# Industry News: Olympus to sell imaging business by the end of the year



## Canon Rumors Guy (Jun 24, 2020)

> Olympus Corporation (“Olympus”) and Japan Industrial Partners, Inc. (“JIP”) hereby announce that today, the parties signed a memorandum of understanding to carveout Olympus’s Imaging business to a new company (“NewCo”) and subsequently transfer its shares to a fund managed, operated or otherwise handled by JIP (the “Transaction”).
> After the due diligence and further discussions and negotiations, the parties are aiming to sign a legally- binding definitive agreement for the Transaction (the “Definitive Agreement”) by September 30, 2020. We will promptly make a further announcement if any matters relating to the Transaction that needs further announcement to occur.
> 
> *1. Background and Purpose of the Transaction*
> Olympus’s Imaging business began with the manufacture and sale of a camera using the photographic lens Zuiko in 1936. Through innovative technology and unique product development capabilities, Olympus has developed and launched various products, aiming to contribute to...



Continue reading...


----------



## Chaitanya (Jun 24, 2020)

RIP.


----------



## CanoKnight (Jun 24, 2020)

Canon Rumors Guy said:


> Continue reading...


I still don't know what Olympus's unique selling point is (was). But betting on small format without anything unique hastened their doom. I will however give them credit for their wonderful OM cameras and lenses from yore.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 24, 2020)

Some of the early Olympus digital point and shoot cameras in the 1990's were great cameras for the time. Then, they seem to have lost their way. I wonder if a private equity fund can convince photographers that they are in business for the long haul.

I expect more camera manufacturers will fail this year.


----------



## 20Dave (Jun 24, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I expect more camera manufacturers will fail this year.



With so many events being cancelled, it must be a tough year for pro photographers (I'm not one). I would assume that it will then lead to less purchasing of pro gear.


----------



## miketcool (Jun 24, 2020)

CanoKnight said:


> I still don't know what Olympus's unique selling point is (was). But betting on small format without anything unique hastened their doom. I will however give them credit for their wonderful OM cameras and lenses from yore.



Olympus has been an innovator when it comes to professional imaging in all-weather, or water proof designs. I am currently working to adapt their weather-sealed macro flash for use on my Canon bodies, because no one else has bothered to make such a system.


----------



## DBounce (Jun 24, 2020)

Bye bye Panasonic GH series... M43 is dead!


----------



## Drcampbellicu (Jun 24, 2020)

Olympus briefly had a following with scuba divers and some birders 

More of companies may exit the market in the next year or so.
I’m glad I stuck with canon at this point


----------



## ethanz (Jun 24, 2020)

So once JIP or NewCo gets the camera division, what will Olympus have left?


----------



## criscokkat (Jun 24, 2020)

ethanz said:


> So once JIP or NewCo gets the camera division, what will Olympus have left?


 industrial applications, mostly various microscopes, borehole scopes, etc.

On the medical side they are one of the primary most well used supplier of endoscopes and the tools that support them. Very valuable.


----------



## jvillain (Jun 24, 2020)

A sad day for the Olympus fans and less competition is never a good thing. Given the state of the camera buisness this did have the feel of inevitability. I wonder who will end up buying the corpse.


----------



## raptor3x (Jun 24, 2020)

ethanz said:


> So once JIP or NewCo gets the camera division, what will Olympus have left?



They'll still have the vast majority of their business which is in medical diagnostic equipment. Consumer imaging was just a tiny portion of the overall company.


----------



## JPAZ (Jun 24, 2020)

Dang! Got an Oly Tough about a year ago to replace my well used Canon D10. Figured it was time for a more versatile little camera to use on the beach and in the water with he grandkids. Serves the purpose, can do RAW (with some menus) and yields "OK" IQ. Never gonna use this as a replacement for my DSLR but it is good for what I need. 
The sadder issue is the potential loss of the Micro 43 format.


----------



## esglord (Jun 24, 2020)

One of the reasons I'm on the Canon train is that they seem likely survive industry consolidation.


----------



## RobbieHat (Jun 24, 2020)

I know a bunch of Oly shooters that are loving the lenses and Micro 43 format for bird photography and some macro work. Seems to be a great little set up especially for some of the older members of the group as it is a very light setup and seems to work better than my Fuji XT3 setup. 

I will talk to them in a few weeks and see what their reaction is. I am sure it is not a big impact in the short run but I am sure they will be sad to see no future roadmap for most of the products.


----------



## BeenThere (Jun 24, 2020)

Some new bargains are likely on eBay and maybe even some good sales on new but terminal equipment. As long as you don’t require a path forward from here there could be some useful items.


----------



## Mistral75 (Jun 24, 2020)

ethanz said:


> So once JIP or NewCo gets the camera division, what will Olympus have left?



