietary formats. Adobe doesn't yet support yet newer cameras such as Canon's higher-end 7D.

The updates also fix a problem that could afflict some cameras in the "demosaicing" step of converting raw images into more useful formats. "Camera Raw 5.5 also includes a correction to the demosaic algorithms in the raw conversion process for Bayer sensor cameras with unequal green response," Adobe said in a statement.

In an earlier statement about the green issue, Adobe said it was relatively minor: "Sony, Panasonic, and Olympus are among the more popular camera manufacturers affected by this change. But the demosaic correction provides only a subtle visual improvement to the processing of those raw files."

A blog post by Lightroom Product Manager Tom Hogarty said the Lightroom update fixes an issue with the image-import dialog box on Windows. He also pointed out this sorry consequence of the complexities of global branding with the Panasonic FZ35:

"Note that in Europe and Japan this model is marketed as the DMC-FZ38. Unfortunately, due to a metadata difference between these cameras, files from the DMC-FZ38 will not be supported until the next Camera Raw and Lightroom updates," Hogarty said.

The Olympus E-P1 with its small 17mm lens attached.

(Credit: Olympus)

The Olympus E-P1 camera, a hybrid designed to combine advantages of both compact cameras and SLRs, is a welcome arrival in a digital camera market struggling to find new directions.

The small and light camera that debuted Tuesday features interchangeable lenses and relatively large sensor that endow SLRs with flexibility and higher image quality, but it's also got a small body of a compact camera. It has the potential to appeal to SLR owners who want something smaller and to compact camera owners who want something better, if Olympus can convince people to surmount a significant obstacle, price.

Like most hybrids--gaming laptops, for example, or bicycles with aspects of both road bikes and mountain bikes--the E-P1 sacrifices specialization for versatility. But the digital camera market is saturated, and the E-P1 is a promising member of a newer camera breed.

There are a handful of competitors with similar aspirations. Canon's G10, the newest in its G series of high-end compact cameras, is one example. Nikon's GPS-enabled P6000 is another, though, like the G10, it doesn't have an interchangeable lens. And Panasonic's G1 and GH1, which employ the same Micro Four Thirds lens and sensor standard as the E-P1, are probably closest.

The biggest knock against these cameras is price. Their relatively large sensors--especially those in the Micro Four Thirds cameras--cost a lot to manufacture, and fast electronics and high complexity just make things worse. Few people are willing to spend more than $300 on a camera, much less the hybrid cameras.

Brace yourself for some sticker shock. ... Read more

Three images of Olympus' top-end SLR from March

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks)

Olympus publicly showed prototypes of its new top-end digital SLR in March, but a leaked document indicates the real thing could be announced in October and on sale in November.

An anonymous person posted a 27-page presentation at the FourThirds Photo discussion site that appears to be from an Olympus marketing presentation in June in Europe on the new camera, called the E-P1. Olympus didn't comment on the presentation Thursday, but the company did request another site, 4-3system.com, remove the file.

The presentation includes numerous details about the camera--including its 10-megapixel sensor, improved viewfinder, sealing against dust and wet weather, wireless flash controller and better autofocus. But another interesting element is what Olympus positions as the competition: the Nikon D200 and Canon EOS 30D. That's interesting because Olympus is pitching the E-P1 as a professional-grade camera, whereas those Nikon and Canon models are considered a notch down in the "prosumer" category.

Olympus already has said on the record it's preparing to sell a successor this year to the E-1 launched in 2003, and it's begun offering teaser ads for it.

Going up against the Nikon D200 and Canon 30D, and supposed successors, the D300 and 40D, the E-P1 will have superior weatherproofing, technology for removing dust stuck on the image sensor, live preview of images on the LCD screen, a larger viewfinder, built-in image stabilization and faster autofocus, according to the presentation.

Missing from the presentation was any mention of price, but if Olympus hopes to take on the D200 and 30D directly, it should come in at less than $2,000. Olympus is hoping for indirect effects, though, according to the presentation: a "top-down" effect that will goose sales of lower-end E-410 and E-510 SLRs and of accessories.

Olympus SLRs, along with those from Panasonic and Leica, employ the Four Thirds lens mount system, so lenses and cameras from those companies are compatible. The image on such cameras has a four-to-three aspect ratio, squarer than the usual three-to-two on 35mm film SLRs and most other digital SLRs. The field of view of a Four Thirds lens is half that of a 35mm SLR lens with the same focal length, so a 50mm lens works much like a 100mm lens on a Four Thirds camera.

The presentation also describes four Four Thirds lenses, three of them professional-grade. The good ones are a 50-200mm (100-400mm equivalent) telephoto zoom with an F/2.8-3.5 aperture due in November; a 12-60mm zoom (24-120mm equivalent) zoom with an F/2.8-4.0 aperture due in October; and a 14-35mm (28-70mm) with a fast F/2.0 aperture due in the spring of 2008. The fourth lens, a 70-300mm model of more ordinary quality, has an aperture of F/4.0-5.6, has specs that match an official June announcement from Olympus. Also in the presentation is the EC-20 teleconverter to double telephoto focal length.

But back to the alleged E-P1 specs, which sound pretty good:

• Five frames per second shooting with a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 sec.

• Eleven-point autofocus, and all points are cross-type, meaning they can detect either vertical or horizontal edges. Lower-end SLRs commonly have mostly linear points that aren't as sensitive. And autofocus works better in dim conditions than before.

• In-camera image sensor stabilization to counteract camera shake. That's been Olympus' approach already, but the new version is more powerful, permitting compensation that can allow use of shutter speeds up to five steps slower than otherwise would be possible. That could be significant, since Canon and Nikon build image stabilization into the lens, claiming that it works better when tuned to the specific lens, especially with telephoto lenses.

An apparent collection of new Olympus lenses

(Credit: FourThirds Photo)

• Wireless control of flash units--and two new flash units, the FL-36R and FL-50R.

• An LCD that can swivel to different angles to aid with live view composition. Live view modes haven't generally wowed reviewers, but one handy feature permitted by swiveling screens is a better ability to shoot when the camera is held overhead or low to the ground.

• A large viewfinder that covers 100 percent of the camera view and magnifies it by a factor of 1.15. Most lower-end SLRs only cover 95 percent or so of the view and often shrink it, which produces eyestrain and makes manual focusing more difficult.

• A dust-reduction system to clean the image sensor, a bane of digital SLRs but a problem Olympus competitors are beginning to address with sensor-shaking technology.

• A weather-sealed extra battery compartment that can aid in shooting vertically-oriented pictures.