Olympus is out...

Specifically for the discussion of the A-mount DSLR range
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Olympus is out...

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Lot of clicks on that! Not had a body motor fail yet
Why not wait for things to calm down and used prices on bodies to drop? Pre covid stuff was really low in price
The A77ii new price is way too high IMO for the camera, it's still good but it's overpriced big time for a 2014 model. In the old days (pre 2010) I used to see heavy discounts months after a model was released - 12 months later the discounts were massive and they used to bundle flashes and deals with lenses, those days are surely gone!

That's the reason I didn't get one new, it went down to about £675 in 2016/17 and then it went up to £950 almost the same price it was released at. If camera makers wanted to know why their sales are so bad, that's the reason. I'd sit it out and pick one up used for way less, dig around find a lightly used one when prices have settled. Going forward a few years used prices on A Mount bodies should be very good. That's my plan anyway the bodies are good enough now and in 10 years time output wise
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ValeryD
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Re: Olympus is out...

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It's a good idea to wait for the discounts on the A77-II camera, but now in Canada it is very difficult to find this camera in stock, and I need to work today and this year. :) Next year I will be a retired person and I will not work as now. Naturally, I will never finish photography, but there is no need to keep so many cameras. So I'm not in a hurry to choose what to buy. I have posted a few phone shots before, and my phone is far from the best. I'm looking at something like this: https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-10-ul ... ra-review/
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Olympus is out...

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I don't know what you're shooting? Work or for fun
Cost of high end phone sim free v cost of replacement camera. I used the A57 for a back up for long enough does the job
I used a Mi Note 8T a few weeks back, and I thought the camera was way better than I would expect for the price (I mean a lot better), the UWA was also decent. If I were out traveling about it would be quite respectable, so I'm sure the higher end ones are even stronger. Depends if you desire a new phone I could use one to replace my Lumia 950 which I can't even use for most apps ;-D

Only downer for Xiaomi is I don't really like "big" phones so if I found something a bit less bulky I'd give it a shot, maybe a pixel 4a would be ideal. A lot of their phones are great value and good performance, just this "big screen" thing isn't to my taste
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ValeryD
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Re: Olympus is out...

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For today I working as the photoreporter. Beside that I do some commertinal work as advertisind, wedding and so on.
Agree with you about big cell phone. My Xiaomi Mi A2 not so big and does have dual camera with 20mp. So far works very good. Like example from last year trip to Holland and Russia
Moscow https://photos.app.goo.gl/UK11hwyEoyBwKUfH7
St. Petersburg - Kronshtadt 2019: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DJHLE17QCKqZotWd9
Or some pictures in this "Tiny sensor revenge gallery thread!"
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4195&start=930
For traveling this phone works great, but I'm looking for cell phone with zoom camera on it, like Xiaomi Mi note 10, Samsung Galaxy S20.
I been almost ready push the botton Buy on Xiaomi Mi Note 10, but a size of the phone stoped me to do that. :)
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Olympus is out...

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They seem to put the decent normal and UWA lenses on the lower to mid range, and then save the tele lens for the higher priced phones. I can understand that. Saw some quite good shots from a P30 pro 10x was good even 20x usable. Thing is the cost new of a phone or similar is more than I'd pay for a phone myself

I sold my A57 yesterday, used it a lot as a second and even main camera at one time. I just didn't need 4 bodies and the A77ii replaced it. So A77/A77ii/A99 are the bodies I use now. If one went down I'd just replace it at some point. A99ii looks great, too pricey for me new or used. So if you've the A99ii I'd just use the A57. I did like the smaller size and 16mp is probably good enough for most tasks. In my own testing I found 16 to 24mp is pretty small. Perhaps I'm a minority though some will drop the money on a high end phone, perhaps if you use it enough and it does what you want. I completely understand someone who does that v buying into an entire system, cost/weight/bulk

Perhaps over time they'll put the zoom into somewhat lower priced phones. I've usually gone to cameras first, bulk and all as I have the stuff already, and I enjoy using them v a phone where I feel somewhat detached from the shooting experience.
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bakubo
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Re: Olympus is out...

