Olympus in deep trouble.

What started as seemingly some kind of "cultural dispute" between senior executives at Olympus is turning into a major financial scandal. The company has now admitted hiding losses for 20 years and has currently lost 70% of its value. It seems unlikely that we can expect anything on the camera front for some time to come, if at all. It would be a shame if a company with an illustrious history in camera design and manufacture were to disappear, but with shocking revelation after shocking revelation and the scale of the figures involved, it seems unlikely that there will ever be a return to "business as usual".

Its possible the brand and its current products can be picked up by another company and survive in some way but any notion of it continuing as before is surely impossible.

For the latest on what is proving to be an endless stream of ever more damaging revelations, here's a link to the Reuters website.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/us-olympus-idUSTRE7A702X20111108

Olympus 12mm f/2 - Review and user experience - Part 1 - First Impressions

This summer sees the release of three fast primes for the m4/3 system. The Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 and Olympus 45mm f/1.8 are scheduled for later, but the Olympus 12mm f/2 is out, and mine arrived this morning.

So:-

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Its a very small lens. Looks and feels well-made, though this isn't a metal m-mount lens.
Looks good - great combination with the E-P3.

Sharp. Well it should be, it costs a LOT of money.

What's it like at f/2?

Well it's very good indeed. No softness wide open here. Beautifully crisp with nice bokeh.

Pièce de résistance

Slide down the focusing ring and up comes an infinity mark, and three aperture marks set at f/5.6, f/11 and f/22. As its an autofocus lens it goes beyond infinity in order to avoid problems when the lens is focusing. However move the infinity mark to the centre and you have exact, precise infinity focus. So moving the centre of this mark to match up with the aperture markings gives you the maximum depth of field for that particular aperture. This is the hyperfocal distance or zone focusing. 

On the lens I have this works PERFECTLY. I took lots of shots with the lens set at the f/11 mark to get the maximum amount of depth of field while keeping infinity in focus.

I'll go into this more in a later post.

I'm no "street photographer" and this is a somewhat lacklustre attempt but again the lens was set at the f/11 hyperfocal distance, I had the E-P3 set to touchscreen release. Since using this form of focusing is manual (The AF is disengaged automatically) just touching the screen anywhere fires the shutter. Olympus call this "Snapshot mode". Proper street photographers might call it something different. Possibly "Just what I've always wanted".

Just what I've always wanted might describe how I feel about the 12mm. This is a VERY useful lens for me, and a short initial session with it suggests it has the quality to go with this usefulness.

A very welcome addition to the m4/3 range.

More over the next few days.

Olympus and camera phones.

Apparently a campaign by Olympus Australia.

 

From Chase Jarvis - http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2011/07/olympus-is-talking-trash-about-your-camera-phone/

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras - http://www.1001noisycameras.com/2011/07/new-olympus-ad-disses-camera-phones-and-texting-will-it-backfire.html

Typing in getarealcamera.com gets you the Olympus Australia website.

I'm keeping quiet on this one, though anyone who's read this blog can probably guess where my sympathies lie!

Is this as good as micro four thirds gets? Where does it go from here?

Panasonic GH2 20mm f/1.7

The question "Is this as good as micro four thirds gets?" is not meant in a negative way. The combination of the GH2 sensor and the 20mm and 45mm Panasonic lenses would be most peoples choices for the best quality in both camera and lenses.

Indeed I've certainly found this to be the case. By using top quality m-mount lenses, the Voigtlander 25mm and the Leica D 4/3 lenses, I have been able to get slightly sharper results from the GH2, but in terms of the system itself these two prime lenses give very satisfactory results.

Panasonic GH2 45mm f/2.8

There is however the question of where does it go from here? The GH2 has managed to combined more pixels with better high ISO performance, and I believe its the case that this ratio of MP's to noise will continue to improve. However there is always the question as to whether the choice of the smaller sensor is going ultimately to "loose out" in the long run to the APS-C size used by other manufacturers.

Panasonic GH2 20mm f/1.7  

In terms of what I've used, I see two different comparisons. Neither the Sony NEX or Samsung NX systems have so far proved to me that they are superior to m4/3. I've tried a NEX-5, an NX-10 and NX-100 and none of those cameras have persuaded me to give up my m4/3 cameras and lenses. However the Fuji X100 is a different proposition. The APS-C sensor in this camera produces stunning results. Quite simply, for me, the best non-full frame sensor I've ever used, both in terms of sharpness of results and high ISO performance. 

