Image courtesy: Lensrentals
Imaging Resource (Click here) interviewed the Olympus manager. Main focus of their interview was the Stylus 1 compact but there are also some bits of info about other interesting stuff:
1) Olympus answer about the 12-40mm lens breakage reports is:
There have been only two instances of breakage reported with, at that time, 5,000 to 10,000 lenses shipped worldwide. To us, that doesn’t constitute a known issue.
2) Sony partnership:
In answer to your question about the Sony partnership, we don’t have any kind of exchange of technologies. However, we do have a supplier-buyer relationship on some certain devices that we provide to Sony, and that Sony provides to Olympus.
3) Future camera development goals:
First, polishing the technology of the basic functionality of the camera — whether it’s exposure, whether it’s white balance, auto-focus, everything.
Second, we want to provide not only easy uploading of your images or videos to the Internet, but good communication with networked devices or the cloud.
And also Photoreview (Click here) had the pleasure to interview many Olympus managers and the goal they set for the near future is:
to sell one million OM-D cameras with marketing focused primarily in 70 cities worldwide where disposable incomes are high.
94 Responses
1) Olympus answer about the 12-40mm lens breakage reports is:
There have been only two instances of breakage reported with, at that time, 5,000 to 10,000 lenses shipped worldwide. To us, that doesn’t constitute a known issue.
5,000 to 10,000 lenses very vague. How many lenses were 12-40? 100? People know, so it is known issue by definition. Hough!
2) Sony partnership:
In answer to your question about the Sony partnership, we don’t have any kind of exchange of technologies. However, we do have a supplier-buyer relationship on some certain devices that we provide to Sony, and that Sony provides to Olympus.
Nice partnership.
3) Future camera development goals:
First, polishing the technology of the basic functionality of the camera — whether it’s exposure, whether it’s white balance, auto-focus, everything.
Second, we want to provide not only easy uploading of your images or videos to the Internet, but good communication with networked devices or the cloud.
Isqueeze7feathers do not care about networked devices and cloud. Not like upload crappy video either. Polish video options like frame rate first to match competition.
Olympus boneheaded as bison.
’12-40mm lens breakage reports’, so I guess they weren’t talking about the 12mm for instance. Nor about the 75mm.
You guess all you want. Do you feel lucky?
Lucky, don’t know, but I’m fine. Thanks for asking. You OK?
You just keep digging yourself deeper. I suggest you take your own advice as expressed in your first reply.
You just keep believe what you want believe. It no scalp off my head!
Obviously he’s talking # of 12-40 lenses… this hyperbole gossip plague on photography needs to stop.
Maybe Olympus manager speak with forked tongue. Never says 5,000 to 10,000 12-40 lens! Lying by omission common tactic.
they meant 5000-10000 shipped 12-40mm lenses, not overall all lenses
That what they want gullible people believe. It work on you.
100? Am I misreading this post? It reads like like feathers is suggesting that only 100 12-40/2.8 lenses have been shipped – or maybe s/he means only 100 have been shipped to his town.
100 just random figure to make point. Use brains!
The discussion was clearly in regards to the 12-40mm lens ONLY when talking about the “5,000-10,000 lenses shipped worldwide”. Are you seriously confused and think that Olympus has only shipped that many lenses ever altogether? Common sense is lacking here.
Who say “ever altogether”? Don’t put words in my mouth. Oly not state time frame for shipping 5-10k lenses. You care to guess?
To anyone with normal reading comprehension skills, the time frame is obviously since the lens was released, i.e. he talks about one lens only, the 12-40 mm, not all lenses during some arbitrary time frame.
I am all for a healthy dose of scepticism, but distrusting just for the sake of it is no better than dogmatism.
You just interpret the way you like. Olympus vague when say 5,000 to 10,000 lenses. Never mention time frame. You just assume. If good for you, still no good for me.
1000,000 cameras must be their breakeven point for profit. After that they have all the related lenses, which is profit. For what is still a small company it makes a lot of sense.
On the 12-40 I won’t comment, since I won’t buy, however I am left with a painful impression.
Targeting the 70 more affluent cities makes me smile, but again it makes a lot of sense. Possibly they hope that the West will wake up at last, but then of course many of these cities with fast rising professional classes are in Asia.
Don’t forget my budding new blog ‘Photo &Poetry’:
http://amalric2014.blogspot.com
Cheers
Thanks for the link. GREAT photos! I very much like your use of reflections.
I especially like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amalric/8329509882/
Thank you, I am glad you like – it was a stroke of luck
You mean a strike of luck? What luck? That she did not hit you?
