This year at PhotoPlus Expo, all the rage was around mirrorless. Canon, Nikon and even Panasonic have joined the likes of Sony, introducing full-frame mirrorless cameras. But this begs the question — what’s in store for Olympus, a long-time mirrorless manufacturer using a micro four-thirds format?
The micro four-thirds format was released by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008. While there’s been a handful of other micro four-thirds cameras made since its introduction, Olympus and Panasonic have been the heavyweights.
With Panasonic’s announcement of its full-frame S1R camera, the company noted that they’re not abandoning micro four-thirds, just offering an alternative in the market. Despite that, many industry experts are worried about the future of the system.
So where does that leave Olympus? I sat down with Aki Murata, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Olympus, and Olympus Visionary Joe Edelman, to find out what’s in store.
Professional features in a compact body
While Olympus might feature a micro four-thirds sensor, it includes many professional-level features, including 5-axis image stabilization, 4K video output, weather sealing, silent mode, High-Res Shot Mode, Live Composite Mode and more.
“After we launched the [OM-D] E-M1 Mark II, many professionals switched to it,” Murata said. “We’ve been investing new features and new technologies like Pro Capture Mode, and this will continue. Our [image stabilization] is still the most powerful in the world, and that will not change.”
As a former Nikon shooter, Edelman agrees. “I switched to Olympus for its mobility, design, features and quality,” he said. “I fell in love with Olympus because the OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the M.Zuiko lenses put the fun back in my photography, and to be clear, my work hasn’t skipped a beat.”
All about quality and mobility
For Murata and Olympus, mobility is the name of the game, which dates back to Olympus’ roots as a company with Yoshihisa Maitani, creator of the OM system.
“[Maitani] said three things. We should provide ultimate reliability, a compact system and a lightweight system. This will differentiate us. He said we should be very unique, and stand out from others that way.
“We want to provide mobility in the system. That’s why we don’t make full-frame — we will not make full-frame. It doesn’t make sense for us to do that. We want to provide cameras you can take anywhere and everywhere, and use them at any time.
“We want to provide the cameras you can take anywhere and everywhere, and use them at any time.”
So what’s next?
“If it makes sense to develop something new, we will. Based on our philosophy, we want to provide the best picture quality in combination with mobility — we believe that’s the best solution,” said Murata.
“Technology is always improving. People say micro four-thirds has limitations because of sensor size, but that will not be the case in the future as technology improves.”
Reaction to Canon, Nikon and Panasonic
While Olympus is all about quality and mobility, the company also recognizes and respects the need for a full-frame system.
“So many of these new full-frame cameras are offering megapixel counts beyond what our eyes can appreciate and dynamic range that we don’t need unless we simply don’t want to pay attention to exposure in camera,” said Edelman. Not to mention the fact that the cameras are getting bigger and heavier and much more expensive.”
“There will be a need for full-frame, but it’s not for everybody,” said Murata. “We believe that most of the professionals will be happy with micro four-thirds. We’d rather use our resources to develop new lenses and new bodies.”
“We use our resources only on micro four-thirds, instead of developing a new system,” said Murata. We cannot give seamless experiences to our consumers [if we change]. It doesn’t make sense [to switch].
“We will be the pioneers in the micro four-thirds market.”
Very glad to hear this!!!!
Very happy to read this article. As a long time Canon user, I took up MFT in 2014 after seeing a friend using the EM1. With my backpack dropping from 11kgs to under 5kgs for similar lens abilities it made a lot of sense for my body (and meant I was within airlines baggage allowances if checked, which has happened once). I know the compromises (depth of field, low light performance) but they either aren’t a factor to me or I can work around them (IBIS makes up for a lot of low light ability if hand holding, buy a… Read more »
Couldn’t agree with you more, Michael! I was very happy to hear of Olympus’ commitment to the micro four-thirds system.
I think that Olympus and Mr. Murata need to touch base with real, actual users of the system and ask *them* what they hope for the future. For example: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4334683#forum-post-61858936 In short: going mostly “pro high-end” is not making a large majority of the user base happy, it seems the largest majority of owners / buyers / potential buyers are *not* at that level in the market. Olympus is seen as starting to lose touch with the ‘meat’ of the market, not offering mid-level owners / buyers enough advancement to warrant buying (the OM-D E-M5 mk II is now 3… Read more »
You are out of touch like most in DPR.
OLYMPUS HAS NOT ABANDONED SMALL AND LIGHT M4/3!
What Olympus has done is EXTEND their catalogue to PRO line more, still offering small and light lenses and bodies.
One system, something to everyone’s needs.
I started being a pro 1973 and worked with 35mm, 6×6 and 4×5″ technical cameras, to do a wedding-shooting was a struggle for life. With 2 35mm body’s, 2 Hasslblad body’s, both systems with several lenses, Metz 60 CT1 flash and tripod i was on the road. 2 day i use just the my EM1 II plus 3 primes. So happy since i started to use Olympus FT E1 (and won the Dutch Award for Wedding) and so on the E3 , E 5, OMD Em 5, Em1 and now EM1II.
So glad to see this article. I love my Olympic gear and look forward to shooting M43 well into the future.
