Sad news – smart phone cameras are getting too good. And it’s so easy to upload an iPhone photo to my ImageShack photo hosting site.

“Long-standing camera brand Olympus is set to sell off that part of the company after 84 years, citing a downturn in the digital market for its decision…”

https://mol.im/a/8457707

Doesn’t surprise me. I believe I read Nikon is struggling too. With smart phone cameras as good as they are and the price of mirrorless coming down, I sort of see 2 extremes: SLR or smartphone. The point and shoot is in danger. And you need the support from 3rd party lens manufacturers such as Sigma and Tokina to make lenses for your bodies as I’ve seen them do for Nikon, Canon and Sony.

Wow, that is really sad. I love the micro 4/3 technology they co-developed.

It has been coming for years, and while their cameras are capable and have many followers, there were few that were investing in that sensor size (MFT) when their cameras were close, if not sometimes more than full frame cameras.

It does not help that the major 3rd party lens manufacturers did not buy into their system. That is mostly true as Sigma used existing glass (just three) and remounted it for MFT, but never developed a sense specifically for it, Tokina never made a MFT lens, and Tamron I believe made just one. And this is coming from a mount that was released in 2008.

Panasonic's MFT lenses were made for their Lumix system, which has a far greater following than Olympus, which left you looking for Rokinon and Samyang (same company). Voigtlander, Meike and Mitakon all made a few, but the shortfalls of the sensor size, and the elevated prices led many to question...why would I invest in this? The sole benefit most of my camera friends have shared is the weight of the lenses, but that is typically offset when trying to get a wide angle shot in low light.

The the MFT system is not dead - Panasonic will continue to develop it, the economic slowdown worldwide has slowed digital photography significantly, while the crop factor, the increased ISO, reduced light gathering, and depth of field issues still remain.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
The point and shoot is in danger.

I thought the point and shoot was already on life support.

We still had one until about 3-4 years ago when I became satisfied that our iPhones were really up for the task (in terms of camera and battery life).

-Rob

Funny thing also- not once in 84 years were you interrupted taking a picture or video on your camera by a incoming phone call, text, instagram, twit message or chat.

When going to kids events these days it is entertaining watching people try to shoot video/take picts on their phones while they continue to get call vibration/rings and text prompts which interrupt.

quote:

people try to shoot video/take picts on their phones while they continue to get call vibration/rings and text prompts which interrupt.

Most (all?) phones have a "Do Not Disturb" setting, as well as "Airplane Mode."

quote:

Originally posted by Rinehart:
Funny thing also- not once in 84 years were you interrupted taking a picture or video on your camera by a incoming phone call, text, instagram, twit message or chat.

When going to kids events these days it is entertaining watching people try to shoot video/take picts on their phones while they continue to get call vibration/rings and text prompts which interrupt.

We were hiking in the fall when a young lady was playing with her phone while climbing stairs at South Mountain State Park and fell and broke her arm and got a concussion. We don't allow phones out until you are stopped or off the trailhead.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

people try to shoot video/take picts on their phones while they continue to get call vibration/rings and text prompts which interrupt.

Most (all?) phones have a "Do Not Disturb" setting, as well as "Airplane Mode."

It is not about that, it is about the distraction and danger it causes.

Wow. I wonder what this will do to micro 4/3!?

Damn. Not great news at the local / personal level.

Olympus North America moved their campus from Melville, N.Y. to the Lehigh Valley (Center Valley, PA) about 15 years ago to take advantage of lower taxes and a skilled talent pool.

The talent pool were employees that were laid off or soon to be laid off as a result of the microelectronics / fiber-optics crash from what was AT&T / Lucent / Agere, where I had worked for many years.

Although I was able to ‘hang on’ for a while longer at Agere, other’s did not but many of my friends and former co-worker’s landed very good jobs at Olympus. Most have been there for all 15 years, and unfortunately many of them support the camera division.

Ugh. Time to make some phone calls offering support and help in whatever manner that I can to those who may or will be impacted by this.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

people try to shoot video/take picts on their phones while they continue to get call vibration/rings and text prompts which interrupt.

Most (all?) phones have a "Do Not Disturb" setting, as well as "Airplane Mode."

V-Tail, you are absolutely correct, but strangely enough, very few people seem to use those settings.
A friend showed me her video (recorded on her phone) of her son scoring a soccer goal and during the entire video she recorded you could hear her phone beeping and pinging with different messaging app notifications about every 20 seconds.

