Why does olympus

Beautifully capture the outdoors with the new weathersealed M. Zuiko mm F4. The Ultimate Combination of Power and Portability. Our smaller lighter system takes your photography to exciting new places. Share your photo for a chance to be featured on our website. Visit the Olympus User Gallery to upload your photos now. Weathersealed, Ultra-Portable, Perfect. Zuiko Digital ED mm F2. Olympus gear is not cheap, especially for what it offers. You want a standard 50mm? You want a 24mm wide angle?

Sure, there are people who would match their good-looking, well build small Olympus cameras with good-looking same-brand lenses regardless of price, but how many are they?

I do not believe this to be true. All they had to do was to pack all the tech in packages as small as possible, make some tweaks towards specific needs and pitch them to street photographers, vloggers and tourists. There is one funny guy on YouTube that is chasing "the perfect camera" for vlogging. Olympus are pretty much the only company, that has everything needed for a perfect vlogging camera.

Why there is no such model, when the explosion of YouTube and other platforms offered so many opportunities years ago? Sorry for the long post :.

The market decides - and in this case the decision is clearly correct. The only surprise in Olympus demise is that they weren't sold to Panasonic, but then Panasonic probably understood the market, financial and technology that Olympus could bring to the table and decided they didn't need it - or could buy it cheaply from JIP or whoever got stuck with Olympus. So Olympus joins Minolta, Konica, Contax, Yashica, Voigtlander, Petri and others at Kodak's round table of demised brands and they can wait for Pentax, Hasselblad and a few others to join the session.

Being a loyal customer for over 15 years, I am more than disappointed with Olympus. Not having followed this news, if it was even available earlier, it came as a shock. Their investment in what I believe are technological marvels, especially the lenses which for their size can produce incredible length, the goal of all telescope makers, along with the consumer costs of the products indicated to me a successful invested business.

JIP will see if this technology can be sold for a profit of a certain size. If that level cannot be made they will sell off the assets. That's the role of Private Equity firms.

Their behavior was unethical and still is as they are still hitting me up for purchases but looking back, again, all their discounts were not for a new higher resolution camera but to rid themselves of inventory. Home Topics Gear. Film Camera Successes Olympus has a heritage that spans back over a century, having been established in Into the Digital Era Olympus' success from through to was largely built on the bridge camera, the first film, and subsequently digital.

Posted In:. Mike Smith is a professional wedding and portrait photographer and writer based in London, UK. Revisiting Micro Four Thirds for Photojournalism. Premium Photography Tutorials Check out the Fstoppers Store for in-depth tutorials from some of the best instructors in the business. Log in or register to post comments. Kurt Hummel - July 2, I would like them to get into medium format and compete with Fuji.

Deleted Account - July 2, [Edited] Everyone has been publishing articles correlating increasing phone sales to decreasing camera sales. Yeah, I truly can't fathom what happened You are a watercolor painter, why should you? You created an account for the sole purpose of trolling me. Charles Mercier - July 2, Why are all the headlines saying "the end of" and "the demise of" when it hasn't happened yet??? Spy Black Deleted Account - July 3, There's probably some small stock on these items already manufactured, like the and such.

Ian Browne - July 3, what will be will be until then it's all speculations and rumours. Deleted Account - July 3, Write an article on the updated Olympus lens roadmap that was presented yesterday.

Thijs Van der Feltz - July 3, I would like a philanthropist to step in to give Olympus camera division a chance to keep innovating, to save the Olympus legacy I also highly doubt there will be much camera retailers left in a few years. John Haugaard - July 3, I am almost embarrassed for the author for his sloppy error in the first paragraph. John Haugaard 00Robb00 00bboR00 - July 4, None of what you say mitigates the error in the words used by the author. Not moving to higher resolution, proving they can do it, is their downfall.

Momchil Yordanov - July 4, [Edited] I see several reasons for the failure of Olympus camera division. Joe Sevita - August 1, Being a loyal customer for over 15 years, I am more than disappointed with Olympus.

A new roadmap for what will be very expensive lenses. Amazing videos hitting my email. New software such as the Olympus workspace. Looking back these were big indictors of their misstep: The E1MX was a very strange release, big, more features, same resolution. The CEO harping on their desire to focus solely on action, to the disregard of resolution. OM Digital has licensed the use of the Olympus brand name. And it sounds like most, if not all, of the digital camera division key players have moved to OM Digital.

