Interview with Olympus on DPR

[tiago.ereira]

I honestly feel it's ridiculous that people are claiming that anything Olympus says can't be trusted (because the said the imaging division isn't for sale etc.). Well, how's that different from any other brand in any other line of business? The people in charge say what they need to say. Or don't say anything at all - which is another story too. There are even laws against revealing certain information before business deals so even if Olympus executives would like to tell everything they simply can't. And is Olympus the only company in the world to say something that didn't turn out to be true? I think we all know the answer to that one.

And the "I trust rumor sites more than anything the folks at Olympus" is as ridiculous (sorry if I'm offending anyone here). Trust rumor sites? LOL. Oh come on! The BS they spread just to get the clicks? Source for the rumor? No need for a source. Just type it in and you have a source. "Well, it was said in the OnlyBigSensorsMatter.com so it must be true!" "They lied to me so I will never believe anything they say." Well guess what... Everybody lies.

I'm losing count on the days that I have read new topics on this subject in a row now. Whether it's FB groups, rumor sites or forums. It's like nothing else matters any more. Who cares about taking photos and discussing photography when you can SPECULATE on rumors about rumors about Olympus's rumored sale (which is not even a sale). Come on. How ridiculous is that? Sorry for using that word three times in this post but how else would you describe this nonsense?

Take a deep breath. And another. Then go out and take some photos. Let's get back to the subject in November or December when the discussions are based on something else than 43rumors.com's made up (so-called) rumors.

You can twist and turn the statements how you like. E.g. you can interpret the "This is why we believe JIP is an optimal partner." meaning that Olympus people are staying aboard because of the word "partner" instead of "buyer". Only your imagination is the limit on how you want things to look like. And we all know what generates more clicks on rumor sites: praising or bashing.

PS. Not attacking anyone personally and not trying to offend anyone but this has gone waaaaay out of portion already.

So, you don’t want to attack anyone but you quote someone multiple times in your post and call their opinion ridiculous...multiple times! Right. You have your opinion and I respect it and agree with a lot of what you say even if it seems more like a fanboy opinion and I personally hate fanboys. Could you please share your opinions without quoting other people and saying their option is ridiculous (multiple times)?

That would help keeping the conversation polite

And because I want to keep this conversation healthy, I want to explain why I said that. I recently trust more rumor sites than CEO’s and Managers because it happens that in the recent past, rumor sites have been way more accurate than “official” information with sources.
And the reason for that is (surprise), exactly what you said. CEO’s and Managers cannot say what they want or answer some questions as they have their company internal rules to follow. They need to protect their job and their business.

Rumor sites, in the other hand, have no filter. Have no rules to follow. They can come with any information they want without being penalized. Off course, incorrect or fake info will be shared but some real info is there also and the “source” that everyone screams for all the time, most of the time cannot be shared, because most of the info sources have direct connections to the manufacturer and can be penalized if identified. Most companies have very strict rules.

So yes, even if rumor sites are full of clickbait, fake info, etc, if we apply our own filters, we can find information that is not available officially anywhere. That‘s the purpose of rumor sites, sharing rumors. When info is official it becomes an announcement.

M43 rumors has been very accurate regarding Olympus gear. New cameras coming and expected specs, new lenses soon (except when Olympus decides to delay their release), Olympus camera division for sale, etc, etc, etc

As an Olympus enthusiast (not fanboy) I want to keep up to date with info regarding Olympus gear and from my past experience, rumor sites have been a good source of info.

How do I measure that? That info becomes true.

 

[Mike Wingate]

Have the Japanese Olympus Executives committed Ritual Karaoke to themselves yet ?

 

[demiro]

@tiago.ereira It seems to me that many years ago rumor sites had some level of credibility. But then folks realized how to better monetize those sites, and the credibility went out the window. That is an overly simplistic analysis, I'm sure, but I think basically accurate. Sure, some rumors they post turn out to be true. But the percentage seems low. Any of us could dream up crap to post and be right some of the time. It wouldn't mean we have a friend at Olympus who is sharing secret info.

 

[tiago.ereira]

@tiago.ereira It seems to me that many years ago rumor sites had some level of credibility. But then folks realized how to better monetize those sites, and the credibility went out the window. That is an overly simplistic analysis, I'm sure, but I think basically accurate. Sure, some rumors they post turn out to be true. But the percentage seems low. Any of us could dream up crap to post and be right some of the time. It wouldn't mean we have a friend at Olympus who is sharing secret info.

