Olympus dalliance with DSLRs over?

In rec.photo.digital Bruce wrote:
No it doesn't! It looks good for DSLRs until you realise, from Page
17, that Olympus considers Micro Four Thirds to be a digital SLR.

There is no mention of Four Thirds anywhere in the document. Thanks
to Page 17, all DSLR references are to *Micro* Four Thirds.

Well, m4/3 is closer to a DSLR than anything else (it's at least
"DSL"), and the only other option specifically mentioned in imaging is
"Compact Digital cameras", which is clearly not how Olympus is
positioning m4/3. "All A are B" is not the same thing as "All B are A",
as most of us learned in high school math, remember? Just because "All
m4/3 are DSLRs" doesn't mean "All DSLRs are m4/3." We know with good
certainty that the "E-5" will be announced around Photokina this year, so
the idea that they're about to drop the entire 4/3 line is, in a word,
silly, and divining this from reading the tea leaves of four bullet
points is doubly so.

More general thoughts...this "strategic plan" is the worst kind of
boardroom babble. They actually say "maximizing synergies"! "We will
be admired in international society..." Oh, I see, as opposed to all
those other businesses whose goal is to be despised. This is hardly
unusual for business presentations, but I hope, for Olympus' sake, that
this is just the handout, and there's a meatier planning document around
somewhere.

--
Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression
and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never reach me
anymore.
-- William Cowper, 1731 - 1800

On 24/05/10 10:18 AM, Bruce wrote:

snip

Meanwhile, Micro Four Thirds is a spectacular success. It makes sense
for Olympus to concentrate on Micro Four Thirds.

Huh? Why don't you ever see anyone with a micro 4:3 camera. Go to a
popular vista point in a place like Yosemite where it looks like a D-SLR
convention is being held and look for a micro 4:3 camera. I've never
seen one, at least not in March 2010. Meanwhile you see loads of the
latest Canon and Nikon models. I've also never seen one for sale in a
store that sells interchangeable lens cameras.

On Mon, 24 May 2010 13:30:17 -0700, John Navas
wrote:

On Mon, 24 May 2010 13:24:17 -0700, SMS
wrote in :

On 24/05/10 10:18 AM, Bruce wrote:

snip

Meanwhile, Micro Four Thirds is a spectacular success. It makes sense
for Olympus to concentrate on Micro Four Thirds.

Huh? Why don't you ever see anyone with a micro 4:3 camera. Go to a
popular vista point in a place like Yosemite where it looks like a D-SLR
convention is being held and look for a micro 4:3 camera. I've never
seen one, at least not in March 2010. Meanwhile you see loads of the
latest Canon and Nikon models. I've also never seen one for sale in a
store that sells interchangeable lens cameras.

You really do need to get out more.

SMS only gets out to imaginary parks with imaginary cameras where he
installs his imaginary computer-controlled geyser systems.

http://www.wifi-forum.com/wf/showpost.php?p=448381&postcount=101

On Mon, 24 May 2010 13:30:17 -0700, John Navas
wrote:

On Mon, 24 May 2010 13:24:17 -0700, SMS
wrote in :

On 24/05/10 10:18 AM, Bruce wrote:

snip

Meanwhile, Micro Four Thirds is a spectacular success. It makes sense
for Olympus to concentrate on Micro Four Thirds.

Huh? Why don't you ever see anyone with a micro 4:3 camera. Go to a
popular vista point in a place like Yosemite where it looks like a D-SLR
convention is being held and look for a micro 4:3 camera. I've never
seen one, at least not in March 2010. Meanwhile you see loads of the
latest Canon and Nikon models. I've also never seen one for sale in a
store that sells interchangeable lens cameras.

You really do need to get out more.

SMS only gets out to imaginary parks with imaginary cameras where he
installs his imaginary computer-controlled geyser systems.

http://www.wifi-forum.com/wf/showpost.php?p=448381&postcount=101


Damn, the board is down. Well, this still has all of SMS's wonderful
deranged imaginings ...

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fx7ngKAr4MsJ:www.wifi-forum.com/wf/showthread.php%3Fp%3D448388

In rec.photo.digital.slr-systems Bruce wrote:
So there's going to be an "E-5"?
....
Meanwhile, Olympus
will support (but not invest in) the E-System for the sake of existing
users.

Hey, don't take it from me.
"Toshiyuki Terada, or 'Toshi', manages the Olympus SLR product planning
team in Tokyo, Japan.
....
All Toshi would say was that his team are definitely working on the next
generation of Four Thirds products...
....
Speculation that Olympus was abandoning conventional optical viewfinder
DSLRs in as little as two years was also dismissed.
....
I asked Toshi if, now that the Pen E-PL1 had been launched, the product
development resources within Olympus would now be weighted more towards
Four Thirds and the E-System line. Toshi's reaction was almost one of
curiosity; implying surprise that I thought that R&D had been pulled off
Four Thirds in the first place. "Many technological developments are
common to both and new features that you see in our Pen cameras will
also be applied to future E-System cameras," Toshi explained, adding:
"We could not have separated our Micro Four Thirds and Four Thirds
development effort; it would not have worked that way.""
http://fourthirds-user.com/2010/03/lunch_with_olympus_manager_of_slr_product_planning .php

That interview was published on March 17th of this year, only a little
over 60 days ago. But hey, you think whatever you want.


Under these circumstances, the only DSLR purchases that make any sense
are those from Canon and Nikon. None of the other brands can be
guaranteed to be in production in three years' time.

I would be willing to lay money on the proposition that Olympus will
still be making DSLRs in three years.

--
Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression
and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never reach me
anymore.
-- William Cowper, 1731 - 1800

On 24/05/10 10:18 AM, Bruce wrote:

Under these circumstances, the only DSLR purchases that make any sense
are those from Canon and Nikon. None of the other brands can be
guaranteed to be in production in three years' time.

True, if you want to be sure of an upgrade path and continued
availability of lenses and accessories, you do not want to stray from
Canon or Nikon. Choosing a D-SLR body is almost like getting
married--divorces are messy and expensive.

It's pretty sad that no other D-SLR system has even been able to reach
10% market share, and other than Sony, they're not even in the high
single digits. You see the results in terms of product offerings. Other
than Sony, no one has the resources to invest in sensor development so
they fall further and further behind. You're also stuck with inferior
in-body VR/IS because other than Canon and Nikon no one has the
resources to invest in lens development.

Olympus also has the problem that they can't increase the sensor size on
4:3. Canon and Nikon can do APS-C or full frame (or anything in-between)
and in most cases you can use the same lenses (though you can use EF-s
lenses with an adapter on Canon full-frame models you really wouldn't
want to do this).

There may be a market for interchangeable lens P&S cameras like Micro
4:3 and Sony NEX. NEX is too new to know its chances, but Micro 4:3
sales have been underwhelming.