New OLYMPUS branded camera

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

GrahamB52 · Jul 3, 2024

I recently bought the EP-7 direct from OM Systems (their first camera release) and it’s still called an Olympus Pen on the front and I’m sure when they bought the ‘brand’, they also got the rights to use the name Olympus on cameras, but why some are branded Olympus and some are not is a bit of a mystery.

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

GrahamB52 said:
I recently bought the EP-7 direct from OM Systems (their first camera release) and it’s still called an Olympus Pen on the front and I’m sure when they bought the ‘brand’, they also got the rights to use the name Olympus on cameras, but why some are branded Olympus and some are not is a bit of a mystery.

The E-P7 is from 2021. Since then in 2022 it was announced that OMDS would be removing the Olympus name from its entire product portfolio.

https://m.dpreview.com/news/1290364...the,original specifications and build quality.

This is unlikely to affect previous stock produced with the Olympus branding like the E-P7.

Box Brownie · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

I surmise they are old stock/inventory and they have been re-engineered to make the sensor more sensitive to Astronomy usage.

IIRC whilst still under Olympus or was it shortly after the changeover to OMDS? There were two such modified models aimed at the highly niche museum & specialist "archive records" usage market. So, such re-engineering is nothing new!

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

Box Brownie said:
Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

I surmise they are old stock/inventory and they have been re-engineered to make the sensor more sensitive to Astronomy usage.

IIRC whilst still under Olympus or was it shortly after the changeover to OMDS? There were two such modified models aimed at the highly niche museum & specialist "archive records" usage market. So, such re-engineering is nothing new!

Making a variant of a camera is not unusual but after announcing in 2022 that the Olympus branding would be removed from their entire product portfolio it seems like an odd move as far as brand identity is concerned. They've already released two cameras and several lenses with the OM System branding. If this is old stock being "re-engineered" then why not at the same time 're-engineer' a new top cover with the OM System branding on it? I would have thought maintaining brand name consistency would be an important aspect of their brand identity.

ahaslett · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
Cafe Racer wrote:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Maybe it's a mistake, maybe they are having a parts stock and contract final clearout.

A

--
Infinite are the arguments of mages. Truth is a jewel with many facets. Ursula K LeGuin
Please feel free to edit any images that I post

gary0319 · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

If this is a variation that has been reconfigured specifically to appeal to the Astro Photography market, I would be curious about the details.

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

gary0319 said:
Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

If this is a variation that has been reconfigured specifically to appeal to the Astro Photography market, I would be curious about the details.

Here's a couple of links. Note that the camera product images show Olympus not OM System.

https://jp.omsystem.com/product/astronomical/em1mk3_astro/index.html

https://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1604729.html

Bobapingu · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
Box Brownie said:

Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

I surmise they are old stock/inventory and they have been re-engineered to make the sensor more sensitive to Astronomy usage.

IIRC whilst still under Olympus or was it shortly after the changeover to OMDS? There were two such modified models aimed at the highly niche museum & specialist "archive records" usage market. So, such re-engineering is nothing new!

Click to expand...

Making a variant of a camera is not unusual but after announcing in 2022 that the Olympus branding would be removed from their entire product portfolio it seems like an odd move as far as brand identity is concerned. They've already released two cameras and several lenses with the OM System branding. If this is old stock being "re-engineered" then why not at the same time 're-engineer' a new top cover with the OM System branding on it? I would have thought the OM System brand name would be an important aspect of their camera business.

It's odd but understandable. Clearly there was a need which led to a business decision that the most cost/effective way of producing such a specialised camera was to re-engineer old E-M1 III stock or perhaps crank up the old production line. OM-5s were probably insufficient and OM-1s too complex. The specialists that buy this sort of unique short production run gear, care little for brand names.

the bluesman · Jul 3, 2024

It's a Ghost Camera coming back to haunt the non believers

gary0319 · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
gary0319 said:

Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

If this is a variation that has been reconfigured specifically to appeal to the Astro Photography market, I would be curious about the details.

Click to expand...

Here's a couple of links. Note that the camera product images show Olympus not OM System.

https://jp.omsystem.com/product/astronomical/em1mk3_astro/index.html

https://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1604729.html

Thanks for the links. This seems to be evidence of JIP leveraging the characteristics of the E-M1 III to emphasize another “nature” niche. My son uses his OM1 for Astro and will be really interested in the in-body filters.

tomrandall86 · Jul 3, 2024

I read this in news as well but also read it's only going to be available in Japan and a limited amount.

Maybe it's just finding a use for some older stock they still have?

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

Bobapingu said:
Cafe Racer said:

Box Brownie said:

Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

I surmise they are old stock/inventory and they have been re-engineered to make the sensor more sensitive to Astronomy usage.

IIRC whilst still under Olympus or was it shortly after the changeover to OMDS? There were two such modified models aimed at the highly niche museum & specialist "archive records" usage market. So, such re-engineering is nothing new!

Click to expand...

Making a variant of a camera is not unusual but after announcing in 2022 that the Olympus branding would be removed from their entire product portfolio it seems like an odd move as far as brand identity is concerned. They've already released two cameras and several lenses with the OM System branding. If this is old stock being "re-engineered" then why not at the same time 're-engineer' a new top cover with the OM System branding on it? I would have thought the OM System brand name would be an important aspect of their camera business.

Click to expand...

It's odd but understandable. Clearly there was a need which led to a business decision that the most cost/effective way of producing such a specialised camera was to re-engineer old E-M1 III stock

If OMDS decided they have to make this specialist camera so cost effective that they can't even make a top plate with their current brand name, then I have to wonder if they're experiencing serious financial problems. OMDS announced in 2022 that they would no longer use the Olympus name on their products and they've actually re-branded some of their lenses. Why wouldn't they also re-brand this camera?