94.5% of their current sales and an improved operating result.


----------



## Hector1970 (Jun 24, 2020)

Olympus - yes sad to see. They made beautiful looking cameras. I've had a few and they look great.
The lens tend to be excellent. Lovely and small.
They just couldn't get around the limits of a micro 4/3 sensor.
They were innovative with their pro mode and moving sensor. Focusing was also pretty good.
Camera's and lens are small and compact (except the E-MX).
I've just about used all systems at this stage and their menu system was by far the worse. Too many options, simple things too hidden in the menu system.
The sensor just counted cope with medium to high ISO. They seemed unable to produce a better one.
When you see what phones can do with a smaller sensor they probably could have done better.
For sure useful for travelling. If the price collapses I might be tempted to get an OM-D E- M1 Mark II or Mark III(that's another thing - crazy naming system - you couldn't even tell another photographer what camera you had).

I have a soft spot for them but I think they never got over their financial scandal


----------



## slclick (Jun 24, 2020)

They heard I sold my Pen F and that was the last straw.

M43, nice knowing you, well...not that nice.Talk about phones replacing cameras, THIS is the format for that.


----------



## Del Paso (Jun 24, 2020)

I know many will "hate" me, but I never could get used to the OM 1-2 cameras. Having focus, aperture and shutter settings in one plane was for me an ergonomic nightmare. Lenses were great, though.
The mft digitals are an ergonomic catastrophe as well.


----------



## Groundhog (Jun 24, 2020)

A sad day ... I always loved the design of Oly cameras, just couldn't get myself to go down from APSC to an even smaller sensor size.
If they would have made an APSC or FF sensor one I would probably jumped ship.

Still love my OM2n and Pen-FT cameras and shoot them quite regularly with the awesome Zuiko lenses - just have to bury any hope for a great digital successor to those.


----------



## IcyBergs (Jun 24, 2020)

Guys at DPReview must be losing their minds


----------



## AlanF (Jun 24, 2020)

JPAZ said:


> Dang! Got an Oly Tough about a year ago to replace my well used Canon D10. Figured it was time for a more versatile little camera to use on the beach and in the water with he grandkids. Serves the purpose, can do RAW (with some menus) and yields "OK" IQ. Never gonna use this as a replacement for my DSLR but it is good for what I need.
> The sadder issue is the potential loss of the Micro 43 format.


The Tough will last for years - a great little piece of kit. Sad about the demise of such an innovative company.


----------



## AlanF (Jun 24, 2020)

DBounce said:


> Bye bye Panasonic GH series... M43 is dead!


Don't gloat.


----------



## Kit. (Jun 24, 2020)

Sad, but not surprising.


----------



## Stuart (Jun 24, 2020)

Its a shame for the consumer channel, Olympus sponsored many many exhibitions, shows and ambassadors - all that must be in doubt with the JIP streamlining to come. Fuji went straight to consumer skipping the middleman - its dire news for retailers and magazines too who rely on advertising.


----------



## ScottyP (Jun 24, 2020)

Pentax will die. I would not be surprised to see Nikon fold.


----------



## Sporgon (Jun 24, 2020)

20Dave said:


> With so many events being cancelled, it must be a tough year for pro photographers (I'm not one). I would assume that it will then lead to less purchasing of pro gear.


I wonder how many genuine pro photographers - who weren't sponsored to do so - were using M43. Not many I would think. 
IMO Olympus did a great job of making the camera and their systems seductive, but at the end of the day a Canon M series would spank it really and was half the price. Looking at those corporate figures the tiny percentage of turnover against the margin and number of employees makes ditching the imaging business a no brainier really.


----------



## Sporgon (Jun 24, 2020)

ScottyP said:


> Pentax will die.



I wouldn't be so sure about that. They are owned by Ricoh now and there are more about than you might think.


----------



## Kit. (Jun 24, 2020)

ScottyP said:


> Pentax will die.


Pentax died 12 years ago.


----------



## joestopper (Jun 24, 2020)

20Dave said:


> With so many events being cancelled, it must be a tough year for pro photographers (I'm not one). I would assume that it will then lead to less purchasing of pro gear.



I disagree.
Physical events i.e. exhibits for new product presentation is becoming less and less attractive.The pandemic just accelarated this trend. There are more efficient ways to announce new products where anyone can participate without traveling.


----------



## joestopper (Jun 24, 2020)

2020 is the year where Canon demonstrates full committment to mirrorless. This will lead to a shakeout. I am wondering how long Nikon can keep up.


----------



## herein2020 (Jun 24, 2020)

AlanF said:


> The Tough will last for years - a great little piece of kit. Sad about the demise of such an innovative company.