It is indeed a rare privilege to be privy to Amalric’s art and thoughts.
Now take me off the internet, will you, pervert?
Let’s see your photos, big mouth. Maybe you and your sidekick “luck” can use your photos to wipe yourself.
amalric Great images on your new site. Props!
Any more news on focus peaking?
Focus peaking part of “polishing”?
I hope!
Would be nice if they could reduce the noise in blue channel. Blue sky looks not very nice (with E-M5). At the tests at Dpreview we can see that there is much more noise in the blue channel then with cameras from other companies. NR makes the sky looking even worser…
Those things he mentioned are already very polished. Please bring us a better menu system and better video quality + options! No one cares about uploading directly from camera to internet.
+1000
Sure, upload directly from the camera if you’ve got a pile of spare batteries.
The menu system is just plain bad. I spent quite a bit of time with an EM1 the other day at B&H and while it’s a pretty nice camera, the way the menus work and how they’re arranged is just terrible.
State of the art video is a no-brainer… for everyone but Olympus.
The menus take a bit of work as you get the camera set up, but after that you shouldn’t need to spend too much time in them if you get all the buttons and dials set up to your style. There are a lot of basic settings available very quickly from the SCP (which you first have to enable from somewhere in the menus), and with that and the other controls I rarely need to venture far into the menus.
Maybe I’m lucky that I’ve used lots of systems over the years, so I am used to learning yet another menu structure, but I didn’t find yhe OM-D menus any worse overall than other systems.
They are not “worse” per se. My main problem is that all the numbers and icons that overlay the live view take up too much space from the actual picture and there is no way to make it just display the essentials (aperture, shutter, iso). As for the menus; they arent too bad but it would be good if there was a “Recent” list and also if it would rmeember where you were in the menu when you go out and go back in to it. Also needs bigger fonts.
I use an EPL5 and have a better relationship than that with the overlays over the live view. I imagine it must be the same in more advanced bodies. Have you tried first choosing the blank display screen by cycling with the info button (or whatever button cycles through the display options). Then a half shutter press will toggle on minimum information – just shutter, aperture, ISO and focal length. If you need more information you can press the info button again. This works especially well when you don’t use the shutter button to focus
If the SCP could be customized, that would solve a lot of issues. But since you’re stuck with what Olympus thinks is important, it’s still too cluttered and confusing. There are a bunch of functions on the SCP I don’t use, and I can’t add others that I use frequently. And when you’re forced to leave the SCP and go menu diving, it’s enough to bring a grown man to tears.
Actually Seb, I care about uploading from the camera to the internet. I like the ability to transfer images to my iPhone (from E-M1)and post them to FB, it means I don’t have to use the crappy camera on my iPhone as much. Never thought I would like it, but there it is.
“There have been only two instances of breakage reported with, at that time, 5,000 to 10,000 lenses shipped worldwide. To us, that doesn’t constitute a known issue.”
WOW! Want a comforting, responsible, tactful response from an employee of the Olympus Corporation to loyal customers regarding known breakage incidents regarding a premier lens.
(Implied sarcasm is correct to apply when reading the above sentence). That sounds like a response from one of the trolls that come here regularly. WOW!
Isn’t it Japaneese mentality? We have no fault. Let us ignore the problem. Won’t loose our faces…
They say it even in case of a maximum credible accident. So don’t expect too much of that management.
No, that is not the Japanese way. Working together is.
Breakage of a couple 12-40 lenses is a non issue?!? What kinda ignorant answer is that. If oly wants to sell a million omd they better start learning the basics of customer service.
I don’t wanna whine, but I’m expecting more tact of a manager. I own the 12-40 myself and it’s a great lens to use. But everytime I use it I’m afraid it could break and I just don’t expect that kinda feeling from a pro lens.
Just my 2 cents.
American right…?
You shower bag?
Nope. I’m Swiss-Indonesian :). Why?
2 in 5000 is a 0.04% problem rate. That is very good IMO. However the way he used his words could have been more empathic. Then again, who knows – could be a bad translation.
Then I suggest you don’t take it out on a shoot and only use it indoors with a bean bag underneath it at all times. I also have it and banged it against a wall, still works perfectly well but then some people a terrified, if it breaks send it back at least Olympus will replace it, unlike Nikon who will accept there’s a fault but tell you to get on with it.
“Second, we want to provide not only easy uploading of your images or videos to the Internet, but good communication with networked devices or the cloud.”
I was glad to see this comment. It seems that right now everyone everyone is rushing to add wireless implementations — but most of them are very lame, concentrating only on communicating with a proprietary app on a smartphone.
