OM-D as PR palette cleanser.

So Olympus ended 2011 in free-fall with a massive Japanese business scandal. Google "Japanese Business Scandal" and all the top hits have "Olympus" in their title. So Japan's business community has pulled together to restore Olympus' honor, so to speak. Funds are flowing their way from several sources and they're being allowed to continue trading.

Probably the top item on the agenda was finding a new product launch that capitalized on some iconic thing that is intrinsically Olympus. Nothing is more Olympus to a lot of us than the OM. Many of us have hoped for an "OM Digital" since the introduction of the E system.

The problem is that while a 4/3 Pen made sense, a 4/3 OM doesn't really make much sense. They can make it look like an OM, but a "Digital OM" pretty much needs to have a 24mm x 36mm sensor and Olympus hasn't had time to develop something like that, in all likelihood. This looks like another m4/3 camera only this time with a built-in viewfinder and a retro case that looks like an OM. Which is peachy and all, but probably not all that noteworthy.

Maybe it will generate enough noise to make people forget that Olympus has been engaged in shady business practices since the 90's. Probably not. At least I have a better idea what was driving the bad decisions at Olympus around the time the OM system vanished without fanfare or explanation.

-Rob (30 year OM devotee)