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

[whumber]

I wasn't paying too much attention the E-M5 mk III rumours so can't comment, he was bang on with the E-M1X though.

Was he really? Until shortly before the announcement he had a number FT5s claiming it would have a brand new sensor, far more advanced video features, and an insane readout speed. None of those came to pass which was part of the reason people were so disappointed.

 

[Angus Gibbins]

Was he really? Until shortly before the announcement he had a number FT5s claiming it would have a brand new sensor, far more advanced video features, and an insane readout speed. None of those came to pass which was part of the reason people were so disappointed.

Point taken. But he's still the most reliable guy around (that I've found).

Also have to remember that at the end of the day, an FT5 is still a rumour and comes with some salt.

 

[Bytesmiths]

Looks like Nikon is the one that will be going down soon.

 

[Angus Gibbins]

Looks like Nikon is the one that will be going down soon.

Nikon have been in financial trouble off and on for years. I really hope they survive. They're good for the industry.

 

[Pluttis]

Nikon have been in financial trouble off and on for years. I really hope they survive. They're good for the industry.

I really hope so too...

True but dont think they ever have been in this deep trouble before, at the moment they are the one with the quickest fall in imaging sales.

 

[Angus Gibbins]

True but dont think they ever have been in this deep trouble before

Not true. They were once at a point where the Japanese Government were basically begging Fuji to buy them to save them. I can't remember what happened but I think they basically got financial relief from Japanese being so proud of the brand which resulted in them getting a bunch of money somehow.

Point remains though, how many more times can they be bailed out?

 

[Thai-Mike]

 

[Pluttis]

Not true. They were once at a point where the Japanese Government were basically begging Fuji to buy them to save them. I can't remember what happened but I think they basically got financial relief from Japanese being so proud of the brand which resulted in them getting a bunch of money somehow.

Point remains though, how many more times can they be bailed out?

Yes its true....the competition have never been thougher than now and the "play ground" is significant smaller so the room for recovery is way smaller now than then...plus they now have two mounts/system that they must mantain which means much higher cost and risk

 

[Angus Gibbins]

Yes its true....the competition have never been thougher than now and the "play ground" is significant smaller so the room for recovery is way smaller now than then...plus they now have two mounts/system that they must mantain which means way higher cost and risk

Fair point, recovery will probably be harder this time round.

 

[Pluttis]

Fair point, recovery will probably be harder this time round.

Yeah and when they 2017 asked Fujifilm to purchase a stake in Nikon to keep the company in Japanese hands they had much higher sales and profit than they have now

 

[blackfox wildlife]

trouble is DSLR /MIRRORLESS shooters are a dying breed ,kids these days want instant access to social media I estimate u.k wise anyway that camera ! shooters are mainly in the 40/50 + age group .. that market is shrinking as older age creeps up and people realise that they can no longer handle massive cameras and lenses .. point a couple of years ago I sold my sigma 150-600 sport lens when I posted it the shipping weight was around 5 kilos .. my omd1-mkii and PL100-400 combined weigh less than 2 kilos .
I'm quiet sure that the market researchers of the big brands have not taken age into account as a factor . I personally think we are getting to the end of a golden age in camera development and within 5 years the market won't be worth R&D funding .. in my view cheaper versions of top end cameras are needed a back to basics approach with less bells and whistles to satisfy the current market

 

[Angus Gibbins]

trouble is DSLR /MIRRORLESS shooters are a dying breed ,kids these days want instant access to social media I estimate u.k wise anyway that camera ! shooters are mainly in the 40/50 + age group .. that market is shrinking as older age creeps up and people realise that they can no longer handle massive cameras and lenses .. point a couple of years ago I sold my sigma 150-600 sport lens when I posted it the shipping weight was around 5 kilos .. my omd1-mkii and PL100-400 combined weigh less than 2 kilos .
I'm quiet sure that the market researchers of the big brands have not taken age into account as a factor . I personally think we are getting to the end of a golden age in camera development and within 5 years the market won't be worth R&D funding .. in my view cheaper versions of top end cameras are needed a back to basics approach with less bells and whistles to satisfy the current market

We've literally spent the last 5 pages discussing the nonsenstivity behind this rumour.

Why bring it back around to the speculation behind it? ?

 

[MichailK]

I can guarantee that non photography folk going to ask me "did you hear Olympus are closing their doors?" or "Olympus is going out of business" at the water cooler or coffee machine over the next few months, then I'll have to explain no they're not, that wasn't even the original rumour and how fake news works.
...
Boom. I don't care about the people spreading these rumours, I care about the fall out.

hey, haven’t you hear? Olympus is going for President!! ...Oh, wait

Same here. My problem is I want the rumour to die.

maybe we should shoot the faulty author ... photographically that is

 

[pake]

trouble is DSLR /MIRRORLESS shooters are a dying breed ,kids these days want instant access to social media

Not a dying breed. Plenty of YOUNG people are still buying system cameras because they want to have full control of their photography. No smartphones will ever do that. I'm also following lots of really young people who are shooting with much better and expensive equipment than I am. There will be a demand for systems cameras in the future as well. Market is shrinking but not going away.

