Olympus abdicating entry level ILS market?

sderdiarian wrote:

Sergey Borachev wrote:

The switching DSLR users are the ones that Olympus, and also Panasonic (and Canikon) are watching. IMO there is a huge potential further down, when DSLRs eventually gets too uninteresting, as MILCs get even better, and, when the new ILC market picks up again. That may mean a huge change, and even see M43 becoming significant in the new world order afterwards.

I am seeing more DSLR owners switching already. The simple fact that many of them are aging is another factor in this topic. The older photographers can afford a better camera (including lenses) but not the weight of DSLRs. So, I think Olympus, and Panasonic, are doing what is wise at this time as they concentrate on high-end products (to attract DSLR owners and change a common perception that DSLRs are better).

A 65 year old co-worker and long time photography enthusiast shared with me that he was thinking of getting a smaller/lighter camera to replace his 5D II and its lenses. His price point was under $1000 and he required a viewfinder, so I described the E-M10's capabilities and small lens system. He went to Newtonville Camera, tried it out and put an order in on the spot. What helped put it over the top? The $699 sale for the E-M10 2 lens kit that was going on at the time.

The kit 40-150mm is a known bargain given its optical quality, and the kit 14-42mm MkII is also quite good based on SLRgear's testing. The E-M10, which possesses so many of the qualities of the E-M1, combined with these 2 lenses, is a great entry portal camera to mFT for only $699. I could confidently send my experienced photographer co-worker in its direction knowing he'd likely be very pleased with the reults.

If Olympus could make that the standard non-sale 2 lens kit price, have a 1 lens E-M10 kit for $599 and an E-PL7 1 lens kit for $499 (no EVF) they'd have an attractive entry camera line-up that could compete better with the likes of a5000 and D3300 1 lens kits at $499, the smaller mFT body and lens size tipping the scales in their favor.

The only problem is, just guessing, Olympus is not making any money or more likely losing money selling these cheap E-M10 kits, while Canon or Nikon can still make a few dollars selling a lot of their cut-price D3300 kits.

For people who own 5D IIs etc, I would try to convince them to spend a little more and get a good lens. Otherwise, they might perpetuate the perception that their DSLRs are superior or that M43 is cheaper. There is a wrong perception about this. M43 is as expensive, or for the entry level DSLR people, more expensive but has other advantages.