I'm not so sure, I needed an underwater camera for video work and the Tough couldn't match the GoPro's specs. The Hero 8 black has 4K60FPS (the tough is only 4K30FPS), tons of underwater accessories, and what was most important to me was the incredible Hypersmooth 2.0 feature. What was also surprising to me is that if you shoot the Hero 8 using the flat profile it actually color grades pretty well in post. I just leave everything in auto with an ISO limit set to 1600 and a manual white balance at 5300 or 5600 and the footage exceeded my expectations.

Hypersmooth is one feature I would love to see implemented in all cameras that have video features, it really is game changing for stability. 



Sporgon said:


> I wonder how many genuine pro photographers - who weren't sponsored to do so - were using M43. Not many I would think.
> IMO Olympus did a great job of making the camera and their systems seductive, but at the end of the day a Canon M series would spank it really and was half the price. Looking at those corporate figures the tiny percentage of turnover against the margin and number of employees makes ditching the imaging business a no brainier really.



I think Panasonic with their MFT GH series is still great for pro video work. I'm still using it nearly daily for paying video work especially for industrial projects where my larger C200 wouldn't make sense or would be overkill. For most of my small business video work I shoot with the GH5 for everything from events to social media promo videos. I would not use MFT for pro photography at least not in this stage of my life but I can definitely see the appeal of ditching the heavy FF Canons for something much smaller that still produces footage that clients are willing to pay for. 

One thing that most people don't talk about with MFT is the terrible highlight rolloff when shooting wide DR video scenarios. Everyone wants more DR but IMO pleasing highlight rolloff is more important which is one place where the GH5 falls apart and is one of the reasons I am really looking forward to the R6.


----------



## herein2020 (Jun 24, 2020)

joestopper said:


> I disagree.
> Physical events i.e. exhibits for new product presentation is becoming less and less attractive.The pandemic just accelarated this trend. There are more efficient ways to announce new products where anyone can participate without traveling.



I think 20Dave meant events like concerts, sporting events, social events, weddings, car shows, etc...And he is correct, those types of events have definitely fell through the floor. For people like me my video business is actually busier than ever...corporate customers and small businesses are accelerating their video and audio footprint to reach customer's who aren't willing to travel to their physical location, to send video messages to their employees, to complete their next video advertising project, etc. 

Photography on the other hand seems to have fallen through the floor, and I'm turning down any photography project that involves more than 1 or two people in the same room at the same time (i.e. birthday parties, weddings, ceremonies, etc).


----------



## Don Gutierrez (Jun 24, 2020)

CanoKnight said:


> I still don't know what Olympus's unique selling point is (was). But betting on small format without anything unique hastened their doom. I will however give them credit for their wonderful OM cameras and lenses from yore.




There was a lot of unique selling points early on, in fact much of the current mirrorless landscape came because of tech that Olympus helped pioneer. A lot of their technology had trickled down from their medical imaging division and it launched the way forward for their camera division, with many other companies such as Sony following suit.

Heck, Canon's EOS line was their way of taking on the Olympus name, being a nod to greek mythology and a shot at Olympus.

I never owned Olympus, but I'm sad to see them go, and we're less without them being around.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 24, 2020)

joestopper said:


> 2020 is the year where Canon demonstrates full commitment to mirrorless. This will lead to a shakeout. I am wondering how long Nikon can keep up.


Nikon does a lot more than cameras, and their financial condition is secure. Canon has also moved away from cameras and is financially secure due to their medical and industrial products.

Some of the other cameras like Pentax are part of a company that is in good financial condition, but they may be sold off if they are bleeding needed resources.

Sony is also having very poor camera sales. There is no sign that they are going to drop them, but there is no one out there wanting to pay big bucks for the camera division either.


----------



## usern4cr (Jun 24, 2020)

Today is a sad day, but was to be expected eventually.  But I've had wonderful times with my EM1m2 and lenses, and they'll continue to work like new until I get the R5 and enough RF lenses to replace them for a new decade or more of even better times for me.

Maybe they'll end up as a gift to my brother. If so, they'll probably keep happily working for a decade or more as they really were built to last forever. That would be nice, as I'll always have a warm feel for them as part of my family.


----------



## derpderp (Jun 25, 2020)

time for canon to cut prices, otherwise they'd go down the same route


----------



## SecureGSM (Jun 25, 2020)

derpderp said:


> time for canon to cut prices, otherwise they'd go down the same route


Ladies (Nikon) first...


----------



## Otara (Jun 25, 2020)

Took some of my favourite ever underwater pics with an E300, one of the odder DSLR's ever made. Its flash system just worked for u/w, they were cheap as. Then they went micro, and I was going to have to pretty much replace everything for any u/w upgrade, so I changed to Canon.


----------



## padam (Jun 25, 2020)

derpderp said:


> time for canon to cut prices, otherwise they'd go down the same route


If you sell more but at a minimal profit, you are behind, not ahead.