 

[MichailK]

I'm also following lots of really young people who are shooting with much better and expensive equipment than I am. There will be a demand for systems cameras in the future as well. Market is shrinking but not going away.

what brands/systems do you see they are into?

 

[Aristophanes]

what brands/systems do you see they are into?

They’ll go where the value lies. That’s why everyone’s so worked up about current Olympus pricing. Smaller sensors are being priced into the value end of the market, as with Canon, Nikon, and Sony’s APS-C. It’s hard to see where Olympus’s “pro” setups compete on value. These rumours fly because there is agitation in Japan by shareholders for all the camera manufacturers to become more relevant and work to halt the market and mindshare decline, or exit unprofitable lines and segments.

 

[pake]

what brands/systems do you see they are into?

Mostly Sony.

 

[DanS]

trouble is DSLR /MIRRORLESS shooters are a dying breed ,kids these days want instant access to social media I estimate u.k wise anyway that camera ! shooters are mainly in the 40/50 + age group .. that market is shrinking as older age creeps up and people realise that they can no longer handle massive cameras and lenses ..

I think your oversimplifying this a fair bit. I turn 40 in a few days, and I know just as many people younger than me with ILCs as I do those that are older. Now I agree that those that aren't adults yet (college and younger) are heavily biased towards their phones.

However since I work with a lot of recent college graduates I think I have a better than average insight into why that is. For almost everyone of them that discussed cameras with me, it was because they thought the initial outlay of $$$ was really high. In contrast, their phone was either paid for by their parents, or its was distributed across multiple years of their phone bill, making it much more palatable to them. Most of them came to me looking for advise on what camera they should start out with, because they aren't completely happy with their phones, and they now have an income that gives them some real purchasing power.


Imo, the doom & gloom regarding the general camera industry is down to lack of insight by a lot of those propagating it. The industry boomed between the late 90's and the early 10's, because digital PS became cheap and readily available, and phone cameras where still nonexistent/rudimentary. During that time people migrated from cheap film cameras or disposables, to cheap digital PS. That's why sales went through the roof. As phones got better, PS sales plummeted. Who knows why, but the industry as a whole has been slow to react to this, hence the reason some have had horrendous sales and revenue figures.


The industry survived just fine prior to the boom, and I'm sure it will after. If a company fails it's because of piss poor management.

 

[demiro]

I tend to agree with DanS, though I admittedly lack the data to really justify that opinion.

I do still think there is some potential upside to the proliferation of phone-based photography. 25 years ago a certain percentage of people chose to buy cameras. Probably most to take "family snapshots" of new babies, childhood milestones, family events. Most of those cameras were disposable or relatively low-end automatic film cameras. Polaroid cameras still were around, but had long-peaked and were in decline. A certain percentage of those people enjoyed photography, or simply desired better photos, and invested in more and better gear.

Today virtually every teenager/20-something has a phone w/camera with them virtually all of the time. Almost all of them, it seems, take photos and share them. Excessively so, in the opinion of many. A certain percentage of those people will likely desire better photos and invest in more and better gear that is specifically for taking photos.

I don't have statistics, and I'm not suggesting that the same relative percentage of people that graduated from cheap film cameras to better gear 25 years ago will also move from phones to "real" cameras today. But, I don't think it is unreasonable to think that at least the same number of net people will end up wanting better gear, today vs 25 years ago. If that is true it seems reasonable to think that enthusiast-level cameras will persist for more than the short term. The one question, I suppose, is how quickly will phones be able to do enough of what dedicated gear can do to make that upgrade seem unnecessary?

 

[Pluttis]

They’ll go where the value lies. That’s why everyone’s so worked up about current Olympus pricing. Smaller sensors are being priced into the value end of the market, as with Canon, Nikon, and Sony’s APS-C. It’s hard to see where Olympus’s “pro” setups compete on value. These rumours fly because there is agitation in Japan by shareholders for all the camera manufacturers to become more relevant and work to halt the market and mindshare decline, or exit unprofitable lines and segments.

Overall i dont think Olympus have that bad pricing...guess the pricing can differ quite much between brands and countries.

Not eveyone measure value based on sensor size or best spec sheet of tge camera body.

Have not yet seen any cheap FF system that can be made as small as the smallest m43 setups.

Beside pure picture quality...What real advantages in value do "Pro" FF setups offer over "Pro" m43 setups.

When it comes to APS-C i dont really see any advantages in the "Pro" segment besides slightly better image quality(most noticable in high iso).