Ok, can someone please explain Olympus' lineup to me?

Hi,

I have only started looking into micro 4/3 recently. I understand Olympus and Panasonic are the strongest players in this field. However, I find it hard to understand Olympus' naming convention -- such as E-P2, E-P3, E-PL6, E-PM2, OMD E-M1 .. what do these acronyms stand for?

Thanks,

... that the OM-D line of Oly cameras are SLR-shaped with either built-in or optional grips, so a bit bulkier than the Pen cameras.  Many share the same sensors and firmware but the different models (as you might expect) have different feature sets.

Very useful, thanks, Guy.

The PEN, PEN Lite and PEN Mini cameras are Olympus PEN rangefinder style cameras, the PEN Mini fits in as the miniature version.The OMD cameras are Olympus OM SLR styled cameras, the E-M10 fits in as the "mini" DSLR.

There wasn't initially intended to be a different feature set between the flagship PEN and flagship OMD, however over time the OMD has gained a more extensive feature set and the PEN has dropped to a second tier camera.

Pete_CSCS wrote:

... that the OM-D line of Oly cameras are SLR-shaped with either built-in or optional grips, so a bit bulkier than the Pen cameras. Many share the same sensors and firmware but the different models (as you might expect) have different feature sets.

I just got rid of my E30 43s DSLR to buy the OMD E-M10.  The OMD series cameras offer a VERY DSLR like experience. I found the transition to be very painless.  Furthermore, The OMD E-M10 offers the BEST manual focus experience I've had since moving to digital. I don't know if it is the best MF available, but I do know it is the best I've used.  If there is better, it must be very good indeed!

I have written about it in my personal blog linked below in my signature.  (It was in March or April of this year.)

Glen Barrington wrote:

Pete_CSCS wrote:

... that the OM-D line of Oly cameras are SLR-shaped with either built-in or optional grips, so a bit bulkier than the Pen cameras. Many share the same sensors and firmware but the different models (as you might expect) have different feature sets.

I just got rid of my E30 43s DSLR to buy the OMD E-M10. The OMD series cameras offer a VERY DSLR like experience. I found the transition to be very painless. Furthermore, The OMD E-M10 offers the BEST manual focus experience I've had since moving to digital. I don't know if it is the best MF available, but I do know it is the best I've used. If there is better, it must be very good indeed!

I have written about it in my personal blog linked below in my signature. (It was in March or April of this year.)

And best of luck with your new E-M10!  Yes manual focus is easier now than it was with the early E-system DSLRs like my E-500.  However, I still miss my split image focusing screen I had on my film SLRs (Konica for me).  That made MF quick and foolproof even at night.

H, sorry for bumping this thread, but I just found out that some of Olympus' "Pen" models have been discontinued. How does that change Olympus' roadmap?

I see that the E-PM2 kit with the 14-42 lens is selling for around $300 in some places, this is a pretty good price. Do you think I should be concerned to buy a discontinued model?

Howard wrote:

H, sorry for bumping this thread, but I just found out that some of Olympus' "Pen" models have been discontinued. How does that change Olympus' roadmap?

I see that the E-PM2 kit with the 14-42 lens is selling for around $300 in some places, this is a pretty good price. Do you think I should be concerned to buy a discontinued model?

In any case, when you jump onto the M43 ship, make sure you buy the later models for Olympus. It is because they use a newer sensor and AF technology than previous models. All OMDs are recommended. For the Pen series, please buy E-P5, EPL5/6, or the EPM2.

The first PEN SLR was the Olympus PEN-F and then PEN-FT.  This was a half-frame pentaprism camera with a vertical orientation.  Very small and lightweight (for it's time in the 1960's).

The first full frame Olympus SLR came out in 1971 and was called the M-1 which conflicted with Leica's brand, so they changed the name to OM-1.  There was an OM-2, 3, and 4 before they stopped making that camera line.  The OM-D E-M5 would be linked to this lineage D for digital and 5th in the numbering. and the new top of the line OM-D E-M1 relates bake to the first full frame SLR which was the M1.

Olympus brought out several budget SLR's the OMg and the OM10. So, the OM-D E-M10 is a retro node to that line of SLR's.

The original Olympus SLR's were very small and lightweight and renown for the optics, as are the current digital M43rd cameras.

As a marketing guru, well, not too sure about the marketing part and the guru is a title I only just thought of assigning to myself, actually the "marketing" is genuine and I have written a book so I might be a guru if I market it properly…

I suspect the OMD EM5 is for the high jump -- it was the first of the line but is now in the middle of the EM10 under it and the EM1 above it. Seems to me the EM5 tested the water but now is in a niche that it too small because of the two newer models above and below. So I wouldn't be surprised to see it quietly dropped. People keep asking here "what will the next EM5 be like?" -- the answer for me is "the EM1 is already here."

I would suspect the E-Px line has also reached the end of its life -- replaced by the OMD line, unless Olympus follows the lead of Panasonic with the GX7 and introduces an E-Px model with an EVF within the oblong shape.

I'm with Guy in respect of the E-PL5/6 -- certainly the best value/feature list of the whole Olympus line and if a new model comes out with the 3-way IBIS featured in the EM10 it will be a knockout model. And if they squeezed in a built-in EVF… No, that might be too much of an ask. But a built-in flash would be nice at this level.

The E-PM2 is under the E-PL5/6. That's in a tricky situation with the Panasonic GM1 as a challenger on one side and the new top end compacts pushing it hard in many respects on the other. It is a lot cheaper then either, but when these new models become mature and prices drop, the E-PM2 will be under a lot of pressure. And, of course, there is pressure from above on it from the E-PL5/6 which is not that much more expensive.

So there you go, a totally subject assessment which probably has no value to anyone but hey, I got it off my chest and this is the internet!

Cheers, geoff