I guess soon we will know if the Olympus Camera Division will be kept alive or sold to an external company. And that would be a bad news for the whole photography industry if such a appreciated and historical company disappears. Here is the news that worries me:
Today Reuters reports that “Olympus Corp has launched a review of its business structure, according to an internal memo, amid speculation that the 92-year-old company may have to sell assets in order to survive a massive accounting scandal.“. Reuters also underlined that “Olympus’s camera business currently runs at a loss” and “Investment bankers say rivals in both the endoscope and camera markets are closely watching events unfold at the company, although prospective bidders are expected to stay on the sidelines until the situation becomes clearer.”
I know Olympus managment will try to do everything to not sell the camera division. But I don’t know if the financial situation will force them to sell everything to…Panasonic?..Samsung??? no idea :(
More Olympus fee scandal news:
Michael Woodford meets the FBI (Source: AP). He supports the Olympus Grassroots action (Source: AP).
A number of European banks are under investigation by Japanese authorities to determine whether they helped the management of Olympus hide irregular payments (Source: NYT).
We all know Sony’s solution to archive phase AF by using a semitransparent mirror. And looking at the latest Panasonic patent it looks like there are even smarter solutions! The sensor itself can reflect some of the light to the phase AF sensor (N.13 on the picture). There is a sort of reflective material between the pixels. That solution is called “Front side illuminated sensor”. There is also a second solution where some of the RGB pixels have been replaced with Phase-AF-Pixels like it works on the [shoplink 25297 ebay]Fuji’s F300EXR (it is a compact camera)[/shoplink].
Now, I doubt that Panasonic will ever introduce such a phase detection system. The current [shoplink 23568]Olympus E-P3[/shoplink] and [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] have already an exceptional fast contrast autofocus. My bet is that in a few years every camera will use contrast AF only. Phase AF is only a waste of space and resources!
Sorry if I fooled you but this is the [shoplink 27072 ebay]Ricoh GX-1[/shoplink] with built-in viewfinder ;) In some way the Ricoh is closer to my dreamcamera than the new [shoplink 26836]Panasonic GX1[/shoplink]. Thanks to R.S. for sending me this!
This weekend I will work on the new Olympus lens rumor. The 12-60mm(?) should be announced withing the next two weeks!
Amateur Photographer is keeping us daily updated about the Olympus fee scandal. Today they report that “Two members of the Olympus board and the company’s auditor have quit the scandal-hit camera maker”
Yesterday Former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford was mobbed by photographers and TV crews on his first return to Japan (Read more at Amateur Photographer). And Olympus officially said that there is no evidence of “crime syndicates” link (Source: AP).
Amateur Photographer also posted another Woodford article where he says that he is a big fan of the E-P3 and says: “The problem for Olympus has always been the dominance of Canon and Nikon in the DSLR market. Their dominance was rather like our business in endoscopes, but the advent of mirrorless cameras has brought about a renaissance.”
Something else: Photographyreview just posted a new E-P3 review. Shop links: [shopcountry 23568]
DPreview posted a new E-Pm1 review. Shop links: [shopcountry 23565]
If you want to create your own Lomo camera than read the How To posted by Unplggd (Click here). They use the [shoplink 27041 ebay]Olympus 50mm f/1.8 OM[/shoplink] as lens for the homemade camera. Of course you can buy Unplggd explains what’s the advantage of building that kind of Lomo camera: “There are several smartphone apps that can help you create Lomography look-a-like images, but nothing beats this DIY project which produces similar perfectly imperfect photos. You can even pair this hack with a vast array of OM Series SLR lenses or use an adapter for other glass from different manufacturers to further the array of results…”
Of course you don’t have to do this to get your Lomo styled effects. You can use the [shoplink 27045 ebay]m43 to Lomo lens adapter (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink] to use original Lomo lenses.
Links:
[shoplink 27042 ebay]Olympus OM lenses on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 27046 ebay]Lomo lenses on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
This is a post that contains emails from 43rumor readers. Here is the list:
1) Made a short film on the killer whales of the North Sea. Used the GH2 during gale force wind, upto 38 knots. GH2 and zuiko 12-60 and 35-100. Manual focus.
If you like it, nice to add it on your website for a break in between the rumors. The camera has some troubles since I used it, the salt wind, rain and sea water probably reached the electronic components. (but it was worth it) Here is the link. http://youtu.be/Cc2tNVrhAUA
Best Wishes, Melvin
3) Fotofinlandia is THE premier photo contest in Finland. It is now organized every third year. I have some info on it at my site. The finalists were announced today. My series of images is one of those lucky 12. Your 43rumors readers might be interested to know that this series is shot with E-P2 and D.Zuiko 50mm f/2 Macro. I had another series among TOP 35. Same equipment. All in all there are some 8000 photographers who have right to participate. The finalists can be seen here: http://www.fotofinlandia.fi/ehdokkaat/
If you click on “KAIKKI EHDOKKAAT” you can see those 33 series (not 35) who were in semi-finals.
4) “Hi Sir, I am a member of 43rumors, I read everyday your articles, specially the Olympus ones :) because since I was a child I have been taking pictures with OM cameras and now with four thirds and micro fourthirds cameras. My dream will be working for Olympus one day :). I have submitted a picture to National Geographic taken with an Olympus E-1 and Zuiko Digital 14-54 lens. I wonder if you could publish an announcement of the picture in National Geographic taken with the OLYMPUS E-SYSTEM. Maybe people like it and can press I like it or write a comment. If I had a minimum chance to win, could you believe it? OLYMPUS in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC! :) I really wish Michael Woodford can manage to get rid of this problem right now. I truly believe in MFT!!! It´s the future. Anyway I´ll understand if you can´t publish it.
Best wishes,
David Irisarri Vila http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2011/entries/96818/view/”
5) I see alot of people have been asking how the new Leica 25mm lens serves as a portrait lens. I recently took some pictures that shows how wonderful its bokeh is, and I disagree with those who says it is not a good portrait lens. Anyway, if its something that might be worth sharing, feel free to do so:)
Cheers from Japan
Here’s the link to the pics btw: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nipponbasse/sets/72157628018874014/
6) Rise Up 2011 ABS 13 Bouldering Comp with GH2 and Leica 25mm on youtube.
Amateur Photographer (Click here) published an Interview with ex-CEO Woodford. There is an interesting part concerning the camera business. W. thinks that “The camera business is stronger than it’s been for several years but we have to see where Olympus’s future goes“. And Woodford hinted that he would have felt differently had he been in charge three or four years ago.
Woodofrd also sees a bright future for high-end superzoom compact cameras.
And than he talks about the mirrorless system: “I am a great believer in product… we make world-beating cameras, wonderful lenses, sexy-styled bodies. We can do that – that’s what I’ve learned as I’ve got closer to the camera business.” However, he expressed frustration that Olympus did not have more resources to invest in a market that is becoming ever more competitive, and now pitching up against the likes of camera giant Nikon in the CSC arena.
Just my two cent: I fully agree with him! Olympus (and Panasonic) created a great system but missed to bring more innovations. And now cameras like the Sony NEX-7, Nikon 1 and Fuji upcoming LX are bringing some REAL innovation (hybrid viewfinder, built-in EVF, High ISO quality and so on). But I don’t want to sound to negative. I think the m43 sensor size is the best choice to keep a good quality-camera size balance. And we also have some incredible nice lens other companies cannot offer. But I would lvoe to see less camera reiteration!
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