Apologies, had to blow out a chunk of the earlier posts due to too character limit.
users of E-30/E-5 will continue to be served by new DSLRs, such as the E-5, until m4/3 performance improves to a sufficient level."
But here is a similar comment, from
http://blog.digitalrev.com/2010/10/12/olympus-future-high-end-pens-scrap-dslrs/
Q: What future for smaller [than the E-5] SLR cameras? Are you going to give them successors?
R: We do not have concrete plans to replace the E-620 and other recent SLRs. The entry level SLR class can be completely replaced by the Pen system in terms of performance.
Here and in every other interview the talk is only of the entry level 4/3 DSLRs (currently just the E-620) being replaced by Pen, and the E-30 is not entry-level. It is possible that "other recent DSLRs" includes the E-30, and that E-30 users are expected to move up in size and cost to the E-5, but another possibility is that the newer E-30 with basically the same 12MP sensor as the E-5 is not in as much need of an update as the E-3 was, so any upgrade will come later ... if market trends justify it. Both Panasonic and Olympus indicate (in different ways!) that the 12MP sensor already in the E-30 was the best available for the E-5, so there is not a lot of room for improvement in an E-30 successor, except by getting too close to the E-5! (Video could be added, and microlenses and processing tweaked, but that does not seem enough to justify a new model in a low volume product line.)
"Olympus confirmed that they will continue to develop Four Thirds and that Micro Four Thirds will replace the low-mid DSLRs." and "“The E-5 is the only Olympus DSLR in production right now“ - 2 different posts on 43Rumors, for what it's worth.
Also this response from a reader to the second above:
“The E-system is just one “Pro” camera for Olympus from now on as it seems.”
…which is exactly what they did with the manual focus OM system in the 80s, when their flagship OM4Ti remained their only camera.
And a little bit of history:
“The message is Olympus hasn’t forgotten about Four Thirds but you’ll have to trust us on that” – Toshiyuki Terada, manager of Olympus SLR planning team, March 17 2010 (
http://fourthirds-user.com/2010/03/lunch_with_olympus_manager_of_slr_product_planning.php )
We should trust Olympus, indeed…"
It as also possible that there will never be a Panasonic sensor suitable for an E-30 upgrade or for any FourThirds DSLR, if all further models are in the wider multi-aspect ratio format that does not fit well with the 4:3 shape of FourThirds SLR viewfinders and such. Then, the 12MP trio of E-620, E-30 and E-5 could indeed be the "last wave" for FourThirds before the transition to Micro FourThirds.
And one cynical possibility is that as stocks of the E-3 and the 10MP sensor ran out, Olympus needed a new top-of-the line DSLR model, and simply took the least expensive route to designing it.
Not cynical, likely true.
Olympus is I'm sure facing the same economic headwinds as the rest of the world economy, i.e., they're in a batten down the hatches and survive mode. I'm in a different field (planning/engineering) and the now 800 person mid-size firm I'm with has let go 25% of its staff in the past 2 years (which happens to match unemployment in the construction related sector in the US economy) while at the same time buying up 4 other smaller firms that were once the honorable competition.
It's not pretty out there for most companies, and I'm sure the Olympus Imaging Group has its work cut out given the "must make 20% improvement in profits by 2015 (I believe that was the deadline given) or be eliminated" dictum from above.
While we're guilty of sweating whether there will be 4/3's successors (yes, mea culpa on that one!), the Imaging Group is likely just trying to find a way to keep their jobs and being given, I would guess, pretty lean resources to do so.
As for the competition, as I recall Canon and Nikon reported decent profits last quarter, Panasonic is on the march with the GH2 and G2, Sony the same with the NEX and A33/55/77 lines and even Pentax coming out with some good products (Kr and K5) now that they've been bankrolled by a larger company interested in their success (Hoya).
Olympus appears to be struggling and I hope they simply find their way through this rocky time. For none of the above companies has a cam that's a good match for my market niche: small, light, high quality DSLR. Kx? Really promising especially for low light, but still too heavy and their zooms aren't comparable. A55? Same issue with their lenses. Nikon/Canon? No good matches, IMHOP (D3100m too stripped down, D5000 too heavy, 550D, hate the grip and pricey L-glass).
Panasonic comes closest with the G2/GH2, both have grips, are full featured (flash, built-in EVF, excellent 3" articulated LCD, AF assist light, etc.) and, while lighter than my E-620, have the proper form to handle even HG lenses. But...and it's a big but....no IBIS or Olympus color (i.e., Truepic V/V+).
So I'll continue shooting with my E-620, which I still love for its features and IQ (just stay away from low light), and hope Olympus eventually (6 months to a year) comes out with their interpretation of the G2/GH2 series.
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Smaller lenses, better in low light, more telephoto reach:
you can have any two at one time.
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Sailin' Steve
