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Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

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Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#91

Post by drummer »

noncoml wrote: post #65
dllu wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Canon gets a lot of hate and is looked down because of their mirrorless systems. The new Canon RF lenses are pretty amazing (albeit expensive) though, and the new Canon mirrorless bodies such as the R5 are shaping up to be highly competitive products.

Maybe, but your reply only makes my argument stronger, that is that Canon is not the king anymore, as it used to be for DSLRs.

Lol just wait for the upcoming two bodies being announced in a few weeks. Canon is going to trash the competition. And the new lenses are unmatched.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#92

Post by ksk »

runxel wrote: post #2

Sad to see them go and see the industry losing even more competition. Had a couple of Olympus' and was always delighted by their quality. But on the other hand the underlying problem is quite true: Since the advent of the smartphone I see myself rely more and more on my smartphone (even tho I still don't really like that "look", but as long you don't plan to have a professional photo shooting it's "good enough"). On…

>On the other hand: the camera business seem to have stopped any evolution. I didn't see one thing in the last 10 years that made me go "what a gamechanger! I need that!"...

That's not true at all. Recent innovation in diffractive optics & phase fresnel lens (gap-less) designs is a gamechanger that has recently allowed compact lens designs to compete with larger, heavier lenses. For wild-life photographers looking to travel and fit their gear in the overhead bin, its a gamechanger. Sony's Eye AF is a gamechanger for portrait photographers looking for increased productivity. Mirrorless cameras with live EVFs are gamechangers for photographers who no longer need to take a test-shot to check for exposure (mainly blown highlights which can be avoided with live zebras). Sony A9's triple stacked sensor design and its super fast read-out is a gamechanger for shooting sports w/ a silent shutter (e.g. golf).

There are plenty of game changing technologies. Ofcource, it all depends on what it means to YOUR photography.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#93

Post by senderista »

slantyyz wrote: post #66
foldr wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No-one who's serious about photography will stigmatize you for the gear you're using. All modern cameras and lenses are more than good enough.

But a lot of people who self-identify as being serious about photography will stigmatize you for the gear you're using.

Just like audiophiles, I can guarantee they're not professionals.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#95

Post by jakebasile »

It's sad to see this - they do of course claim that they'll still be making cameras for the time being but who knows how long that will last, and at what level of investment. Olympus was already considered somewhat behind the cutting edge in technology in the camera body space (they do have quite high quality lenses, though).

I hope there are no more "deaths in the family" in the photographic industry anytime soon, as the market is already down to only a few large players left. Personally, I love my Nikon equipment and hope they continue to make gear for decades but even Nikon and Canon seem like they'd be at risk, now.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#96

Post by ben7799 »

akersten wrote: post #5

Sad to see them go - photography's such a great hobby and having competition in the space is healthy. There's a few brands out there still, but there is a noticable stigma in the professional community around equipment that isn't Canon. If you're not using L-glass, it feels like you get the same kind of judgement that Android users experience when they show up with green texts in iMessage. As a matter of principle, I…

Pros love Canon cause their service stomps all over everyone else, the equipment is just the cherry on top. They're more like a partner in someone's business than just a retailer.

Seriously.. their service is so fantastic & easy to work with it puts you at ease shooting with their expensive stuff.

I think this has more to do with it than anything to do with sensors or almost anything else when it comes to really serious photography and especially anyone who's running a business.

No one is happy to see another option disappear though. I agree with the sentiment that the biggest risk is too many cameras having Sony sensors inside though. Too much of that and at some point they're all Sony, even though the design of the exterior of the camera & the ergonomics can still be major differentiators.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#97

Post by jagger27 »

ptero wrote: post #86
akersten wrote: post #5

Sad to see them go - photography's such a great hobby and having competition in the space is healthy. There's a few brands out there still, but there is a noticable stigma in the professional community around equipment that isn't Canon. If you're not using L-glass, it feels like you get the same kind of judgement that Android users experience when they show up with green texts in iMessage. As a matter of principle, I…

I agree with 90% of your points: competition is healthy and sad to see a company go. The market today is a duopoly, with Canon and Nikon as two pillars of high-end DSLR world. This, sadly, is unlikely to change because high quality lenses are very hard to make. Development takes years and the market is relatively small. And as glass, even for a serious hobbyist, ends up being much more expensive than the camera body,…

They might control the DSLR space, but they certainly hold no candle to Sony, Fujifilm, and co in the mirrorless space. There’s no shortage of extremely high quality lenses there too.

I thought mirrorless cameras were already outselling DSLRs.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#98

Post by slantyyz »

stx wrote: post #37

I had thought about switching to an Olympus micro from my Canon to save in size/weight. I am not a professional. Glad I didn't now.

If you're not a pro, there's no reason why you still can't switch. Size does matter in terms of whether you bring your gear with you or leave them at home.

Panasonic is still making cameras. All of the M43 cameras since around 2014 produce images that are good enough for most people.

The lens ecosystem is pretty complete.

The size advantage is still there, and if you get a recent model, there's no reason to think that there's anything that will stop any of the cameras from working long term outside of battery availability or camera failure. And in that regard, Olympus (more so than Panasonic) has been using the same batteries for most of their cameras since the beginning of the PEN line.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#99

Post by cannam »

eropple wrote: post #78
WWLink wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're cheap! You can pretty easily get an olympus body for 2-300 bucks and a m43 lens also pretty cheap. The panasonic 25mm for example is usually around $100-150. That all sounds big until you realize an a7 body is like minimum $1000.

They're definitely cheap, but so are the Panasonics, like the G7. What I'm saying is that I don't know what Olympus brings to the table given that they're more photo-forward, but not really much better than the Panasonic cameras, and much worse for video. That 25mm Panasonic lens is a boss, though. I have two, along with the shorty 20mm Panasonic (which is not as good; it doesn't do AF-C, wtf?) and the 42.5mm Panason…

What Olympus brought was in-body image stabilisation. Panasonics never had it (maybe they do now? I haven't been paying attention lately) and it makes all the difference if your thing is photography with just any lens that will fit.
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