[Wheatridger]

A most renowned and venerable name in SLR cameras was brought back to life this week with the announcement of the digital Olympus OM-1, new flagship of the Micro Four Thirds fleet. Though it's not really made by Olympus, the new owners must have negotiated the brand name rights for this one model. That retro cue certainly has worked for me. The original OM-1 was the most enjoyable SLR I ever owned. Small, sleek and beautifully built, it make my prior Nikkormat FTN feel like Soviet camera. The Nikon FA that replaced it after it was stolen had more features, but not the same perfection. The OM-1 was the smallest system SLR camera, but with the largest, brightest viewfinder. It still is, I believe. Everything you really needed, and nothing you didn't (except a fast flash sync, which I wanted.)

The specs of the new OM-1 are easy to look up. Performance numbers are out of sight, though the crazy 160 FPS only works with fixed focus, and the buffer's full in less than one second. Pixel count is just the same 20 mpx, but it's not the same old sensor. About five years advanced over the last MFT sensor, this little Sony as four color receptors and signals from each pixel site. Fast readout speed enables more computational photo wizardry under the hood. It has every whistle- and-whizbang niche feature of our Pentaxes, including astrotracing and handheld pixel shift, plus some we don't get, like live-view composites in real time and focus stacking. And it weighs almost a pound less than my beloved K-1. That means a lot to me, more each passing year.

I've dabbled in MFT with a GX8 and a few low-cost lenses. The gear is wonderful to lug around, and nice to use. Twenty megapickles can be easily multiplied to a full jar of 80 megagherkins in Lightroom, if I want to print big or crop. I've always been impressed with clarity and detail of my MFT lenses. Yes, the K-1 can capture more detail, but I struggle to show that difference at full-screen size. The IQ limitation I hit with MFT is noise, and that cuts the available DR by about two stops. My K-1 images will handle maximum Shadow and Highlight adjustments in LR without color shifts or noise; the GX8 can't. Then there's the EVF issue. I really enjoy seeing natural light through a lens, not on a screen. I hated early EVFs, and still think of them as a tool instead of a pleasure. But as screen get better every generation, someday they'll be good enough.

So if it passes the DR test on both counts, I may be making a big change. I did not want to reach this point just as I've assembled every Pentax lens I want. My Limited would adapt just fine, though, and my Takumars. Many users have dumped MFT over the past year (howdy, Uncle Vanya!), but that's the kind of moment that I usually jump right into something. IN DSLRs, I've progressed from Nikon to Konica-Minolta to Sony alpha to Pentax! Konica-Minolta and Sony alpha-mount to Pentax, so don't take my advice!

[biz-engineer]

Not sure how successful will OM-1 be due to various reasons why certain cameras are successful. But in terms of how specifications fit to the average consumer photographer, I think they nailed it: quick, lightweight with best in class electronic features (eye AF , tracking and so forth), with zoom lenses. That is something that smartphones can't do, and something that a mobile phone user may want to have for working around the limitation of a smartphone. Now, I'm not is that market segment, I'm more into slow shooting / "fine art" prints kind of things, so I wouldn't be interested at all in such OM-1 system due to micro4/3 sensor being too small. I'm looking more closely at medium format, preferably 100Mpixel or more.

[surfar]

about the new OM-1?

Might I add that the WR has an actual rating standard...IP53.

OMds shed around half of their workers in the transition from Olympus,they are now lean and hungry.

This is a photographic delight with adequate moving picture ability, the problem I see is that Fuji will come in at slightly more $$$ but higher resolution and 8K video.

OM-1 will attract the diehard Oly users(same as Pentax does).Whether they can find new buyers will be the battle?

[pimpim]

OM-1 will attract the diehard Oly users(same as Pentax does).Whether they can find new buyers will be the battle?

Based on OM's marketing channels and IP rating they seem to start from e.g. the wildlife niche. I guess an area where Fuji and maybe also Panasonic is probably not very interesting.

[Lord Lucan]

Though it's not really made by Olympus, the new owners must have negotiated the brand name rights for this one model.

I followed the JIP purchase of Olympus as far as public information was avaialble and understand that the JIP subsidiary, OM Digital Solutions, is allowed to use the "Olympus" branding for the time being, but not for ever. It is unclear how long this permission will last. My guess is that it remains applicable to designs that originated under the old Olympus, and the new OM-1 will have been one of those. I cannot imagine it will apply to any new designs by OM Digital Solutions because Olympus (the old company) will have had no contol over them and would not necessarily want its name associated with them - it might be mindful of what happened to Yashica.

