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Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

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Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#61

Post by WWLink »

eropple wrote: post #38
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…

At this point M43 is, in my neck of the woods, basically a video format anyway. I do on-site videography (my schtick being "we can run a four-camera live show from anywhere I've got Ethernet and power") and all my cameras are M43 because they hit a great spot on the price/quality curve. (Sony's APS-C cameras are very respectable too, but the glass is pricey.) Never used an Olympus, never understood the point of one.…

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.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#62

Post by sudosysgen »

ancharm wrote: post #48

Another death by iPhone

They really got their ass handed to them by Sony, Fuji and Panasonic more than anything. The market for high quality interchangeable lens cameras hasn't gone anywhere and isn't going anywhere, but Sony and co really shook it up by modernizing it, and made a lot of Olympus tech obsolete. I'll never understand how Olympus decided to sell a camera with a sensor a fourth the size of an A7 at the same price.

That said, the market for point and shoots and other low end to medium end cameras got really eviscerated and Olympus couldn't find a way to compete at the higher end.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#64

Post by lb1lf »

easygenes wrote: post #34
rckclmbr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, Canon and Nikon seem like the "Costco" brands so maybe while he pointed them out. But Sonys mirrorless are top of the industry. Fujifilm has great cameras. And you cant forget Leica

Leica is using Sony sensors, so them as a selection is mostly for the name and aesthetic. The UI is more limited and shooting RAW negates anything to do with “color science” selections for the default in-camera JPG encoders.

-Name, aesthetic and UI. Rangefinder cameras do have their purpose still - being able to see what is going on outside the frame is a great aid, as is its ease of focusing in low light.

And, to a lesser extent now that mirrorless cameras are a thing - their unobtrusiveness.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#65

Post by noncoml »

dllu wrote: post #60
noncoml wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

> 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.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#66

Post by slantyyz »

foldr wrote: post #58
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…

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.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#67

Post by mc32 »

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…

>Especially for Cameras and Lenses that's solely on user's mind.

Tell that to Ken Rockwell!

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#68

Post by eropple »

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…

Panasonic pushed a ton of features to the G9 (my current top-end camera) that make it very competitive with the GH5 for video, so they seem to have gotten some religion on that front.

Five year old cameras are likely past the cliff of "too slow "for a lot of feature improvement, though. I have a GH3, a G7, and a GH4, and they all have the same sensor but even the UI on the GH3 runs slower and chunkier. Trying to wedge more stuff into it seems like a bad time.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#69

Post by maxnoe »

cannam wrote: post #49
eropple wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point M43 is, in my neck of the woods, basically a video format anyway. I do on-site videography (my schtick being "we can run a four-camera live show from anywhere I've got Ethernet and power") and all my cameras are M43 because they hit a great spot on the price/quality curve. (Sony's APS-C cameras are very respectable too, but the glass is pricey.) Never used an Olympus, never understood the point of one.…

Not very familiar with video - what M43 camera do you use for that?

Probably the Panasonic GH Series.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#70

Post by dllu »

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #18
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…

This is actually news to me... I bought a M43 camera a couple years ago because I thought it was a standard with staying power and a healthy ecosystem of lenses and bodies from many manufacturers. Is Panasonic the only one still producing M43 gear? I thought Fuji did as well, unless they decided to ditch it, too. I'd be upset if the standard disappeared!

There are still several companies making lenses for the system.

For example, Cosina has a lineup of high quality manual-focus M43 lenses such as the recently released Voigtlander Nokton 60mm f/0.95: http://www.cosina.co.jp/seihin/voigtlander/mft-mount/mft-60m...

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