My current thoughts on Olympus Cameras?

If you have watched my vlogs, then you’ll know that I’m an avid Olympus user currently using an Olympus OMD EM1ii as my weapon of choice. This week has been particularly worrying for any Olympus owner after all the news of Olympus selling its camera business to a company called JIP. I thought I would pen my personal thoughts on my future with the Olympus brand.

I have been an Olympus user for just over 2 years having purchased an EM10ii, which was a camera I loved. It was light, intuitive and such a delight to use. It even pushed me into selling my Canon gear and upgrading to an EM1ii. A decision I have never looked back on. If you have been in the Olympus system or the Micro Four Thirds world over the last 6 months, you’ll no doubt read about the rumours of the impending demise of the Micro Four Thirds system.

I’ll be honest if you look at Micro Four Thirds on paper and compare them to other systems such as APS-C and Full Frame, you’ll probably find that Micro Four Thirds lack in many ways. Yes, it’s a system that has some compromises but some of its faults are easily overcome and more than make up for the comfort and ease of use. I have penned my thoughts on using Micro Four Thirds if you want to read further.

My thoughts on the sale of Olympus.

Now my thoughts on the sale of Olympus. Do I think this is the end? No, I actually think that this could be a good thing. The new company that will own Olympus cameras are a company that is well known for taking unprofitable companies and making them profitable. Sony sold its VAIO line in 2014 to this company and are still making computers today. This gives me hope.

Many large companies have divisions or subsidiaries which are separate parts of the company. The imaging division was just one part of a company that also includes medical equipment. A company often takes assets from an unprofitable part of the company and focuses its resources on a more profitable part of the company. When a company goes out on its own, it no longer has this burden of having to make profits as part of a bigger company. This can often allow the company to do what it does best. Only time will tell if this happens when the Camera part of Olympus is sold. I have high hopes.

What does this mean for me?

I thought hard about this. Will this make me sell all my Olympus Gear and switch systems? At the moment, No. My EM1ii still works and is getting updates. There is still a good selection of Lenses and Accessories. I also expect that there will be many more of these to come in the future. If the new company doesn’t work and they close operations, then there will still be a great second-hand market, in the future. Let’s face it, I can still buy the kit for some of my 40-year-old film cameras.

What do I hope to see from Olympus in the future?

I’d love to see some better updates to new models. The recent EM5 and EM1 releases have been a little underwhelming. The tech is largely the same as the predecessors. The recent EM1iii has been referred to as an EM1x in a smaller body. I’d also love to see more affordable pro lenses. I could pick up a very good 70-200 L series lens for my old Canon for around £200-£300 albeit an older model, some of the Olympus models can be over £1000 a pop.

I’d also love a higher resolution Micro Four sensor with better low light capability, or if they could fit a full-frame sensor in the body of the current EM1. I’d buy it in an instant. My biggest decision for choosing Micro Four Thirds is weight, and if I could have a Full Frame camera in the same size and weight as a current micro four-thirds camera, you’d find me first in line.

Yes, it’s a worrying time for all Olympus users but I’m really optimistic, and my EM1 will still take the images I want to take for years to come. We’ll wait and see what the future brings.