With the flurry of a announcements from industry heavyweights in recent weeks, Olympus future looks bleaker than ever. Olympus became relevant in the start of this decade by offering something that no company could or was willing to do: Small, affordable, high quality cameras and lenses. EVF, IBIS, WR, good video for the time and attractive designs were the icing on the cake. Now every camera manufacturer has caught up with what Olympus were offering in 2011 and added more features with each iteration.
Once there was a mega pixel war, now there is a battle in every corner. 14-bit raw, 500+ AF points, high bitrate,high framerate,high resolution video, log formats, good tracking AF,... to name a few. With the inherent characteristics of the smaller sensor (DR, Noise, DoF) and the fact that the difference in weight, size and price (the three deciding factors for the vast majority of m4/3 users), is a fraction of what it was compared to the rivals back in 2011,one can argue that today, for a person who is not deep into any system, m4/3 is going to be at the bottom of the list.
There has been so much talk recently about Olympus or Panasonic going FF. Panasonic brand is as much about video as it is about photography and it could benefit from entering into FF market, especially if it could partner up with a company with a history in FF, like Leica or Sigma. But I don't think Olympus should go FF, where the market is so saturated that it is bound to fail. Instead it should do what it always does that makes it so especial: INNOVATE.
Easier to say than done. But here are some areas that I think there is chance to improve:
1- Computational photography: Do what smartphones do, with much higher speed and quality. Adding one or two extra sensors to measure depth, using AI to reduce noise, smart HDR processing, median noise reduction, intelligent AF, refocus, portrait lighting, ...
2- Global shutter
3- Hand-held Hi-res
4- 6-axis IBIS
5- Production of niche products: Pen-F is a success story and it should not be forgotten. (My personal wish: Olympus SIX digital. An 18x18mm monochrome, square sensor in MFT body with slot-in color filters)
And in glass department:
6- Continue PRO lens line-up with stand-out distinctive lenses: A Perspective control UWA with zero optical distortion (eg: 9mm f/2 PC Zero-D) , a short zoom with wide aperture (eg: 14-28mm f/1.8), a mid-telephoto macro with sync-is (eg: 100mm f/2.8 macro IS), etc.
7- Refresh current lens line-up with updated technologies and trends, i.e. weather resistance, Sync-IS, better coatings, Phase Fresnel glass, etc.
