Reinvented

That's what comes to mind and exactly what OM Systems has done with our much loved OM-1

They have taken what was labelled and stigmatised with much respect as an out door birding & sporting and adventure type of camera and turned that completely around, turned it into a classic looking street photography & travel sensation, a classic looking and very capable allrounder that is compact enough to have as a everyday carry.

Now to me the OM-1 has always been all of that but with the new OM-3 it actually looks the part, that was a very smart move from OM Systems.

With this new design and look they re invented the beaut OM-1, turned into something that will be appealing to a much wider bunch of Camera enthusiasts & younger people and I say well done OM Systems, the legacy of Olympus is well and truly alive!!

the bluesman said:

That's what comes to mind and exactly what OM Systems has done with our much loved OM-1

They have taken what was labelled and stigmatised with much respect as an out door birding & sporting and adventure type of camera and turned that completely around, turned it into a classic looking street photography & travel sensation, a classic looking and very capable allrounder that is compact enough to have as a everyday carry.

Now to me the OM-1 has always been all of that but with the new OM-3 it actually looks the part, that was a very smart move from OM Systems.

With this new design and look they re invented the beaut OM-1, turned into something that will be appealing to a much wider bunch of Camera enthusiasts & younger people and I say well done OM Systems, the legacy of Olympus is well and truly alive!!

Click to expand...

I think 90% of the complaining about this camera is tied to price. Not the camera formula itself.

The rest is split between:

- it has a viewfinder hump, so it's dead to me

- it is bigger than a GM, so it's dead to me

- there's no point to buying m43 at all as a system because A7cR/A7c ii and Fujifilm exist, so it's dead to me

- EVF spec is unacceptable, no tilt screen, and there are visible screws on the bottom plate, and no threaded shutter release, so it's dead to me

The OM3 is fairly close to the camera I'd lobby to build if I were on the product planning team at OMDS. It's not the camera for me but I think the formula is a very good one indeed and I applaud the launch.

mmartel said:

the bluesman said:

That's what comes to mind and exactly what OM Systems has done with our much loved OM-1

They have taken what was labelled and stigmatised with much respect as an out door birding & sporting and adventure type of camera and turned that completely around, turned it into a classic looking street photography & travel sensation, a classic looking and very capable allrounder that is compact enough to have as a everyday carry.

Now to me the OM-1 has always been all of that but with the new OM-3 it actually looks the part, that was a very smart move from OM Systems.

With this new design and look they re invented the beaut OM-1, turned into something that will be appealing to a much wider bunch of Camera enthusiasts & younger people and I say well done OM Systems, the legacy of Olympus is well and truly alive!!

Click to expand...

I think 90% of the complaining about this camera is tied to price. Not the camera formula itself.

Click to expand...

Like any fashion item, you don’t want to be cheap.

mmartel said:

The rest is split between:

- it has a viewfinder hump, so it's dead to me

- it is bigger than a GM, so it's dead to me

- there's no point to buying m43 at all as a system because A7cR/A7c ii and Fujifilm exist, so it's dead to me

Click to expand...

Just buy what you want but don’t complain the OM3 isn’t it, nor the OM5, or OM1 mk ii, or EP7, or G100D, or G97 or G9ii…

mmartel said:

- EVF spec is unacceptable, no tilt screen, and there are visible screws on the bottom plate, so it's dead to me

The OM3 is fairly close to the camera I'd lobby to build if I were on the product planning team at OMDS. It's not the camera for me but I think the formula is a very good one indeed and I applaud the launch.

Click to expand...

Is this a competition with NowHearThis?

I agree. This is not the camera for me but it seems like a logical move for OM. It might not work but anything you pick might not work. I suspect it aims to take the top end of a particular Japanese market segment, the one that used to have Olympus at no 3 in ILCs.

I love the idea that it’s not retro because it looks just like the 35mm film OM1, apart from the film advance lever. A modern digital camera is going to have different controls.


Ahem, stainless steel screwed together. Thin sections and light, only 510g.

I wish I’d kept one of the Zuiko OM lenses that came with my Dad’s OM1.

Just stick a Voigt on it and away you go.

