Olympus OM-D E-M5, E-M1, E-M10 - Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 Owners Thread

Having had time to reflect on the news Olympus is to sell its imaging division I am disappointed but not surprised given the year on year losses the company has being making. The photographic industry in particular is struggling with the advances smartphones are making and Olympus may not be the only camera company going forward that may have to consider their future strategy.

For me personally I am fully committed to the Olympus system and have invested a fair few pounds since my switch from Canon to Olympus at the start of this year and am really happy with my decision. My reason for the switch to M4/3 was after lugging around heavy camera bodies and lens combos I wanted to free myself up from this burden M4/3 has and will continue to provide me with the freedom for the foreseeable future.

I still think M4/3 has a future and on balance the Olympus system gives so much bang for your buck as a system the pro lenses are on par to Canon L (I owned several in my Canon days) A system does not suddenly become defunct overnight and its a case of lets wait and see for me.

I am already planning my next pro lens the 7-14 F2.8 Pro confident in that my future relationship with my Olympus system will continue as I have no desire to go full frame or crop. Been there done that.
 
jerry12953 said:
From Thom Hogan (quoted by Hoppy above)

" Olympus continues to sell and support cameras worldwide."

Would you buy into Olympus now?
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TBH I wouldn't now no due to the uncertainty, and unfortunately I can see that being an issue for Olympus moving forward. Confidence in the brand will lower and as a result sales will diminish and further compound the issue. I do hope I'm wrong though and they come back with a bang (y)
 
RedRobin said:
Andy Rouse writes a good long piece about the news :

https://www.facebook.com/pg/wildmanrouse/posts/?ref=notif
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Yes Robin, as I said in my earlier posts if you actually read the memorandum of understanding between Olympus and JIP (that I've linked to a couple of times) , the feeling (assuming you want to believe its contents) is very different from the Olympus M43 is dead message that is overwhelming the Internet.
 
RedRobin said:
Andy Rouse writes a good long piece about the news :

https://www.facebook.com/pg/wildmanrouse/posts/?ref=notif
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He does make some very strong and balanced points........................as I perceive it (compared to the way he has changed brands in the past, he has clearly "tied his horse to the Olympus wagon" .

Much of what he says chimes with my view (surprised me :lol: ). As I said in another post, only time will tell...........................so eveyone, just keep it shooting :D
 
jakeblu said:
You haven't got Saturdays lottery numbers as well have you Chris?
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Olympus have been lying about this for year’s, they have had everyone’s pants down
In exactly same way as vw/Audi Had everyone’s pants down over the emissions scandal
Jip has not bought it so they can play happy families making m43 camera, it’s an asset stripping company, it’s bought Olympus for lot’s of patents that are extremely valuable
Panasonic will not come to the rescue either
It’s a sad day really, but Olympus has been totally to blame for pushing ahead with this m43 at the cost of everything else, when you put all your eggs in one basket and the basket breaks where do you turn
I’m not replying anymore to this, and I’m certainly not gloating at the demise of Olympus,
 
chris marren said:
Olympus have been lying about this for year’s, they have had everyone’s pants down
In exactly same way as vw/Audi Had everyone’s pants down over the emissions scandal
Jip has not bought it so they can play happy families making m43 camera, it’s an asset stripping company, it’s bought Olympus for lot’s of patents that are extremely valuable
Panasonic will not come to the rescue either
It’s a sad day really, but Olympus has been totally to blame for pushing ahead with this m43 at the cost of everything else, when you put all your eggs in one basket and the basket breaks where do you turn
I’m not replying anymore to this, and I’m certainly not gloating at the demise of Olympus,
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You compare a camera company in hard times with a criminal act of deception. Odd. Still you say you are stopping now so that's another 'good' from me.
 
oops - wrong thread. Deleted
 
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Chipper said:
You compare a camera company in hard times with a criminal act of deception. Odd. Still you say you are stopping now so that's another 'good' from me.
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Criminal act of deception? Yes, Olympus has a fine track record there. Apart from repeated lies about turning the loss-making camera division into profit, there's the financial scandal of 2012 where Olympus cooked the books to conceal losses of $1.5 billion over the years. Heads rolled over that one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_scandal
 
jerry12953 said:
It reminds me of Adobe saying that lightroom would be available for outright purchase "indefinitely". Two years later............
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'Indefinitely' is a handy word ;) It's often taken to mean 'forever' but it actually means 'for an undefined period.' In other words, until we say different.
 
jerry12953 said:
Interesting take on it from Andy Rouse, I'd like to think he was being straight with us but the cynic in me says that he has always been the salesman, either for himself or the brands he is currently associated with.
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Have you read the memorandum of understanding between Olympus and JIP?

My posts of yesterday obviously show that my take, but just based on the memorandum, is more in line with what Andy says than the death of Olympus stance taken by most commentators. But that was just my interpretation.

I thought the memorandum, if it can be believed, was fairly positive, and an attempt by Olympus to save Olympus cameras by coming to an agreement with a company who has already done something similar for Sony Vaio laptops.

But maybe I'm being over optimistic.
 
jerry12953 said:
From Thom Hogan (quoted by Hoppy above)

" Olympus continues to sell and support cameras worldwide."

Would you buy into Olympus now?
Click to expand...

I've just ordered and waiting delivery of, an EM1 mark iii (but I am already into the system).
 
