Olympus quits camera business after 84 years • Hacker News Board

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#211

Post by nemosaltat » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:41 PM UTC

matwood wrote: post #205

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…

> but there is a noticable stigma in the professional community around equipment that isn't Canon Weird. The few other camera people I know, and a couple are pros, are all Nikon. They are the reason I went Nikon so many years ago and still use Nikon today.

Nikon’s commitment to backwards compatibility is incredible. I can use my father-in-law’s Nikon lens from 1970s on my D3400.

Edit: manual only if that isn’t obvious

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#212

Post by hrktb » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:42 PM UTC

IMAYousaf wrote: post #161

As someone with a huge photography itch and a gear nerd who actually isn't a practitioner, can someone with domain expertise in photography and cameras give some insights or predictions in to what they see as the future of photography? I have a sophomoric understanding of the shift from SLR --> DSLR --> Sony led Mirrorless cameras. Where do we go from here? How do things like Hasselblad's X1D II entry level medium fo…

An analysis by Thom Hogan: https://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/whos-still-buying-dslrs...

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#213

Post by tomduncalf » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:42 PM UTC

sudosysgen wrote: post #21

renewiltord wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, it's funny. I didn't know this either as someone who only dabbles. The only reason I bought Canon is that the community has aftermarket firmware. Honestly, I wouldn't buy Nikon or Pentax or whatever just because no aftermarket firmware.

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!

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#214

Post by da02 » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:43 PM UTC

pkulak wrote: 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?

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#215

Post by possibleworlds » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

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…

Agreed. There's also the Fujifilm X-Trans sensors which try to recapture some of the magic of film. However I really wish more people knew about Sigma and their Foveon sensors[1].

The fact is that there is a completely different technology on the market which produces very different – and arguably far superior – image quality and colour reproduction compared to 99% of digital cameras on the market. The Sigma system can be clunky and the sensor tech has its drawbacks (eg almost unusable above 200 iso), however given the right conditions the images they produce can be stunning.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveon_X3_sensor

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#216

Post by da02 » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

oweqruiowe wrote: post #102

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?

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#217

Post by cialowicz » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:47 PM UTC

barbegal wrote: post #31

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…

I'd argue that cameras don't really ever go obsolete, given the artistic nature of photography (as long as you can get the image out of the camera and onto a medium). Any great photo that you've ever admired was take on either previous or current generation gear.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#218

Post by notJim » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:51 PM UTC

centimeter wrote: post #207

notJim wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what happened is that larger sensors became cheaper, and companies also realized that people who buy dedicated cameras are willing to pay for them. Personally, I shoot Fuji, and it's fantastic, but when I compare astro stuff between something like a Sony A7sii to my Fuji shots, the result is much cleaner due to the lower noise. It only really matters for astrophotography, but since I don't want to invest tens…

It's not as simple as "FF has lower noise". There's a reasonable argument that once you factor in everything, most sensor size differences come out in the wash. In the case of low-light performance, you have situations like: APS-C + 35mm f/1.4 ~ FF + 50mm f/2. Yeah, you need a larger aperture in f-stop terms for equivalent optical properties, but the cost of that is probably offset by the cost of APS-C lenses being o…

I am already stacking the shots, as are the photographers I'm comparing to. It is also objectively true that noise is lower on FF cameras, specifically at higher ISO. You can see many comparisons of this online. The A7sii has larger pixels that gather more light compared to either the A7rii or an APS-C sensor.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#219

Post by bobsil1 » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:55 PM UTC

ptero wrote: post #140

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.

> 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…

I can jog while holding mirrorless in my hand. Exercise + wildlife. Obviously not great for fast motion or shade.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#220

Post by pgrote » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 10:56 PM UTC

nradov wrote: post #84

As a casual underwater photographer I hope the Olympus TG series rugged compact cameras live on under the new owner. I know compact cameras are a dying niche market in general. But no one has figured out a good solution for using smartphone cameras underwater (there are waterproof housings but the controls are terrible and they don't really work with strobes or wet lenses). The housings for DSLRs and similarly sized…

I searched for water and am so glad someone else brought this up. When I read the article I was hoping to see something about it, but didn't.

I'm on my third TG and absolutely love it. We vacation on the beach and some of my better family photos were taken in the water with the camera. It is a tank that performs.

Six years ago took my son to the beach for the first time and had a blast with him and the other kids. Lots of great photos. Stupidly, I didn't wrap the camera around my wrist, but put it in my pocket. The Atlantic is unforgiving and it knocked me down and with it my camera escaped. Looking for it was hopeless and I went back to the hotel dejected.

Next day we're on the beach and someone walks up to me and hands me the camera. I jumped up and hugged them so hard. Turns out it washed up four hotels down and they reviewed the photos and found our room number and hotel. They were on the way to drop it off when they saw us on the beach. lol

Now I keep a wrist wrap and a floatie on it. Lesson learned.