Where the heck is Olympus? 3 cameras in 2+ years?

Sergey Borachev wrote:

eques wrote:

What I see is:

1. EM5.3 - long awaited, but they choose to make a EM1X. I don't see the logic in this move, but I hope they know what they are doing.
2. Revamp their not always convincing F1.8and F2 prime series: add WR and closer focus and improve IQ of the 17mm lens. - Would anyone except a few (like myself) get excited about that? And who would buy the fat, expensive F1,2 primes then?
3. Produce a F1.8 6-8mm recitilinear UWA with AF, WR, focus down to 0,1m - this is one niche that is not occupied already, since the 2/7.5 Loawa it MF only.
4. They seem to concentrate on wildlife photography with another huge and very long tele zoom lens. I wonder how often they sell this sort of thing.

Some people here rely on the assumption, that Olympus knows what they are doing. But I see a dangerous parallel to the 43 DSLR debacle.

I still remember that time when I was hanging in there with a OM4 and I waited and waited for the next camera. Now I wait for the E-M5 III and I wait and wait. Olympus knows what they are doing (and what they were doing then) but they are not telling us.

I replaced my om4 with a 4T. It paid for itself in one year of battery savings

Again they try to make small sensor cameras that are a serious competition for FF. No doubt technically great bodies and (still) outstanding lenses like the F2/150 and 2.8/300. But it all ended in a financial disaster, because only the die hard Olympus fans would buy this miraculous technology.

I had the suspicion Olympus is going to try this again, when the large 2.8/40-150 came out (I love this lens but for every day use I take a 2.8/60 macro and wait for the 56mm Sigma). My fear was confirmed with the F1.2 prime series: large heavy beautiful expensive technology to prove, M43 can produce the bohek of a F2.4 FF lens.
The rumored EM1X seems proof to me, that Olympus is going that way again. Who wants a large body (with 2 grips!) with a tiny sensor? It would be a good laugh, it it wasn't so sad for M43.

I seriously hope, I am wrong in all these speculations.

Peter

Sergey Borachev wrote:

nevada5 wrote:

JaKing wrote:

Leaving aside your questionable 'logic', so what?

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along ...

Back when I was shooting with the Samsung NX system, there was no announcement from the company. There was a steep slowdown, then nothing new, then nothing at all.

Now that you mentioned the NX system, I just wondered whether the E-M1X could be Olympus's NX1. 😱

...all you do is wonder/wander. 

If Olympus releases nothing for a year, will you be concerned? If not, at what point would you say they pulled a Samsung?

The OP demonstrated with facts that Oly has put out a fraction of what other manufacturers have released in 2 years. He's rightfully concerned with "nothing to see here, folks."

Those other companies bank on people running to try and get the latest and the greatest.  How often do you change bodies?  I still have my E-M1 mark I and it does not let me down in any way. I'll consider buying the MKII when the new one is released and the price drops even more.

...an internal philosophical shift of sorts. Olympus elected not to join Panny, Leica, and Sigma in their full frame L mount consortium, preferring to stick with Micro 43 (which is fine with most of us). However, I believe they also understand the risk of diminishing returns with the M43 format and thus future high-end releases may not necessarily improve in the IQ arena (from what they have now), but rather, will add new options and features - bells and whistles - in order to get our attention.

If however, that doesn't work for their bottom line, I believe they'll be up against a rock and a hard place. Look, I love Olympus - always have - but the way the markets are going, some shifts in philosophy may be needed in order to adapt.

For many of us, improvements in IQ (to include clean higher ISO scenarios) will play a major role in our requirements. Sure, it's nice to hold up a brick and say, "Hey listen to this, my Olympus Wooten Wombat E-X whatever" sounds like a machine gun when depressing the shutter release," or ad infinitum.

But then we all have our opinions and needs, so no one's requirements will fit the next person's preferences.

tenthwashfree wrote:

Can't launch new kit, if you cant make it - moving production to Vietnam has cost a fortune and will have taken longer than the spreadsheet jockies thought it would (as usual)

They'll be back on track when the new factory is fully working, but never easy to move, especially after so long......

Olympus, like many camera makers, was hit by the April 2016 7.0 quake that caused them to stop production. Sony's sensor manufacturing operations were closed for several months.

The company was also still in recovery from its accounting scandal from 2012 on wards, ultimately closing 40% of its manufacturing plants.

The year of the 2016 quake, Nikon's revenue was down by 31%, due to lack of sensors, and Olympus was down by about 25%. In 2016-2017, Nikon was hurting - see Thom Hogan's write uphttps://petapixel.com/2017/05/13/nikons-year-digging-latest-financial-results-2017/

These companies have gone through a lot and are working hard to fix their past problems. I think tenthwashfree is appropriate to point to out the migration to a new Olympus factory could be important.

The online commentary in the micro four thirds world seems to enjoy being pessimistic, as if many want micro four thirds to fail. The constant negativity makes little sense and accomplishes what?

Apologies for the thread. It was late, and something I probably shouldn't have written.

