As you know the big news on the end of the last week was the official Sony and Olympus partnership announcement. Today there was a press meeting in Tokyo and you can read more about it at DC.watch (translation here). It is the medical business from Olympus that Sony wants most but of course there will be implication in the camera division too. The press conference confirmed that both companies will seek collaboration. Sony will supply sensors to Olympus while Olympus will supply lens and mirrorless technology and knowledge.If google translation didn’t fool me than it’s also clear that many components for future mirrorless cameras will be developed together. It is Sony’s interest to sell Micro Four Thirds sensor and not to make Olympus quit from the system.
I think Olympus can add an immense value to the NEX system by may making High Quality Zuiko lenses for it. Don’t think Olympus will make NEX cameras for now. Or do you really want an E-moun PEN? 🙂
42 Responses
It is Japan and Germany. That’s it. I am really surprised with all of the engineering around the world, it comes down to Japan and Germany.
What has Germany got to do with this Sony-Olympus partnership>
Nothing, I am just thinking about imaging and for the most part, quality luxury vehicles. Plus I didn’t want the idiots who try to jockey for the first post to type “first”.
They should collaborate on a large sensor mirrorless system. Full frame or even 645.
Olympus got anything to bring on that front? As far as I’m aware – they haven’t designed even a single lens or body for FF camera since the film age.
IMHO Sony would do better with leading Full Frame on it’s own with Zeiss glass.
Olympus are very good at making lenses with larger image circles with compact dimensions. But they’re also trapped somewhat by the smallish sensor in mFT, and a lot of the higher end of the market won’t even consider them, trapping them in the mold of a niche company.
Neither company wants to invest the resources necessary to make a large-sensor mirrorless system on their own. It would be relatively straightforward to make the sensor and body, but having a portfolio of lenses would require too much CapEx for the returns they would get in the short term. By splitting the investment, they could dominate a market that none of their competitors want to enter.
That could be interesting, hopefully something productive comes out of this. Personally, I’d like to see more lenses.
Carl, you are an idiot. What is the incentive for making a full frame mirrorless camera? Teenagers don’t have that kind of money.
you must have a sad life
Le sigh.
Yes I would definitely want an em5 styled camera with gh3 side tilting touch screen and nex apsc size sensor. It’s too bad that nex doesn’t have any High end bodies like gh3 that has everything
The top nex camera nex7 should have the generic hotshoe, full articulating screen like gh3 and touch screen focus like gh3. Right now Sony cripples the nex cameras on purpose to differentiate but u hate it. Why not just build a gh3 or em5 and sell at higher price that has all of the features.
Is Olympus lens better than. Zeiss lens?
Some Zuiko lenses are on par or even exceeds Leica lenses.
Depends. first of all you hardly can compare lenses designed for tiny sensors with these designed for large sensors.
Secondly it depends what you mean by “better”.
Exactly. It is actually a lot harder to design and make glass for a smaller sensor with higher resolution than lens for a larger sensor. People mistakingly believe that the larger the glass, the harder and more expensive it is when the opposite is true. Well, then what about compact camera lens? They are small, so they in theory should be the most expensive to make. They are cheap because the lens themselves are low quality. A compact camera lens that can actually outresolve a high quality 10MP sensor does not exist.
For example, a full frame lens can have flaws in it and still be a quality lens. A M4/3 lens with the same flaw is magnified 2 fold.
Their 35-100/2 was a lovely lens, too bad they never revived the idea for micro four thirds.
I think they just admitted that!
They want the lens tech and Olympus the sensor tech, so it’s quite obvious that Sony now publicly admitted the lens tech of Olympus is far superior.
Sony sensor, EVF, phase-detect AF, plus Olympus 5-axis IS would be a great combination for a body.
Would love to see the 5 axis IBS and focus speed of the E-5 on the Nex
Exactly. Give me Nex sensor tech with EM-5 IBIS and I’ll be one happy photographer.
I’d love to see that IBIS on Alpha.
NEXes don’t have build-in stabilization and I don’t see a chance for Sony to change it’s mind in that topic.
+1
It’s time for an update on the Alpha system’s stabilizer system.
It seems to me that the barrier to internal stabilization on the NEX is combining it synergistically with the lens stabilization. If that could be accomplished then existing lenses would have improved stabilization and the E-mount would shine as a way to use a huge variety of lenses (with adaptor) and still have stabilization. I would love to add stabilization to the Contax G lenses for example.