Photographers whose work benefits from wireless — studio and event photographers, to name two — need better functionality than that. We need to be able to connect to wireless access points, not just a proprietary phone app, and we need support for cross-platform protocols such as FTP and third-party apps such as ShutterSnitch.
Among mirrorless brands (based on experience and what I’ve read in downloadable manuals) Olympus is the worst offender here: their wireless works only with their app, and they have no wireless network support. Fuji isn’t much better: they can connect to a wireless router, but it’s still our-app-only. On the other hand, Panasonic and Sony “get it”: their cameras can connect to routers and work with third-party protocols (although that makes their wireless configuration harder to set up.) Lots of work for everyone to do here, but Olympus especially.
But the Olympus app is free and works very well, why want an alternative???
For one thing, it only just became available in my local App Store (Qatar). There have been two overseas trips where I couldn’t use it on my E-M1.
Another aspect of the App I don’t like is that I can’t use the internet via wifi while connected to the camera: I’m not au fait enough with computing to know if there is a way around that.
It’s also a very limited app, in that it only works with a few modes, and doesn’t work with video, which I would like to use it in.
I have a Panasonic action camera (HX-A100), which works very well with the Panasonic App in video, so it is something I’d like to see in future firmware updates.
“Second, we want to provide not only easy uploading of your images or videos to the Internet, but good communication with networked devices or the cloud.”
-> when will oly finally improve the video quality, seems they have forgotten about that
You mean quality or available options?
Both
since when did this become disqus??? congrats! I guess.
And about this: “where disposable incomes are high.”
So they won’t lower prices or put out low-priced cameras?
Disqus is crapping on the site, one thread keeps telling me there are only two comment on it (Bluntys interview with Terada), there has to be more as I’ve complained on it three times. Also take into account Disqus will not accept negative feedback (only positive) and that comes from their own product support manager. I can supply the information if you want it.
As you obviously might have a problem with seeing comments on threads, I will mention that you are the only person complaining about not being able to see comments. The problem is likely with your browser – set to block java, re-directs, Flash – whatever. Try an alternative browser, but basically It seems to all be working fine as far as I can see.
I’m sorry Mr Stig, but please do not assume I have problems my end, by system works perfectly well with everything I use except for this crap called Disqus which as I have stated is not prepared to accept negative comments as they wish to portray a positive feeling, works perfectly well when no one is allowed to have negative feelings about it. Also for your information I am not the only person to have complained about it. Another point of interest is it seems to block messages to Admin I’m still awaiting a reply from him from a message sent some time ago. Rumours has become a load of shit pandering to people like yourself who continually moaned about the messages which were oh so easy to ignore if you were bothered to do so, so yes it is people like yourself who are shitting on this site.
Geoff I am having problems as well…and mentioned it the other day. So…the Stig can stuff it. I get no comments on any posts when I use Google Chrome on my up-to-date Mac (OS 10.9.1Maverics). The Disquis is super slow on my iPad ..SUPER slow to load. Makes the experience here less than in my book….but I guess there is a reason for the change???? Geoff…I have no problems ANYWHERE else with my system. Just here. So we need to speak up or no one will know.
Admin should switch to Intense Debate as these issues have been known for some time with Disqus. It’s not just this website.
I am DEFINITELY NOT a fan of Disquis! Thanks 4 the heads up Stu.
You are wrong. Same browser, different hour, minute etc. One time it says 0 comments when I had just saw some earlier, come back a few minutes later and open the browser and there are the original comments that disappeared plus 30 more. Just because it works fine for you does not mean you should assume there is not a problem i.e. read what others hear are complaining about the same thing.
Yes same problem. comment numbers are all over the place and other strange things happen.
Disqus is not great. It is good for the administrator but not for posters of comments. It has been like this for quite some time. Intense Debate is much better for the user but not so great for administrator and is the system I use myself as I am more concerned about visitors and their experience of posting. Also Disqus support is poor. Do some searches comparing the two systems and you will find lots of similar views.
My threads all say No Comments, but when you hover over that and then click, you go to second screen where the process engages to get the Disqus thing happening. There you’ll see the actual total of comments and the display options. So the comments are working, but the tally of comments is not yet reflected on the front page of the post.
All camera companies use plastic composites in their lens design. ( Yes, even the sacred Canon L lenses have plastic in them )
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/12/assumptions-expectations-and-plastic-mounts
This is a non-issue.
The Voigtlanders do not use plastic in their lens mounts.
The Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f1.2 doesn’t have a plastic lens structure.
Using “plastic composites in a lens design” does not mean that ALL lens designs feature small, brittle plastic mounting bosses where structure is crucial.
This matter is definitely an “issue” because it has been talked about all over the m4/3 world. Your insistence upon treating it as a “non-issue” is like whistling past the graveyard.
>>>>This matter is definitely an “issue” because it has been talked about all over the m4/3 world.
Yes, because there are too many “Chicken Littles” running around with their heads chopped off, trying to make this a big issue when it’s clearly not.
Yes, there are a few exceptions like the completely manual Voightlander lenses and the high priced Leica lenses, but otherwise pretty much all modern electronic lens manufacturers are using plastic composites in their lens designs.
Again, this is a non issue.
“where disposable incomes are high”- Oh, you mean pretty much the same market EVERY manufacturer from cameras to donuts wants to reach. Sad to say, that market is shrinking. I believe as the camera market slows down prices will go up- it’s inevitable. Manufacturers will try to prop sales up with more expensive niche products. So far, I”m somewhat ok with that. Olympus has a system worth a few extra coin. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to expensive.
Yes, interesting statistic, “He said 90% of entry-level users look for cheap cameras and seldom if ever buy a step-up camera – or additional lenses.”
So all this money, energy, creativity, design, and innovation devoted to the Olympus OM-D line, the Panasonic GX line, the Fuji X line, the Sony a7 line is for only 10% of the camera market. But I guess that may be true of life in general.
High-end products are low-volume products, nothing new there. And enthusiasts and professionals will always be outnumbered by beginners, family snapshooters and weekend warriors. On the other hand, profit margins are probably higher with the high-end products.
Thank you Imaging Resoursce, for being the only journalists to ask Olympus to comment on the pro lens mount break (non) issue.
All I have to say is he was very frank. I am tired of how consumers want to be nannied by companies. There was a FIRESTORM about the broken lens mount because 2 guys broke their lenses… And what happens, the internet photographers decide that these people couldn’t be bending the truth or telling fibs to get their lenses fixed… Nono, it had to be an evil corporation lying to force its lenses down the throats of the masses.
I am sorry, but who knows who is telling the truth, I take people at face value, someone says their lens broke, and Olympus fixes it… sounds like a good trade off… Olympus says there have only been 2 cases of this in 5000 lenses… sounds reasonable… But everyone here and their accusations of lying, why only Olympus? As long as you are speculating, maybe the people that broke the lenses were not telling the truth?
All I can say is the 12-40 is a superb lens, I got minea couple of weeks ago and it is a fine replacement for the 12-60, focuses fast, feels and handles great, the snap focus has come in handy at least 3 time for shooting through windows or foliage…
Seriously, grow up. Dont like the lens, dont buy it, then the nast evil corporation doesnt get any of your money.
As for connectivity, superb, I share a lof of images, either for approval during shoots, or with family. The smoother those processes become the more time I save.
Bravo.
Olympus can’t win… he provided answer and frankly which is what people want. Also, don’t forget that things get lost in native languages – not what is but how it’s said. Asian cultures have a way of saying thing that in Europe and America’s can come off as condescending.
As for the 12-40… that failure rate is beyond low. just because the Internet forums can causes a problem to appear that doesn’t mean it’s real. That said, it can also be beneficial when a real problem arises ie em5 screen screw issue. For now, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a 12-40.
As for Sony link.. what’s the problem there? Olympus will continue forward buying whatever tech makes most sense for them and not forced into compromises from just Sony… and vice versa for Sony. why would anyone expect differently.
As for future.. he just mentioned the obvious. Olympus has been beyond clear on their video position. Get over it. They are and will always be still image focused and for being needing top video they have even said panasonic is the way to go! They may get to the codec issue but not as a priority.
Seriously people… Zero reason to complain or worry.. stop making issues where non exist!!
“People can have the Model T in any color – so long as it’s black” Henry Ford
I think I see where you’re coming from.
As one of the owners of a broken lens I know of at least four others in the forum on http://www.mu-43.com/ but I have to admit that I have way of knowing how many 12-40 lenses Olympus have shipped. I got a brand new replacement lens and it seem to work just fine and is the risk of having a “lemon” is 0.04 % I must surely be safe now… I mean what are the odds of it happening again? 🙂
I meant to write, I have NO way of knowing…
You are one of two?
“To us, that doesn’t constitute a known issue.°
Isn’t it the same they said at first about Fukushima in Japan?
