OM SYSTEM Live with Daniel Villadsen and Matt Suess

[@robynaldridge8304]

OM SYSTEM Day continues for me with these replays. I love it and there's always something new to find out. Great stuff.

[@josefmazzeo6628]

Love the new OM System cameras, as well as the previous generation OM-Ds. There's a lot of value packed into that little body! One thing I feel would be better to retain the "Olympus" name on the EVF housing front (as on the new OM-1), with "OM System" moniker added somewhere to the side on the top plate cover front, or on the lower right part of the body. "OM System" looks awkward to me on the EVF pyramid.

[@chrispatmore8944]

It's been really interesting seeing all the online comments and discussions about the new OM-5 and people saying what a disappointment it is because it wasn't what they were expecting (based on rumour sites) or wanted. I get the feeling most people were hoping for an OM-1 Lite, a diet version of the flagship. And I have to admit that I would have loved to see one of those. But watching all the official release videos over the last couple of days, marketing hype aside, it did strike me that it was as a very clever move by OMDS. The EM-5 models have probably been the most popular, best-selling camera in the Olympus digital line-up. Since the takeover by JIP and creation of OMDS they have been trying to clear all the old Olympus stock, bring out a new flagship model in the middle of a pandemic and a global chip and parts shortage, and establish awareness of the new brand name. So it made perfect sense to take the EM-5iii, rebadge it to let people get used to the new marque after decades of Olympus, and give an internal update with some new features. That way, it will still be backwards compatible with its predecessor for batteries and peripherals for existing users, and keep the production costs and, therefore, the selling price down. If it was going to be a completely new model there would have been an even longer wait, leaving the OM-1, which is out of the price range and needs of most folks, the only OM System camera available as the old Olympus stock dried up. And the initial offer of a five year warranty with the OM-5 means that the company is willing to keep supporting it for at least that long, probably with firmware updates, such as adding the new menu system, to keep it current. Business wise, the OM-5 was smart, but safe, move and that is a good thing from a new company, regardless of its heritage, rather than investing everything in another brand new camera, which I'm sure is in development anyway. My biggest disappointment with the OM-5 is that it wasn't a mechanical film camera to be a successor to the overpriced, and old, OM-3. There is definitely a market for a new film SLR. There was huge excitement for the rerelease of the Leica M6 last week, which comes with a price tag that makes unattainable for most photographers, but an SLR OM-5 (or whatever number) even at the price of the digital one would sell like hot cakes in the current market. I know I would buy one over the digital version. I doubt my current OM-1 SLR is going to last another 40 years, not that I would be around to find out.

[@rasmus_mattsson]

I see your point but can't really agree. I'm not saying you're wrong, you may be right and I hope you are as they need to sell cameras in order to stay alive and keep the Olympus legacy running. The problem with "safe" now a days is that people generally want new and impressive and exciting. I think that keeping the camera body, even batteries, EVF and display is "ok" for the price. But not bringing over the new menu system is an all together terrible move for two reasons alone, one, it makes the camera feel even more like the old stuff. Two, and more importantly, the E-M5 series has, since the first E-M1 was released always been a great secondary camera for the slightly larger E-M1 series, it's been smaller and lighter but easy to change between the two. Now you have one camera with a new menu system and another one with the old menu system, this is the worst possible thing you can do to your customers who are looking at using both cameras. Can you imagine a professional photographer using two different cameras in the field with completely different menu systems? A horrible move. Also, they should have brought over the OM1 sensor, using the old sensor as well, there is nothing wrong with the older 20mp sensor, it produces fine photos but this is another move much like what brought Olympus down in the first place, reuse very old off the shelf stuff and call it something else.

[@chrispatmore8944]

@@rasmus_mattsson In this industrialised capitalist age, what we want and what we get are two different things. Workers want higher pay and lower hours but get lower pay and higher hours. I see the OM-5 as the same as (and these are very UK-centric references) when Marathons became Snickers, Opal Fruits became Starburst, and Jif became Cif. Or Vauxhall cars being the same as Opel in Europe. Or as the Australian expression so succinctly puts it, "same horse, different jockey". As I said, there's a good chance the menu will be addressed in a firmware update, unless it's processor and/or system dependent. As for your point about professionals with two cameras, they will usually use the same model at the same time. I use an EM-1ii and EM-1iii and they are different enough in their button layout, despite me mapping the usage to match as closely as possible, that I still press the wrong ones on occasions. However, I rarely, if ever, look at the menus when out shooting. Everything has been set, and any changes I need have already been programmed into the custom dials. I do get the feeling that the OM-5 is aimed at new, "amateur" users, or those wanting to upgrade from older EM-5 or EM-10 models. Familiarity and backward compatibility are important to them. Anyway, the OM-5 is what it is, and all the online whinging isn't going to magically make it something else, beyond what firmware updates can add. There'll something new coming along soon enough for everyone to complain about.

[@carolaugustinus7225]

Hi from Mornington, Australia

[@keithturner428]

I love those hoodies :) Just saying...

[@tompierce8395]

Why do we never see a woodland landscape photographer using Olympus or OM Solutions gear? It looks like they all use full frame systems. Simon Baxter, Nigel Danson, Henry Turner and Mark Denny are some of my favorite but I can't find any photographers like this using Micro four thirds. I have been a Olympus user since 2008 and I currently have my 6th camera since that time. Convince me to stay with OM Solutions before I switch brands.

[@TheNarrowbandChannel]

They all use those brands because they were the first one that BackYard EOS software was able to work with. This is about 10 years ago. Really there are a lot of reasons to use an Olympus camera. The live Comp is amazing and also the built in intervalometer is great and found in almost no other cameras. Time lapses and time-lapse moves are also really easy on an Oly camera and very hard on other cameras.