posted Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 1:55 PM EDT
Is Olympus preparing for a full-frame mirrorless camera? Patents filed this year in Japan may point to that possibility.
Earlier this year, Egami reported on a patent filed by Olympus for a 28mm f/2 full frame lens. At the same time, patents for 20mm f/1.4, 24mm f/1.4, and 35mm f/1.4 full-frame lenses were also reported.
Since these patents were published, CP+ 2016 has come and gone with no mention of an Olympus development announcement of full-frame lenses or a new camera system. It is important to note that companies regularly file patents, and that a patent being filed is in no way a guarantee that a particular product will ever see the light of day.
Screenshot of Olympus full-frame lens patents from Egami
SLR Lounge wonders if these rumors are indicative of a future full-frame Olympus mirrorless camera or not. It is possible that Olympus is designing lenses for a non-Olympus full-frame mirrorless camera (a Sony camera, perhaps?) rather than developing a full-frame system.
It is not unusual for a company to design lenses for a different manufacturer. Tamron has in the past produced lenses for Pentax which were then rebranded, and of course Leica for Panasonic at times. Sigma does some level of manufacturing for other companies, although the names of those companies remains undisclosed.
Of course this is all speculation at this point, but perhaps we will hear more about these Olympus full-frame lenses at Photokina in September. At the very least Olympus is likely exploring a larger sensor mirrorless camera, even if they are not actively developing a new camera system of their own.
Readers, would you be interested in a full-frame Olympus mirrorless camera system? Let us know in the comments below.
(Seen via 43rumors; Egami)
Source: Is Olympus preparing to release a full-frame camera? Full-frame lens patents filed in Japan
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