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bfitzgerald wrote: Anyone who has stayed with A Mount is probably better off sticking with it and picking up used gear. Someone here got an A7iii and adapter, it's not ideal however something is better than nothing. I wouldn't consider that model unless the price dropped significantly, or a better adapter came out, usable but not great - hence the criticism of Sony on the LEA4, it's hardly appealing for A Mount shooters
Saw this today:

Sony announces new LA-EA5 A-mount to E-mount lens adapter with built-in screw drive support

https://www.dpreview.com/news/585121337 ... ve-support
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Olympus is out...

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Yeah I made a post on that yesterday just in case anyone is searching.
It's good news but..
Only two bodies at the moment support it for screw drive AF A6600 and A7RIV. If more turn up we shall see bit limited with 2 bodies perhaps more updates will add more recent ones. It has potential but we have to wait and see. Those are the 2 least likely bodies I'd consider buying A6600 is too close in price to the A7III to justify (unless prices tank), and the A7R IV is just to expensive and the pixel density and lack of S/M raw are show stoppers - just not a model I'd be interested in at all
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Re: Olympus is out...

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bakubo wrote: Saw this today:

Sony announces new LA-EA5 A-mount to E-mount lens adapter with built-in screw drive support

https://www.dpreview.com/news/585121337 ... ve-support
Sony LA-EA5 A-mount to E-mount adapter review

https://www.dpreview.com/videos/5724421 ... ter-review
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bakubo
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Re: Olympus is out...

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Sony LA-EA5 with 26 Legendary A-mount lenses, on a7RIV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V9_-PYvCHs
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bakubo
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Re: Olympus is out...

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I think JIP takes over the Olympus camera division pretty soon, but no one knows what the future holds. Yesterday Olympus announced their newest, biggest, and most expensive lens though:

Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x IS Pro officially unveiled; ships in January for $7500

https://www.dpreview.com/news/596175601 ... ly-debuted

Olympus also announced a bunch of firmware updates for cameras and a minor new camera. The last hurrah or does JIP/Olympus really think they have a future?
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Olympus is out...

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People have so far looked at what JIP has done, and based on that I wouldn't expect a whole lot to happen. They might corner a niche segment perhaps, I wouldn't expect major things to happen. Probably something like A mount and Sony - trickle out a few things now and then for a while - then likely lose interest.
It is quite sad, the 35mm OM cameras were IMO some of the best out there. Great lenses too, even my old IS bridge camera had a cracking lens on it.
I keep hearing these makers talking about "focus on high end". Nikon keeps saying something similar -yet is also in serious trouble.
My predictions are:

Pentax: Such a small market share it is inevitable that they will struggle and probably pull the plug down the road. Ricoh have a successful print/copier business (much like Konica Minolta today). They don't need Pentax and it's not making money. This one is 100% certain to drop out. I have more subs on my YouTube channel than Ricoh Pentax does, and I'm not exactly a big fish on that platform! There is very little interest in Pentax, bar a loyal small band of followers

Nikon: I have doubts about them, huge name in the photo industry. But their lame DSLR updates lost them respect (D7500 managed to annoy D7200 users, and D780 was a big yawn. D850 and D500 were hits, they are split between serving their F mount base, and transitioning to Z mount. Unless the Z5 gets real cheap and sells like crazy, it's going to be difficult for them

Sony: Despite the claims of massive success, I think things are overblown for Sony. They bury their photo division numbers deeply in reports, so it's likely not doing as well as some think. Yes they did corner the market for a while, but it's an ever decreasing market which has got a lot lot smaller v 10 years ago. It would only take a group of determined shareholders to push for Sony to dump non profitable business. My bet is long term (not a few years but 5+), that they will likely pull out and concentrate on profitable markets. There is a reason Samsung left the camera business

Canon: Seem to have found their "chops" recently with the new R models. They have an ambitious lens roadmap, albeit with some not so nice prices. I think going forward Canon will push past Sony - they have a large installed user base, and probably took back many users using adapted lenses from Sony (no question Canon's design/ergos blow Sony away on E Mount and is far more familiar for users). It's a dying market, but I would expect Canon to stick around - if they don't you'll know just how bad things really are. If I were laying down cash on a system, this is likely the safest one.