So while Panasonic and Olympus, look to me to be holding their own against Samsung and Sony (Though the rumoured 24MP sensor for the NEX, may change this significantly) the Fuji has indicated just how good the slightly bigger sensor can be.

Panasonic GH2 45mm f/2.8

So can m4/3 compete with this? Or should they even be trying? There are already indications that Panasonic and Olympus and indeed Sony are competing now in what might be called the "miniturisation market". Ever smaller cameras, trying to attract the lucrative "point and shoot" compact market. Again, only rumours but it seems both Panasonic and Olympus have smaller m4/3 cameras on the verge of being announced. 

However, they face a lot of competition and it could be argued that the particular uniqueness of the system is being lost.

Panasonic GH2 20mm f/1.7  

So have these companies finally decided that the best chance for profit is going down the small camera > upgrade path rather than the DSLR > high quality smaller lighter alternative one?

Personally I hope not. I hope that the E-P2 and GF1 don't become extinct lines. The fuss over the X100 (and it shows no signs of stopping) has indicated a tremendous interest and demand for a camera of this type. 

Though Fuji have obviously been affected by the recent disasters in terms of supply, they also admitted that they vastly underestimated the demand for their camera and hadn't made enough to fulfill pre-orders. Add in to this the fact that Voigtlander also underestimated how many people would want their 25mm f/0.95, and that is constantly in short supply, and the difficulties Leica had in their first year of making enough M9's to satisfy demand.

There is, I believe, a huge market for quality equipment. Smaller than the market for compacts certainly, but how big I guess nobody knows. Its certainly a market that tends to buy more gear and probably spends more money on it. 

I hope that m4/3 doesn't ignore this, to a large extent obviously because I'm part of it!, but also because I believe its an important part of the market. Not just because of its spending power but because its the most vocal, and the most likely to try new things (or in the case of some of the equipment I've mentioned - old things!) Panasonic and Olympus are in a prime position to take advantage of this. 

Its certainly going to be interesting to see what Olympus particularly come up with next. That will, I think, give us a very good idea as to where m4/3 is headed. We can then decide if its for us or not.

Panasonic GH2 45mm f/2.8

Panasonic L10 14-150mm Zoom and Olympus by Thom Hogan.

PANASONIC L10


Since I bought this camera I think I've only taken it out three times. After yesterday that is going to change. 





I've been wondering what to do with it almost since I bought it. I originally bought it in a second hand kit with the 14-50mm f3.8-5.6 Vario-Elmar Lens. My plan was to keep the lens and sell the camera on. However last week I sold the lens as a kit with my somewhat battered GH1. I've had this camera on and off ebay for as long as I've had it. I keep changing my mind about it constantly. The rare times I've used it I've been very impressed. 





It has very poor dynamic range, poor high ISO performance, the viewfinder is like looking down a long tunnel and its not terribly fast to use. It is after all a 2007 camera. However at 100 ISO, with careful exposure and shooting with the Leica D 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens it produces stunning results. Really stunning results. 





The 10MP files it produces are so good that they are easily capable of interpolation up to twice their size. Sharp and with great colour. The 14-150mm lens was designed for this camera and it shows. Its a lens I love and have written about constantly and with this camera it really excels. There's no chance of Panasonic (or anyone else it seems) ever making another 4/3 camera, so its really the only opportunity to use this lens on a body where it doesn't struggle with AF. 





I've finally made up my mind concerning this and its going to be staying. Its very light for a DSLR and it cost me very little. I'm never going to use it in anything other than good light at 100 ISO but it does that so well, its crazy for me to sell it. 








THOM HOGAN ON OLYMPUS


This has caused a bit of a stir. Written after Olympus posted financial results which shows the Imaging (Camera) division is loosing money.


http://www.43rumors.com/olympus-will-become-less-japanese-bad-financial-results/

http://www.43rumors.com/thom-hogan-what-is-the-future-for-olympus/ 


See threads at:- 
http://www.mu-43.com/f35/thom-hogan-future-olympus-9441/
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=37730892 


Some of the points made:-


- The imaging division is continually loosing money while the whole company is doing good (see medical division). Thom: “The problem in imaging is progressive: they’ve lost more money in each successive quarter during the past year. This, too, is not a good sign without anything in sight that would reverse that trend. Neither the E-PL2 nor XZ-1 are going to change that overall trend. I’ll get to the problem in a moment.”


After putting a lot of energy into developing some great 4/3 lenses we now have only one 4/3 body being sold that uses them, and we’ve been told that might be the last 4/3 body. Great, so what did that do to 4/3 lens sales? Zonk. Meanwhile, it’s unclear where Olympus is going with m4/3. So far we seem to be back-pedaling to catering to the lowest end (E-P2 -> E-PL1 -> E-PL2, plus the lenses are catering more mass market, too). 