Nikon Z5 looks quite interesting

Same EVF as the Z6
No top panel LCD
Dual SD UHS-II memory card slots
24MP full-frame sensor (not sure BSI or not)
IBIS
Magnesium alloy camera body
1m dots LCD screen resolution
New battery: Nikon EN-EL15c (already registered online)
USB-C camera powering, not just charging
Same AF system as in the Z6
1.5x video crop in 4k, no SloMo option
6fps burst
Official announcement expected in the second half of July (I have conflicting reports on the exact date)
The camera will start shipping later this year

The question is, if they really price this around 1200$ or even less, how much profit are they going to make on it?
What about the Z6 which is more expensive and it only has a single card slot?

The EOS R6 is much stronger, especially regarding video (probably AF system as well and some other things), but still, it is going to be twice as expensive.

I would be surprised if the EOS RP can go to 800$ or lower, maybe it will on BF.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 25, 2020)

ethanz said:


> So once JIP or NewCo gets the camera division, what will Olympus have left?


They have a big medical division, and if the do not have again trouble with intransparent mafia (yakuza) like management "strategies", this should be a quite healthy business in the long-term future.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 25, 2020)

DBounce said:


> Bye bye Panasonic GH series... M43 is dead!


M34 is definitely in trouble, and Panasonic is trying to escape with their recent move into the FF market, with their ambitious S1. Unfortunately, it is not a good time to start a new system, if you are not a major player in the rapidly shrinking camera market like Canon.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 25, 2020)

Regarding M34, I was told by a birder using Olympus recently, that the manufacturers in this market did something crazy. Instead of keeping this system completely open and compatible for all brand users, they started to make (tele) lenses that only work within a brand's ecosystem. Looks like a suicidal tactics in this small market. 

In fact, as a birder/wildlife shooter, I do not use M34 currently. But I always had the idea that I would switch to such a smaller format with lighter lenses when I get old and cannot carry a 10-15 kg backpack at longer hiking trails anymore. Sad to watch that this prospect seems to fade away now...


----------



## Joules (Jun 25, 2020)

justaCanonuser said:


> But I always had the idea that I would switch to such a smaller format with lighter lenses when I get old and cannot carry a 10-15 kg backpack at longer hiking trails anymore. Sad to watch that this prospect seems to fade away now...


But that's exactly the problem with MFT. Canon and Nikon are expanding into the smaller system market as well. Nikon with their hybrid Z System, Canon with their Allrounder RF FF System and EF-M for prioritizing compactness.

While EF-M may never see a proper Tele lens that rivals some offerings for MFT (Unless they drop the 62 mm diameter shtick) , RF probably will. I don't think we know the weight of the 100-500mm yet, but I bet it will be a pleasant surprise. DO seems to also be getting a push. And if the image circle really were the limiting factor, there is nothing that keeps Canon from offering an RF lens that doesn't cover the FF sensor. Assuming that the high res R will indeed have 80 or more MP of course. Otherwise MFT maintains a certain reach advantage.


----------



## dolina (Jun 25, 2020)

This wont be the last camera to fall within the next 2 years.

I think Canon and Sony will be the least likely to tumble.


----------



## amorse (Jun 25, 2020)

Didn't Canon patent some M43 lens designs recently? I wonder if Canon saw this coming a while ago and decided to be prepared for any new opportunities.


----------



## Mahk43 (Jun 25, 2020)

ScottyP said:


> Pentax will die. I would not be surprised to see Nikon fold.


Yes Pentax would not be a suprise. 
Nikon also are very quiet, and revenues have been too inconsistent for several years.
Sony also could sell the still camera business, it has been announced several times even before the crisis, so it could have been accelerated by it.

This crisis is a trigger, companies that will fight will survive, others will die,
Yet Canon is on the side of companies that are fighting, mostly because they are launching new products, but it does not mean that this is their view for the long term.

We will see very soon on what side each company prefer to stand. After the feedback on revenues generated by new products launched in 2020 (so 2021).


----------



## koenkooi (Jun 25, 2020)

Mahk43 said:


> Yes Pentax would not be a suprise.
> Nikon also are very quiet, and revenues have been too inconsistent for several years.
> Sony also could sell the still camera business, it has been announced several times even before the crisis, so it could have been accelerated by it.
> [..]



Sony keeps playing hide-and-seek with the camera department, it gets moved to a different division pretty much every earnings call.


----------



## AlanF (Jun 25, 2020)

justaCanonuser said:


> Regarding M34, I was told by a birder using Olympus recently, that the manufacturers in this market did something crazy. Instead of keeping this system completely open and compatible for all brand users, they started to make (tele) lenses that only work within a brand's ecosystem. Looks like a suicidal tactics in this small market.
> 
> In fact, as a birder/wildlife shooter, I do not use M34 currently. But I always had the idea that I would switch to such a smaller format with lighter lenses when I get old and cannot carry a 10-15 kg backpack at longer hiking trails anymore. Sad to watch that this prospect seems to fade away now...