I bought an Olympus Om2n back in 1982 or 1983. It served me well as the high school yearbook photographer, and got me excused from countless classes
I still have that camera, and a couple of times a year I'll run some B&W film through it and develop it myself.
Too bad for the company - they made great cameras and lenses.

quote:

during the entire video she recorded you could hear her phone beeping and pinging with different messaging app notifications about every 20 seconds.

Good grief! I'm hearing impaired, so my primary use of my phone is for text or email communication, but a message notification every 20 seconds? I doubt that I even get one every 20 minutes!

Of course I do not have accounts for anything like facebook, twitter, nor anything similar, so that cuts my messaging down to stuff that is more or less "real."

Wow, that’s bad news for me, as my collection is all Olympus OM-D and the smaller MFT bodies.
Most recent buy was an E-M5 Mk III which I took to our trip to Australia and New Zealand.
I don’t need any more lenses; as long as the bodies can be repaired I will be fine.

I have always thought that it was a fair trade to give up maximal IQ for much smaller and lighter gear.

I figure my current Olympus outfit will last me through the next ten years of grand baby videos and some travel.

Still have my two OM-1 bodies and lenses for them too, but don’t run film through them.

Just found this on dpreview.com:

quote:

In a statement, Olympus says the new company will carry on making and selling camera equipment and suggests it will maintain R&D and manufacturing facilities around the world. Crucially, the new company will also provide support to existing Olympus camera owners.

I haven't researched it, but a sell-off may mean that another company can step in and essentially keep the company alive.

I have a Lumix MFT kit, but really kinda want a PEN -F for a walking-around camera.

I have a really quality Nikon digital camera capable of very professional results. I never use it because of my phone camera.

quote:

Originally posted by kidcop:
I haven't researched it, but a sell-off may mean that another company can step in and essentially keep the company alive.

I have a Lumix MFT kit, but really kinda want a PEN -F for a walking-around camera.

Not saying it is not possible, but before this whole virus started, Olympus said its sales (bodies) were down 60% in 2019. I don't know how you loose that % of the market (Sony's sales were down 26%, Canon was down 31%, and Nikon was down 40% in 2019). Sony, Canon, Fuji and Nikon already controlled 90% of the interchangeable lens digital camera market before that, so it sounds like they picked up share as Olympus lost it.

Not sure who steps in with the resources to develop new bodies, and not sure how you compete with full frame cameras that are the same prices the OM-D E-M1 mk3, but have vastly more lens options. Maybe a Sony or Canon steps in and implements them as a separate layer. The camera industry has gotten very tight, with a bunch of new technology, and it seems to be only the fittest that are surviving. I think Samsung fully exited the market a few years ago too.

From DP Review:

"2. Imaging Business after the Transaction
NewCo will succeed and maintain the research and development functions and manufacturing functions globally as reformed under the contemplated structuring reforms to continue to offer high-quality, highly reliable products; and also continue to provide supports to the imaging solution products that have been distributed by Olympus."

Like 4x5 I too have an OM2n with too many lenses, and most all the bells and whistles accessories (e.g. winder, vari-magni finder, etc.). Bought it during a deployment which took me to Japan. It was and is a great compact 35mm camera. I even had a color darkroom back in the late 70s-early 80s.

My son has run some B&W film through it in recent years. That said it has been stored away as, sadly, those days are over.


These days my camera is a venerable 12 year old Panasonic DCM-LX3 1/1.63" 11.3MP CCD (10.1MP effective) 2.5x optical 24-60mm F2.0-2.8 sub compact sized digital camera. Works very well for the needs of this old timer.

quote:

Originally posted by 280nosler
Not saying it is not possible, but before this whole virus started, Olympus said its sales (bodies) were down 60% in 2019. I don't know how you loose that % of the market (Sony's sales were down 26%, Canon was down 31%, and Nikon was down 40% in 2019). Sony, Canon, Fuji and Nikon already controlled 90% of the interchangeable lens digital camera market before that, so it sounds like they picked up share as Olympus lost it.

Not sure who steps in with the resources to develop new bodies, and not sure how you compete with full frame cameras that are the same prices the OM-D E-M1 mk3, but have vastly more lens options. Maybe a Sony or Canon steps in and implements them as a separate layer. The camera industry has gotten very tight, with a bunch of new technology, and it seems to be only the fittest that are surviving. I think Samsung fully exited the market a few years ago too.

I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. Now I feel kinda guilty for getting an iPhone 11 Pro.