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

I like to think, and hope, that many who may have discarded OM because of the wildlife centric sales pitch will discover what the system is/was capable of, and how pleasant it can be in other than wildlife applications. Some might find that it's not only about MPix and ultra-thin DoF, and other things do matter as well.

--
Roger

Regor250 said:

I like to think, and hope, that many who may have discarded OM because of the wildlife centric sales pitch will discover what the system is/was capable of, and how pleasant it can be in other than wildlife applications. Some might find that it's not only about MPix and ultra-thin DoF, and other things do matter as well.

Click to expand...

So what are the other aspects that this shines? It's no smaller or cheaper than other cameras with better image quality and autofocus. You compromise and pay a premium for the speed, IBIS, weather sealing, and inherent reach so it makes sense to showcase those strengths which are most-suited to wildlife and sports.

Thirsty_Fox said:

Regor250 said:

I like to think, and hope, that many who may have discarded OM because of the wildlife centric sales pitch will discover what the system is/was capable of, and how pleasant it can be in other than wildlife applications. Some might find that it's not only about MPix and ultra-thin DoF, and other things do matter as well.

Click to expand...

So what are the other aspects that this shines? It's no smaller or cheaper than other cameras with better image quality and autofocus. You compromise and pay a premium for the speed, IBIS, weather sealing, and inherent reach so it makes sense to showcase those strengths which are most-suited to wildlife and sports.

Click to expand...

You're focussing on photographic specs, while this is about useability.

Photongraphy said:

Thirsty_Fox said:

Regor250 said:

I like to think, and hope, that many who may have discarded OM because of the wildlife centric sales pitch will discover what the system is/was capable of, and how pleasant it can be in other than wildlife applications. Some might find that it's not only about MPix and ultra-thin DoF, and other things do matter as well.

Click to expand...

So what are the other aspects that this shines? It's no smaller or cheaper than other cameras with better image quality and autofocus. You compromise and pay a premium for the speed, IBIS, weather sealing, and inherent reach so it makes sense to showcase those strengths which are most-suited to wildlife and sports.

Click to expand...

You're focussing on photographic specs, while this is about useability.

Click to expand...

And it's just about being Cool, bit like the Fonz

the bluesman said:

Photongraphy said:

Thirsty_Fox said:

Regor250 said:

I like to think, and hope, that many who may have discarded OM because of the wildlife centric sales pitch will discover what the system is/was capable of, and how pleasant it can be in other than wildlife applications. Some might find that it's not only about MPix and ultra-thin DoF, and other things do matter as well.

Click to expand...

So what are the other aspects that this shines? It's no smaller or cheaper than other cameras with better image quality and autofocus. You compromise and pay a premium for the speed, IBIS, weather sealing, and inherent reach so it makes sense to showcase those strengths which are most-suited to wildlife and sports.

Click to expand...

You're focussing on photographic specs, while this is about useability.

Click to expand...

And it's just about being Cool, bit like the Fonz

Click to expand...

There we all are, in those Kodak Instamtic photos.

I’m looking a bit pale on top of Pike’s Peak in August 1965. And my parents look like Brangelina, or **** and Liz.

What the public is about to discover is that the first Olympus PL-1 was the perfect travel camera and the OM3 fifteen years later is simply magical.

In all the banter and discussion about this new camera, show me even one comment about the flash.

The OM3 is going to make born again travel photographers.

And as many of these gadgets as they’ll sell, is a fraction of the sales of the all new, revolutionary, OM System Pen Lite One to follow.

Only $500, with a built in pop up flash, no EVF, no stacked sensor, but otherwise an OM5.

--
Humansville is a town in the Missouri Ozarks

I am curious to feel what it is like to hold. One of the You Tube reviews says the extra length, compared to normal designs, of the right hand half of the body, allows for a good grip of the camera... to allay fears because of no modern extended grip design. It certainly does allow the camera to be faithful to its inspiration from 50 years ago.

glassoholic said:

I am curious to feel what it is like to hold. One of the You Tube reviews says the extra length, compared to normal designs, of the right hand half of the body, allows for a good grip of the camera... to allay fears because of no modern extended grip design. It certainly does allow the camera to be faithful to its inspiration from 50 years ago.

Click to expand...

I’m tempted to go to my local tryout session, if only for the £50 OM discount voucher. I used the OM1 mk ii one to immediately buy an OM5 battery.