That’s only a sign of the times. Overall media quality is decreasing year after year.
Clickbait is very common these days even in serious journalistic publications so what could we expect from websites that always survived based on speculation?
Everyone can create a rumor, that’s true but most of the real ones are information leaked by someone with inside info.

Normally a fake rumor is spread by “copy paste” from website to website. When different websites start sharing the same info without referring to the previous website or the text is built in a completely different way, then is time to start to believe.

The Olympus Camera Division sale is an example of a rumor that came out many times previously. It came at different times and different sites would refer different “unofficial sources” to justify that rumor.

Some Olympus representatives came out denying that information (they need to do their job) but now here we are. Rumor had some fundamental.

I believe it is up to us to apply or personal filters and be careful when taking some conclusions.

I have my own filters and rules when looking for news/info/rumours and they work for me. That’s why I might have a better perception of information collected on rumor websites.

Sometimes people forget that being on the internet doesn’t necessarily mean it is true, specially in current days.

 

[Aristophanes]

Have the Japanese Olympus Executives committed Ritual Karaoke to themselves yet ?

More like Kabuki.
Or a slow-moving tragic Nōh.
(look it up)

 

[Deleted member 33794]

Well, how can we believe anyone in Olympus after what they did before? A few months ago someone from Oly said that selling image division was not on their plans and now they just have a plan in place to do exactly that.

This is what we see in big corporations all the time. Management lying and hiding information all the time to control damage.

I have never seen so much 2nd hand Olympus gear for sale and what we see now, roadmap updates, product releases (that were already planned) and optimistic interviews are all part of a big “damage control” campaign to avoid Olympus losing even more users.

The truth is that no one knows what is going to happen, not even Oly management. As soon as they close the deal, the buyers can decide to do whatever they want.

I’m an Olympus user, I was sad when I received the news about the sale and I wish all this info is true and Olympus camera gear will be around for years, however I cannot trust a word of what they said anymore.

Trust takes time to gain but only a lie to get lost and the lost my trust recently.

I will pay attention on what happens next and I will be extremely careful before I spend more money on Olympus gear.

If all of that is true, then happy days!

Still some of the finest quality photo equipment around. Prices beat Nikon and Canon who I think are over-rated.

 

[demiro]

...

I have my own filters and rules when looking for news/info/rumours and they work for me. That’s why I might have a better perception of information collected on rumor websites.
...

You should sell those filters. They seem very special. I could use a 67mm.

 

[Rgone]

I think we need to take this for what it is - a senior Olympus employee (VP of Global Strategy) giving a staged interview in an attempt to calm the photo community. It's marketing. His objective was almost certainly to smooth the market following the big announcement (and remember that the announcement was necessary for reasons of corporate governance, not for reasons of informing customers or the media).

So long as he doesn't say anything which is obviously outlandish, then he'll spin the conversation in the most positive way possible. Japanese culture hates direct controversy - he'll use words to say one thing when he means another. I don't think we can read too much into any of it. The only time we'll know for sure is 6 months after the deal is done.

I think pdk42 is spot on here. The interviewee was trying to put the best face on this divestment that he could. Olympus wants the sale to go through so they are talking about new products and talking about plans for the future and talking about how they love their customers so that the brand doesn't collapse before JIP signs the final documents. That interview was like the Captain of the Titanic talking about ordering new deck chairs when the ship gets in to port.

 

[Lcrunyon]

The nonsense in this argument is ridiculous. The 20mp sensors Olympus has been using for the past several years are close enough and performance that it really doesn’t matter if they are the same or different. We‘ve all known these specs; we’ve all been wanting to see sensor progress; and we’ve all been buying the cameras of our choice anyways — because there is so much more to these cameras than just the sensor. That doesn’t make the various tiers either bad values or crippled. A true m4/3 user would know these things.

No one knows what the future of the brand is going to look like yet. Negative speculation doesn’t do any good. My advice: don’t talk yourself off the cliff, and don’t let trolls push you off the cliff.

 

[pake]

So, you don’t want to attack anyone but you quote someone multiple times in your post and call their opinion ridiculous...multiple times! Right. You have your opinion and I respect it and agree with a lot of what you say even if it seems more like a fanboy opinion and I personally hate fanboys. Could you please share your opinions without quoting other people and saying their option is ridiculous (multiple times)?