But I’m going to be much more critical here: in the now 20 months we’ve had m4/3 bodies from Olympus, we’ve gotten four iterations of the same thing. This does not look like progress on a clear direction. It looks like “trying to figure out how to make it more cheaply.” That Panasonic is now doing the same thing is not a hugely reassuring thought. What we haven’t seen yet is PARALLEL development pushing m4/3 forward. Okay, I’ll stand slightly corrected, the GH2 does push forward from the GH1 in a number of clear ways. But Olympus isn’t there yet. The longer the time between the four look-alikes and something significantly new, the bigger the problem for Olympus.


Oh, one more thing. Olympus seems to think (along with Panny) that one of their key customers is the so-called Camera Girl (young Japanese woman). If so, they’ve failed to deliver (so far) the one thing that customer would want, which is no-brainer workflow to social sharing of images. The bluetooth module may be targeted at that, but it’s not here yet and I’m not convinced that they got the “no-brainer” part right, either.


THOM HOGANS website is at:- http://www.bythom.com/


Those who read here regularly will know my regular pieces despairing at what Olympus do, or rather don't do. I've always been a bit of an Olympus fanboy. Anyone who make a camera as pretty as the E-P2 must have something going for them.


However their recent history of releases is very frustrating for myself, as a consumer who is interested in buying their products. 


When will Olympus, and Panasonic to a certain extent, realise what people want from m4/3. Does this positioning of it somewhere between a compact camera and a DSLR really work?Shouldn't they be looking at two different lines? One being a compact camera upgrade, along the lines of a simplified and cheaper GF2 and the other a full-on alternative to a DSLR including "professional" grade construction, features, accessories and lenses. Like a "souped-up" GH2. Those of us who are enthusiastic for m4/3 and there are more and more of us all the time, see it very much as an alternative to the heavy, bulky DSLR. But we want it to do what a DSLR can do. We want well-made, fast lenses, we want fast operation, we want weather-sealing, "we want the world and we want it now!!"


Instead Olympus gives us the E-PL2 In White and a "mock-up"!! 


One of Thom Hogans possible scenarios is that Panasonic buy the Olympus imaging division, and that makes good sense. Olympus design plus Panasonic engineering, sounds perfect to me.


My theory is that a product that has nothing to do with either company will determine the future direction for m4/3. That is the success or failure (or something in-between) of the Fuji X100.


Fuji's marketing for this camera is entirely different to both Olympus and Panasonic.


Just look at how they market it.

Professional, Craftsmanship, Sexy, Retro, Technology, Style, Up-Market, Exclusive etc. etc.
I'm drooling already!!


Since nobody's used one, we have no idea of how good it is, and it could be a huge anticlimax, but the publicity is amazing. High-grade "Camera Porn" maybe, but it gets the attention of serious photographers.


If this camera is a roaring success both in terms of performance and sales expect a shift in where m4/3 goes and some of the things that I and others are clamouring for may appear. If it is a failure or achieves just reasonable results then expect an E-PL3, in Pink.


Voigtlander apparently sold out the first production run of their expensive and specialist 25mm f/0.95 Nokton in weeks. What does this tell us? It tells me that people are serious about a DSLR alternative and they want serious products. 


Thom Hogan talks about Japanese "Camera Girl" and I really have no idea what he's talking about but if he's referring to people who take pictures primarily to document their lives and post to sites like facebook, then don't they use mobile phones? Is this market really going to buy expensive m4/3 cameras to do this when an iPhone does it quicker? Who exactly thinks its a good idea to make cameras that connect with phones, so that you can then upload the picture you took on the camera to Twitter using your phone? Why not just take the picture on your phone in the first place? Next time you see someone photographing a group of friends out on the town saying "Oh hang on a moment, I need to get my camera out and use aperture priority, because I'm looking to get a nice bokeh effect for the buildings behind you" let me know!!


I know nothing about running a camera company, but I do know that I'm currently not interested in what Olympus have to offer. I did have a couple of their cameras and lenses, but after using them for a while, I decided I liked working with, and the results from my Panasonic cameras and lenses more. I'm just one consumer admittedly, but so far in all the forums debates I've seen on this so far, I've yet to see someone leap to the defence of Olympus and say yes they are definitely on the right track. It would be sad if they follow Konica Minolta into anonymity and assimilation, but if they don't come up with something soon then I fear thats where they are headed.


Words - David
Images - David and Ann