Not exactly a "sell-off". This is the new OMD headquarters This is the building where the 'magic' is going to happen:. It says they are serious about cost savings. I work for an it company. We to don't care about highly expensive office buildings on A locations. We make a nice profit every year. And the company delivers great products.

I don't care about the looks of a office building. Besides that this old image doesn't say anything about the current state of the building. It could be renovated, it could be replaced. All you did is put a negative frame on OM Digital Solutions.

Trolling is the norm on DPR it seems. Ok the Goldman Sachs Building was more inpressive but than The second and third floor houses a camera outlet store. Where have we heard about that before I suspect this announcement coincides with the Dec 31 closure of Trinitek Electronics Inc. Canadian repairs now have to be sent to the US. I contacted Olympus' head office to find out who'll replace them. This is the answer I got:. Regrettably, we no longer have a repair center in Canada. Here are the instructions to send the camera to New Jersey for repair.

I don't know if they did other repairs. All I know is that they fixed a mm for me a few years ago and their closure coincides with the Japan Industrial Partners announcement. Within 4 days, actually. The announcement was Jan 4 and Trinitek's last day of business was Dec That can't be coincidence.

I ask because maybe they're also a general electronics repair place and the Covid hit them hard, too. I guess that's a possibility. It would also make sense that they'd suffer a huge downturn in clients. Either way, we're stuck with mailing our cameras to New Jersey So many strange arguments in the comments below over sensor size as if that was the only component in a camera.

Such narrow minded views that "what is best" for you, must equally apply to everyone else. Every camera is a bundle of compromises. What particular set of compromises is preferable will depend on the user and situation. The bundle of compromises that has worked best for my needs for many years now is the compact Stylus 1, and I do hope the new owners consider upgrading that eventually.

It seems like many here would prefer if all camera manufacturers competed directly against one another on the same two or three most common "formats". This is terribly boring for those of us not served well by those options. So thank you to Olympus for simply trying to make good cameras rather than always jumping on marketing bandwagons. It's a shame that so many people continue to promote arguments along narrow lines which cannot help sales for companies looking to do something different, nor the enjoyment of photography for the many of us who care more about the experience and results than bragging rights.

Though I agree with the comments that suggest all camera manufacturers need to up their game when it comes to leveraging the potential of modern computational image processing techniques.

Some have criticised DPR for not being overly supportive of Olympus formats — I don't think that is quite fair. Rather it seems to me more like DPR is staffed by human beings with their own particular interests and preferences. It is obvious to any long time reader what sort of products get them excited, which correlate to underlying aesthetic preferences and a noticeably urban outlook.

I'm sure they do their best to be objective, but in the end nobody else's opinion can replace hands-on experience, coupled with a proper understanding of your own needs and preferences. The only opinions that should ever interest you should be from true peers who you know to have the same outlook on photography as you do should such people exist.

If they gave too much time and space to the smaller manufacturers, people would lose interest and that would not be a commercially good move. Imagine if your business was to review smartphones, and you focussed on LG and Lenovo phones - not a recipe for sucess!

If you listen to marketing people and influencers they say FF is better. When it comes to photography it gets really muddy.

Other than the more extreme shooting circumstances there is no advantage one way or the other for a given format. That is why marketing folk and influencers like to emphasis metrics, you can see the differences in the numbers even though their meaning may be unclear relative to photography. The progression in in-camera computational techniques and in post production software will address issues such as noise, detail , DR etc in time to come.

Smaller formats may well become the preferred format. Arguably this is already true with smartphones, easily the majority device and you dont hear users wining about small sensors. Quite the opposite, some argue they get better images out of a smaller package.

I think Olympus took the longer view. When you insist on sticking to a small format sensor, you cannot avoid the fact that you put your existence in the danger zone , Smartphones gets better and better, when the gain to own a small form gets too small people would simply stop investing in your product, to top it they have been completely incapable of selling the idea of a smaller sensor.

The reality is that if they had not been so stubborn and made a FF line up they would probably still be alive and kicking. I have seen allot of Olympus faithful jumping on to Sony, this could have been avoided if they did what a manufacturer should always do deliver what the customers want.

This is evident because smart phones massively outnumber any other format. Where in the rule book does it say FF will survive or indeed that other formats are not viable? Olympus and Black Magic cater for. Well just got myself em10 4 with f2. So will M43 be the 1 or 2 mount in Japan for like it has been the past many years? Will it be 1 or 2 again in ? How many companies continue to make M43 cameras while no other mount, except L mount, has more than 1 company backing it.