[surfar]

I guess an area where Fuji and maybe also Panasonic is probably not very interesting.

Well,with the X-H2 and 200-600mm coming in May,I'd think Fuji will be very interesting!

---------- Post added 02-17-22 at 09:20 PM ----------

the wildlife niche.

It would be very capable but the cost of the 150-400 is quite substantial.Here it is in the wild with said lens.

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[Rondec]

Some of this stuff is more advertising hype than anything else. What we have here is a micro four thirds camera that will cost over 2000 dollars that has a faster frame rate than previous cameras.

I still have major concerns about the brand formerly known as Olympus and future development. I imagine stuff that was in the pipeline will continue to be released and then things will sort of dry up. Maybe that's OK, but if you want to go mirrorless most of the other brands seem to be feeding their R and D budgets a lot more than what Olympus will be doing going forward.

[surfar]

a lot more than what Olympus will be doing going forward.

Olympus isnt putting anything into RnD,they are out of the consumer camera/lense scenario.

[UncleVanya]

I am impressed by the camera and really have high curiosity to see what the sensor does. If my dad had not gotten me into Sony I wouldn’t have left m43. Three complete systems was just more than I could deal with.

[Rondec]

Olympus isnt putting anything into RnD,they are out of the consumer camera/lense scenario.

Of course. What JIP invests in R and D in the structure formerly known as Olympus.

That better?

[Serkevan]

Some of this stuff is more advertising hype than anything else. What we have here is a micro four thirds camera that will cost over 2000 dollars that has a faster frame rate than previous cameras.

I agree, though in all honesty it has a good handful of interesting features (several pixel shift modes/focus stacking/etc.) and I like that they are willing to put a number on weather resistance.

But it's a lot of money you're paying for that performance (and for having the first taste of thar new MFT stacked sensor). I'd be far more interested in seeing what a hypothetical OM-5 does with a price tag of, say, ~1400-1500.


Also, and this is highly subjective: the advanced Oly (or OMD now) cameras have always looked beautiful to me. The OM-1 is no exception. Layout seems just right.

[CristiC]

If used for wildlife/birding, the 2x crop factor is certainly nice with a lightweight 300mm lens. Here are some sample images close to the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. The AF system, augmented by Artificial Intelligence, is very good.

[Wheatridger]

Based on OM's marketing channels and IP rating they seem to start from e.g. the wildlife niche. I guess an area where Fuji and maybe also Panasonic is probably not very interesting.

That's right down the Pentax marketing lane, though.

---------- Post added 02-17-22 at 12:53 PM ----------

I followed the JIP purchase of Olympus as far as public information was avaialble and understand that the JIP subsidiary, OM Digital Solutions, is allowed to use the "Olympus" branding for the time being, but not for ever. It is unclear how long this permission will last. My guess is that it remains applicable to designs that originated under the old Olympus, and the new OM-1 will have been one of those. I cannot imagine it will apply to any new designs by OM Digital Solutions because Olympus (the old company) will have had no contol over them and would not necessarily want its name associated with them - it might be mindful of what happened to Yashica.

By my guess, if the OM-1 isn't a hit, there probably won't be any more high-end cameras from JIP/Olympus. They got this one chance to turn things around.

[pimpim]

By my guess, if the OM-1 isn't a hit, there probably won't be any more high-end cameras from JIP/Olympus. They got this one chance to turn things around.

Yeah reading about the JIP construction. Just this camera business is really supposed to keep itself afloat. Seems a tough call with the high R&D costs involved, complex supply chains, and a killing field of competition, where basically all competitors are part of conglomerates with also other sources of income. I guess the "good" news is that the prices for the competition seem also to be going upwards pretty fast, focus of all brands is moving to the flagships, and the OM (and Pentax for that matter) flagships are pricy, but not 8000 dollar pricy

[Wheatridger]

Yeah reading about the JIP construction. Just this camera business is really supposed to keep itself afloat. Seems a tough call with the high R&D costs involved, complex supply chains, and a killing field of competition, where basically all competitors are part of conglomerates with also other sources of income. I guess the "good" news is that the prices for the competition seem also to be going upwards pretty fast, focus of all brands is moving to the flagships, and the OM (and Pentax for that matter) flagships are pricy, but not 8000 dollar pricy

With so many dumping MFT for larger formats and more stable brands, there's good deal in used lenses to be had. I got my Panasonic Leica 12-60 zoom (effectively 24-120) for around $400. For $250 I got two tiny, slow but sharp zooms that cover 12-200 mm equivalent range. Together, they weigh 10 ounces.