The birder got it wrong. Their tele lenses do work across systems. What doesn't work is combining IS with IBIS across systems. For example, the IS of the Pana-Leica 100-400mm will work with an Olympus body but won't get the added Olympus IBIS.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 25, 2020)

derpderp said:


> time for canon to cut prices, otherwise they'd go down the same route


Sure, sell at a loss and stay in business. Canon is almost paranoid about costs, they never add a feature or upgraded piece of electronics unless it will pay for itself or is needed for function. They squeeze every penny, and their prices are lower than anyone else. 

Take the EOS RP for example, who is selling a full frame Digital camera for near the selling price of the RP? They are $899 now, and $999 with a 24-105mm RF lens.


----------



## AlanF (Jun 25, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Sure, sell at a loss and stay in business. Canon is almost paranoid about costs, they never add a feature or upgraded piece of electronics unless it will pay for itself or is needed for function. They squeeze every penny, and their prices are lower than anyone else.
> 
> Take the EOS RP for example, who is selling a full frame Digital camera for near the selling price of the RP? They are $899 now, and $999 with a 24-105mm RF lens.


B&H are selling the Sony A7II for $898 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...ilce7m2_b_a7ii_mirrorless_digital_camera.html


----------



## Hector1970 (Jun 25, 2020)

A good article on micro 4/3 rumors on JIP. 43rumors.com
Relatively small company whose speciality is breaking up companies and selling assets. Quoting someone else they say :They took Vaio from Sony in the past.For Vaio Sony still hold 10% and JIP outsource everything.JIP have no R&D.
It says Olympus has to pay JIP to take it.
The company is preparing to sell only from inventory.
I wonder would that create a fire sale or create a shortage. I’ve a fair collection of Olympus glass but not the best camera. People even more heavily invested might want to by another camera. I’d be tempted by a discounted EM -1 II or III which would be a useful travel camera.
Olympus has fallen


----------



## secant (Jun 25, 2020)

Olympus has been a good camera company imo they build good cameras. I've had their E30, Em5, and Em1 and they are all good cameras, robust build quality, good menu and usability, good layout, and they are the forefront in IBIS, I think they are the first to have 5 axis IBIS in consumer grade digital interchangeable lens cameras.

But with their price and fierce competition in the full frame format, the prices between going full frame is not that much anymore compared to m43.


----------



## briangus (Jun 25, 2020)

This has been on the cards for the last couple of years
Large investor wants them to concentrate on the profitable side so the camera side is toast.

They have got their way now so camera division is gone
Not sure what JIP are bringing to the party.
Looks like they may be a protectionist blackhole/repository for Japanese Tech


----------



## Czardoom (Jun 25, 2020)

Sad news. Surprising in some ways as there some articles recently that said M4/3 was the best selling format in Japan. And Olympus is always in the top 3 sellers of mirrorless in Japan as well. Who knows the reliability of the articles that I saw.

Having owned both Olympus and Canon cameras for the past 6 years or so, I only wish my Canon cameras (I've owned the 6D, and now the R and RP) were as good as my Olympus E-M1 II. Great build quality, industry leading weather sealing, in-camera focus stacking (works much better than the RP's focus bracketing), high quality lenses (no Canon lens comes close to my 12-100mm lens in terms of quality and convenience. And the image quality is not nearly as bad a forum dwellers like to believe. Noise on my E-M1 II is essentially the same as my RP, and was similar or better than Canon's APS-C crop cameras that I have owned over the years. And, no, you will not be seeing any FF lenses anywhere as small as some of Olympus' offerings. Hopefully, I will get another 5 or 6 years of use with my E-M1 II. Seriously considering getting a new camera while I still can and putting it in storage until the current camera bites the dust.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 25, 2020)

AlanF said:


> The birder got it wrong. Their tele lenses do work across systems. What doesn't work is combining IS with IBIS across systems. For example, the IS of the Pana-Leica 100-400mm will work with an Olympus body but won't get the added Olympus IBIS.


Ah, thanks. I never used M34 so far. Maybe I got it wrong when he explained me. Anyway, it looks like it will not be relevant anymore soon. I am sorry that with Olympus another great camera brand might get lost, but they will not be the last ones, I fear. Personally, I always liked what Oly did in the analogue times, and their Zuiko lenses are legendary.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 25, 2020)

dolina said:


> This wont be the last camera to fall within the next 2 years.
> 
> I think Canon and Sony will be the least likely to tumble.


