Imaging Resource (Click here) published a full Question and Answer article with Olympus President Haruo Ogawa and Planning Manager Eiji Shirota. It’s a very interesting interview and here are some of the most important info:
– 2012 worldwide system camera sales: out of 20 million units, four million units were mirrorless or CSC.
– Olympus will not focus on sports photography but more on “field photography”. Ogawa says: “You can use our camera in any type of shooting circumstances.”
– Ogawa: “with the Olympus PEN launch, Olympus was able to capture the young and female demographics”
– Ogawa: “It’s true that we have been focusing upon the still image“. But in future Olympus will focus on video too: “Now we’re working on the next generation engine as well. For that next generation engine, we are expecting that movie sharing will be the new demand coming.” (with 4K support)
– Ogawa: “We need to have a solution for a smartphone user to smoothly use a mirrorless camera. So now we’re working on that.”
– Next products will have an even deeper buffer.
– Shirota explains that having on Sensor PDAf (instead of a separate AF sensor module) makes the PDAF more accurate.
Read the full interview at Imaging Resource!
Preorder Links:
Olympus E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto, Amazon DE (via DL), Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL), WexUK, Topshot FI, CameraWorldUK.
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, AmazonDE (viaDL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-40mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK and CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-50mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK, CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus EP-13 Eyecup for E-M1 at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus HLD-7 Battery Grip for E-M1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LC-62D Metal Front Lens Cap for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LH-66 Lens Hood for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
72 Responses
All sounds good 🙂 Olympus also need to market the O-MD series more strongly to the female enthusiast and professional consumer especially outside of East Asia…
20% mirrorless share of the system camera sales is pretty good, I wonder if that also includes the RX100 etc
I thought the OMD is for the enthusiast. I don’t see why it not conform the female users. Not everyone wants pink casing with flower theme and flower art filter.
Neither of the two OMD cameras is a Pen. Your manhood is secure. 😛
Then again, “alma” sounds rather feminine. Now I’m confused by alma’s worries. 😉
I didn’t say anything about pink, the female consumer is more sophisticated than that…
wise choice picking 2012 for market share for mirrorless and mFT in particular as mFT share of the mirrorless market is sinking.The 2012 numbers do not make for good reading.mFt market share is going down and competition is only going to get more and more difficult.
The RX100 is a P&S not a mirrorless
@gotohaveacry
Micro four thirds is 60% of the mirrorless market, Sony about 30%, the remaining 10% is divided by Fuji, Nikon, Pentax, Canon and Samsung (in that order) from Flickr upload stats…
“Micro four thirds is 60% of the mirrorless market”
That is absolute BS mFT consists of between 40-46% of the mirrorless market. I honestly for the life of me do not understand why some people feel the need to make ridiculous claims about the success of their chosen format.Olympus themselves have mentioned the disappointing sales numbers.
The trend in the real data numbers from CIPA , shows a very real decline in the mirrorless market share.Just as an aside everyone does better in the run up to Christmas who would have thought it!
Just ignore YDDY… hes just a blind Olympus lapdog that tries his darndness to twist and schrew actual numbers to Okympus’s favor.
In his eyes, Olympus never had a yakuza/finacial problem.
@gotohaveagiggle
The figures are there on Flickr for everyone to view % of mirrorless images taken Panasonic 32%, Sony 30%, Olympus 28%, Fuji 2%, Nikon 4% and the rest Pentax, Canon and Samsung….
Relative to DSLR sales mirrorless sales are stronger in the last 3 months of the year in those graphs…
The CIPA figures you are refering to dont break out brand or model and are not yet for a full year.
” Flickr upload stats”
LOL I am sorry I just noticed this little tidbit of ludicrousness .Seriously you are using a photo sharing website as your market guide.It is no wonder you come up with so many downright stupid comments.I do not know whether to laugh at you or feel sorry for you that you have to sink to such desperate embarrassing measures in order to justify your choices.
For me mFT is the best thing since sliced bread ,it is a lot more fun bringing back some of the joys of photography.Unfortunately for Olympus & Panasonic lots of other people think differently.
