So finally we know when to expect the next new Olympus Micro Four Thirds products. According to many (yes many!) of our trusted sources Olympus scheduled a press release in late May. We will definitely see new lenses (plural!) like the one they have shown us at the CP+ show. There should be two new high quality fixed lenses (12mm and 50mm?). But according to one of our sources Olympus will not present the pro Olympus m43 camera at that event. It is very likely they will announce it 2-3 months later! We are currently investigating if there could be an E-P3 announcement instead. The E-P2 (Check [shopcountry 14830]) price is very close to the current E-PL2 (Check [shopcountry 18844]) price. That makes us very suspicious 🙂
Talking with our sources we got the “feeling” that everybody is going a bit slower than it should. A wonder why (Nikon mirrorless? financial crisis?). Anyway, nothing to worry about. What matters is that Olympus releases exactly the pro lenses and camera we need! Maybe our digital [shoplink 17129]Olympus RC[/shoplink] dream will become truth 😉
I do hope Olympus did carefully read what Thom Hogan told us about the Olympus future. Despite the very critical (and in my opinion justified) analysis I have no doubt Olympus has the power and knowledge to improve their product strategy and marketing and to develop new stunning products. Let’s hope I am right!
Links to [shoplink 17129]Olympus RC auctions at eBay[/shoplink] and the All E-PL2 black kit (camera+lens+flash) that has a $100 price drop at Amazon (Click here).
Reminder: Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct
76 Responses
In Sweden the Ep2 costs about twice as much as the Epl2..
I was hoping the 12mm would come in March – so I will buy the 9-18mm. To miss the whole Spring in Wideangle is a too high price for the prime 🙂
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the 9-18. I’ve had mine a couple of months and the novelty still hasn’t worn off!
Get the 7-14mm, you won’t be sorry.
It’s well worth the extra $$!
I though about getting the FT (not mFT) version of the 9-18mm because it seems to be sharper, with less CA and no vignetting.
The price difference to the 7-14mm wouldn’t be a big problem (as I like to import it from US). Is it really better? The dpreview test shows no advantage in sharpness but real dark corners. Do you have experience with the vignetting? Or do you use the in-camera-correction?
The in-camera correction I believe is on by default and given the shots I’ve been getting, would NOT disable it. I see no vignetting and it’s plenty sharp. It’s quite an impressive lens.
I use the 7-14mm on E-PL1, and it’s a remarkable lens, even more so because it’s a zoom lens. Compact, light, robust and very sharp with little distortion. Worth every cent.
Also, if you’re using a Four Thirds lens on M4/3’s body, wouldn’t there be a crop factor of .5 or so making it narrower? I’m guessing it would end up at around 11-22mm or something? (Correct me if I’m wrong someone!)
This is not correct. The crop factor is identical between mFT/FT, but the size of the lens is much smaller with the mFT, and no need for an adapter.
KGL
lol they will probably market EPL3 than :)))))
they will add a button and they will say
hey this is our new cam enjoy
🙂
They’ll move the buttons around, give it a snappy name like E-L-P-3 (more hyphens!) and call it innovation.
😉
What happened to the Feb/March announcements? E-P2 does look like its ready for a replacement… E-P1 seems to be less easily available now (huge discounts must have helped, so the E-P2 may soon take its place as the dump model.
Hmm, I want to replace my E-P1 this year, but so far there is nothing to upgrade to. I want a rangefinder styled camera with built in EVF and the qualities of the GH2, exept that I don’t need such a strong focus on video.
But I’m looking forward to the 50mm prime. If it is good and not ridiculously overpriced in comparison with the FT lense, than I will replace my ZD 50/2 for that lense.
But late May is that far away, until than I guess all companies will offer something mirrorless.
” I want to replace my E-P1 this year”
“But late May is that far away”
You sound pretty confused dude 😀
It’s no time for buying for sure. Time to shoot, build your blog, cherish your pictures, get software… Cameras and lenses? Later, much later 😉
I don’t think the GH2 has a “strong focus on video”. It’s primarily a still camera, with a functional video part.