It was an honest reaction while researching cameras, but then again, you don't tell your brother's wife that she's gained a few. It might be honest, but it's not helpful.

I've actually been pretty intrigued by some of the conversation here, and some good reasons to have hope for 2019. We'll see in a few short months.

I also read some seriously paranoid postings. Some bordering delusional. I won't point then out, but -- wow.

FWIW (not much) I ordered a GX850, as a very well priced one came across my radar.

I would love to see from Oly:

• EPL10
• 20MP sensor with no AA filter
• Address the SS issue

Meanwhile, the GX850 will have to do for now (no-AA filter, no shutter shock, but no IBIS, only 16MP and top mechanical shutter speed of 1/500).

I wonder if IBIS and shutter shock are related when you are dealing with such small, lightweight bodies?

Actually, there was an announcement; I clearly remember thinking "Well, that didn't last long" and "they recognize a saturated and dying market" when I heard it. I also asked myself why they entered it in the first place and how many heads would roll ("early retirement"). I even thought about shopping for one of the last cameras, but I wasn't really impressed by them. However, I was living in Korea at the time where anything going on with the chaebols is widely broadcast as they control the country, so maybe it wasn't publicized much here (USA) and other places.

I don't think any apologies are necessary; in fact exactly the opposite. Perhaps I missed a post you may have had deleted. Anything about the photo industry is welcome, and I think it's an interesting thread, although I'm still working on reading all of the replies.

To answer your initial question, perhaps Olympus just recognized they could better (return-wise) use their money and resources somewhere else, especially their medical operations; after all, they do have a responsibility to shareholders, especially after their debacle of about ten years ago.

"I've seen people post pics of their cats and the discussion turns into a bar fight." Yeah, really dislike that. However, once in a while some considerate poster with a sense of humor will write in their forum subject line something like: "Warning. Cat photo included."

ColdEd wrote:

tenthwashfree wrote:

Can't launch new kit, if you cant make it - moving production to Vietnam has cost a fortune and will have taken longer than the spreadsheet jockies thought it would (as usual)

They'll be back on track when the new factory is fully working, but never easy to move, especially after so long......

Olympus, like many camera makers, was hit by the April 2016 7.0 quake that caused them to stop production. Sony's sensor manufacturing operations were closed for several months.

The company was also still in recovery from its accounting scandal from 2012 on wards, ultimately closing 40% of its manufacturing plants.

The year of the 2016 quake, Nikon's revenue was down by 31%, due to lack of sensors, and Olympus was down by about 25%. In 2016-2017, Nikon was hurting - see Thom Hogan's write uphttps://petapixel.com/2017/05/13/nikons-year-digging-latest-financial-results-2017/

These companies have gone through a lot and are working hard to fix their past problems. I think tenthwashfree is appropriate to point to out the migration to a new Olympus factory could be important.

The online commentary in the micro four thirds world seems to enjoy being pessimistic, as if many want micro four thirds to fail. The constant negativity makes little sense and accomplishes what?

Haven't been regularly active here for a while.

But it appears not much has changed around here.

Ironically, despite the "noise", I think Olympus is in the best position of anyone not named Canon, and to a lesser extent Nikon.

But 2019 will have to be the proving ground for their overall strategy. Strength in Japan is not enough, they need to improve performance globally outside of Japan.

Olympus knows this and has been preparing for it.

Let's see what they actually deliver.

On tap for 2019:

• 4 Cameras
  • improved base sensor performance
  • improved IBIS
  • improved autofocus
  • newer EVFs
  • model-specific enhancements/features
  • emphasis on best hybrid (stills/video) solutions
• 8 Lenses in the pipeline (includes two teleconverters)
  • not all to be released in 2019
  • improved in-lens IS
    • the 300mm F4 and the 12-100mm F4 were the "testbeds" for in-lens IS in a prime and zoom respectively
    • expect improvement/refinements to in-lens IS and 5-Axis Sync IS in new lens releases
• Wireless Flash
  • Radio-based
  • transmitter/receiver "backward-compatible" with FL-36x/FL-50x series flashes
• Software updates
  • to support new features
• Firmware updates

Very ambitious. Hopefully, well planned and equally well executed.

If they (Olympus) survive 2019  and deliver half of the above, the system will be in a good position competitively speaking.

Unfortunately, Panasonic sales have been negatively impacted by the success of the OMD-series, and they just haven't been able to change that.

With Olympus poised to bring significant improvements in video, combined with the Blackmagic Pocket 4K cinema Camera effectively killing sales of the GH5s, I am not surprised by recent comments made by Panasonic.

However, the platform is alive and well. 2019 IMHO, will be a good year for the m4/3 platform relatively speaking and a HUGE opportunity for Olympus.

The E-M1.2 successor is well into its development cycle and poised for the next wave of performance and features, beyond those that will be released in 2019.

Cheers.

maybe the other companies are still trying to get their products sorted and Olympus have already done it (just saying )

Who cares?