To my simple mind, the apparent number of Pro photographers converting from Canon and Nikon, to the Olympus E-M1 MkII supports the Olympus philosophy. In my Camera Club, there has also been a similar swing to Olympus. Long may this continue, as long as Olympus sticks to their strategy.
I totally love Olympus , the high quality lenses and good feel ergonomically. Lets lok at the work that people produce please. Check out the Olympus Visionaries!
“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Couldn’t agree with you more Jay. I’m an Olympus user myself, and I’m very, very happy with the output I receive! It’s all about the work, instead of who has the most megapixels or largest sensor size!
I started being a pro 1973 and worked with 35mm, 6×6 and 4×5″ technical cameras, to do a wedding-shooting was a struggle for life. With 2 35mm body’s, 2 Hasslblad body’s, both systems with several lenses, Metz 60 CT1 flash and tripod i was on the road. 2 day i use just the my EM1 II plus 3 primes. So happy since i started to use Olympus FT E1 (and won the Dutch Award for Wedding) and so on the E3 , E 5, OMD Em 5, Em1 and now EM1II.
I totally love Olympus , the high quality lenses and good feel ergonomically. Lets lok at the work that people produce please. Check out the Olympus Visionaries!
“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Couldn’t agree with you more Jay. I’m an Olympus user myself, and I’m very, very happy with the output I receive! It’s all about the work, instead of who has the most megapixels or largest sensor size!
Very happy to read this article. As a long time Canon user, I took up MFT in 2014 after seeing a friend using the EM1. With my backpack dropping from 11kgs to under 5kgs for similar lens abilities it made a lot of sense for my body (and meant I was within airlines baggage allowances if checked, which has happened once). I know the compromises (depth of field, low light performance) but they either aren’t a factor to me or I can work around them (IBIS makes up for a lot of low light ability if hand holding, buy a… Read more »
Couldn’t agree with you more, Michael! I was very happy to hear of Olympus’ commitment to the micro four-thirds system.
To my simple mind, the apparent number of Pro photographers converting from Canon and Nikon, to the Olympus E-M1 MkII supports the Olympus philosophy. In my Camera Club, there has also been a similar swing to Olympus. Long may this continue, as long as Olympus sticks to their strategy.
I think that Olympus and Mr. Murata need to touch base with real, actual users of the system and ask *them* what they hope for the future. For example: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4334683#forum-post-61858936 In short: going mostly “pro high-end” is not making a large majority of the user base happy, it seems the largest majority of owners / buyers / potential buyers are *not* at that level in the market. Olympus is seen as starting to lose touch with the ‘meat’ of the market, not offering mid-level owners / buyers enough advancement to warrant buying (the OM-D E-M5 mk II is now 3… Read more »
You are out of touch like most in DPR.
OLYMPUS HAS NOT ABANDONED SMALL AND LIGHT M4/3!
What Olympus has done is EXTEND their catalogue to PRO line more, still offering small and light lenses and bodies.
One system, something to everyone’s needs.
So glad to see this article. I love my Olympic gear and look forward to shooting M43 well into the future.
Very glad to hear this!!!!
I started being a pro 1973 and worked with 35mm, 6×6 and 4×5″ technical cameras, to do a wedding-shooting was a struggle for life. With 2 35mm body’s, 2 Hasslblad body’s, both systems with several lenses, Metz 60 CT1 flash and tripod i was on the road. 2 day i use just the my EM1 II plus 3 primes. So happy since i started to use Olympus FT E1 (and won the Dutch Award for Wedding) and so on the E3 , E 5, OMD Em 5, Em1 and now EM1II.
Very glad to hear this!!!!
I totally love Olympus , the high quality lenses and good feel ergonomically. Lets lok at the work that people produce please. Check out the Olympus Visionaries!
“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Very happy to read this article. As a long time Canon user, I took up MFT in 2014 after seeing a friend using the EM1. With my backpack dropping from 11kgs to under 5kgs for similar lens abilities it made a lot of sense for my body (and meant I was within airlines baggage allowances if checked, which has happened once). I know the compromises (depth of field, low light performance) but they either aren’t a factor to me or I can work around them (IBIS makes up for a lot of low light ability if hand holding, buy a… Read more »
So glad to see this article. I love my Olympic gear and look forward to shooting M43 well into the future.
To my simple mind, the apparent number of Pro photographers converting from Canon and Nikon, to the Olympus E-M1 MkII supports the Olympus philosophy. In my Camera Club, there has also been a similar swing to Olympus. Long may this continue, as long as Olympus sticks to their strategy.
I think that Olympus and Mr. Murata need to touch base with real, actual users of the system and ask *them* what they hope for the future. For example: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4334683#forum-post-61858936 In short: going mostly “pro high-end” is not making a large majority of the user base happy, it seems the largest majority of owners / buyers / potential buyers are *not* at that level in the market. Olympus is seen as starting to lose touch with the ‘meat’ of the market, not offering mid-level owners / buyers enough advancement to warrant buying (the OM-D E-M5 mk II is now 3… Read more »
You are out of touch like most in DPR.
OLYMPUS HAS NOT ABANDONED SMALL AND LIGHT M4/3!
What Olympus has done is EXTEND their catalogue to PRO line more, still offering small and light lenses and bodies.
One system, something to everyone’s needs.