Yes, Olympus is either lying, or clueless. There are certainly more than two broken lenses. That doesn’t mean it’s a major design flaw. It does mean you can’t trust what Olympus is saying.
Just like they said it’s “all metallic construction,” and it then turns out to be mostly plastic.
This seems to be a common misconception about the word ‘metallic’, in no way does that mean metal, check your encyclopedias.
I would think that the problem is minimal. Did the nylon screws come apart?
I got my 12-40mm a few days ago, and I’ve kept it on the GH3 and treated it almost carelessly without a problem.
The screws sheared off – you can see in the photo.
I agree with Olympus management. Such problem results from user error, absolutely not a product itself. To me, Oly 12-40 is clearly Wolrd best f2.8 zoom lens that ever existed in the photography industry!
Dear Olympus: you want to sell more cameras?
License the UI from Panasonic and I’ll buy your gear.
The user interface from the Panasonic is for the most part terrible. There’s some nice features, but its totally disorganised and terrible to shoot with.
The Olympus super control panel is *much* better. They just need to set that as default.
Have to totally disagree with you, Holgs. It may be more what one got used to first, but for me the Olympus interface is horrible disorganized, with related functions randomly scatter across multiple menus, and the SCP filled with useless functions I’ll never use, and can’t remove. Panasonic let’s me customize the QCP to contain the items I use, and only the items I use. Far, far superior.
Each to their own. I’ve shot with both systems extensively, along with Canon DSLRs. The Panasonic cameras are going to feel better for those used to digicams and who want to change colour profiles, scene modes, but the Olympus interface gives much better control over exposure settings. The point of the Olympus layout is once you have things sorted the way you like, you almost never need to dig into menus.
The Panasonic QCP may be customisable, but it doesn’t allow me to add any of the things I’d actually want to see in there, and only gives options for things I’d set once only or are completely irrelevant if shooting in raw. For example, you can’t add Aperture or shutterspeed to the controls in custom mode, only ISO. Of course this wouldn’t be an issue if the GM1’s control dial weren’t so awful to use. The sad thing is that Panasonic did a pretty decent job with the GF1 & has been making things worse in terms of camera handling ever since.
Sorry, can’t agree with that at all, having used both.
Olympus menus were designed with no apparent logic or rational basis.
The Oly menu system (like most) requires a chart. It also needs a spreadsheet to notate the settings used for each ‘myset’ which themselves should be nameable.
I find the menu is not used on a frequent basis so requires re familiarisation when making changes.
Oly should have a chart and spreadsheet downloadable from their website, this spread sheet should also include their little icons, so a short or customised version can be made.
Ridiculous.
I prefer the Super Control Panel over the Quick Menu, but the full Olympus menus are bad, though the Panasonic menus are only slightly better.
Panasonic has a much nicer design and better typography. But coming from a Sony NEX7, I find Olympus’ UI to be a huge step up. Canon has a great, easy UI on their DSLRs. Too bad they don’t get mirrorless
Admin: do you know the release date of the massive firmware update to the OMD line? Is it coming soon?
And here’s the Olympus strategy for the less affluent cities E-PL1s and other old models – ie. this was shot in Mexico city yesterday. http://rtwdiaries.com/sites/default/files/12777351815_8978f8eb6f_b.jpg
4,295 pesos = 324.8 usd
Although it is not built with metal materials, 12-40 was designed to be tough and last forever. Nobody no longer dares to question its durability. Its built quality is much higher than every 24-70 in the market too!
“Although it is not built with metal materials, 12-40 was designed to be tough and last forever. Nobody no longer dares to question its durability. Its built quality is much higher than every 24-70 in the market too!”
Unproven assertions.
Nothing man-made lasts forever. No PLASTIC product has lasted 100 years.
There are questions about it’s durability.
I am one who dares to question the durability of the Zuiko 12-40mm. Owing to the (unexplained), premature failure of the mounting of the 12-40, I suspect the Zuiko 40-150mm and some of these new heavy primes may have brittle plastic mounting structure. If Olympus persists in using tiny, plastic mounting bosses in massive lenses durability will be suspect.
This 12-40 thing is immensely absurd. To make it mor absurd, Olympus should have issued a statement like this :
“Olympus corp. aknowledge the non-issue occuring in 0.04% of the Olympus m.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO. If this non-issue is occuring to your lens, please contact Olympus service, we will be glad to send you a new one like we did for the 2 cases that had occured since now.”
Talk about internet absurd hyperbole!!!!
Reminds me of a Gotlib cartoon, a Pierre Desproges sketch or a Kaamelott episode (for french speakin people who’ll see what I mean ;-))