HoppyUK said:
Criminal act of deception? Yes, Olympus has a fine track record there. Apart from repeated lies about turning the loss-making camera division into profit, there's the financial scandal of 2012 where Olympus cooked the books to conceal losses of $1.5 billion over the years. Heads rolled over that one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_scandal
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Yes, that is true about 2012; heads did roll. I was also aware of last year's announcement and then the back tracking. Whatever plans were put in place last year, those will have been torpedoed by this dreadful pandemic. In this, I see no law breaking, no criminal behaviour. Perhaps we look at the world differently, which is ok. I have been surprised at the speed with which people who do not use and have never tried Olympus have been to denigrate it and appear to be pleased that it is in difficulty; why men do this [always men but others may have a different experience] I do not know. I hear that Nikon may also be in difficulty too. None of this can be good for the photographic industry and for the users of their products. I hope the fine folk that work for Olympus are not going to lose their jobs; they have done such sterling work, particularly during this pandemic. Canon have also always been nice to me; the difference is that they usually tell me what they can't do to help me. Compare the Canon 6 week burst of 48 hour hire with the Olympus wow programme over a long period of time; of course, they are huge compared with Olympus but a bit of me thinks that should make it more possible to be accessible. Anyway, we will have to wait and see. I am not going to be getting rid of my Olympus kit.
 
jakeblu said:
This thread has suddenly got busy for all the wrong reasons :(

So trying to get back on track, a first for me this bird and I'm hoping I've id'd it correctly a Garden Warbler

gdnwblr2 by Steve Vickers, on Flickr
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Steve, I hope you don't mind but this looks more like a recently fledged pied wagtail to me. Note the buff tips to the feathers in the coverts (a sign of a young bird), the White edges to the tail that you wouldn't expect on a garden warbler and the overall stronger contrastier markings than you might expect from a garden warbler. The overall jiz also suggest wagtail rather than warbler.

Was it wagging its tail for even the youngest wagtails have that characteristic behaviour.
 
myotis said:
Steve, I hope you don't mind but this looks more like a recently fledged pied wagtail to me. Note the buff tips to the feathers in the coverts (a sign of a young bird), the White edges to the tail that you wouldn't expect on a garden warbler and the overall stronger contrastier markings than you might expect from a garden warbler. The overall jiz also suggest wagtail rather than warbler.

Was it wagging its tail for even the youngest wagtails have that characteristic behaviour.
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I don't mind t all its not the first time I've incorrectly ID'd a bird, and I doubt it'd be the last.

You know when I first saw it, not through the camera, I thought its tail was wagging, but it didn't wag while I took quite a lot of photos.
 
jakeblu said:
I don't mind t all its not the first time I've incorrectly ID'd a bird, and I doubt it'd be the last.
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Yep, we all get it wrong sometimes, and I've spent enough time with excellent birders to know that even the best make mistakes. Last week, we had a juvenile Pied wagtail sit every morning for three consecutive days on our garden wall for over an hour while the adult came down and fed it. So ID was pretty easy, even if it was confused by a female blackbird who also came down and fed it !! But I think it was her that was having the ID problem, not me.
 
I initially thought this another Pied Wagtail but the bit of yellow on its bum makes me wonder if it’s a Grey Wagtail not the best of images I’m afraid poor environs and high iso

Pied Wagtail by Steve Vickers, on Flickr
 
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jakeblu said:
I initially thought this another Pied Wagtail but the bit of yellow on its bum makes me wonder if it’s a Grey Wagtail not the best of images I’m afraid poor environs and high iso

Pied Wagtail by Steve Vickers, on Flickr
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It could well be, they are a bit tricky at this age, indeed you other one might be as well, now that you have this one to help with the ID.
 
Just picked this post up from a Olympus employee on the Olympus education group Facebook group

Whilst I cannot verify the authenticity of the post if it is genuine then maybe the fat lady ain't singing yet

Hello Everyone on this group. What a week we have had. As an Olympus employee, I must say that I have had better days! I have had a meeting with senior management and I have to say that I feel much more reassured now than I have been in the past 48 hours! Having JIP take over the camera division may be the shot in the arm that the OM-D line has been in need of in recent years. I cannot say very much as I don't know everything that is being said behind closed doors, but having seen the camera and lens road map for the next 6-8 months, I must say that I am feeling more assured than before. I don't know if I will still be involved in the future of Olympus cameras going forward after October, I will simply say that the camera division is looking strong and in good hands. The OM-D line of cameras will not suddenly cease functioning because of new ownership! There is lots of positive out there and the new lenses and bodies planned for 2020 - 2021 look simply awesome. Stay well everyone.
 
on the inside of my office window this morning a overnight visitor , the blue is the re-cycling bag outside .. might even go out and take some piccies later with my obsolete equipment :olympus: 1-mkii + PL 100-400
flying visit by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
 
jakeblu said:
I initially thought this another Pied Wagtail but the bit of yellow on its bum makes me wonder if it’s a Grey Wagtail not the best of images I’m afraid poor environs and high iso

Pied Wagtail by Steve Vickers, on Flickr
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I think you're right about the yellow bum! Its gotta be a grey.

Bird ID can be pretty tricky at this time of year with all the juveniles around and the adults will probably be moulting as well!
 
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