Rumors (now denied): Olympus to shut down camera division in less than 8 months

[NCV]

Am I on the M43 DPR forum by some quirk of the internet?

I expect better of this forum.

The answer to the question is: who knows.

 

[Angus Gibbins]

Am I on the M43 DPR forum by some quirk of the internet?

I expect better of this forum.

Why? A rumour was posted and then debunked.

No infighting here.

 

[tkbslc]

Damn, does this mean my E-M1.1 and lenses are all going to stop working?

Eventually....

If they were going to shut down in 8 months, they probably wouldn't have bothered releasing the E-M5 III

Not that I’m saying I buy the rumor, but if they released it recently, they’ve been working on it for 18 months at least. Samsung released a flagship camera and pro lenses and then bailed..

 

[Angus Gibbins]

You went crazy and dared them to ban you! You can’t act shocked now...

Pfffffft. I'm blocked by half the right-wing conservative politicians in Australia. You think I'm worried about an ad-ridden website that makes its revenue from unsubstantiated clickbait?

 

[pake]

Was the initial rumor started by a guy called "Tony Southdown"?

 

[Danny.]

Was the initial rumor started by a guy called "Tony Southdown"?

Could have been his stepbrother "Ken Unwellrock" or the other stepbrother "Ken peeble sick"

 

[Ross the fiddler]

What a joke of a website. Deletes and bans anyone that doesn't agree with their flawed narrative.

View attachment 785288

Peter is very quick to state his opinion & put down anyone that doesn't agree with him, with a threat of labelling the poster a troll & what follows. I came close recently.

 

[Ross the fiddler]

Yes, if anyone wants to get rid of their 17 PRO I'll take it for $3.50. I need to complete my paperweight set.

My paper weight needs to be heavier with all the wind around, so it has to be the 300 f4 lens. Any offers to rid yourself of that 'heavy weight'?

 

[Angus Gibbins]

Peter is very quick to state his opinion & put down anyone that doesn't agree with him, with a threat of labelling the poster a troll & what follows. I came close recently.

And here I thought you were going to ask me about which politicians have blocked me!! (George Christensen, Fraser Anning and Malcolm Roberts are probably the biggest ones, Mark Latham and Pauline Hanson have flatout stopped responding to me... For a while I also had an account called Smokin' Joe Hockey which was a parody of Joe Hockey, but it took up too much time to keep running).

 

[swifty]

Thom Hogan’s commentary on the rumour on 43rumors is quite interesting.
What may be happening is a few distributions networks in poor performing markets may indeed be closing down and as rumours go, it gets perpetuated into the ‘whole camera business’.

Just a small bit of good news to counteract the doom and gloom. I know for a fact Olympus Singapore sold out their EM-5.3 preorders partially because of the good preorder deal they were running. But the promotion was supposed to run til Nov 8 but the whole initial allotment sold out Nov 6.

 

[Ross the fiddler]

I became so frustrated by all the rumors, absolute crazy statements people make based on hearsay or this weird "Aperture" report saying Olympus is closing in less than 8 months that I went and sat down to study Olympus past 10 years history and to write an article about it on my blog. Anybody is welcome to head over there, get a cup of coffee and enjoy. I believe its how you look at life that is important and doing that I did not find anything that out of line that made me sit upright and say run. It is clear the imaging division had a history of high costs, R&D plus seem the global structure was never really cost conscious prior 2012. From 2012 Olympus implemented 3 major company programs to implement change. A lot depends on the new product launches expected for the remainder of 2019 and 2020. If they do it right I think they have a good chance turning the ship by 2021, their target year to go positive....
You will find my article here

Thanks. I liked that blog (I didn't get to read it all but several sections so far).

 

[Replytoken]

Why? A rumour was posted and then debunked.

No infighting here.

While I applaud you for wanting to debunk what is reasonably believed to be a myth, I am reminded of the old adage about never mud wrestling with a pig. You end up with mud on you, and the pig enjoys the attention.

All the best,

--Ken

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

I hope the rumor is not true. If it turns out to be true then I will be forced to buy all new gear in some other system. Sometime. My more immediate concerns would be:

1) are there any bargains to be had in the short term?
2) how long will the Olympus Workspace software continue to operate?
3) should I try to salvage some money by selling off any of my Micro Four Thirds gear?

For now I am not going to waste a lot of time thinking about this.

 

[Bidkev]

.
.
Rumours aside there's some crazy promotions/pricing going on atm here. the E M10 mkll seems to be selling at a higher price than the mklll at a lot of retailers. Olympus Australia seems to be really pushing the mklll. One example from the same retailer
Olympus OM-D E-M10 II + 14-42mm III EZ + 40-150mm R Lens Aus$898
Olympus OM-D E-M10 III Aus $ 599 Over 25% Off. Save $250. Bonus 40-150mm Lens. Valued at $359 - Ends 15.11.2019 9am
Bonus 25mm F1.8 Lens. Valued at $499. Via Redemption - Ends 06.01.2020

 

[PakkyT]

f it turns out to be true then I will be forced to buy all new gear in some other system. Sometime.

Isn't that true of virtually every system that has ever existed? There are not many systems and mounts that have survived indefinitely (in terms of photography timelines).

 

[Angus Gibbins]

Why do you need to replace the gear if all is going OK & Olympus Workspace won't stop working? Should you salvage money? If the worst happens then I hope I can salvage someones 300 f4 lens at a quarter of normal price then.

Hopefully the 150-400mm is out soon so I can salvage one at a good price.

 

[walter_j]

If you want to unload a 10-25mm f1.7 - let me know

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

Why do you need to replace the gear if all is going OK & Olympus Workspace won't stop working? Should you salvage money? If the worst happens then I hope I can salvage someones 300 f4 lens at a quarter of normal price then.

Agreed. Which is why I said "sometime." By which I mean, when the critical pieces start failing one after another, or when Windows or MacOS won't run Workspace any more. If they announced they were shutting down (which I don't expect at this time), I would keep my eyes open for bargains in the shorter term and otherwise stick with what I have.

And +1 to PakkyT. My Minolta SRT-101 would still take nice pictures if I would send it in for a tuneup.

 

[Bytesmiths]

I am reminded of the old adage about never mud wrestling with a pig. You end up with mud on you, and the pig enjoys the attention.

Or, the way Mark Twain put it: "Never argue with an idiot. A bystander can't tell the difference."

 

[Bytesmiths]

If it turns out to be true then I will be forced to buy all new gear in some other system. Sometime.

Why? Will someone put a gun to your head?

I still shoot the occasional roll of film on my OM gear. And I've been known to cut down sheet film to fit my 80-year-old Zeiss Ikon, which used an odd-ball size.

The single biggest problem I could see would be no more batteries available. I went through that with the OM-1, because they used mercury batteries. Turns out, you can add a small diode and use alkaline batteries.

The first thing I'll do with a BLH battery that will no longer hold a charge will be to solder some wires onto the terminals so that you can power the camera from an external battery or power supply.

And if the electronics crap out, then there's still the OM-1…