To see specialized video cameras, look for the Sony NEX VG10, Panasonic AG-AF100, and the likes.
“You sound pretty confused dude”
I’m no early adopter, so anouncing “my” camera in May instead of February delays my buying for 2-3 month 😉
But you are right, as soon as spring starts I will enjoy taking pictures with my old, beloved E-P1 (but I miss a VF)
Agreed. I have a GH2 and I’m a stills guy. I LOVE THIS CAMERA FOR STILLS! (When you shoot RAW, image quality is so much better.) I suppose I should take some movies at some point because everybody’s raving about it. 🙂
C’mon, the GH2 is a fantastic stills camera. The fact that the video happens to be excellent is a bonus and shouldn’t detract from it’s primary function. It’s like getting a Full-HD video camera for free.
The EVF and articulated LCD are excellent. The touch screen is actually useful! The interface and menu system are a revelation next to the Oly interface. The only (arguable) downside is it’s lack of IBIS. It’s really not that physically big, either.
Lack of IBIS was the #1 reason Panasonic wasn’t even on my short list. It’s inexcusable in this day and age to bring out a consumer camera without IBIS. I guess it’s so that Panasonic can push their more expensive stabilized lenses, but not even all of their own new lenses are stabilized.
I did upgrade from E-P1 to E-P2 this week. The VF-2 was the(only possible)reason, since i shoot alot in mf mode. I am ofcourse curious about the possible E-P3 and High End Pen. I would never want to buy those suckers too fast, as prices always drop fast, so a next upgrade would take a while for me.
The GH2 has no strong focus on video. It is expensive, because it has the best EVF so far, the fastest CDAF, touch screen, better burst rate, no blackout a 3 fps, and the best overall m4/3 image quality. I would say that this should be enough for a stills photographer to consider and upgrade or a new purchase. The video improvements are just a small part of the GH2 release.
GH’s EVF is field sequential with associated tearing vs. full RGB of separate EVF of Pens so actually Pana could do better in here.
Touch screen: I want camera with direct controls, not menu surfing toy.
(and they could drop few Marketing Pixels for getting more sensitivity/DR)
And I’m not here to downgrade to entry level where GHs are expect for their video functionality.
But if Pana made one with E-30 level ergonomy/controls (take GH2, use smaller LCD for more space with bigger grip and extra controls would get long way toward it) and especially if it had also in body stabilization then I would be among the first ones to line up to get it unless Olympus had finally gotten their act together before that.
I hope olympus has scrapped the fisheye duplicate lens. Now I’ll be anxiously waiting for may 😀 Wonder if we’ll see a new roadmap soon. Any news @admin?
“I hope olympus has scrapped the fisheye duplicate lens.”
+1
I had hoped something would be on the market before I went to Europe in late May… want to upgrade my EP1 but rather not buy another stop-gap camera while waiting for Olympus to get their act together. If nothing new comes out I guess I’m looking at either an EPL2 with EVF or an X100. Price is less an issue than getting a camera that does what I want (though the M9 is still out of the question, unfortunately)
So where have all the modular & hybrid cameras from Olympus, rumored for spring 2011 gone lately? Cancelled, postponed, or it was just wishfull dreaming?
Hi Yeti!
I will post something about the modular camera later. The project is “frozen” for now.
It figures that the one thing that can save them, they’ve stalled out. They need something to overcome the hodge-podge product lineup, and they have patented all of the ideas that do that, but haven’t brought it to market.
Is the imaging section of Olympus run by morons or cowards? Business is about RISK, I hope they still remember that even after their asses have gotten soft and shaped like office chairs.
Right now that “frozen” looks like the word for everything else except selling Don’t have.
Great news about the lenses, and I’m ok with a late May announcement time table, but man, it’s going to be tough to wait that long for the high end body. I want to get rid of my DSLR so bad. Might be time to browse eBay for a GH1 while I wait for the new Olympus.
if they’re going to redesign it like the X100 or OM with interchangeable lenses then I’m willing to wait!