Ogawa-san is using CIPA numbers:
2012 DSLR 16.200m (80.4%)
2012 mirrorless 3.956m (19.6%)
2012 total 20.156m
The 2013 numbers so far (through end of August) are:
DSLR 8.8m (83%)
mirrorless 1.8m (17%)
The implication is mirrorless will sell only 2.7m units this year, which is why he’s avoiding the 2013 numbers.
There was a large number of new mirrorless releases in 2012 and the first half of this year it was relatively quiet.
There was also the new affordable FF releases from Canikon which may have boosted the dSLR share of the market in the early part of this year.
In the last couple of months there has been a lot of new releases. I suspect mirrorless share will increase to its former level
Looking at previous graphs micro four thirds does very well in the last 3 months of the year….
Yeah right? Just like Olympus pen series was doing very well, until actual links to POOR pen camera sales were put on display, then you was absent for a minute…
@mrnocaps
The graphs were posted on here, mu-43.com and petapixel, it just a question of being able to read them…
Care to post those PEN links you are on about?
I’d love a short burst super slow motion e.g. a 10 second burst. Thank you 🙂
Reading the interview, I think Olympus (and Panasonic also) are missing an important point.
Mr. Ogawa was asked about the companies plan to educate people about the DSLR bias. Because people when people think of an advanced camera system, they think of a DSLR. They don’t know what mirrorless is, or what it can do, and that mirrorless would work for the majority of amateur photographers. People need to be told about this, because they will not notice.
Mr. Ogawa just gave his companies point of view, but no specifics on how they are trying to educate people on this issue.
Olympus, Panasonic and the other mirrorless camera makers should really focus on explaining people the “whys”. Why is a mirroeless system good enough for most of the users. Why is the IQ good enough in these cameras.
When a buyer walks into a store, he sees the following:
– huge Nikon / Canon camera kit for starting around 5-600 Euros.
– smaller m43 systems starting around the same price.
Which one would you buy if you didn’t know anything about cameras?
How about commercials teaching people on the differences between the systems.
I could image some even, where all the photographers are shooting with their Nikon / Canon cameras, with big lenses. They have big bags on their shoulders wishing them down…. and then there is one guy with his m43 camera, which is much smaller.
Or 2 families on the beach. One with a large bag with Nikon / Canon cameras, lenses. The other one with an m43 system.
Then show two images: one taken with the Canikon system, and next to it the m43 image. There shouldn’t be much difference. At least not as much as it would matter to most amateur users….
This is something I am also missing from Olympus / Panasonic. Because people don’t really understand the differences between camera systems. The m43 is a great system, with great IQ in a very portable package.
> Mr. Ogawa just gave his companies point of view, but no specifics on how they are trying to educate people on this issue.
He also gave there strategy: Don’t focus on existing (DSLR-)users, get new users in as with the PEN series. Also will be cheaper.
For existing DSLR users will get older and reconsider the weight/size and Olympus is prepared…
@andrew
Most customers worth having already know exactly which camera they are going to buy before they walk into a shop, how do you think mirrorless got 20% market share already?
“HAD 20% ” they are now declining the reason for the early success of mFT and mirrorless in general was the pent up demand for something smaller that still had decent image quality.P&S though small had very poor image quality so many DSLR users wanted a back up that was better quality a gap which mirrorless does very well.
Though as the 83% domination of the interchangeable camera market by DSLRs { current data} shows only a small percentage actual fully migrated to mirrorless. The 40% share of mirrorless market held by mFT amounts to 6.8% of the interchangeable camera market. Which means that for every mFT camera sold there are 12 DSLR sold.
Though you continue to post idiotic claims about Flickr shares,seriously ! The sales numbers do not lie that is left to you.Fact mirrorless market share is in decline, Fact,the E-M1 has no gain in image quality over the E-M5 [ though it is a superb bit of kit} Fact that means no advance in image quality for 18 months. Fact, Olympus have admitted themselves that sales are disappointing ,with some nonsense about women buyers blah blah.Fact the imaging divisions of Olympus ,Panasonic ,Sony have shown loss after loss.
With the first introduction of mirrorless FF and the rise in large sensor compacts [ rx100m2 rx10 etc } mFT is going to get further squeezed.As FF becomes cheaper and more wide spread and large sensor compacts advance mFT will suffer further.
Great. 4K @ 24/25/30 FPS would be just what we need
As long as that mean a very good 1080p60 then I would be happy.
