Phototrend had a chat with OM managers Kazuhiro Togashi and Sandro Rymann.
About the financial status:
We have seen an increase in our revenue and profits over the past three years since OM Digital Solutions was founded.
About the OM-3:
The OM-3 is our first camera launched after the establishment of OM Digital Solutions. We started from scratch. In the past, many users were worried about our R&D resources and investment capabilities. But we already have a plan for new products in the future, including lenses.
About possible film cameras:
Currently, we have no plans in this regard.
About a possible 4/3 fixed lens camera:
We don’t have any plans for that at the moment, but we are continuing to study the commercial potential of such a product.
About new PEN cameras:
The PEN series is a core part of the OM System lineup, and we are actively exploring the possibility of a successor.
About higher resolution sensors:
we continue to explore new sensor technologies, including those with higher resolution.
In a recent article, Digital Camera World highlights that among major camera manufacturers, only OM System provides measurable weather-sealing ratings for its cameras, specifically the OM-1 Mark II and OM-5 models. These cameras are certified with an IP53 rating, ensuring protection against dust and water spray from certain angles, making them reliable choices for wet-weather photography. In contrast, other leading brands like Canon, Nikon, and Sony mention weather resistance in their flagship models but do not provide specific ingress protection (IP) ratings, leaving the extent of their weather sealing unspecified.
I’m really surprised that no other company is doing what OM Digital is doing. I don’t know if the big players see this as a “useless” feature or if customers just don’t need it. What are your thoughts on this?
In a chat with the PetaPixel crew OM manager Kazuhiro Togashi said:
“The OM-3 is not a successor of the Pen series. So of course we are thinking the Pen series is an important lineup for our company. We are trying to study the success of the Pen series, but again, the OM-3 is not a successor of the Pen. The Pen series remains an important part of our portfolio, and we are actively exploring the possibility of a new Pen model, and are currently considering what Pen series model we can offer as OM System.“
When asked about the trend of manufacturers removing electronic viewfinders he said:
We are considering both sides for market demand,” Togashi says. “We want to make sure photographers actually enjoy operating the camera. We are really considering which kind of product may be better to expand to new users. Maybe they want to continue to use their smartphone but have some interest in standalone cameras. So we are now thinking about the new Pen concept [from this point of view]
PetaPixel added that they got the impression the new PEN camera is still in early stage of development. If that’s true it might take 2-3 years before this model hits the market. What do you hope to get? a new PEN-F successor, and entry level PEN or soemthing else?
DClife wrote down this text derived from the presentation:
OM System developer Keitaro Yokoyama talks about the telephoto zoom lens he is currently developing as follows.
We have updated our lens roadmap to February 20, 2025. We have updated it a little and posted the image below. We have been told not to mention any specs at this stage. The prototype for this product has moved to the final stage, and there are some articles online saying that it may be delayed again, but we think that we will be able to announce it without making you wait too long. Please look forward to it.
In response to a question about what cameras will be like in the future and what kind of camera he would like to make, Kei Hamada, developer of the OM-3, said the following. *The text has been proofread for ease of reading.
Our system has computational photography, and we want everyone to use it to express themselves. We believe that everyone can experience various expressions with just the camera, so we want to cherish that. Among them, there are still areas that we have not been able to express or provide, such as high-resolution shots and live GND, so we would like to incorporate them into our products and have everyone use them. The world is constantly seeing the emergence of new technologies such as image processing and AI, so we think it is our job to always catch up and connect them to photographic expression.
He talks about how there is still room for further evolution and improvement in the software field, and also talks about the possibility of live GND using filter shapes as an example. OM Digital’s “computational photography” is likely to continue to evolve.
OM Digital has also published some interesting images, revealing early sketches of the “OM-3”.
A cross-section of the “OM-3” was also released, and it can be seen that the inside is packed tightly while maintaining rigidity and durability. The “OM-3” inherits some of the specifications of the “OM-1II”, but the layout has been reviewed from scratch in order to fit it into a smaller body, so it feels like a redesign.
