Olympus E-3 User Manual page 13

Telecentric lenses are also responsible for the characteristic
deeply saturated, evenly illuminated blue skies and bright yet
faithful colours found in photographs taken on any Olympus E-
series cameras.
Another major benefit of the Four-Thirds system is that it was
made an "open system" whereby any interested manufacturer
may make use of the standard if it so wishes. This offers users of
Four-Thirds cameras such as the Olympus E-3 the benefit of not
being "tied in" to a single brand when deciding on an upgrade
path, new
manufacturer's lenses, flashguns and camera bodies are
interchangeable with one another.
Finally, a further benefit of the decision to utilise the 4/3 sensor
is that the aspect ratio (the ratio between width and height)
exactly mirrors that of a standard computer monitor and a
standard TV set. It also mirrors the aspect ratio of a number of
standard photographic paper sizes (6x8 inches, 8x10 inches,
12x16 inches etc). This means that what is captured on the
sensor can be fully produced (or viewed on screen) without the
need to crop the edges of the frame.
For professional photographers this – coupled to the E-3's 100%
viewfinder coverage – means that "what you see is what you'll
get" when viewing the subject and later printing the image. This
can be a great time saver as it can prevent you having to "think
the crop factor" when framing your photographs.
For a full history of the Four-Thirds system, a description of its
philosophy and a potted-history of the design and development
of the E-3 in particular visit the following web-sites:
www.four-thirds.org
www.olympus-esystem.com
www.olympus-europa.com
12
lenses or a back-up unit. All participating