Olympus hints at three new DSLRs this spring

Update, Yoshi has translated part of an interview with the Nikkei financial paper and Olympus management.

According to 'Yoshi', DPNow's source in Japan, the local financial press is reporting that Olympus is to double its production of DSLRs from 250,000 units to 500,000.

The unconfirmed suggestion in the Nikkei financial newspaper is that to achieve its sales targets Olympus will replace its ageing flagship model, the E-1. A potential design was previewed in prototype form at Photokina last year. Variants of the ultra-compact E-400, only released in Europe to date and an updated E-330, the first true DSLR to incorporte a live view mode, are also hinted at.

Since the introduction of a compact point and shoot model with in-house developed moving sensor image stabilisaton last year, there has been general speculation that Olympus will eventually use the same technology in its DSLR models.

Even at 500,000 units, Olympus will remain a relatively small player in the DSLR market. Nikon, for example, has produced a million D70 units in a one year period in the past and Canon's entry model EOS-350 and EOS-400 sales dwarf the D70 further. But now partnered with Panasonic, which is likely to add more consumer-orientated models to its niche Lumix DMC-L1 debut Four Thirds standard model, the future of the Olympus-inspired Four Thirds platform is looking more positive than it has done for a long time.

Olympus announced its spring 2007 line up of compact models today, clearing the decks for its DSLR news, almost certainly meaning we'll have announcements at the big PMA trade show, which is in Las Vegas this year, in the second week of March. DPNow will be reporting direct from the show as usual.

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