Russian magazine interviews Olympus at Photokina

dhazeghi · #1 September 20th, 2012, 04:12 PM

The Russian magazine OnFoto conducted an interview with Olympus's Toshiyuki Terada (interview is in English).

There are a number of interesting comments he makes, regarding the future of 4/3 lenses, directions for the OM-D, WiFi connectivity in cameras, and whatnot. A bit vague, but that's how things are usually regarding future products. He was quite definitive that there will be teleconverters for m4/3 though!

DH

With_Eyes_Unclouded · #2 September 20th, 2012, 05:31 PM

Between the lines:

Four thirds: They are considering what solution to forward for existing lenses. No new FT body, some kind of adaptor OR PD-AF on-sensor. I think this is where the dillema is at the moment. And, of course, whether there IS a market for this anyway

OM-D: Perhaps even they didn't expect the (technical if not financial) success of this line. I think they'll wait and see the GH3 reception and probably go high-end with the next OM-D.

I can't resist commenting on the, frankly, idiotic final interviewer comment: "I'm not convinced about EVF, I like optical viewfinders". Right. I like redheads and Guinness beer myself.

PS: Epson will have a 2.5 million dot EVF available shortly. Let us see how many remain "unconvinced" about EVFs.

dhazeghi · #3 September 21st, 2012, 05:16 PM

Here's the bit about teleconverters (TT = Terada - Olympus):

Quote:

DK: Do you have plans about a teleconverter for the Micro 4/3?
TT: Yes, we had the same kind of demands before, and we like to provide a total system, so we need teleconverters, sure.

He also mentions marketshare - thought in the case Europe it's unclear if he's speaking of all interchangeable lens cameras or just mirrorless ones.

Quote:

DK: Can you tell us something new about the market trends, for both OM-D and PEN?
TT: We can't separate OM-D and PEN cameras, but the CSC on Japanese market goes very well at this moment. The brand share of Olympus on the Japanese interchangeable lens market is a stable 18%, which is the 4th position. And in the mirrorless cameras, we are the top manufacturer in Japan. In Japan, 50% of the cameras are already mirrorless, so the Japanese adapt to the new trends much faster. In Europe, Olympus is usually 3rd or 4th, depending on the country.

DH

With_Eyes_Unclouded · #4 September 21st, 2012, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhazeghi

He also mentions marketshare - thought in the case Europe it's unclear if he's speaking of all interchangeable lens cameras or just mirrorless ones.

He is probably talking about all ILCs. If you think about it, in Europe at least the first two places are reserved (Canonikon) and the next three places are shared between Sony, Panasonic and Olympus for the most part. Pentax, Fuji, Samsung and others are not that well selling in ILCs. I know that, in Greece (small-ish market, but still...) Olympus is usually between 3th to 5th place, depending on circumstances.