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Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

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241–250 of 384 posts

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#241
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…

> it feels like you get the same kind of judgement that Android users experience when they show up with green texts in iMessage. Is this a real thing? Do people actually care about that?

I've been called out in a group dinner invite for having a green bubble, but they may have been joking. I'm really curious where the concept originates; my guess is some supremely subtle submarine social influencer targeting by Apple marketing.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony's image sensor fab business is a bit different. First of all, there's two companies: Semiconductor and Imaging. Sony opens some of their technologies to other customers by transferring Imaging unit's patents to Semi and allows them for re-licensing. So, not everyone is using the same sensor even if they are coming out from the same fab. Second, there's customer tailored sensor business. Sony can provide a custom…

I know that Canon had fabs for their sensors at least back in the day, probably also now.

AFAIK, they still have but, it might not be sufficiently advanced to produce R5's sensor. I'm not sure about the origin of R5's sensor as I said.

Hope their fab lives on.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#243
post #140

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.

> They might control the DSLR space, but they certainly hold no candle to Sony, Fujifilm, and co in the mirrorless space. Agreed, but mirrorless is not a full replacement for DSLR, at least not yet. For static scenes in good light my phone camera is already all I need. For static scenes (or slow motion) in lower light mirrorless seems now just as good as DSLR (so they eat some of DSLR market). But for fast motion or…

Have you seen videos of the Sony a9 Ii? It can autofocus moving subjects and take a picture in a twentieth of a second (!)

So no, I don't think DSLRs have better autofocus than mirrorless cameras. Mirrorless cameras can also do things like eye AF, video tracking AF, and so on.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The problem you still run into with Sony (especially if you're on a budget) is that if you go Nikon or Canon there's decades of used lenses you can pop right on your body and go to town (to at least some level). This impacts both what choices you have, as well as what you can expect to pay for a given set/quality of glass. To Wit: A Canon 10-18 is ONE THIRD the cost of the Sony E-mount 10-18. Yes, the Sony has a cons…

If you want a low-end Sony lens you have the option of third party glass. If you want a high end lens you can go with the GM line up that is generally even better than Canon L.

Also, you can just adapt lenses from Canon to Sony.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#245
post #216

Shocker! I have owned two of their micro 4/3 digital cameras and loved them. Great rangefinder style in the $600 range with quality lenses in the box. I remember the first time I took the camera out with the telephoto lens and being shocked by the quality of the photos. Learned then that quality of camera + lens really makes a difference in nice looking photos. Edit - replaced 'DSLR' with digital

Which Olympus micro 4/3 cameras have you owned?

This has been my camera since 2017 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016LMB770/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...

And I got this cool lens-cap for it https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I1CP2MU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... that has an automatic opening when you turn the camera on, great for traveling.

Before that I had the E-P2 https://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Interchangeable-Digital-Elect...

I'm still using the telephoto lens that I got from the E-P2, it wasn't very expensive, I think it's this one https://www.amazon.com/Olympus-40-150mm-F4-0-5-6-Panasonic-C...

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#246
post #104

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.

Sony's A7 lineup seems to even be starting to take a large bite out of the high end DSLR market. I wouldn't be surprised to see them overtake Nikon soon.

In terms of new units sold as far as high end cameras, I'm fairly sure Sony has passed Nikon since a good while.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#247
post #214
post #144

I'm really sad about this. It feels like everyone went full-frame without appreciating the benefits of smaller lenses and bodies. Olympus glass is the best in the industry, probably because they don't have to make everything so damn large. I've got Olympus lenses that cost $400 new and can't even match $2000 full-frame glass. Sure, I'll keep my kit forever, but it sucks to know I'll never upgrade any of it.

Which Olympus lenses do you have? Which is your favorite Olympus body?

I have like all the primes. My favorites are the 45 and the 75mm, since I mostly do portraiture. Those are both tack-sharp edge to edge, every aperture. I have the EM-5 mk II body. I was just about to upgrade to the mk III... but I'm not sure if now it's a better or worse time to do it. Maybe I should while there's still stock, since I think this is going to be my system for the rest of time.

EDIT: Oops, on the above post I meant to say that the $2000 glass can't match my Olympus. No idea why I can't edit that post anymore...

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#248
post #153

Photography is one of those areas where devices don't go obsolete very quickly. With a good lens from 50 years ago I can still take an excellent photo on a digital camera from 15 years ago. Sure you won't have all the bells and whistles of the latest cameras and you'll sacrifice a few stops of dynamic range but for the average hobby photographer that doesn't really matter. The only customers who will upgrade every fe…

Man, I hate this phone analogy. Every shot I take with M43 looks nothing like anything taken with a phone. I just took these shots a couple days ago, for an example. There's no way you get anything close to this with a phone. https://photos.app.goo.gl/TSFhhA5igk1iEfRbA

No offence but I’m guessing you haven’t taken many photos with an iPhone 11 Pro.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony doesn't have aftermarket firmware but the firmware up to the A7ii has been hacked so you can run Android apps and control the camera that way. As far as photography is concerned there's no need for flashed firmware beyond that.

Have you got a link for more info on the hacked firmware? Hadn’t heard of it before. Thanks!

https://github.com/ma1co/Sony-PMCA-RE

Here you go. You can edit the firmware to change read-only settings and install Andrioid apps, with an API to access the viewfinder and to take pictures with various settings as well as access them, and the network.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#250
Lots of my friends are switching over to Sony. Sony high end gear works better out of the box. My Nikon fluorite 600mm f4 E and D850 has to be recalibrated for wide temperature changes. I expect my DSLR and lens to know when its in focus, not for me to have to tell it periodically where best focus is.
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