Ah dammit. I’m really losing patience with Olympus. No details on a pro body to compete with the GH-2 and complete lack of a fast AF portrait prime from any m43 manufacturer. It’s been 2 years already, so much so that my eyes are already starting to wander towards prosumer models like the Mark II. But then I remember the horrible weight and bulk and sigh.
I expect that any pro body from Oly won’t compete with the GH2, but will be a different sort of beast entirely. For a portrait prime, there are tons of really good, really cheap manual lenses, which will do the job really well. Yes, they need one from a system perspective, but it can wait.
Aye, the trouble for me is that I still own an E-P1 and manual focus on an LCD is so painful I don’t enjoy it. So an adapter and manual prime would not be worthwhile without upgrading my camera, which again misses the point – I don’t to splash out more money on an incremental upgrade before they release a more serious model :(.
This, if true, is a little disappointing. It seems like all the pieces are in place to produce a pro-level m43 body and there is certainly demand. One explanation is that waning profits means waning R&D budgets which weren’t that high to begin with…so longer lead times on new cameras and lenses which will compound their financial problems. If I was an Olympus exec I might be eyeing that sword on the mantelpiece with a bit more warily. Since I’m not, I’m eyeing the X100, which while it isn’t weathersealed, has enough manual camera ergonomics to sway me back towards an older way of shooting. Come on Olympus, read Thom’s comments and pull it together.
> One explanation is that waning profits means waning R&D budgets which weren’t that high to begin with…
That reminds me. Most of the R&D expenditures are the human resources aka people. Unless they lay off people (or most of their highly paid workforce are contractors) slowing down the development doesn’t save much money.
I really hate this. You’d think that with the high demand for a pro camera from Olympus that they would throw all their resources at it to try and release it asap… Its truly upsetting. This is the worst part of technology and gadgets (it even apply’s to cars), new products just take too long to get to consumers, and companies never release any information on new products until they are ready, couldn’t they give us at least some sort of lens road map or a press release every so often saying what they are working on… is it too much at ask for, i hate this waiting and then finding out that what you where waiting for wasn’t what was announced at the last press meeting and is still gonna take 6 months to prepare (or just die all together, because its not the first time that would happen). Its just really frustrating.
Just a few years ago we were lucky to get 1 camera a year from all top manufacturers combined.
Kids these days.
One more disappointed reader… I was expecting April announcement, not end of May. I may end up with E-PL1 which is becoming a bargain these days. I need a good cam for summer vacation and anything announced in late May won’t be in the shops ’till July and won’t have a regular price until September.
And knowing last year’s postponed announcement of 14-150mm lens, that late May may become late June. Oh well, I’m a safe Olympus buyer until someone else comes out with mirrorless camera with IBIS – and that won’t be soon…
maybe your sources dont know everything. the E-PL2 was not really leaked, so was the high-end m4/3 lens, dpreview posted that first.
Prices of the Olympus Pens become really low these days. Low prices = low margins for Olympus.
They should focus on that high spec pro pen cam (with high price = high profit)which we are waiting for. HD on par with GH2, IQ on par with E5 (or better if they really want to hit the nail). If this cam can handle the old 4/3 glass without compromise… they are on the right track. High speed sync time would even be better (1/500).
Olympus should lead m4/3 and not follow.
I guess the advantage of the low PEN prices (saw a new E-P1 for £299 recently) is that whilst waiting for the weather-sealed version I could by a spare body and just risk taking it out in the rain!
Announcing premium lenses without a camera to match would be idiotic beyond belief. As it stands, there is almost nothing to differentiate each of the 4 E-PEN cameras except minor incremental changes (button/dial shuffling, flash/no, screen size/resolution increases), and even worse, the E-PL2 – an entry-level camera – offers the most complete package out of them.
They need a flagship camera, and fast. Waiting for Nikon et al. to make the first move is tantamount to conceding defeat.
ok, so somewhere August this pro model will come.. maybe, after summer.. zz. Glad I bought the e-pl2 🙂 summer is the best time for photography!
I´m sorry, but I wouldn´t buy a camera which is as ugly as the RC. I didn´t like the old-fashioned E-PX-design and because of this bought the later brought out E-PL1.
