The Big Names are starting to fall

[Tronhard]

According to DPReview.com Olympus Optics' parent organization is selling the camera maker division off to a company called Japan Industrial Partners.  The story is HERE...

They blame the ingress into the market of smarphones, but the Pandemic has certainly impacted sales and manufacturing around the world.  Some claim that Olympus lost their way: going from their Micro 4/3 format that was highly popular, to a large investment in expensive FF cameras aimed at a tiny percentage of the market.  Either way, the future does not look good for the brand.

Personally, I shall be sorry to see the demise of Olympus in the camera world: they have a long, proud history of producing small, efficient cameras and optics that began in 1919 (camera manufacture began in 1936).  I still have one of their cameras, a TG-5 that I must admit I have rarely used, but it is considered one of the best tough cameras on the market - perhaps that product will live on with some other brand.

The changes in technology, world conflict and the on-going pandemic issues are all putting pressures on camera makers.  I think Canon have a good chance of weathering this and coming out as an even more dominant player with cameras like the EOS R5, if it fulfulls it's promise.   I wonder if Nikon will fare as well...

[Tronhard]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"a friend of mine that retired to Colorado.  He shoots all the time with his 4/3 Olympus. He loves it.  ...  that doesn't turn it into a pro level camera. I fully doubt the Olympus OMD EM1X will make any significant inroads into the professional ranks."

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Ernie that is exactly my point.    I think Olympus made a big mistake with their efforts to get into the pro-level market, something that involves a lot of cost and development for a long-term (unlikely) gain.   Olympus had a following, not amongst really serious photographers but often those more casual users who were either going to travel and wanted small sized kit as I described, or for retired folks who had issues using the larger, heavier cameras. Then there are, of course, those who have shot Olympus since the film days and are brand loyal.   I know a few older photographers who got them as gifts and decided they liked the physical form factor.  

I totally agree that serious photographers will go for the likes of Canon, Sony and Nikon, but I don't think that was Olympus' market space - until they made the mistake of trying to go there - most likely because of cell phones.

I think they have suffered from the combination of a shrinking market, unwise investment and really unfortunate timing from the pandemic that hit them when they were most vulnerable.  All of these camera companies are departments within much larger conglomerates that are looking at shrinking contributions from what used to be a very profitable line.  I would expect that some others are looking to see how they will weather the short and long term threats to those products.

[kvbarkley]

https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2020/06/olympus-rip.html

[Tronhard]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2020/06/olympus-rip.html

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I have to agree with the tone of the article, Kevin.   Olympus took a couple of wrong turns and have lost their way.

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"a friend of mine that retired to Colorado.  He shoots all the time with his 4/3 Olympus. He loves it.  ...  that doesn't turn it into a pro level camera. I fully doubt the Olympus OMD EM1X will make any significant inroads into the professional ranks."

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If you say so.  I didn't think sensor size ever had anything to do with it.   I see that it does.. I guess that means 7D2 is semi-pro.

[ebiggs1]

" I guess that means 7D2 is semi-pro."

You are correct, sir!  It is not a pro level camera.

[ebiggs1]

"Olympus had a following, not amongst really serious photographers but often those more casual users who were either going to travel and wanted small sized kit as I described, or for retired folks who had issues using the larger, heavier cameras."

Save the guy that went to Colorado, I know nobody that is using an Olympus. Not that I have am extremely large group of friends, co-workers and such, but you get to know a lot of people when you are in this business.  Like I said in my classes there might have been one.

[RobertTheFat]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

" I guess that means 7D2 is semi-pro."

You are correct, sir!  It is not a pro level camera.

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Well, Ernie, I'm pretty sure we don't have any illusions that we're going to talk you out of your idiosyncratic definition of "pro level". But I think we've all seen professional photographers using 7D's. And so, I'll bet, have you.

[ebiggs1]

"...I think we've all seen professional photographers using 7D's. And so, I'll bet, have you."

You are correct, sir. I myself had two of them.  A professional photographer that is seen using a 7D or a Powershot or a smartphone does not make them "professional" level cameras. Just as a person using a 1DX Mk III, does not make him a professional photographer.  Pretty basic, I'd say.

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

" I guess that means 7D2 is semi-pro."

You are correct, sir!  It is not a pro level camera.

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Could you please refresh our memories on exactly what it is that makes a camera body "a pro level camera"?

[ebiggs1]

Certainly, Canon 1DX Mk III or Nikon D6. Period!