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Olympus, Please Turn The Vintage Pen F Into The Micro Four Thirds Camera We've Been Dreaming Of
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Olympus, Please Turn The Vintage Pen F Into The Micro Four Thirds Camera We've Been Dreaming Of |
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04/03/09
On of the things camera makers need to look into is the overall look and feel of a camera. The thin Sony Cybershots and Nikon Coolpix cameras look like old disc film cameras (not a good memory in Kodak history). And I remember my first digicam - a bulky ugly plastic Olympus that was replaced a year later by a Canon ELPH.
Canon is smart enough to know that a little heft is a good thing. And, they like to use aluminum. I loved the feel of the Canon ELPH 3 series - it was a rectangular block of brushed aluminum with barely rounded corners. The G10 also has a metal housing.
Companies should look at some of the classic designs - be it the old Instamatic or the Pentax K1000. I like dials. They give something an industrial look and are often the simplest way to accomplish a function. I like the giant honking dial on the Tivoli Model One, the giant aluminum dial on my receiver at home, the old Griffin USB Powermate dial, and the big clunky dials on the G10.
Sleek minimalism has its place. But cameras aren't always one of them.
04/03/09
Wow. I'm impressed with the insight, and lack of witty sarcasm.
To that end, have you seen the Panasonic/Leica 4/3s? It's basically an M series, just thicker, and without all the beautiful aluminum and leather. It even comes stock with a Leica lens. And the high end Zuiko lenses are great. Plus you can use an adapter for a bunch of fantastic lenses. I've got an old Zeiss 50/1.4 on mine at the moment. Sure, it's manual focus, but I got a Zeiss lens, on a modern digital camera, for under $100 including the adapter.
04/03/09
Some companies do it well - even if only if for a limited time.
One of my favorite products is the iPod 4G. It was the essence of the iPod in one of the purest designs of all time. White lucite with an aluminum back, a matte-grey Click Wheel and a monochrome screen with Chicago font. Unfortunately, two generations later was the iPod classic, an exercise in a bad direction that Apple has taken.