That would help keeping the conversation polite

To be accurate, I quoted someone only once. The others were made up quotes. I think my opinions are pretty clear already. At least I tried to make 'em clear with my provocative, almost aggressive-like text just to make a point.

EDIT: To be even more accurate, I did quote someone twice, but the latter one was a quote that was quoted from the interview itself and I don't think it counts.

 

[BushmanOrig]

An important question is, why have an interview with DPR? Is Olympus really that ignorant or dumb to think they will get a fair representation at DPR? A much better choice would have been M43rumors.

I see all the distrust, and yes it's a valid question, can we really trust the Olympus management team? I cannot help thinking, if Olympus really wanted to inform investors and loyal Olympus clients, do a press release, and provide investors and customers with real information...

I think Leica is a good example of a company successfully managing a brand, manage dark times, and create new demand with an extremely loyal following and unique brand value & positioning...

Does M43 and Olympus as a brand have the potential to write a similar success story? I think so, but I must say the current management performance is not good, I see too much weakness and not enough strength...

So the question is, does Olympus have the will to write a similar success story as Leica did?

 

[Stanga]

An important question is, why have an interview with DPR? Is Olympus really that ignorant or dumb to think they will get a fair representation at DPR? A much better choice would have been M43rumors.

M43rumours have been losing credibility fast lately. No sensible individual would make the mistake to give them an interview at this moment in time.

 

[BushmanOrig]

M43rumours have been losing credibility fast lately. No sensible individual would make the mistake to give them an interview at this moment in time.

OK, I did not know... anything is better than DPR for Olympus at this stage, hell Tony and Chelsea would have been a better choice. But the current yes we will, no we don't know, yes but, no we are not selling, yes we launching new products, let's talk to DPR... looks like fools managing Olympus. Not good at all...

The more I think about it the more upset I am - the one site that has been completely anti M43, Olympus, pathetic reviews, NEVER update reviews and the list goes on and on and Olympus go beg them for an interview - no really Olympus that does it for me. I will continue to use those great visionaries who developed great products, those you probably fired, and my playground will be the secondhand market until I switch to something else - but I will NOT buy another new product from that pathetic leadership currently managing Olympus...

And now you may all be shocked

 

[Stanga]

To be fair to DPR, they are consistent. Their main source of income appears to be promoting Canon and Sony.

 

[BushmanOrig]

I think that they are attempting to stop the "Osbourne Effect" before it kills them. things were bad enough when they made the announcement and I can't imagine that said announcement did anything to improve those sales.

Good points - if Olympus felt serious about giving customers and investors confidence they would be way more serious with any announcements. Even if only a remote secretary but someone had to study the market reaction to the first announcement...

 

[pake]

The good thing about the possible deal is that the decision makers might be different in the NewCo.
Is there anyone who thinks that's a bad thing?
Anyone? All we see is people complaining how Olympus did this wrong and Olympus did that wrong and they should've done this and that. Well... Let's see what the future brings then.

 

[pdk42]

The forums on DPR might be toxic, but I think their editorial is balanced. Jordan uses m43 (Panasonic) gear.

 

[pdk42]

I can totally understand the Olympus management position, so I'm not going to bash them too much. They've lost almost a billion dollars over the past ten years on their camera division. I'm amazed they've continued as long as they have. With new board members arriving last year from the US, I'm guessing that it was these new faces who forced the pace to sell up.

Once they'd decided to offload the division and started looking for options, it was obvious there would be leaks and rumours. And of course, the management team just had to deny them. There was no other option. The announcement last month was a necessary corporate governance requirement given the situation with JIP. My only criticism perhaps is that the damage limitation was not well planned. Where were the briefings to the press, the FAQs etc?

So we're now into an unknown phase until the formal deal is done. In the meantime, the Olympus management have to do all they can to stabilise sales and the brand reputation - it matters for them, the new owners, and the customers.

We as consumers/ owners/ fanboys really should not go around making character judgements of the Olympus management team. We are way too far removed from the details to have any informed opinion.

 

[Sleepy Capybara]

until I switch to something else

I didn't expect this. From you.

 

[TNcasual]

The forums on DPR might be toxic, but I think their editorial is balanced. Jordan uses m43 (Panasonic) gear.

I don’t go to the DPR site, but do watch Chris and Jordan’s videos. They are entertaining.

They recently released one where they say that they still carry mft cameras for their personal gear.