I’m a fan of Olympus cameras. I cut my teeth on the 35mm OM-1 and OM2S (a generous gift from a relative), so when I finally went digital in 2008, I bought a brand new Olympus E-30. I was wide-eyed at the prospect of a long future with the 4/3 format. I loved that Olympus had once again been innovative, making a DSLR that was digital from the ground-up… not just a 35mm camera dressed up to be digital.
The Kodak/Olympus 4/3 standard was a great idea. But, like many great ideas, it never quite took off. People want a “full-frame” DSLR, with a sensor that mimics the exact dimensions of a piece of 35mm film (ironic, since that film size was a fluke, and never a perfect solution anyway… the 4/3 aspect ratio is more pleasing).
Olympus gave us the E-5. Then the OM-D micro-4/3 came along and shook up the whole industry. Suddenly, pro mirrorless photography is a real possibility. Olympus have now plunked all of their resources into their micro-4/3 division, leaving the standard 4/3 crowd waiting on the sidelines to see what will become of their high-price lenses.
Olympus promises to release a camera of some kind that will properly focus the standard 4/3 lenses… but many of us are holding onto the idea of a true DSLR with an optical viewfinder. It’s more likely that the next model will be a “Pro-OM-D,” a micro-4/3 mirrorless camera system that can focus both m4/3 and standard 4/3 lenses. If so, I’m fine with that. As long as Olympus doesn’t ditch the people who have spent money on their truly stellar 4/3 lenses.
Out of frustration, some Olympus users are jumping ship to Canikon; a move that, in my opinion, couldn’t come at a worse time. Why jump to a different DSLR when the whole DSLR-concept is slowly fading away? That’s just more wasted money. To any Olympus E-System users reading this, I say hold on… wait… keep calm.
There’s a very good chance that the hybrid Pro-OM-D (or whatever Oly has up their sleeve) will be another game changer. And if you wait for it, you’ll already have a nice collection of 4/3 lenses to throw on it.
Happy shooting!
Absolutely. It is quite expensive to change systems, one may consider the money better spent by adding a mirrorless body and lens or two to the mix as opposed to selling a set of HG/SHG lenses and an E-5 to switch to a D7000 or D600 etc. plus lenses.
Stay calm, take pictures and see what comes down from mount Olympus!
The new camera will almost certainly be a hybrid, an m4/3 body, probably with PDAF on the sensor to accommodate the 4/3 lenses mounted via an adapter.
I agree with Abraham that it is expensive to change systems, but there are times when it makes sense to move on. Any way you cut it, we will have to wait to see what the lords of Olympus give us. If it fits the bill, great. If not, changing systems is all that’s left.
Its even worse. There is no replacement for E-x with HG and SHG lenses, not if you need weatherproof system. Canikon does have protected bodies to some degree, but don’t have the lenses which are weatherproof in all conditions. And there is weatherproof and weatherproof, the Olympus version can’t be matched by Canikon. Besides that, Olympus is still the most compact system. Canikon systems needs much more space for storage. In other words, for those who are not busy in low light for most of the time (most of us) are better off with Olympus. So hold on, there will be a next system camera, if it will have the name E-7 is unsure.