On 1997-09-17, Olympus announced both the Olympus C-1000L and the C-1400L (together with the P-300 digital color printer). In the US it was marketed as the Olympus D-500L. The C-1000L was a true SLR despite not having interchangeable lenses. The camera sported 3x optical zoom, TTL optical viewfinder, spot metering and exposure compensation. At the time of introduction the C-1000L delivered the best image quality in XGA class, Olympus provided a new algorithm to optimise resolution and color reproduction.
The design was chosen from the 35mm SLR range and the L-grip should provide a proper grip. For some time these were the most affordable DSLR in the prosumer section. Since Olympus announced a digital printer at the same time, the C-1000L could direct print to it.
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