I fear Nikon could be the next victim. This would be a real loss. We have both a big Nikon and Canon gear, so this would end the future of one of our investments. Plus, Nikon makes some good cameras. They are not as rugged as Canon's cameras on prosumer level as we found out the hard way, but e.g. Nikons D500 is a better camera than the (older, of course) 7D2 , as I learned from shooting side by side with comparable lenses. Hope Nikon survives.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 25, 2020)

Czardoom said:


> ... high quality lenses (no Canon lens comes close to my 12-100mm lens in terms of quality and convenience...


Don't forget, it is much easier to design a good M34 lens, since the lens elements are smaller. I also disagree with your general verdict. I am pretty sure you didn't use ALL of the many lenses made by Canon, so you can't say that. In particular in the L segment, some of Canon's lenses are really impressive performers (I have quite a collection of L glass, so I can say that).


----------



## usern4cr (Jun 25, 2020)

Czardoom said:


> Sad news. Surprising in some ways as there some articles recently that said M4/3 was the best selling format in Japan. And Olympus is always in the top 3 sellers of mirrorless in Japan as well. Who knows the reliability of the articles that I saw.


I've wondered that, too.


> Having owned both Olympus and Canon cameras for the past 6 years or so, I only wish my Canon cameras (I've owned the 6D, and now the R and RP) were as good as my Olympus E-M1 II. Great build quality, industry leading weather sealing, in-camera focus stacking (works much better than the RP's focus bracketing), high quality lenses (no Canon lens comes close to my 12-100mm lens in terms of quality and convenience.


Funny that two EM1 II owners are commiserating here on a Canon website.  You have the advantage of also owning a Canon system, which I don't - yet. I will agree that: * The Olympus build quality was superb, * It led the industry in weather sealing, * It led the industry in image stabilization, * It had precision focus stacking (I had issues with the implementation of it so I can't say it was the best), * It had superb quality pro lenses (but I'm not saying they're better than Canon), and * The 12-100mm lens has no current RF equal in terms of *lens* quality, stabilization and convenience in that zoom range (24-200 FF EQ) as long as you want a wide depth of field (like for landscapes).


> And the image quality is not nearly as bad a forum dwellers like to believe. Noise on my E-M1 II is essentially the same as my RP, and was similar or better than Canon's APS-C crop cameras that I have owned over the years. And, no, you will not be seeing any FF lenses anywhere as small as some of Olympus' offerings.


I found the image quality good enough (in medium to bright lighting) after I ran it through DXO PhotoLab and their Prime denoising, and probably much better than most here think possible. But the latest FF sensor image quality is inherently much better, especially in pulling detail from shadows and resolution, and that's something I'm looking forward to in the R5. The Olympus lenses could be smaller as the optical path could be narrower onto a much smaller sensor. But the much smaller sensor was their Achilles' heel in many regards and ultimately its undoing. In particular it made it too hard to have big background bokeh to separate the object from the background. The best it could do was the 45mm f1.2 pro (90mm f2.4 FF EQ) which can't touch the FF lenses with f1.2 / f1.4 / f1.8 / f2 regarding blur size.


> Hopefully, I will get another 5 or 6 years of use with my E-M1 II. Seriously considering getting a new camera while I still can and putting it in storage until the current camera bites the dust.


You really want to buy a new EM1 II or III now and stay with their system long term?  Wow - you're hardcore, there! If you didn't get the 300mm f4 IS pro lens then I suggest you get it, too, as it was also a spectacular lens. But I'll keep my EM1 II gear only until my imminent Canon gear overtakes it in most respects. Then it'll find a happy home with my brother and stay in the family. It was, after all, a truly wonderful camera system for its time.


----------



## joestopper (Jun 25, 2020)

herein2020 said:


> I think 20Dave meant events like concerts, sporting events, social events, weddings, car shows, etc...And he is correct, those types of events have definitely fell through the floor. For people like me my video business is actually busier than ever...corporate customers and small businesses are accelerating their video and audio footprint to reach customer's who aren't willing to travel to their physical location, to send video messages to their employees, to complete their next video advertising project, etc.
> 
> Photography on the other hand seems to have fallen through the floor, and I'm turning down any photography project that involves more than 1 or two people in the same room at the same time (i.e. birthday parties, weddings, ceremonies, etc).



Agree. Thatmakes sense.


----------



## SecureGSM (Jun 26, 2020)

justaCanonuser said:


> I fear Nikon could be the next victim. This would be a real loss. We have both a big Nikon and Canon gear, so this would end the future of one of our investments. Plus, Nikon makes some good cameras. They are not as rugged as Canon's cameras on prosumer level as we found out the hard way, but e.g. Nikons D500 is a better camera than the (older, of course) 7D2 , as I learned from shooting side by side with comparable lenses. Hope Nikon survives.


