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Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

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Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#111

Post by slantyyz »

kaypro wrote: post #45
flyinglizard wrote: post #11

Oh no. This is a huge blow to the MFT form factor (which is supported mostly by Olympus and Panasonic), which I personally love.

Agreed though I think this could go either way. Either Panasonic steps up their line up and becomes the sole M43 manufacturer or it fizzles out. I really think the M43 ecosystem is severely underrated in a world where cameras are pitched solely on specs. The body to lens ratio is so great on the M43 lineup and I absolutely love my GX85 for just that reason. For most consumers or even prosumers who don't make a living…

Have you considered the 9-18 for traveling?

I have an equivalent lens for my Nikon J5 (so I'm in no rush to pick up the 9-18 - or I should say -was- in no rush prior to the Oly announcement), and it's the lens I use the most during the day when traveling. When I travel, I usually bring my J5 with the wide zoom and my GM5 with a pancakey lens (switching cameras is easier than lenses, imo) plus a lightweight long zoom.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#112

Post by PuffinBlue »

ISL wrote: post #71
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…

To me, the big monoculture risk is Sony's image-sensor fab. As I understand it, Sony, Fuji, Nikon and many others all rely upon the output of one company's manufacturing process. There's a good reason for it -- they appear to make the very best sensors (edit: in terms of dynamic range and noise) in the commercial-camera market. Canon makes their own sensors, which are good in absolute but not relative terms, which ap…

> Canon makes their own sensors, which are good in absolute but not relative terms, which appears to hold them back in performance

It's a little early to state this. Once the R5 and R6 come out we'll have a better idea of their capabilities as those are slated to have their new tech (8K video etc etc).

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#113

Post by mauvehaus »

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,…

If you don’t need autofocus, mirrorless and adaptors for old glass are a killer and cost-effective combo. I bought an a7ii and PK and M42 adaptors, and I couldn’t be happier. The body is full-frame, and the flange distance is so small, you can probably adapt any mount to it, with the possible exception of some of the old rangefinder mounts.

I picked up a 50 mm f/4 Macro Takumar for under $100 on eBay. I already had a couple nice Takumars and SMC-M primes that I can keep using. It’s awesome.

Granted, I’m shooting furniture under continuous light. It’s not a super demanding application. If I were a pro photographer, I’d probably be shooting the same kit as everyone else for the same reasons.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#114

Post by Galaxeblaffer »

geerlingguy wrote: post #105
jagger27 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> I thought mirrorless cameras were already outselling DSLRs. In volume, yes. In profit, it's still close, but mirrorless has been closing the gap for a long time. And Sony used to be king of the hill with mirrorless, but Canon and Nikon have quickly caught up and the playing field is a bit more level (even as Sony holds the crown for most of the technical features). The thing is, ecosystems matter a lot past the hob…

Why not go all Sony ? You can share the lenses between your apsc and your full frame.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#115

Post by acomjean »

Someone1234 wrote: post #14

That's a legitimate shame for open standards. M43 has its proponents and critics, but either way it is rare to see a somewhat successful multi-vendor standard in photography that actually worked . The main problem is that the market itself has been shrinking, and there's just not enough room to have so much competition (Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Fuji, Canon, and Nikon). M43 was successful, but it succeeded in an area…

M43 for those that don't know is "micro 4/3" is a format of interchangeable lens for cameras across multiple manufacturers (although pretty much just Panasonic and Olympus). Nikon canon and sony have their own lines of lenses. Its better than a point and shoot, but not as good as a full size SLR (single lens reflex) camera.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_system

I have an olympus micro 43 camera. I really like it. Though when the top button broke, They wouldn't send my local camera fix it shop the part, and it ended up costing more money to fix than it should have. I like it for traveling as its good but light and while not a subtle as a phone camera, its not a serious looking as a "real" camera.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#116

Post by joshocar »

noncoml wrote: post #32
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…

> 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. Especially for Cameras and Lenses that's solely on user's mind. Your photos speak for themselves. You absolutely don't need Canon or L glass. BTW, maybe you are not up t…

This is probably going to change when the R5 comes out in July. If the rumors and specs are accurate it's going to be a beast of a camera.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#118

Post by PuffinBlue »

cannam wrote: post #99
eropple wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The G9 has IBIS. And the GH5. And dual OIS in conjunction with panasonic lenses.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#119

Post by geerlingguy »

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #42
akersten wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Past a certain price point, kit from any brand delivers photos and photographic performance that one would have a hard time finding technically wrong or inferior to that of another brand. So by all accounts, we should see a lot of variety in the cameras and lenses that are used professionally. However, take a look at articles like this[0] to see just how prevalent Canon gear is at professional events. Apparently, the…

A lot of my friends from school were photo students, and Canon was far and away the platform that they were taught on, as well. Some did shoot on Nikon cameras as a matter of personal preference, but almost all of the school's gear was Canon (until you got to specialized stuff like Hasselblad medium-format cameras).

Almost all photojournalists I knew used Canon (70%) or Nikon (30%) exclusively up until 5 or so years ago.

And when you're talking about camera systems, the camera itself (which is where Sony currently has the lead in mirrorless) is not the biggest factor in choosing a brand.

Canon and Nikon both have tons of specialist lenses that are still not available (or only have one flavor specializing in one space, at one very high price point) on newer mirrorless platforms.

And if you've invested $50k-100k in lenses (e.g. for a photography department) are you going to turn on a dime and dump that gear for new fancy Sony equipment that costs more than your old glass? Likely not.

And many PJs still need some of the qualities that you can really only get in top-end Canon or Nikon DSLRs (as someone else said, ability to drive nails with the camera, and huge grip).

As a concrete example, imagine if you were tasked with taking footage or stills of one of the protests at night. Would you rather bring a rock-hard large-gripped body that could even be used for protection? Or a smaller body with a screen that would break from a minor scuffle and cheaper plastic, less waterproof construction?

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#120

Post by PuffinBlue »

eropple wrote: post #103
cannam wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. The G7 and later have Panasonic's newest lens stabilization stuff with compatible lenses but you don't see IBIS until you go up to the S1 full-frame, which costs as much as everybody else's full-frame and the lens selection isn't great so you might as well go buy a Sony A7-of-some-flavor. I run and gun with the G7 for photos, as it is my lightest camera by far, and…

You might want to check the IBIS specs for the G9 and GH5. No need to go up to the S1 line.
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