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Olympus sells its imaging business

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Hi Ian, will there ever be again a substantially better Olympus camera? For me most important would be a huge improvement in sensor readout time. :shocked:

Without that my Sony A9 rules supreme! :salute:
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
But what if you were just about to buy the Mark III ?

I've had my em1 Mk II for nearly three years and hence it owes me very little.

But there are a few features on the Mk III that I fancy; the joystick, the improved My Menus and the USB charging,
and although the lack of travel opportunities for me make any immediate spend on cameras a non-starter, the seed had been sewn :banghead:.


But with this announcement ???????????????????????????????????????????
There will never be a better time to buy an Olympus, so just go ahead and do it :thumbs:
 

4season

Well-known member
But what if you were just about to buy the Mark III ?
Buy it and enjoy it? Because the future is unknowable. But if the VAIO computer brand is any indication, it still exists on a much smaller scale, vanished from the USA market for awhile (they've now got a USA web site) offering just two basic notebook PC models, both premium-priced and seemingly assembled in one of the original VAIO buildings in Japan.

I wonder if there's government money involved here, aimed at keeping skills and production capabilities alive within the country.

At the moment, I have no plans to sell my Olympus M43 system and it's not clear to me what I'd replace it with if I did. I already own Sony APS-C and FF equipment, and the thought of buying yet another system in those formats holds little appeal for me.
 

raist3d

Well-known member
But what if you were just about to buy the Mark III ?

I've had my em1 Mk II for nearly three years and hence it owes me very little.

But there are a few features on the Mk III that I fancy; the joystick, the improved My Menus and the USB charging,
and although the lack of travel opportunities for me make any immediate spend on cameras a non-starter, the seed had been sewn :banghead:.


But with this announcement ???????????????????????????????????????????
Well again, take out the announcement for a second- will you still buy the EM1 Mark III in today's market considering all the competitors that may be a match for your needs and wants? If the answer is YES, then yes, I would say go ahead an buy it (read what I posted why I think that makes sense).

Also assumes you have some m43rds lenses, that this is not your first investment in the system.

Basically the reasons you would have bought an EM1MKIII over anything in the market really don't change. The only exception would be if you are the kind of photographer that needs to send their equipment to the manufacturers for cleaning/repair often because you are shooting in the Sahara dessert after jumping off an airplane regularly or something extreme like that :)


- Ricardo
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Congratulations Peter. :thumbs:
Enjoy.

Cannot say why, but I ordered a Nikon Z7 and the S 2.8/24-70 last week during the latest discounts going on in Austria :thumbs:

Not sure if this was some feeling I had WRT m43 and Olympus future?

Anyway I am no longer sure if m43 will continue long term (10 years range), even APSC might be doomed.
 

Elderly

Well-known member
Well again, take out the announcement for a second- will you still buy the EM1 Mark III in today's market considering all the competitors that may be a match for your needs and wants? If the answer is YES, then yes, I would say go ahead an buy it (read what I posted why I think that makes sense).

Also assumes you have some m43rds lenses, that this is not your first investment in the system.

Basically the reasons you would have bought an EM1MKIII over anything in the market really don't change. The only exception would be if you are the kind of photographer that needs to send their equipment to the manufacturers for cleaning/repair often because you are shooting in the Sahara dessert after jumping off an airplane regularly or something extreme like that :)


- Ricardo
Ricardo,
When quoting you originally, I should have just written my first and last lines only
and not made my question appear personal to me by adding the three aspects of the Mkiii that I said I "fancy".

I really didn't want to turn my post into a 'what camera should I buy' thread
( I've heard rumours that there other photographic forums where that kind of question is rife :grin: ) but thank you for your useful input.

I am good at procrastinating ( for better or for worse :rolleyes: ) and at this moment I have no requirement, justification or excuse for making any equipment changes ......
....... but it doesn't stop my mind from exercising about the possibilities :).
 

raist3d

Well-known member
Im not so sure that this is why Olympus met their demise.
Because the unique selling proposition of m43rs is first and foremost size. When your focus shifts to bigger cameras and the better features are only found at those sizes, then the size, prices start overlapping, people will shop around based on the remaining differentiators- like sensor - image quality.

Sony infused cash into their business years ago and sold off those portion a year or so ago. The writing has been on the wall for years regarding Olympus and the reality is that when the P&S market shrunk, larger sensor options became more affordable, and more importantly when cellphone imagery matured - they became less of an option.

It’s not just about small size IMO or the Nikon 1 system would still be around.
Nikon had its own set of problems with the Nikon 1. It was too pricey and crippled vs their other options. In a way similar to what's happening to m43rds. They also didn't have as many options for lenses, though they had covered enough right options.

It’s about making products that people want AND marketing them to the masses appropriately. Olympus has had trouble doing this.
But you have a much harder problem to market and make a sale when the above pointed out happens.

I think Panasonic MFT will continue on perfectly fine with cameras like the G100, the G9, and the GH series but perhaps they can reduce the number of bodies they offer in a shrinking market. The G100 seems especially interesting for those that want higher quality photos and video to post to social media. It seems like a great option for those that were interested in the Sony ZV1 but wanted interchangeable lenses. For vlogging and a small camera it seems like a great option. It will be interesting to see if the other G cameras receive many of the G100 software features in firmware. This could push those with a larger budget to the G95 or GH5 that may want the features the G100 offers but also may want the flexibility to do even more at times.
Call me if Panasonic does a TILT LCD version of the G100 :). But I can't blame Panasonic for highlighting their competency in m43rds camera which is video focused.

- Ricardo
 
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