How about 24/25p. Dear Olympus, please add 25p to OM-D E-M1 with firmware update for European users. The 30p thing is really the only thing holding many users back from buying the E-M1.
Olympus has shown no significant evidence of supporting videography to date, which is sort of odd since it is a wide open market for them and doesn’t compete with another in-house professional video department. It would take a serious change of company culture for them to suddenly be proficient at video. I feel that they just hear the “4K” tagline and want to make sure the public thinks they are engaged from a purely marketing and image perspective. Prove me wrong Olympus.
Of course, Olympus has a video group working with super high speed bursts — 10-100 000 fps, for scientific use. Maybe they could learn from that group…
I think you underestimate the IBIS introduced in the E-M5, which really shines with video (for precision framing in still photography this IBIS is actually a pain in the butt , where i tend to shut it off for the sake of 100% control about the composition)They could have limited if for video, Like Panasonice did with the GX7, but instead they came with a very advanced stabilizer for movie recording. IMHO this is much more valuable then any extra frame rate option, unless you do all videowork with a tripod or expensive external stabilizer.
It helps to turn it of while focusing.
If they don’t cram it into their EM5 successor it will be at least 2 years before it shows up in the EM1 successor, which seems like a very late entry with 4K video going consumer mainstream next year. We shall see soon what they have up their sleeve.
I hope they don’t plan to dumb down the OMD line to appeal more for the common user. At least they should have learned that people want good IQ with pocketable size.
Wi-fi and control via phone are fun features but they are not enough to sell a camera.
I could paraphrase you saying that “Wi-fi and big LCD displays are fun features but they are not enough to sell a phone”… See the point?
Right now, big DSLR still sell more than small mirrorless, so it’s a bit early to affirm that “At least they should have learned that people want good IQ with pocketable size”.
Not that I’m against you or that I don’t repect your point of view, but I think we all should stay humble before claiming what people want as we can’t push strong affirmations without facts and/or analysis.
“Right now, big DSLR still sell more than small mirrorless”
But is it because of their big size? There’s still the common misconception that if you want better IQ (than a P&S/phone), you go DSLR since bigger is better. Then there’s brand power of Nikon/Canon. Anyway, a lot of these DSLR users stick to kit lenses, and use the camera like a P&S. They are unaware that a mirrorless/EVIL would’ve been good enough let alone a large sensor fix lens compact, with the added benefit of being more portable.
4k is not consumer mainstream and will not be for many years.
I agree with you in spirit, but now there are mobile phones that shoot 4K. I fear it is going to be the market tag that drives sales, even for non-pro low and mid-level products. Panasonic and Sony will never make completely non-crippled products, just to protect their pro camera business. Olympus could be THAT company that makes a breakthrough product, but probably won’t.
+1000
How about they finally focus on bigger cameras?
4k? WTF!?
Where are the fucking 25fps?
We don’t want 4K.
We want good codec (ProRes would be amazing) with Full pixel read out
We want no moiré and good sharpness
We want good DR
We want 24,25,30, and 60FPS at 1080p.
We want full manual control
With of course the 5 axis IBIS.
That’s all we need for video ! ! ! !
With all of that in one camera like EM-5 body it would just be the best camera ever for still + video in a compact package !!
In other words:
We want good binning.
Which is like saying: we want a Panasonic Sensor. I don’t think you’re going to get it, unfortunately…
I’m with you on most of them. I don’t care one bit for 4K, except that it would solve all of your other requests after you downscaled it to FHD. See their point?
totally agree!!!!
codec (prores), 4.4.2, 10bits, raw, high bitrate, global shutter, 1080p(24,25,30,50,60p), PAL, and that is all, we do not need 4k, it is easy to understand, people wanna.
I boutgh a blackmagic pocket, it is amazing …. I would have been happy if the OMD EM1 and the video specs
Philosopher Bruce Lee would have said “we need emotional content”
+1
Well said.
And NO edge enhancement! I don’t understand why Oly likes to apply fake sharpening and local contrast processing to video. Looks horrible at actual size or scaled up. It only looks acceptable if scaled down to 480p or lower.
Good strategy oly! But what about support for your existing clients? I want better video codec for my e-m5!
I find the video output already much more pleasing if you set the sharpness at -2
I haven’t tried that yet. Thanks for the info!
