Update to E-620 coming soon?

[mikefarris]

Probably no one outside of Olympus knows, but does anyone have an idea on when in their product cycles Olympus would be likely to do a refresh on the E-620.
I ask because I am getting ready to step up to a DSLR from point and shoot. Currently I have the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 which I love and Canon A-620 which I like for the swing out LCD.
After much research and putting hands on at the local stores I have decided the Olympus E-620 is the hands down best choice for me. It has the swing out LCD (which I now consider indispensible), but lacks a video mode (HD or otherwise). I have seen comments regarding the relative value of video mode in a still camera, but have shot a lot of HD video with my FZ28 and I would hate to give that up.
Bottomline though, is I will give up video if I have to to keep the swingout LCD and the E-620's other pluses, but I would hate to do it and find out a couple of months later I should have waited for the E-620a1.

If the likelihood is waiting 3-6 months will give me a reasonable shot to have the E-620 and HD Video, I'll wait. Much more than that and I'll go with with the E-620 as is and plan on upgrading the body in 2-3 years.

Any ideas, advice or opinions?

[Greg McCary]

Wow. Just as soon as I give up waiting something usually comes out. IMO though I think it highly likely something soon should be coming out. I think Oly and Panasonic both have spent a ton of time on the m4/3rd development and the public cries for a new DSLR. But what and when is anybodies guess. Personally I would like to see something by spring.

[mikefarris]

Thanks. I can and probably will wait untill spring--which will make my wife happier. She's fairly tolerant of my hobbies but doesn't really understand why I would want a new camera when my last one is only 14 months old.

[Photo-John]

The E-620 was announced last spring at the PMA tradeshow. The E-520 was announced about one year before that. I wouldn't be surprised if Olympus announces a new digital SLR body at PMA, this year. I have been wondering about video, too. I love the E-620 for outdoor shooting because it's so small and light. Having video too would be sweet. An alternative is the Panasonic GH1 Micro Four Thirds camera. It's a bit smaller than the E-620 and has full 1080p HD video. It's a really nice camera, but the auto focus and reaction time aren't as good as the E-620. For most of my shooting, where speed is critical, I would prefer the E-620.

[mikefarris]

I'm tempted by the GH-1, unfortunately it's not in my budgetary range--maybe someday.

[Greg McCary]

I'm tempted by the GH-1, unfortunately it's not in my budgetary range--maybe someday.

Me too. They are going to have to improve the focusing and the shutter lag first. When I do street photography I can't have any undue delays in the shot. So for now I will stick with my Leica.

[SmartWombat]

In bad lighting conditions I've had the Olympus E-P1 miss the street shot by what seemed like seconds, even with all the firmware updates.
But the GH-1 with all its body and lens firmware updates was working better.