And I also don´t think that Thom Hogan is right in many points. For judging the market success of Oly he and we all have not enough and not detailed enough information.
To tell Oly what they have to do is delusion of grandeur.
Thom Hogan’s comments were pretty realistic and based on not only years of experience in the photography world, but the guy also seems to have good market intelligence as well.
So Olympus is going to release 2 pro lenses, and not pro body for several months afterwards? What market does this cater to? I can understand releasing cheap lenses to go with a cheap body, but expensive lenses with a cheap body? If they are released with an E-P3, does that mean they will not be weather sealed?
Am I the only one who will walk from m4/3 if some weather-sealed equipment isn’t released soon?
I think there are several reasons why they are delaying a MFT “flagship”:
1. Bad memories from the introduction of the FT system where they developed the “pro” line of lenses and cameras first while others where selling their entry level DSLRs like crazy. This time they want to do the consumer market first (which in fact they are doing).
2. They are waiting for a new, better sensor to become available to them
3. Fast AF with FT lenses (also older ones) would be a a must in such a camera IMO. Probably their AF technology is not there yet.
4. Bean counters running the company, less R&D budget.
5. They see no need to be first in the mirrorless “pro” segment. Placing a product is always a risk, because you cannot just replace it with something completely different if the (not yet developed) market so demands (buyer’s resentment). Maybe they’d rather react instead of being first? In they meantime they should have some nice stuff in their labs and could get out something competitive quickly.
6. No MFT pro lenses yet, no need for a pro body. But then, why are the pro lenses taking so long? I think both will be announced at the same time or one shortly after the other.
7. A combination of the above
There are some problems with 1 and 5
They struggled to keep up with Canikon in mirror systems and then with announcement of mirrorless system they basically managed to create own market segment free from worst competitors so if they now let others get firm foothold of that segment where’s the sense in it?
With all this delaying of high end big factor deciding can Oly capture that mirrorless high end is where Nikon will target their entry into party:
Is it ultra tiny sensor compact or near same size sensor in good ergonomy and controls body. If they push into high end mirrorless before Olympus they’ve got huge marketing and name behind what ever they call their product and they can well conquer most of the market. Then Olympus in is same starting position as they were with FT with others already long into game.
I agree that 1 and 5 are problematic. Nevertheless, I think Oly will be OK if they announce their pro line first or at the same time. The MFT system already has some “high end” products, so they have a head start: GH-2, E-P2, 20/1.7, 45/2.8 macro, 7-14/4, Voigtländer 25/0.95. In fact, many enthusiasts and some pros are already using that stuff. Recently they said that they were developing new “high end” m.Zuikos. I hope there will be good news soon…
I just bought a GH2. Snooze you lose Olympus.
Considering the same thing. Can I live without the beautiful Olympus Jpegs and IBIS though..? Gargh. I suppose more of my shooting is raw these days, but I’ve never liked the Jpegs from Panasonic cameras, and I don’t always want the hassle of having to post process everything I shoot…
Meanwhile, Panasonic GF2 with 14mm+14-42mm lenses kit climbed last week to the third place of camera bestsellers rank in Japan. Sony NEX5 is in the 10th place. Olympus E-PL1 is in 14th. http://bcnranking.jp/category/subcategory_0008.html
M43 portrait lens lists:
AF:
Pana-Leica 45mm
43 Zuiko 50mm/f2 with adapter(slow AF, high quality)
MF:
Contax G 45mm/f2
Planar 50mm/f1.4 and 1.7
The MF ones is relatively cheap even with adapter with nice quality, seems like Zeiss dominated MF part…any other suggestions?
I use an Oly 50/1.8 for portrait on 4/3’s. Works great, dirt cheap.