This is also a good idea for ‘still images’ when using the camera’s jpeg engine.
Boba, I only found that out after checking some tips at the Olympus OMD Video facebook group. The admin there gives sometimes usefull info about how to shoot and edit your footage.
Terima kasih Ulli!
I absolutely think that the e-m5 does a very good job if there aren’t fast movements involved in the video. But as soon as you got quick panning or filming objects with a fast pace you get this ugly smearing and pixel effect.
I need 25p cause in Europe a lot of the lighting is at 50Hz and it’s hard to get an indoor footage without the flimmering effect.
Imagine the omd’s 5-axis ibis + better video specs! That would kill alotta competitors.
I understand the 50hz problem with light sources, but it can be reduced or even eliminated when you shoot in full manual mode, by trying to lower the shutterspeed below 1/50 or even 1/25 when possible. For me, it took me quite a while to figure out how to disable the auto-gain, by using simply AEL lol. And last time I forget again to use custom white balance; the AWB gives constant change in color moods if you shot in multiple lighttype scenarios. I guess I get more used to practical use of all the little things in a while(I hope).
If they want to win over the video crowd then they need to add mic and headphone jack in the body, not with the sema1 adapter. Perhaps headphones can be output via hdmi with an adapter if they want keep the body small but microphone is a must.
Am I the only one who thinks that video is already enough for my needs (and it will probably become better on Oly if only because they will use sony sensors). What we need is more DR. What happened to the idea that an electronic shutter would increase DR by around 3EV? (43rumors wrote much about it a year ago or so). Now Pana have cameras with electronic shutter, but I have not heard anything about improved DR…
I’m not a tech person, I just like to take photographs. I don’t have a need for video at all. Does anyone know if designing a chip for video vs still photography has compromises? Or is it all at the software level? I would hate to see Olympus improve video at the expense of photo quality. If so, I hope they separate the camera lines if they do…
The Oly guys seemed to discuss three topics:
* 4k video making it important to fix video support
* bigger buffers/faster internal communication
* upload pictures/content via smartphones vs a more direct upload to the cloud for pros & easing the user experience
Other topics were discussed, too.
In any way, I found the discussion very interesting. We’ll see what of this materilizes, of course…
All sounds good. Dont like the video re-assign the buttons and forget about it.
This system is superb!!
Unfortunately 4K is a consumer feature checkbox while ailiasing-free isn’t.
I am very happy with the system at the moment (one of the few?), but I can see in the hubbub of mirrorless FF 35, focussing on m4/3 for video. It is a distinct competitive advantage.
However I would draw the line somewhere: you can’t have a pro video camera and a still camera all in one, for the reason that you get a very complicated device, which is not transparent to the photographer anymore.
My gripe has more to do with price and FW upgrades. Is it even possible that when you spend more than 1000 EU (almost 1400 USD) you cannot get added simple things like 2 or 3 codecs, a timelapse format, and an HDR one?
This is exploiting the customer not less than doubling the price of black lenses or hoods. Mr. Terada, check the small important things, before thinking big!
I absolutely agree with the firmware updates. Olympus has been selling each camera as a “once and done” in terms of additional functionality. Some functions reqested, like an internal inervalometer and additional codecs would go a long way to encouraging continued sales (such as the E-M5 which is replaced in almost every way by the E-M1) and showing dedication to the consumer and responding to our desires.
I love my E-M5 and have little to complain about, but 1080/24/25p is a serious omission for video and could be implemented without requiring a new model.
I have no issues with any of the technology they want to focus on, but have no need for it and will refuse to pay the price of a 4k video camera for only taking stills.
the base models are crippled on purpose to sell the high end models, and the high end models now come with unnecessary video, wifi, etc features that I don’t really need.
Keep your technology separate and just charge less for the premium models: a cheaper video-oriented camera and a cheaper photo-oriented one, rather than an expensive one to do both.
Victor, I couldn’t disagree with you more.
There isn’t a single photographer that I know that isn’t either interested or already providing video as part of their service offerings. I don’t want to buy a dedicated video camera. I’d like to at that moment and time decide if I want to for example be able to record a public square with stills only or a mixture of stills and video.
Video is a fact of life now for Panasonic and Olympus — even if it’s not for you.
