Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Back in 2020, Olympus sold its camera and imaging business after a series of rumors. In 2021, Olympus’s imaging business belonged to OM Digital Solutions, and word started to spread that the company would fully rebrand from Olympus.
And now, it’s happening, OM Digital Solutions has announced that Olympus is no more. Other than the upcoming gear, even the existing models will from now on be a part of the “OM System.”
The official announcement from OM Digital Solutions is expected tomorrow, during the OM System Plaza. As tends to happen, though, photos and specs of the new camera have leaked a little early. It’s the second new OM camera from OM Digital Solutions since completing its acquisition of Olympus in January 2021. And it looks like it won’t disappoint.
It’s said to be coming at a price lower than the recently released OM System OM-1 and will feature a 20.37-megapixel sensor with 121 AF points, 4K 30fps video, IP53 dust and splashproof weather resistance, live composite mode, 7.5 stops of image stabilisation and all of the usual features you’d expect from a camera brought to you by the brand formerly known as Olympus.
Released in 2019, the Olympus OM-D E-M1X was met with a bit of a mixed response. It was a high-performance flagship – the Olympus equivalent of the Canon 1DX Mark III or Nikon D5 – but it had Micro Four Thirds users torn. It’s a big camera with a built-in vertical grip and the whole point of MFT for them is that it’s a small camera system. Not so much with the OM-D E-M1X.
Well, now, it looks like its time is ending. Japanese retailers are starting to list the Olympus OM-D E-M1X as discontinued, although it’s not listed as such on the Olympus website nor is it discontinued on the OM Digital website. At least, not yet. Many US retailers like Amazon and B&H still list cameras in stock, but when Japanese retailers start to list camera gear as discontinued, it usually becomes official not too long afterwards.
Both Sony and OM Digital have scheduled events for late October, suggesting that recently rumoured Sony A7R V and OM Digital OM-5 camera bodies are expected to be announced very soon. There have been a handful of OM-5 leaks with a possible announcement at some point this month but there hadn’t previously been any specific dates mentioned. Now, their OM SYSTEM PLAZA Fan Event 2022” is coming on October 29th & 30th in Tokyo, Japan.
The Sony Creative Space 2022 event is scheduled to take place in New York City on October 27th and 28th making the rumoured October 26th announcement date seem pretty plausible. This is usually the time when Sony has its own event at the same time as PhotoPlus Expo (or “Create NYC” as it’s now called) but with the event being cancelled this year, it looks like Sony’s pushed their date back to later in October.
3D printing has evolved a lot over the last decade or so. We’ve gone from super basic and pretty brutal looking printers that you had to feed nylon weed whacker string into (because nobody was producing filament) to the pretty accurate and reliable printers we have available to us today. With that improved accuracy, better quality filaments and better software, we’re able to print some pretty cool things now.
Like, in the case of Witono at Witonosfreestyle, spare parts to repair his Olympus OM-D E-M1 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera. Electronically, his Olympus OM-D E-M1 worked just fine, but there were a few parts missing, like the accessory port cover, the eyepiece and somewhat importantly, the battery cover lever. He wasn’t happy about these missing parts, so, he designed and 3D printed his own.
While the in-person event was cancelled again this year, CP+ still went ahead as an online event. As a result, we got a smaller than usual flurry of gear announcements, but there were quite a few good ones – particularly if you’re a Micro Four Thirds or Fuji shooter. As has become usual with events that have gone online, many of the announcements came before CP+ was scheduled to start.
It’s not surprising that some releases come a little early, given that there’s no in-person event, as it allows each company to essentially have its own day to shine without being overshadowed by its competitors. And the first two in this list are a perfect example of that!
Well, kicking off the OM System with a camera named the Olympus OM-1 on the 50th anniversary of the original Olympus OM-1 doesn’t seem like such a bad marketing idea. And that’s exactly what OM Digital Solutions has done today with the announcement of the OM System “Olympus” OM-1 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera. It’s the first camera release since Olympus came under the new ownership of OM Digital Solutions, but it seems a little underwhelming.
Of course, we knew what was coming because the entire specs sheet leaked last week, but now we know the price – which is $2,199 body only or $2,799 with the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens. And while its specs are fairly respectable in general, I don’t think they’re as good as they could be for a flagship model camera. It’s not all bad, though and it’s got a handful of pretty interesting features.
Despite the distinct lack of Nokishita in the rumour mill these days, it seems leaks are still coming through just fine. This time, it’s the new OM System camera (which many seem to be calling the “OM-1”) specs that have leaked in their entirety almost a week ahead of the official announcement on February 15th. And thanks to 43Rumors the complete PDF of the camera’s specs have been hosted online.
Assuming the leak is accurate, then as rumoured, it does indeed feature a 20-megapixel sensor with a 5,184 x 3888 pixel resolution as well as High Res modes offering 80MP (10,368 x 7,776), 50MP (8,160 x 6,120) and 25MP (5,760 x 4,320) options. It doesn’t seem to offer the 4K DCI 120fps 12-Bit RAW video that was rumoured, but it will allow 120fps stills shooting for up to 92 frames.
OM Digital has confirmed that there is a product announcement coming on February 15th beginning at noon EST (5pm UK time) for a new camera. They’ve been teasing a new “wow” camera for a little while now and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the original and legendary Olympus OM-1. So, it seems like as good a time as any to launch the first powerful camera under the new OM System brand.
The timing is quite interesting, coming just a week before the announcement of the Panasonic GH6 on February 21st (or 22nd, depending on where in the world you live). And while information on both cameras is very limited, they seem to be on a very similar level, they seem to be targeting a similar audience with some very similar video specs if the rumours are true. Except, the OM might be significantly cheaper.
After a bit of an early leak, OM Digital Solutions has now officially announced its first item with the new OM System branding. It’s the OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 20mm F1.4 Pro for Micro Four Thirds, offering a field of view equivalent to that of a 40mm lens on a full-frame body. While announced today, the lens doesn’t officially release until December 10th.
It has what OMDS describes as “beautifully bleeding blur” (at least, that’s what it translates to), which is an odd phrase given that the lens primarily seems to be targeted towards landscape and travel, although portraits do get a little mention. And now we get to see that video in full which, despite the name change, is still on the “Olympus” YouTube channel.
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