Bobapingu said:
or perhaps crank up the old production line. OM-5s were probably insufficient and OM-1s too complex. The specialists that buy this sort of unique short production run gear, care little for brand names.

Humansvillian · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
Box Brownie said:

Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

I surmise they are old stock/inventory and they have been re-engineered to make the sensor more sensitive to Astronomy usage.

IIRC whilst still under Olympus or was it shortly after the changeover to OMDS? There were two such modified models aimed at the highly niche museum & specialist "archive records" usage market. So, such re-engineering is nothing new!

Click to expand...

Making a variant of a camera is not unusual but after announcing in 2022 that the Olympus branding would be removed from their entire product portfolio it seems like an odd move as far as brand identity is concerned. They've already released two cameras and several lenses with the OM System branding. If this is old stock being "re-engineered" then why not at the same time 're-engineer' a new top cover with the OM System branding on it? I would have thought maintaining brand name consistency would be an important aspect of their brand identity.

They have a surplus stock of so many Olympus E-M1 Mark III cameras and no good way to cover up the Olympus labels.

When those are sold there are no more.

--
Humansville is a town in the Missouri Ozarks

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

Humansvillian said:
Cafe Racer said:

Box Brownie said:

Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

I surmise they are old stock/inventory and they have been re-engineered to make the sensor more sensitive to Astronomy usage.

IIRC whilst still under Olympus or was it shortly after the changeover to OMDS? There were two such modified models aimed at the highly niche museum & specialist "archive records" usage market. So, such re-engineering is nothing new!

Click to expand...

Making a variant of a camera is not unusual but after announcing in 2022 that the Olympus branding would be removed from their entire product portfolio it seems like an odd move as far as brand identity is concerned. They've already released two cameras and several lenses with the OM System branding. If this is old stock being "re-engineered" then why not at the same time 're-engineer' a new top cover with the OM System branding on it? I would have thought maintaining brand name consistency would be an important aspect of their brand identity.

Click to expand...

They have a surplus stock

The E-M1iii appears to have been unavailable for some time now, so where has this surplus stock been hiding?! Wouldn't it make sense to keep this camera available until they've depleted all stock?

Humansvillian said:
of so many Olympus E-M1 Mark III cameras and no good way to cover up the Olympus labels.

When those are sold there are no more.

--
Humansville is a town in the Missouri Ozarks

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

tomrandall86 said:
I read this in news as well but also read it's only going to be available in Japan and a limited amount.

Maybe it's just finding a use for some older stock they still have?

Then I have to wonder why the E-M1iii hasn't been available for a long time if they have stock sitting around in their warehouse. Did they forget they had stock of this camera?!! That doesn't sound like good business.

tomrandall86 said:
--
Tom

drj3 · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

There is probably no value to having a stacked sensor in an astro camera, since readout speed is less important and it is a more expensive sensor so it would have been more expensive to make. They would not want to produce an OM1 with a non-stacked sensor or slower sensor readout speed so the astro camera would have been more expensive.

Cafe Racer · Jul 3, 2024

drj3 said:
Cafe Racer said:

OMDS will launch a 'new' camera branded Olympus rather than OM System. It's an E-M1 iii Astro. This seems odd as I thought the brand name was changed to OM System so no more Olympus branded products. Do they have a new contract to use the Olympus name? Why an Olympus E-M1 iii Astro, wouldn't an OM System OM1 Astro make more sense as far as brand identity is concerned? It seems odd unless there's been some internal mistake with the product photo.

Click to expand...

There is probably no value to having a stacked sensor in an astro camera, since readout speed is less important and it is a more expensive sensor so it would have been more expensive to make. They would not want to produce an OM1 with a non-stacked sensor or slower sensor readout speed so the astro camera would have been more expensive.

But why use a brand name they said they were removing from their products in 2022? They've already re-branded lenses that previously carried the Olympus branding.

drj3 said:
--
drj3

ahaslett · Jul 3, 2024

Cafe Racer said:
tomrandall86 said:

I read this in news as well but also read it's only going to be available in Japan and a limited amount.

Maybe it's just finding a use for some older stock they still have?

Click to expand...

Then I have to wonder why the E-M1iii hasn't been available for a long time if they have stock sitting around in their warehouse. Did they forget they had stock of this camera?!! That doesn't sound like good business.

I'd say it's a tiny stock of parts, not finished cameras. How large do you think the sales of a specialist camera sold only in Japan are going to be?

If it sells well, maybe there will be more. Otherwise they will mysteriously appear as grey market goods in Europe.

It's just a minor throw of the dice at low cost.

Interesting to see which lens they think is their Astro lens.

A

tomrandall86 · Jul 3, 2024

ahaslett said:
Cafe Racer said:

tomrandall86 said:

I read this in news as well but also read it's only going to be available in Japan and a limited amount.

Maybe it's just finding a use for some older stock they still have?

Click to expand...

Then I have to wonder why the E-M1iii hasn't been available for a long time if they have stock sitting around in their warehouse. Did they forget they had stock of this camera?!! That doesn't sound like good business.

Click to expand...

I'd say it's a tiny stock of parts, not finished cameras. How large do you think the sales of a specialist camera sold only in Japan are going to be?

If it sells well, maybe there will be more. Otherwise they will mysteriously appear as grey market goods in Europe.

It's just a minor throw of the dice at low cost.

Interesting to see which lens they think is their Astro lens.

A

Yeah I'd be interested to see what lens they recommend too. I've had fun and usable photos with the Samyang 12mm f2, which should also mean the Olympus 12mm f2 should be pretty good. The 17mm f1.2 is freakin awesome for it with the caveat as it's verging on a bit narrow. Panasonic have a good couple of wider ones also!

New OLYMPUS branded camera

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