Fuji: I think they will stick around, however they'll have to get a bit more realistic on their pricing or face the inevitable fate micro 4/3 has - trying to price crop sensor bodies when full frame ones are similar or even cheaper.

Panasonic: Probably likely to concentrate on video, that seems to be their thing. It remains unclear how long they will stick around on micro 4/3 if they have a FF system too. Seems a bit unlikely they can do both.

Either way the outlook isn't great, unless there is a spectacular recovery in sales. We are back to the same situation, most people use phones and don't want big (yes even ILC small bodies are big v a phone), expensive camera gear. So you are left with pros and dedicated enthusiasts. With ever increasing prices, $500 kit lenses - it seems inevitable that it's going to struggle more and more. They keep saying it will eventually hit a bottom and hold it, almost every other week I think about selling all my photo gear! The future isn't mirrorless - the future is the smartphone and I'm quite impressed how much they have improved.
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bakubo
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Re: Olympus is out...

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Related to your musings about Sony:

My Sony RX100 review

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10854
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Olympus is out...

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Hmm I was a while back thinking about an RX compact, but since I got a better phone it has IMO rendered them pretty much pointless for a travel camera. Unless you're doing low light video or something these premium compacts are on the way out probably.

I can see complaints about that problem for a few posters. A friend of mine had a shutter block fail on his A7iii one month into purchase, seems to be a facebook group just on shutter failures on E Mount cameras:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/418715925421277//

I've not had a dial problem, the A99 I got off Mike was squeaking a bit - so sprayed some silicone in it, let it dry and leave it for a few days (rubber gets soft so be careful until the silicone has dried), cleaned it up and not touched it since. A57 thumbpad started to come off, so I re-glued it back and sold it recently. A77 is working alright, and the A77ii so far seems reliable. Only other thing I did was re-tape the 18-135mm I did a post on that.

Can't say if Sony are worse or better than others for problems, Nikon were plagued with D750 issues, the D600 shutter splat, and AF problems with that model and D7000 are well known. Just about everyone I know who bought a Canon 24-105mm first gen had the ribbon cable fail and aperture control go. It's annoying, then again the RX100 if you have a decent phone you'll probably use that more. I wouldn't buy one myself I wasn't impressed with some aspects of handling, even if the IQ was pretty good. Looking at Sony's latest odd ball camera the A7c, it seems they're doing their best to ignore good handling and ergos ;-D
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Re: Olympus is out...

Unread post by classiccameras »

I've just picked up on this topic, We will have to wait and see if Olympus survive, I always thought that if any one would go under it would be Pentax, They probably have the smallest share in the DSLR market. With some of Pentax's SLR film cameras even smaller than Olympus OM, I was surprised they never capitalised on this with a small compact DSLR or ICL compact to challenge Fuji, Canon, Nikon or even Sony E mount, Putting LED glitter or horrible colours on cameras didn't work for Pentax. I guess to bring out a more compact system would be too costly and to a very uncertain and diminishing market, to risky
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Olympus is out...

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

I'd be surprised if Pentax make it, they've had plenty of problems over the years in particular QC issues. They were a bit too late to FF, having had a mostly crop system. I suspect the new crop K3 III body will be interesting, but a sign of where they are going. I think higher prices (which was never a Pentax thing). They are a very niche brand, but then so is Ricoh with their GR cameras.
Maybe they can carve a market out for themselves, only time will tell on that. After my own experience with them, much as I love using an OVF - there is no way I would be willing to try them again. Pentax were always a small player, but they are not Leica. Tough times ahead I think
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