Interesting discussion.

I feel that this camera is a game changer for many individuals. It's a camera that is very versatile, has a good selection of lenses, and good IQ; certainly good enough for many people. So it's a camera that for many can deliver what their traditional DSLR can deliver, yet is smaller and lighter.

But I don't think it's an industry game changer. Developments in other sensor sizes are hardly sitting still.

The M43 cameras that I do think were game changers were the EP1 and GF1. Read the reviews of those cameras. They really opened up minds, and became the preferred second camera for a lot of people, and the the primary camera for many. They broke new ground, and led the way for an evolution of M43 bodies and a solid array of lenses. The enthusiasm for these cameras, (and for great lenses like the 20/1.7) from pros and amateurs alike, and the photographic press, created a momentum that has not halted.

Without those cameras, I wonder would we have so many other mirrorless offers now?

The OMD is a result of great listening and innovation on the part of Olympus, and of ground broken a few years ago by earlier M43 cameras.

Game changer in the sense that it has redefined a certain technology or market? No I don't think so. Game changer in that it seems to have broken through some public perception about the product and opened it up to a larger market? Yes, probably.

People use what they use for many reasons. I see no particular reason to be dismissive of them.

I believe the comment was about there being no barrier for pros to move to m4/3. By definition, that isn't 'regular' photography. Standards for image quality have also changed fairly dramatically in the past 10-15 years.

DH

Olympus doing any OM-D marketing as effective as the Ashton Kutcher ads for Nikon, now that would be a game changer.

Most of "us" already cared enough to seek out the information on the OM-D capabilities, and were then sufficiently impressed enough to really want one, but for the vast majority of the population the OM-D doesn't even exist. Until we get to the point where the average consumer says "I want one of those for Christmas" (even if they don't know why) the game won't change.

In my opinion, EM5 makes APS-C SLR cameras very nearly obsolete. The MFT lens selection is more mature than Sony, Samsung, and is still growing well in both quality and quantity. There's almost no reason for the casual or hobby shooter to choose the more bulky camera that's barely any larger in sensor size, barely any better in IQ, and significantly more big, heavy, and bulky.

True full frame will always have a market, but I think it will get smaller as MFT continues to mature. Just my opinion.

Being 77 years old, somewhat doddering and withering it is much easier to haul my EP-2 than my now gathering cobwebs D300s. With that said this genré of camera is able to compete on it's own merits.

Micro 4/3 or so Mirrorless is a potential game changer.

It's still a few years off but Canon and Nikon DSLR's dominate.

I just came back from a trip to San Francisco with my Panasonic G3 with 14mm lens. I literally saw maybe 5 to 10 mirrorless cameras in use and my eyes are attuned to spotting them. I actually saw my first Nikon 1 camera in the wild.

The one Panasonic GF1 and a young Chinese girl had a Panasonic G3 with a kit lens.

I literally saw hundreds of Nikon and Canon DSLR's.

For the vast majority of people, there are camera phones, point and shoot cameras and DSLRs. Mirrorless cameras don't make any dent.

I'd suggest another thread. What's holding Micro 4/3's (or Mirrorless) back from crossing the chasm?

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I think that the E-M5 is fairly unique in that it was over-hyped and then still over-delivered. Given the so far subservient customer relationship to Panasonic, no one was expecting the E-M5 to come out with a sensor beyond that found in the G3/GX1. The effectiveness of the new IBIS system wasn't high on the list of expectations either. In the E-M5, Olympus has produced a camera that contains a lot of very usable technology and presented it in a very polished package that is hard to beat in any reasonable comparison. It's individual elements are impressive, but the way they've been combined together is equally so. From evidence so far I think that it will do more to promote than the format than any camera since the original G1 and E-P1 models and it will do that on merit, not just hype.

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My office contains 25 people, mostly from the technical side. Of that there are

2 5D2
3 7D
1 700D
1 entry level Nikon DSLR
3 entry level canon DSLR
1 entry level Pentax DSLR

So about 50 percent of my office has DSLRs of some sort.

Since I got my EM5 a few months ago One of the DSLR owners have bought them and 1 will buy once he talks his CFO into it.

From my view, the EM5 has caught the attention of DSLR owners big time. Ask any of them to name one other model mirrorless camera and I doubt they can do it....if the do it will be "Sony NEX something, the one that looks like an iPhone with a lens stuck to it".

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