What would you do???

[Franka373]

First a little background. I have owned Olympus in various models since the wonderful E-1. Plus pro lenses and cameras. In fact my first digital camera was the Olympus 3 mp C2020. I have owned Panasonic too. My last Olympus was the OM-D E-M5. Along this journey I have dabbled in Leica, Nikon. Canon, Fuji and Pentax. I think I am coming full circle. I am retired and see about 5 to 7 years ahead of me that I can still get out and do photography which I love. Hopefully longer. But 5 years is in my mind. I am seriously considering the E-M1X and some lenses due to their low weight and smaller sizes for outdoor and travel. After urking here for a little while I am seriously impressed with the quality of a lot of photos. I also have always had an affinity for OLY colors.

Knowing what we know about the future of Olympus at the moment, would you do it or go another direction? I am not invested in a system right now so I can go where I want. What would you do? Thanks for your thoughts. Frank

 

[threeOh]

Personally, I wouldn’t give it a second thought. I’m invested in Panasonic. However, the EM5 rings the right bells for me. Just today I took another look at it. Nothing happens quickly in corporate Japan. And if it did, the used market for camera gear is very well established. Third party service shops exist today. As they will in the future.

Go have fun.

 

[phigmov]

I tend to buy used anyway so Oly future doesn't play into it much. I did buy the E-P1 new 10 odd years ago (ditto the E-PM1 when it came out) but the E-M5 and E-M1 were used as was my G3, E-PM2 and most recently a GF1 (I missed the original 12mp fix). Of these my E-P1 one died 18mths back - a card-read error (apparently reasonably easy to fix - someone has a post on it on the forum). Everything else is still going strong. Depending on your specific requirements whatever you pick up that is anywhere from 2yrs old or newer should last you 5-7 years - the Oly E-P5 & Pen F are pretty great by all accounts if you're after a pocketable range-finder style camera (or the E-PL7 onwards for something smaller still) and the E-M5/E-M1 (in all marks) are all pretty capable. AF/ISO performance took a quantum leap with the E-M1 (& roughly similar era E-M5/10/E-PLx/Pen) if those are key factors for you. If you have legacy glass you'd like to use, definitely try out some of the models rear-display/viewfinders & punch-in capabilities - these can make a huge difference to your experience.

I get the feeling Panasonic are pulling ahead in a number of areas (particularly video but also in their new full-frame stuff, AF and their EVF/Displays) if you look at the current line-up but I prefer the Oly control, handling & IS; because I've been staying 2-3 steps behind the curve don't feel I've really missed anything that the new models might offer

I don't think you can go too wrong whichever way you decide to go - get out, enjoy the shooting experience.

 

[demiro]

@Franka373 Welcome. Glad you've unlurked yourself. I wouldn't hesitate to buy Olympus at this point if what they offer meets my needs significantly more than other options.. Like phigmov, I'd go used anyway, which minimizes concerns about warranty and repairs to some degree.

But if some other option looked almost as good, and I was buying new, I'd probably go with the other option. I think there is some added risk with Olympus, but that wouldn't stop me if I had a strong preference for them.

 

[Carbonman]

@Franka373, if you're looking at another 5 to 7 years of shooting, I'd suggest the E-M1 III as a lighter weight option to the E-M1X. Changing batteries isn't that frequent a requirement and is pretty quick and easy. You get the same viewfinder, a more up to date chipset and firmware and it's easier for us oldsters to haul around for trips. The E-M1X would be a better option if you're shooting a lot of motorsports or similar.
I'm using an E-M1 II and a brand new E-M1 III. I could have afforded the E-M1X but it was too bulky and didn't offer sufficient advantages over the Mk. III. YMMV

 

[Lcrunyon]

First a little background. I have owned Olympus in various models since the wonderful E-1. Plus pro lenses and cameras. In fact my first digital camera was the Olympus 3 mp C2020. I have owned Panasonic too. My last Olympus was the OM-D E-M5. Along this journey I have dabbled in Leica, Nikon. Canon, Fuji and Pentax. I think I am coming full circle. I am retired and see about 5 to 7 years ahead of me that I can still get out and do photography which I love. Hopefully longer. But 5 years is in my mind. I am seriously considering the E-M1X and some lenses due to their low weight and smaller sizes for outdoor and travel. After urking here for a little while I am seriously impressed with the quality of a lot of photos. I also have always had an affinity for OLY colors.

Knowing what we know about the future of Olympus at the moment, would you do it or go another direction? I am not invested in a system right now so I can go where I want. What would you do? Thanks for your thoughts. Frank

For the situation you described I wouldn’t think that Olympus’ recent announcement should have much of an effect on your decision. More importantly, what sort of photography do you like to do?

 

[pdk42]

What do you photograph? Oly gear is great for some things, less so for others! Personally, I think the E-M1x is too big and only really makes sense with big lenses.

 

[Ghostbuggy]

I guess most of us around here had their thoughts about the new situation. Personally I just a bought a new Pen-F from a store, my second Pen-F and my third MFT camera in total. I have the vast majority of lenses I need, am just a hobbyist who goes out to shoot for enjoyment and just to relax - shutter therapy as some people call it.

The equipment won't stop working all of a sudden due to Olympus decision and I am happy with the stuff, switching over to another system would've been rather costly, I wouldn't get all the same lenses and last but not least, grass is not always greener on the other side, I am not sure if I would be happy about it. There is a very active second-hand market for MFT, so if something breaks down and even if Olympus successor company stops servicing, you still can get used items. If you like to take another look at how an abandoned system can look after some years, do a search for Nikon 1. The company abandoned the system officially ~2 years ago, hower afaik it has been "dead" a bit longer. There still is an active community out there, using their Nikon 1 stuff daily, a quick search on ebay revealed you can still get bodies, lenses and some accessories for that system. So even if MFT would really be dropped completely, I don't really think current users would need to worry too much about it. Last but not least, with the still shrinking camera market and especially Covid-19 being an active threat to the whole economy, Olympus might not be the last company pulling out either partly or completely out of the business.