Are there 4,6, 8? It must be hard in Japan where Olympus always has at least 2 cameras in the top 10 and sometimes in the top 5. We shall see if the OM company can continue this trend. Do you see a geographic contraction in their market presence? Closure of offices in low performing regions is no longer a reputation issue for Olympus, and the new owners need a path to profitability.

We frequently see closure of retail sites in low sale areas by purveyors of all sorts of merchandise. If you are top dog in Japan but can generate only minimal interest elsewhere they may as well concentrate on the supporters. Depending on details of how the agreement handles years of losses, lower sales may work if ongoing expenses are far lower. Mirrorless camera shipments in Sony: 1. To the Olympus diehards, it's not gloating, it is pity taken upon misplaced loyalty to a brand that was old 10 years ago.

Do the right thing, tell your budding photo friends to buy full frame. I was an OM1 fan from ancient times, yes, it had a great run, but for gosh sakes, it's FF will not make you a better photographer , today it does not even buy you bragging rights.

If FF makes you feel more modern and relevant good for you. I know as well as you do that the brand doesn't make one a better picture taker. Just asking Olympus fans to see the future, not the past.

I was once an Olympus fan myself ok, film, not digital. Superior IQ is not a fixed or finite concept. In every case there have been improvements in IQ. Note also that the improvements were not because the sensors got bigger, perhaps better but importantly the image processing has got better and better. Why would I need a gallery to prove that a much larger sensor which much higher resolution produces far superior image quality??? To show that you actual know what you are talking about.

And a bonus would be to know if you are a actual photographer or a techgeek who only cares about gear. Pocoloco, you are absolutely correct, neither is right or wrong, and indeed, buy whatever brand you prefer. I shouldn't be bashing Olympus, it's a brand with loyal costumers, and I've owned a few over the many years, I still like the old epl But I do believe Olympus' only shot at surviving in the current market was to introduce a full frame model.

This year I bought a less expensive full frame merely to see how it compared to my current gear, and I was stunned by the image quality, it really seemed to be a step up for me. Obviously, people's preference in gear varies widely.

As JIP are investors, things should be very easy They sell quickly products, OMD will live, otherwise, they'll sell everything Would buy Oly branded BTC box.. I think every company that will concentrated only on ultra, mega, giga PRO products will share same fate. And it is absolute mystery why they do not use lower ISO optimized sensors to be able to compensate with with longer exposures, and they have one of the best IBIS system?!?!!??

Exactly as smartphones does. Most probably they are using very old sensor tech. Blackmagic, DJi and other are able to reach much better results in same format.

The product concept is solid, it sells, the cameras and lenses are superb. All JIP will be doing is to exactly as they've said neaten up the company structure. Their corner of the market is well defended, but lagging in North America and China. Can't sell premium compact cars in those markets either, so like VW etc, they'll likely reduce operations and spending in those areas until those markets open up to micro products.

In Europe VW isn't considered premium. But I can agree with the rest. Restructuring and more marketing and it should work. The same could be said, and if memory serves was said, for why the Olympus Fourthirds DSRs couldn't possibly be discontinued Volkswagen premium? Selling an overpriced middle class car as premium in a new market. This is not a good analogy!

APSC got very good and quite compact. They are just being swept away by history So how do you decide on price? However when you unpack that assumption you realise that the cheaper FF bodies do not have the build quality, the weather sealing and durability, the IBIS or the operational performance, FFS etc, or the enhanced features that the Olympus has.

It's a matter of what is important. My EM1 MKii and mm performs fine in those conditions and gets dowsed in salt water spray. A rinse and wipe down after and its good to go. That kind added value is included in the price. MFT will just continue. As soon as a new sensor is available all the naysayers will be silenced for a few years.

Ok, replace VW with any manufacturer you agree with. Will say the Golf R parked outside looks like a pretty premium unit to me, but to each his own.

In Europe, VW is not considered premium like Mercedes or BMW would be, but in their market sector, they are considered the premium brand.

That's just marketing BS. In fact with the newer VW such as the ID. Where brands like Peugeot make their dashboard more and more premium like. I only mention this as a person living in Europe, whose family aside from myself has been making its living in the car trade since VW is a far, far more upmarket brand than Peugeot in the same market sector.