When mounting a stabilized lens to a body with IBIS, like a Panasonic 12-35/2.8 on an Olympus E-M5, you need to disable one of them.
A NEX with IBIS would be nice, especially if it’s the 5-axis one, which is more effective than most OIS/OSS. Also, even some E-mount lenses don’t have OSS, like the Zeiss 24/1.8.
Me too, but it is like asking Sony to make m43-nex adaptor
i think sony should add jpeg processing to their list of things to get.
Indeed Olympus JPEG engine and their much faster and accurate CDAF system
As I mentioned before, there too many camera makers at this point, a fact that doesn’t really help competition. At this point I had a problem finding Sony lenses in places like Korea and China. It’s high time that the smaller medium to pro stills camera makes (in terms of market share) should get the together and re-ignite the competition with Canon and Nikon. That said, as a Sony shooter I would like it if as this trend continues, Canon and Nikon stop buying parts from Sony so we could have some real competition.
This could be a great tie-up because Sony is a camera company and Olympus is a photography company.
They have different areas of expertise, although neither runs their business end well.
Not sure if I want high quality Oly glass. I mean if that means no compromise lenses which are big and pro-level expensive, then we have Zeiss and Sony G. I wouldn’t complain, but it would not make the system more attractive for an amateur like me.
I would love innovative glass targeted for the enthusiast (like the Zeiss NEX glass), minimal compromise and compact glass specially made for the NEX, then YES PLEASE.
Let me try to understand your logic… You don’t want lenses with prices similar to Sony G and Zeiss ZA but you like the Zeiss own lenses for NEX coming next year? How much do you think those lenses will cost huh?
Rooru S. – When did I say I want prices like ZA and SAL G lenses? The prices of the upcoming Zeiss lenses for the Fuji X and NEX will be around that of the SEL 24/1.8, according to Zeiss at the Photokina. This means they will be around $1000. So if Olympus can make good glad around or less than this price then its good.
Yes, personally I wont be overly excited about pro grade lenses like, say, an NEX versions of the Zuiko 35-100/f2 that costs $2500-4000. For that bulk I might as well put huge G-glass or Zeiss on that are made for FF sensors.
Well, it might be unavoidable for a while, but it does not really make sense for Sony to support the MFT-Group instead of pulling Olympus into E-Mount.
Why pull Olympus into E-mount? they’re going to let Panasonic gain a lot of market share if they do that.. No way.
a full frame E mount OM-D will be the killer machine!!!
“Do you really want an E-moun PEN?”
😀
Maybe, if IBIS is important to you…
Good thing Olympus stays with m4/3. Better not let Panasonic win the m4/3 market. Now, I don’t expect a Zuiko lens on Sony E-mount cameras, but I do expect Olympus expertise on making lenses being shared with Sony/Minolta engineers and who knows? Maybe this will accelerate a little bit the R&D of new lenses designs for both A-mount and E-mount.
Given that Olympus lenses must have slighty greater circle of coverage due to necessity for IBIS, I wouldn’t be surprised to see rebranded lenses like 75/1.8 for E-mount
What I believe we’ll see from this collaboration on the photographic front at least is the possibility of IBIS in future NEX bodies (particularly useful for the future Zeiss 50mm f/2.8; for those wanting to use it as portrait lens and the usage of longer focal length legacy lenses).
As for lenses, I don’t think we’ll ever see a Zuiko E-Mount lenses, most likely it’ll be a Sony lens but with the optics engineering done by Olympus+Minolta engineers, hopefully this will mean higher quality optics at a lower price or more compact, I’m fine with any.
Whatever happens though, right now the future for Sony and Oly looks good!
Olympus does not have in lens stabilization technology, so expect wide(ish) fast primes from them.
Would love to see Sony release an mft body, that would really spice up competition with panasonic!
Love to see the 5-axis Olympus IBIS incorporated into an Alpha.
And the Sony 1″ sensor behind a lens as good as the XZ-1 in a compact.
And Olympus colors in the Alpha JPEG engine would be sweet.
Actually, Olympus make bloody good lenses too.
Maybe Olympus could help make those Alpha & NEX lenses everyone’s been looking for.
Not that this will necessarily get any of those things.