Over the past weeks since the announcement I've looked quite extensively at a Fuji X-Pro3, however after thinking about it for a while, I am now rather looking forward expanding my existing MFT lineup. Both the E-M1X and E-M1 Mk III are very reliable, rugged cameras which should easily serve you for years to come, for example Olympus officially rates the Mk III shutter for 400.000 releases, compared to 100-150k from most other cameras.

 

[Franka373]

All good thoughts. Thanks so much. My style is varied. Macro, birds, landscapes, street, and an occasional portrait. So far I am pleased with what Oly has to offer except for macro lenses. Not sure if they are as good as Nikon or canon. Also, I like to print a lot. 13x19 is usually largest. Still trying to find more discussion on print quality from the sensor. I am getting close to a decision. I like what I see for the most part.

 

[grcolts]

All good thoughts. Thanks so much. My style is varied. Macro, birds, landscapes, street, and an occasional portrait. So far I am pleased with what Oly has to offer except for macro lenses. Not sure if they are as good as Nikon or canon. Also, I like to print a lot. 13x19 is usually largest. Still trying to find more discussion on print quality from the sensor. I am getting close to a decision. I like what I see for the most part.

The Olympus 60/2.8 macro is weather sealed and its optics are really good. Plus, Panasonic has a few macros which are very good too.
GQR

 

[Lcrunyon]

I really like the 60mm macro, and Olympus has a 100 mm pro macro in their roadmap. Hopefully, we will see it become reality.

While I agree that the EM1 Mkiii is nice for its compactness, I really love my EM1X. If you like birding, the X might be the better choice because of the bird AI tracking we are supposed to get this winter As well as it’s superb ergonomics for larger lenses.

 

[Zairski]

All good thoughts. Thanks so much. My style is varied. Macro, birds, landscapes, street, and an occasional portrait. So far I am pleased with what Oly has to offer except for macro lenses. Not sure if they are as good as Nikon or canon. Also, I like to print a lot. 13x19 is usually largest. Still trying to find more discussion on print quality from the sensor. I am getting close to a decision. I like what I see for the most part.

If you want to look at print quality got to www.imagingresource.com

 

[Carbonman]

Also, I like to print a lot. 13x19 is usually largest. Still trying to find more discussion on print quality from the sensor

@Franka373, I mostly print to 20" or 30" on the long side (don't like little prints on my walls) and often crop before outputting to TIF or JPG for the print. I've never seen pixelation artifacts or had anything but favorable comments from people viewing the prints. The results are at least as sharp and detailed as I got from shooting film with Kodak Gold or either of the Kodachromes.

 

[Zairski]

Wrong link?

https://www.imaging-resource.com/

 

[ac12]

I am kinda in your boat.
Senior citizen, with back and knee injury.
So, in order to keep shooting, I decided that I had to reduce the weight of my kit.
I switched from a Nikon D7200 + 18-140 to an Olympus EM1 + P-Lumix 12-60, and got a 40+% weight reduction On my 2-week vacation, my back, leg and arms really liked that.
I have since upgraded to the EM1-mk2, because the mk1 had EVF issues when shooting fast sport.
I looked at the specs for the EM1X, and the weight is similar to my D7200, so I ruled that camera out, simply based on weight.
So for manageable weight, I would go with the EM1-mk3.

I use the pro lenses, when I don't have to carry for a long time.
I also have the lighter non-pro lenses for travel and when I have to carry for a long time.

What I have are EM1-mk2 for my standard camera, and the EM10-mk2 when I want a smaller lighter camera (like for taking to family parties).

 

[Bushboy]

What with covid and all, I would buy in the over saturated used market. And if money was no objective, I still would never want the huge ugly M1X.
That’s a camera for special needs.

 

[davidzvi]

Does the system currently have the selection of lenses you would want?

If the answer is yes than what happens tomorrow might not matter. If it doesn't, is there another system that does "currently" (not just on some road map).

 

[John King]

Also, I like to print a lot. 13x19 is usually largest. Still trying to find more discussion on print quality from the sensor.

There is almost endless 'discussion' about whether the 'itty bitty' mFTs sensor is good enough for large prints ...

Personally, I have the Epson R3880 printer (17"x22"). I have printed some stunning A2 size prints from my 5 MPx E-1 ...

The same size from my 10 MPx E-510, 12 MPx E-30, 16 MPx E-M1 MkI and 20 MPx E-M1 MkII. All look excellent, even using a 4x loupe on the unglazed prints. Even art glass acts as a very weak anti-aliasing filter, so even the tiniest imperfections become invisible once glazed.

Other testers have printed up to 60"x40" from a variety of different cameras. Even other printing experts cannot reliably tell which were taken with mFTs.

Your own PP is far more important WRT print quality than the quality of the original image file.

 

[cloudysulphur]

What brings you joy when you use it?

I have found that i was using my Pen F for 90% of my photography over the last few years. Because of this I recently bought the e-m1 mk II on a recent sale and it is very comfortable and fast.

If a camera makes it more likely you will grow as a photographer and use it, then it is the right choice for you.

If a different system appeals to you so you will take more photos and have it with you more often, choose that instead.

 

[John King]

@cloudysulphur even if you have been lurking for nearly 9 years!