Used values reflect this. I know how the market works. And yes, you lay more for a VW with some options than a fully loaded Peugeot. At the end you get more money used value. Under the line it comes to the same cost. VW used to be quality, that's gone for about 10 or 15 years now. And with the scandal cuts are made even more. I have driven both brands. A Peugeot from and a VW Golf from The Peugeot was the better buy. The fact of the matter still remains that the VW brand is viewed by the marketplace as more upmarket brand than Peugeot.

Yes, marketing makes a strong reputation. VW is all about marketing and reputation. It has nothing to do with the quality of a VW, that was 10 or 15 years ago.

Audi is the premium brand of VW. Phillip, I was too simplistic in my explanation. European compacts don't sell well in the US market because of a difference in the psyche, and to an extent, the needs of US and European customers. The same can be said for compact camera systems. I disagree with most of your points, but accept they are your own opinions - not to be confused with the overall market rationale. My point was that, for whatever reason, m43 hasn't sold well in the US.

So like other products that don't translate well between different markets, they will need to be assessed whether it's worth continuing to fight an expensive uphill marketing battle to overcome the reluctance. OP, I like your optimism but if things were all sunshine then Olympus probably wouldn't have sold the business. Good luck for JIP's custody of the discarded Olympus camera business.

It will be interesting to discern, from the seller's audited financial statements, what JIP paid, if anything, for the assets and patents. Does the seller retain any residual risks? It is not easy to sell a business that is losing money and whose field is disadvantaged and shrinking. Their useful life is certainly longer than that of ripe bananas. Pound for pound, dino fossils might fetch heaps more.

And dino fossils can fetch a lot more than any electronic device. Yes, I believe that it is inevitable that the nature of photography will change dramatically over the next decade. We're already seeing people mount iPhones into special made rigs that hold a much larger lens on the front. Personally, I can't stand the thought of it, but manufactures such as Apple have a huge motivation to keep their devices in persons hands. The data mined from these devices, including your photos, is immeasurably valuable, worth far more than the selling of devices.

To that end, they will pin all talent to their companies. That genie is out of the bottle. Although I don't believe cameras will go like VHS, but more like fountain pens. For most people that is still a lot of money to spend on something that won't fit in a pocket or be useful for phone calls, driving directions, or bill payments.

They still exist. The product lineup is small but not, as far as I can tell, all that bad. I don't think they sell very many, however, and it seems unlikely that the venture is profitable given the tiny marketshare. Seems to me a reasonable prediction of Olympus cameras 5 years down the road. I never seen any Vaio laptop in shops since they are not Sony. That's my guess what will happen with Olympus OM cameras.

Will disappear from shops and people will forget they exist. Any shop where they sell laptops. Can find them online in some places but only if you look for the brand. There is plenty of evidence that the average consumer purchasing decisions are mostly emotional, often driven by constructed, artificial needs. Who will sorely miss Olympus is not the general public, who never understood its value, but all the pros who have moved to M43 or added it to their larger format systems.

Hi BackToNature1, probably not in the short run, and I would be really happy about it, but history is not favorable. Anyway, I'll stick with my Oly gear for as long as I can. The new company didn't pay money to shut Olympus down, they want to make money with the product. Maye one of the biggest mistakes is never able to reach mass public in needed scale to have comfortable time to produce PRO stuff?!? I was wondering where the name was familiar from; apparently they bought Sony's VAIO brand back in It is just sad that the whole purpose of m43 has been lost.

I got rid of all my heavy Nikon gear so I could move to a smaller, lighter, and less costly option. My Nikon gear stayed home most of the time. My m43 equipment goes with me all the time. I carefully reviewed Fuji and Nikon lens options and was very discouraged.

Very few available and they are large, heavy, or expensive. Another major selling point of m43 which is also lost I am afraid. The Semi-Olympus I featured an accordion-like fold-out camera bellows, and cost more than a month's wages in Japan. The company continued to develop the camera business over the decades, becoming one of the top companies by market share. The s was a high point, with their cameras advertised on television by celebrity photographers such as David Bailey and Lord Lichfield.

A cult following stayed with the firm, despite teething issues with new technologies such as autofocus, Atherton says. But the firm had a second wave with digital cameras, where they were early adopters. But they targeted their later range of mirrorless cameras at a middle market - "people who weren't serious photographers - they wanted something better than a point-and-shoot camera, but they didn't want a DSLR camera".