+++ I fear Nikon could be the next victim.

This. But Pentax is likely to go first.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 26, 2020)

Here's a good read about Oly in Ming Thein's blog. Ming Thein is the guy who undermined the Canon hate in the internet by making Canon's color science with his 5DRS review a bit more popular (in the 35mm world he uses Nikon):
https://blog.mingthein.com/2020/06/25/the-beginning-of-the-end/#more-19938


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 26, 2020)

SecureGSM said:


> +++ I fear Nikon could be the next victim.
> 
> This. But Pentax is likely to go first.


It depends on Ricoh's strategic plans what happens with Pentax. A sign for a decline could be the slow-down of new Pentax product releases already before the corona pandemics. On the other hand, Ricoh kept their own camera line alive so far, despite it always was a small niche.


----------



## Kit. (Jun 26, 2020)

justaCanonuser said:


> Don't forget, it is much easier to design a good M34 lens, since the lens elements are smaller. I also disagree with your general verdict. I am pretty sure you didn't use ALL of the many lenses made by Canon, so you can't say that. In particular in the L segment, some of Canon's lenses are really impressive performers (I have quite a collection of L glass, so I can say that).


Actually, it's much harder to design a good M34 lens _with the same absolute aperture_. That Olympus 12-100 lens is an f/8 equivalent lens (by absolute aperture). Personally, I wouldn't buy such a lens for a full frame camera.


----------



## hollybush (Jun 26, 2020)

Hector1970 said:


> The company is preparing to sell only from inventory.
> I wonder would that create a fire sale or create a shortage. I’ve a fair collection of Olympus glass but not the best camera. ... I’d be tempted by a discounted EM -1 II or III which would be a useful travel camera.



It may depend which country you are in. When they discontinued the film OM system, I had a fairly extensive system but was missing one key lens. Given the robustness of the gear, I decided to simply complete my system by getting that one lens. Unfortunately, Olympus had chosen to terminate their agreement with the distributor here in Australia at the same time (while commencing to sell non-OM photo stuff directly!).

For many months afterwards, that lens (the 90mm f/2 macro) was being sold new online by Olympus USA for bargain prices, but they would not ship to Australia. I never found one used here, either, although I once missed one by a couple of hours.

My advice, assuming you are not in Japan, would be to either move quickly on buying that last piece, or sell the lot as soon as you can.


----------



## ScottyP (Jun 27, 2020)

Nikon already ceded much of its sensor development to Sony. That was the point they gave up and started to die.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 27, 2020)

Canon like every other company is feeling Covid-19. Here is a slide from their current financial report with comments below. Their strategy continues to be pushing out new higher end cameras as opposed to entry level models. Initially, the new models will have higher prices, but if demand continues to drop once those initial sales are fulfilled, expect sharp drops in prices. 

They want to get as many of the R series cameras out in users hands because it drives sales of the very profitable RF lenses. No one makes a RF compatible lens. Some are sold that mount, or have a adapted rear end. I think Canon likely built in some encryption into the RF protocol. The older EF protocol still works.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 27, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Canon like every other company is feeling Covid-19. Here is a slide from their current financial report with comments below. Their strategy continues to be pushing out new higher end cameras as opposed to entry level models. Initially, the new models will have higher prices, but if demand continues to drop once those initial sales are fulfilled, expect sharp drops in prices.
> 
> They want to get as many of the R series cameras out in users hands because it drives sales of the very profitable RF lenses. No one makes a RF compatible lens. Some are sold that mount, or have a adapted rear end. I think Canon likely built in some encryption into the RF protocol. The older EF protocol still works.



Canon was also hit heavily in the printer sales area. Companies were closed, and obviously could not buy high end printers. Many companies will be struggling to survive, and Capital acquisition will be at a minimum.


----------



## AlanF (Jun 27, 2020)

ScottyP said:


> Nikon already ceded much of its sensor development to Sony. That was the point they gave up and started to die.


Maybe it was a lifeline buying the best available technology. Time will tell.


----------



## mustafa (Jun 27, 2020)

I had Minolta, then Mamiya and then Olympus systems until I realised that only Canon had (a) good products and (b) a long-term future. That realisation must have saved me quite a lot of money over the years.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 27, 2020)

Kit. said:


> Actually, it's much harder to design a good M34 lens _with the same absolute aperture_. That Olympus 12-100 lens is an f/8 equivalent lens (by absolute aperture). Personally, I wouldn't buy such a lens for a full frame camera.


You are right, that's a good point. Olympus would have to double the speed of their lens to get it on the level of a good FF lens... Well, Canon obviously goes the opposite way with their new dark tele lenses. So to say, they M34ized their latest lenses after a start with very fast RF lenses. But I think it is a smart move, because now customers who are not willing to invest in fast, expensive and heavy glass have an alternative not coming from Sigma or Tamron. Plus, Canon really seems to trust the low-light performance of their new sensors. This hidden message is the most attractive one for me, in particular with an eye on the R6.