Have one myself, but it’s way too soft wide open. Suppose it could be argued that is okay if it’s primarily just a portrait lens though. Really for m43 we need a 60/70mm f1.4 to get the shallow DOF. The f2.8 45 macro for m43 is just not enough.
the 50 f1.4 for OM is tack sharp though a bit more expensive
I am really looking forward to a splash water and dust protected PEN with an electronic viewfinder, as I take most of my pictures while trekking. Unfortunately, professional DSLR like Olympus E-3/5 or Pentax K-5 are very heavy and therefore unsuitable for carrying around. I desperately hope that mFT will change that.
if you are longing for a pro PEN, one of your main wishes should be a good protection of your lcd display. it takes so much real estate at the backside then it becomes the weak spot for carrying around in a rough environment, unless you put a full case around it, which defeats the standby-ness of it for shooting. The E-3/E-5’s lcd flip & protect position would be a great addition if they add a swivel screen.
Couldn’t agree more. I currently own an Olympus E-620 (which is unfortunately not protected)and I love the swivel screen. On a PEN-system a swivel screen becomes also more interesting due to the faster contrast AF.
It must have been fun to work on the first Pen and see the reception it got, almost as much positive press as the X100. It can’t be much fun to repackage the E-P1 as E-P2, E-PL1 and E-PL2 even though they did add a feature – support for the electronic viewfinder. So, maybe they all quit?
I suspect it’s just quite hard to make a high performance mirrorless that lives up to expectations. If they need some time to work out the bugs, that’s fine.
sure… meanwhile the market and competition whizzes by.
I laugh at people who has high hopes from Oly that they are going to release a good cam 🙂
Come on guys! You still didn’t get your lessons?
and i laugh at you 🙂
> Come on guys! You still didn’t get your lessons?
Yes, we did. At least me.
But wild speculations and blog posts are neither burdening nor oblige us to buy what we say we want to buy 😉
I guess you are here is for the same reason as many others: you are following the actual trend, the place where stuff happens, where people want the good things to happen. Who knows, it could be that in half year all readers from here would migrate to NEX or Nikon mirrorless rumor blog 🙂
oh c’mon. the PEN are good cams. maybe not the best, but they have their advantages. i still use my E-P1 and dont really feel that I need an update asap.
I know exactly when and why Olympus started to deteriorate.
>I know exactly when and why Olympus started to >deteriorate.
Me too! They started to deteriorate exactly at the time they got worse. And why? Well it’s a secret but I’ll tell you: because they had been better before!
You see? You are not the only genius here. 😉
+1
It was when they decided 4/3 was the way to go and locked themselves out of ever using larger sensors.
When they released the E-1 they made the brilliant decision not to allow people with OM mount lenses to use them on 4/3. At the time, they gave technical reasons why poor image quality would result because of the oblique angle of acceptance of light to the sensor cells.
More than a few OM users were a bit puzzled by this, as they could see cannon users happily using their 35mm glass on DSLR bodies and getting excellent results
Then an adapter was released that ironically allowed OM users to use their Zuiko glass on Cannon DSLR bodies! Then a third party came to the rescue and came up with an OM adapter for 4/3.
The results of using OM Zuiko glass on digital bodies made Olypus’ technical competence look a bit dubious and I think not a few users switched to Canon. After everyone else had made OM-4/3 adapters, Olympus finally relented and made one available. Burning people, or appearing to have that intention, who had sunk thousands into Zuiko glass was not a clever move.
I suspect some influential person at Olympus, who got on their technical high horse about not using OM glass on 4/3 bodies, also thought developments in sensors would be so great and rapid that full frame sensors would be unnecessary.
So instead of a Photography visionary like Maitani, I think Olympus’ future was dictated by a starry eyed geek who got it wrong.
I think If Olympus had made the modular camera that was recently rumored instead of the E5, things would not be as bleak.
wasnt panasonic that said there wont be any camera in march… it was probably for reasons regarding the new sensor…. so it means the new olympus camera will use another panasonic sensor lets see if this time its a good one a real 16mp sensor
Crossing fingers.
They need to solve the issue of 4/3 lenses on m4/3 bodies, otherwise they’re dead.
@Mr Ree. Hey buddy, no the crop factor is the same. same sensor size, same crop factor. A four thirds 50mm lens = 100mm in 35mm terms on both 4/3 and micro 4/3 bodies.
No you don’t. That’s just you making a guess like anyone else who isn’t privy to Olympus’ inner workings.