Olympus out of Camera Biz

[MichaelW2]

Olympus Optical is divesting itself of its camera branch, selling to a private equity company who rejig for resale. I can't imagine that the brand will survive for long. Panasonic will probably snap up the tech.

I selected Olympus OM2n as my travel camera in 1982 and it served me well. I've used lots of other brands but they always appealed to my weak shoulders with compact, lightweight designs neat ergonomics and advanced light metering tech.
My favourite lens was the 55mmf/3.5 macro which was really portable and incredibly sharp as well as 1:1 macro close focus. The T32 flash always delivered in an age when flash exposure was almost a voodoo spell.
Any other Olympus fans ?

 

[Chromatic]

I believe they did a good Mount.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

I looked at Olympus a few years ago. Decided to go with Fuji instead.
I have a mate who tests gear for a local camera shop. He has tried Olympus and said they are very good, but a real PIA to use; funny menu and not a user friendly interface. File format is funny, or so he claims - that is above my pay grade!
Think they have been swamped by Fuji and Sony, who now seem to be the market leader away from the full frame Nikons and Canons of this world. Even Nikon and Canon are fighting for market share away from the pros and camera club gear junkies.
Plus most photos these days are taken on phones so the market for traditional cameras is shrinking rapidly.

The old Olympus OM film cameras were great. Almost indestructible.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Ex FiL had an Olympus Trip back in the eighties. For a compact film camera it was a cracking little bit of kit, without the bulk or expense of an SLR and so much better than the point and shoot cheapos that made up most of the competition.

It will be a shame to see a famous old name disappear or just become a brand name for all sorts of tat, rather like Kodak.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Ex FiL had an Olympus Trip back in the eighties. For a compact film camera it was a cracking little bit of kit, without the bulk or expense of an SLR and so much better than the point and shoot cheapos that made up most of the competition.

It will be a shame to see a famous old name disappear or just become a brand name for all sorts of tat, rather like Kodak.

A classic camera.

 

[raleighnut]

I've got a Mju 11, lovely bit of kit, results hard to differentiate between my Pentax SLRs mind you I've a 50mm F 1.1 for those.

 

[MichaelW2]

The old Olympus OM film cameras were great. Almost indestructible.

Even as a fan I would never go that far. I dropped mine in the case and dented the metal around the prism. It didn't do any more damage and it fixed a shutter problem that I only discovered later when I saw the slides.
If you wanted indestructible, it was Nikon F1 or Canon F1 but you paid for the robustness in many ways.

 

[Cycleops]

I guess the point and shoot camera market is more or less dead due to the rise of better smartphone cameras. Don’t know about the pro side but there do seem to be rather a lot of players.
About the only growth area in the camera market is coming from “action” cameras like Go Pro, which is now worth a staggering $0.75bn, as people prefer to take pictures of them being abused by police or being taken out by aggressive motorists instead of snapping landscapes or their friends.

 

[MichaelW2]

I guess the point and shoot camera market is more or less dead due to the rise of better smartphone cameras. Don’t know about the pro side but there do seem to be rather a lot of players.
About the only growth area in the camera market is coming from “action” cameras like Go Pro, which is now worth a staggering $0.75bn, as people prefer to take pictures of them being abused by police or being taken out by aggressive motorists instead of snapping landscapes or their friends.

I bought in to Nikon APS because I thought the long term support would be better than Olympus. At the time the midrange competition was fierce and I figured that Olympys and 4/3 would lose and I did have reservations about 4/3 quality. The Nikon camera is fine and I can use big heavy full frame lenses but I am disappointed at the support for compact APS lenses.

 

[swee'pea99]

The OM-1 was a true classic. Never had one myself, but they were something like a third smaller/lighter than anything comparable, and without any kind of compromise. A gamechanger. And the Trip was indeed a superb little camera. I had one for years: simple, foolproof, indestructible, and the results it could produce from a roll of FP4 had to be seen to be believed. Great ad too...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Yo3FRPeQw

 

[stephec]

I worked in a photographic shop in Manchester around about 1992 and Olympus SLRs were always a good secondhand seller, the OM2 was lovely.

I remember selling a secondhand XA to a guy who was working on an oil rig, and apparently it was one of a few cameras that were allowed on the rigs as it was mechanical and wouldn't create a spark.

 

[Drago]

This was announced last week. Never owned an Olympus camera, but I have an Olympus digital dictaphone that I still use.

 

[MichaelW2]

I worked in a photographic shop in Manchester around about 1992 and Olympus SLRs were always a good secondhand seller, the OM2 was lovely.

I remember selling a secondhand XA to a guy who was working on an oil rig, and apparently it was one of a few cameras that were allowed on the rigs as it was mechanical and wouldn't create a spark.

This apparently is what the pros use for routine oil rig work. It takes really crappy images but ticks all the H&S boxes

http://www.hazardexonthenet.net/art...first-to-include-a-detachable-macro-lens.aspx

 

[NorthernDave]

The old Olympus OM film cameras were great. Almost indestructible.

Even as a fan I would never go that far. I dropped mine in the case and dented the metal around the prism. It didn't do any more damage and it fixed a shutter problem that I only discovered later when I saw the slides.
If you wanted indestructible, it was Nikon F1 or Canon F1 but you paid for the robustness in many ways.

If you want a genuinely indestructible camera, try a Zenit EM.
Drop one of those and the only thing you'll dent is the floor.

 

[numbnuts]

I've got the 850 SW