----------



## justaCanonuser (Jun 27, 2020)

ScottyP said:


> Nikon already ceded much of its sensor development to Sony. That was the point they gave up and started to die.


Hm, in 2018 they still had their own engineers who developed the design of the sensors then manufactured by Sony: https://petapixel.com/2018/07/17/yes-nikon-designs-its-own-sensors/
Did they change this strategy in the past two years? I can imagine that latest cost cutting could have change this game.


----------



## tmc784 (Jun 27, 2020)

Lucky I stick with Canon since I learn photography.


----------



## Alino (Jun 28, 2020)

RIP for the inventor of the TTL system


----------



## usern4cr (Jun 28, 2020)

Alino said:


> RIP for the inventor of the TTL system


Olympus created the TTL system?
If so, it just adds to the long list of their innovations.
Too bad they up & died.

If I were heading up their company way back, I'd hope I would have seen that their (relatively) tiny sensor would be their undoing eventually, and at the very least also start making lenses for the FF market like Sigma, Tamron and all the others. Olympus made such magnificent lenses of high quality that they could have been the "L" quality FF lenses for affluent buyers on those systems.


----------



## Sporgon (Jun 28, 2020)

Alino said:


> RIP for the inventor of the TTL system



I think you're wrong there; Topcon were the first, early '60s, which wasn't very successful, rapidly followed by Pentax with their Spotmatic, which was hugely successful.


----------



## melgross (Jun 30, 2020)

That’s announcement is meant to make things look good , but it misses a number of serious problems, such as management concealing fraud of $1.7 billion for ten years before finally getting caught. This put a major crimp in the company. They’ve never been the same. And since then, they’ve continued to be mismanaged.

JIP is no savior. TheY destroyed Sony/s Vaio line when they bought it. Now it’s just a few pieces of junk. I expect the same will happen here after a few years if this goes through. JIP itself was set up for a specific purpose, well two actually. One is to get around japans laws and customs where they aren’t allowed to close a division, or a company if that means losing jobs. There are circumstances where that’s allowed, but olympus couldn’t do it. JIP can, slowly but surely, and just keep what ever they want.

the second reason is to keep Japan’s IP out of foreign hands. They are practically paranoid about this, and it’s thought that the reason Gossen was “set up” was to get rid of him and his management team as they became more integrated with Renault.


----------



## melgross (Jun 30, 2020)

SecureGSM said:


> +++ I fear Nikon could be the next victim.
> 
> This. But Pentax is likely to go first.


It’s hard to say, because ?Ricoh is a big company, and Oentax is very small. They could just keep it around without spending much. In fact, that what they’ve been doing. The last few lenses were just contract lenses branded for them.


----------



## SecureGSM (Jun 30, 2020)

melgross said:


> It’s hard to say, because ?Ricoh is a big company, and Oentax is very small. They could just keep it around without spending much. In fact, that what they’ve been doing. The last few lenses were just contract lenses branded for them.


it all makes sense, provided the shareholders are happy to keep taking losses instead of profits year after year after year.. and they are not...  so something is gotta give...


----------



## SteveC (Jun 30, 2020)

melgross said:


> That’s announcement is meant to make things look good , but it misses a number of serious problems, such as management concealing fraud of $1.7 billion for ten years before finally getting caught. This put a major crimp in the company. They’ve never been the same. And since then, they’ve continued to be mismanaged.
> 
> JIP is no savior. TheY destroyed Sony/s Vaio line when they bought it. Now it’s just a few pieces of junk. I expect the same will happen here after a few years if this goes through. JIP itself was set up for a specific purpose, well two actually. One is to get around japans laws and customs where they aren’t allowed to close a division, or a company if that means losing jobs. There are circumstances where that’s allowed, but olympus couldn’t do it. JIP can, slowly but surely, and just keep what ever they want.
> 
> the second reason is to keep Japan’s IP out of foreign hands. They are practically paranoid about this, and it’s thought that the reason Gossen was “set up” was to get rid of him and his management team as they became more integrated with Renault.



Perhaps I should nab one of their water-resistant point-and-shoots soon.


----------



## Kit. (Jun 30, 2020)

SecureGSM said:


> it all makes sense, provided the shareholders are happy to keep taking losses instead of profits year after year after year.. and they are not...  so something is gotta give...


Unless Hoya pays them for the brand name promotion.


----------



## AlanF (Jun 30, 2020)

SteveC said:


> Perhaps I should nab one of their water-resistant point-and-shoots soon.


You should - they got it right with TG5 and 6.


----------