I’d like to know too, for when I’m looking to upgrade my OM5. I’d take my 12-45/4 to check for handling. Last time the rep had a large selection of lenses to try too, but better safe than sorry.

A

Thirsty_Fox said:

Regor250 said:

I like to think, and hope, that many who may have discarded OM because of the wildlife centric sales pitch will discover what the system is/was capable of, and how pleasant it can be in other than wildlife applications. Some might find that it's not only about MPix and ultra-thin DoF, and other things do matter as well.

Click to expand...

So whcheat are the other aspects that this shines? It's no smaller or cheaper than other cameras with better image quality and autofocus.

Click to expand...

You mean like your old Sony A7II ? Lets see, awesome IBIS, Star AF, near infinite color customization, in-camera perspective correction, Live ND, Live Composite, Variable Live ND, RAW Pro-Capture, near zero rolling eShutter, extensive user customization, amazing dust control (never needed to clean my sensor in 3yrs), amazing lenses with no FF equivalent; shall I keep going?

Thirsty_Fox said:

You compromise and pay a premium for the speed, IBIS, weather sealing, and inherent reach so it makes sense to showcase those strengths which are most-suited to wildlife and sports.

Click to expand...

Didn't say there was anything fundamentally wrong with focusing on the wildlife niche market, it is a good strategy... in the short term. I am just saying that the system is quite nice to use for other purposes and some may not realize that because of the narrow sales pitch OMDS has been pushing from its very beginning. They even went as far to let go all their non-wildlife ambassadors, so to see a return to other areas of photography is encouraging.

--
Roger

Regor250 said:

Thirsty_Fox said:

Regor250 said:

I like to think, and hope, that many who may have discarded OM because of the wildlife centric sales pitch will discover what the system is/was capable of, and how pleasant it can be in other than wildlife applications. Some might find that it's not only about MPix and ultra-thin DoF, and other things do matter as well.

Click to expand...

So whcheat are the other aspects that this shines? It's no smaller or cheaper than other cameras with better image quality and autofocus.

Click to expand...

You mean like your old Sony A7II ? Lets see, awesome IBIS, Star AF, near infinite color customization, in-camera perspective correction, Live ND, Live Composite, Variable Live ND, RAW Pro-Capture, near zero rolling eShutter, extensive user customization, amazing dust control (never needed to clean my sensor in 3yrs), amazing lenses with no FF equivalent; shall I keep going?

Click to expand...

Why have you just made up that I have a Sony A7ii? I don't and nobody's talking about that camera.

- IBIS slightly better, perhaps, when you can use longer shutters, but you could just bump the ISO a bit on larger sensor cameras if you really need to compensate

- Autofocus is not a high point of this camera, which is why none of the "reviews" by early-access influencers mention it much, if at all. DPR did and had mixed things to say about it

- Bunch of "computational photography" gimmicks with extremely limited use-cases. ie. "Live ND" doesn't actually reduce exposure, it just takes multiple frames and blends it for an artifical shutter drag. You still can't use it to reduce exposure for shooting wide-open or at all in video. Still need that $20 ND. Any of the "CP" stuff is much better done in post.

- Lots of cameras have that basic JPEG colour stuff, film sims, etc, some even let you use LUTs which are far more powerful and can even include film grain.

- m43 hardly have rolling shutter and with most other cameras these days it's not even an issue.

- All cameras have similar if not more control customization. Reviewers acting like they just invented the S&Q dial with this release...

- There are far more lenses with no m43 equivalent than the other way around. m43 lenses are on average similar size and weight to APSC anyways. Some (like Sigma) are the same lenses exactly.

Like I say, it has strengths in wildlife/sports but even then, Petapixel filled the 90-frame buffer shooting at 60fps in 1.5 seconds (120 fps would be 0.75s) then a 30-90 second buffer clear. All that speed of the faster readout but without the buffer to handle it, nor 4k120 which the sensor could absolutely do -- it can do 120 fps raw but not 120fps video? Come on now.

If they used a non-stack sensor with a slower readout but higher IQ and could sell it for 30% less -- would many users find that a more desirable proposition? I think it'd sell better and the company would gain some market share.