4k though? I’m not saying take video out of the camera. I’m saying better firmware updates and sensor improvements are more important to “photographers” than 4k video. As has been mentioned, Olympus doesn’t even do a good job with their current codec offerings, which would be better for your average consumer than half-baked 4k support.
I already don’t use any of the art filters, and in camera editing features, since I shoot Raw. I have taken some videos, yes, but don’t need 4k. And I have no need to shoot through a phone or share straight from the camera so wifi is useless for me.
But I do care about dynamic range, the 1/8000 shutter speed and 5 axis ibis that come with the top models.
The point (and I am not a professional photographer) as a consumer I am stuck either with crippled models, or paying for things I don’t need.
I don’t need 4K. What I would like is RAW Video at 1080p that works everywhere (including Europe). Why is it that these camera manufacturers think we want RAW for photography but when it comes to video all of a sudden we don’t care about it?
All I shoot is RAW. The first MFT compatible manufacturer that delivers a body that lets me shoots both great stills and video gets my money. Simple as that.
I definitely agree that video is a fact of life for Micro 4/3 (and welcome it, I love that I can shoot video now), but Olympus is falling short on video options. Especially when you look at Panasonic – they are doing it with the same mount and sensor size as olympus, but providing the video options that those who are serious about video want, which include better codecs, freamerates that are universally accepted and bitrates that support being serious about video on M4/3. The stills side of the Panny cameras is not different enough to provide a difficult choice for the consumer that wants to shoot both and excel at both. Right now, you cannot do both effectively with Olympus.
Seems a lot of people here really don’t give a fig for video, let alone 4k, Like them I want a good top quality stills camera, not something hampered by the need to include video capability. Come on Olympus, concentrate on stills leave Panasonic to the video requirements, which will do until they decide they require a dedicated video camera.
This is exactly what I mean. The problem is not with how much they can do, but with how much they’re beginning to cost. I bought my EP1 with the 17mm 2.8 lens and viewfinder, new, for 450$. The EP5 body alone is now 1000$.
Hi Victor, Your E-P1 must have been on the market for some time when you purchased it then, mine cost me almost about double that with the 14-42mm lens.
I got it about a year after it had come out, right after the EP2 had come out. Since they were very similar in specs, I got the older one. I remember at the time thinking it was a really good deal though, so maybe I got lucky.
Still waiting for a camera I love as much as I loved my PEN when I saw it to upgrade, I guess I’m picky.
I m with you, about the “dont want to pay extra” for 4k. But its not fair to compare the price of a new announced camera, with the older model. In fact, the pricing is really constant with the big Pens. I also got the e-p1 for around, 400€ when the e-p2 was introduced. And i updated to the e-p3 for 300€ (without lens) when the e-p5 was introduced…
So, the price ist “still” the same – just waiting for the next o-md to bring the prices of the e-m5 down into the 400€ area… 😉
This is too late, I and my family and friends gave up waiting for Olympus to address video. Better for Olympus to become a stabilization manufacturer for camera makers like Sony and Panasonic that understand video and respond to their customers’ needs. It was with great satisfaction that I placed an order for the A7R instead of the E-M1 and I already plan to also buy the Sony FF with Olympus IBIS expected early 2014. I have been in contact with Olympus management, and their obtuseness to the wretchedness that is Olympus video is disconcerting…
Yeah, Olympus stating that they envision increasing their video capabilities in the future is…well…video is present, not future. The EM1 is a great camera, but it’s designed for 2011. Anyone doubting this should look up “GoPro” on YouTube. Thankfully, for the m4/3 world, Pany and Blackmagic haven’t missed this.
Just for the notes, I have 2 OMDs, 2 GH2s, and a GH3. Love all of them, and am planning on getting a GM1.
Agreed…I wanted so badly to buy an EM1, but I needed more comprehensive video capabilities and don’t want to compromise. I’m still disappointed over the whole thing. I’m not willing to buy multiple bodies at this point and I don’t want to give up Olympus stills either. Olympus loses, but sadly, I do too.
@corkcampbell
The gopro has lots of missing features it is not a hybrid camera that is all things to all people, however Olympus should already be further along with video. Either Sony or Panasonic is not willing to help them along in this area or they feel they do not have the expertise yet….