Where are the Olympus cameras?....

Pixnat2 wrote:

Great cameras, slow updates.

LOL, I'm a user of both, so I must be a masochist!

IMO, for one of the E-M10 Mark III, it would have been good if Olympus had an option (somewhere appropriately deep in the menus, so it wouldn't get activated by accident) to put the camera into advanced mode, so experienced users could enjoy the high level of customisability that the E-M10 Mark II has.

Also, if they do make a replacement for the Pen-F, I hope the designers put larger buttons / directional pad on the back, at least the size of the E-M10 Mark II. Personally, I found the circular direction pad on the Pen-F too small. It seemed to me that there was room to make it bigger.

Dostoy wrote:

IMO, for one of the E-M10 Mark III, it would have been good if Olympus had an option (somewhere appropriately deep in the menus, so it wouldn't get activated by accident) to put the camera into advanced mode, so experienced users could enjoy the high level of customisability that the E-M10 Mark II has.

I recently purchased an E-M10 II (still sold by Olympus) as a side kick camera to my E-M1 II. Great little cam with most all of the functionality I need, not dumbed down in any way. The good news is that you can get it for about $500 with that dandy little 14-42EZ lens.

So, if you're not one that thinks your photographic skill requires more than 16mpx to show off your stuff, buy one of these little guys and have a really fun time. Cheaper than a new lens.

gary0319 wrote:

Dostoy wrote:

IMO, for one of the E-M10 Mark III, it would have been good if Olympus had an option (somewhere appropriately deep in the menus, so it wouldn't get activated by accident) to put the camera into advanced mode, so experienced users could enjoy the high level of customisability that the E-M10 Mark II has.

I recently purchased an E-M10 II (still sold by Olympus) as a side kick camera to my E-M1 II. Great little cam with most all of the functionality I need, not dumbed down in any way. The good news is that you can get it for about $500 with that dandy little 14-42EZ lens.

So, if you're not one that thinks your photographic skill requires more than 16mpx to show off your stuff, buy one of these little guys and have a really fun time. Cheaper than a new lens.

Agreed! I had one a while back and sold it. Thankfully, eBay Australia has some great bargains at the moment, so I ordered a replacement E-M10 Mark II earlier today. I'll be pairing it with the Panasonic 14-42/3.5-5.6 II for a compact combination. (Not quite as compact as the 14-42 EZ, but unfortunately I couldn't get used to the electronic zoom action on that lens.)

TomFid wrote:

cpt kent wrote:

2018 - One new camera this year - E-PL9

2017 - One last year - E-M10iii

2016 - Three (that’s better) - E-M1ii, Pen F, E-PL8

2015 - Three - most notably, that’s the last E-M5 model...

(source: DPR product timeline)

I’m not saying they need to introduce something every 6 months, but the last couple of years have been a bit baron.

I only looked because I’m wondering, WHERE IS THE E-m5iii ???

Supposedly they are deliberately slowing the release cycle:

https://www.43rumors.com/ft4-olympus-will-slow-down-the-release-cycle-of-their-cameras/

Actual releases seem consistent with this.

Seems like a dangerous strategy with the current flood of new competition.

They haven't consulted with me either, but as long as the release cycle matches the growth of my camera piggy bank, I'm OK. And.....if the new cameras are coming in at $2K+, a little longer cycle will provide more time for "piggy" to mature.

Dostoy wrote:

Also, if they do make a replacement for the Pen-F, I hope the designers put larger buttons / directional pad on the back, at least the size of the E-M10 Mark II. Personally, I found the circular direction pad on the Pen-F too small. It seemed to me that there was room to make it bigger.

So very true.

I would also wish they will make it weather-sealed and have it take the large E-M1 Mkii battery.

Dave

Remember the camera market is in decline. I think it has bottomed out but we will still see changes over the next years. Aside from the companies who have large market share, don't expect to see a lot of new models. Even with Canon and Nikon's new mirrorless, I'd expect to see only minor refreshes to them as well.

This reminds me of the film SLR days when a model would have a run for a few years before being replaced.

cpt kent wrote:

2016 - Three (that’s better) - E-M1ii, Pen F, E-PL8

They are too good;-) Even after 2 years, E-M1 II is still one of the most feature-rich camera, regardless of system. It's hard to beat 80 mpix hi-res, 60 frames/sec ...

And Pen F is still the prettiest small camera, with up to date features (except for 4k video).

It obviously takes time to make a meaningfull upgrade if the camera is that good to begin with. It's like it was in the past - Olympus OM-2 was upgraded to OM-4 after 8 years.

Jonas Palm wrote:

gary0319 wrote:

Kurgo wrote:

RedDog Steve wrote:

Sony has been 'holding back' advanced sensor technology in 4/3 size.

If we had the same rate of sensor advancement as (for example) cell phones we'd have to have new cameras to showcase stacked-BSI, etc.

No need for a steady stream of new bodies with only minor incremental changes.

More like the sales of m43 have been holding back new developments? Sony makes sensors to earn money, if there was a high enough demand I doubt they'd have to "hold back" on r&d on new m43 sensors. Obviously they'll spend r&d on FF ones because Sony also makes FF cameras (and phone sensors because those sell a billion times more than any camera) but the two divisions aren't the same, each has to earn as much money as possible on their own, so if there was a huge demand for m43 sensors Sony'd be thrilled to get the money for it, I should think.

It was already discussed here too, anyway https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4224636

As was noted in your linked-to thread, Sony Semiconductor (not the camera division) will make most any sensor that Olympus cares to contract for. It’s up to Olympus to determine if there will be enough market demand for their new product, not the other way around. Sony Semiconductor needs to make a profit so will contract for the new Olympus spec’d sensor based on the number of sensors that Olympus commits to purchase. Since Olympus sells fewer cameras than Nikon, for instance, Olympus would only be able to commit to a lessor number of sensors and may have to pay a premium. That premium cost will be reflected in the roll-out price of the new camera. If one wants the “latest and greatest” sensor technology in an Olympus camera, it will most likely cost you a premium to get it.

On the other hand, manufacturing cost will be lower with more than four times the sensors per wafer. So once Olympus orders a new design, it is in their own interest to deploy it throughout their product stack (which of course will also make their cameras more competitive.)

While this is true, it doesn't seem to be the way Olympus views it. While the 16mpx variants were pretty widely used in the Pens, E-M5 II, and the E-M10 series, the same is not true with the 20mpx family. The sensor in my Pen F renders different results from the one in my E-M1 II. Maybe not a lot, but noticeable if you have both. I'm assuming there is something different about the sensors, other than just a firmware version (they do have different Sony model numbers)

I'm hoping that the upcoming Super-OMD that is rumored to be in our hands in March will usher in a new technology that will be used in all models, including a new enthusiast 10 series and a follow on Pen F.