fuzzynormal Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 So I'm wondering, is it a brand issue? Oly never really gets any love from the video folks. Is it simply because their specs are always behind the curve...or...what? Samsung made a splash with the NX1, but Oly never really got much attention. Why have you stayed away from their cameras? Not judging, just really curious why there never had more support in the video market. Goofy company business? Not impressed with their offerings? tupp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webrunner5 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 For years Olympus never cared about video and Panasonic didn't much care about the photo end. It was a few years ago Panny and Oly got together and Panny helped Oly develop the video end and Oly helped Panny on the IBIS end. So as of late they are closer than ever. And Olympus also had really over the top color science, which a lot of people liked, and Panasonic tried more to stay true to the science. I have owned a lot of both brands and with Olympus cameras years ago I made no effort to use video on them and vice versa on the Panasonic. Sucked pretty much CS wise on photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 49 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said: So I'm wondering, is it a brand issue? Oly never really gets any love from the video folks. Is it simply because their specs are always behind the curve...or...what? Samsung made a splash with the NX1, but Oly never really got much attention. Why have you stayed away from their cameras? Not judging, just really curious why there never had more support in the video market. Goofy company business? Not impressed with their offerings? When I was in the market for my GH5 I was seriously considering both the A73 and an Olympus camera. I can't remember which Olympus model it was, but it was the direct competitor to the GH5. The equation basically boiled down to this: GH5 - poor AF, great codecs including 10-bit, very good stabilisation Oly - limited to 8-bit, excellent stabilisation (better than the GH5) A73 - great AF, limited to 8-bit codecs I don't remember if the Oly had PDAF - I don't think I even knew that at the time. Later on I learned that they had it (thanks to @Dave Maze on YT) and it was one of the best kept secrets - no-one was talking about it. Anyway, I realised that it came down to AF vs stabilisation vs codecs. I used one of my existing camera setups to try to learn manual focusing, and discovered that not only was it much simpler than I thought, but I actually preferred the experience (not silently screaming in my head as I watched the camera screw up my shot) and most importantly I learned that I preferred the more human feel of MF - including the mistakes and imperfections. So that ruled out the A73, because AF was it's main feature, and left the Olympus and the GH5. I eventually decided that the 10-bit internal and higher-quality codecs were more important to me than the edge on stabilisation that the Oly had, and went with the GH5. I've often wondered why there was no love for Olympus as the quality of the footage was there (I watched a LOT of it while I was evaluating cameras) but I think it was more that no-one knew about it. The GH5 was famous (10-bit! 400Mbps! ALL-I! etc) and infamous ("Panasonic AF has ruined my life!" "I want to kill myself!!" etc), but no-one even mentioned Olympus - not for their strengths or weaknesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Williams Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 I'm currently testing the new OM System OM-1 and all I can say right now is to expect some pretty great video features, some of which exceed the GH5 (no idea yet about the upcoming GH6). Olympus IBIS has always been the best in the industry. Still is. OM System has done a great job with this camera. I am thoroughly impressed (but I hate the name "OM System"). hoodlum, Simon Young, MrSMW and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Hummus Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 I'm considering Olympus MFT setup now that Panasonic has announced the GH6 will have DfD. I'm looking for a lightweight crop sensor landscape photo / video hybrid for an ultralight pack. The OM-1 will have DCI 4K, 10-bit, good color, PDAF, astro tracking, pixelshift, and world class IBIS. I'm not convinced OM systems is in it for the long haul, but if the OM-1 is anything like previous Olympus cameras it will provide value for years to come. Panasonic is bleeding out because they don't have good AF. I don't see it stopping. kye 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webrunner5 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Years ago the Olympus EM1 was the only body that had Phase Detect AF in it. Had to use it if you wanted to use the old 4/3 body lenses which were crazy good. Olympus has always made a lot of great lens. tupp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzynormal Posted February 12, 2022 Author Share Posted February 12, 2022 1 hour ago, kye said: no-one even mentioned Olympus - not for their strengths or weaknesses. Yeah, I think they just got lost in the shuffle of on-line PR. The dark horse. I always liked 'em and wondered why videographers seemed to ignore the brand. My guess is a mix of slightly not the latest-greatest specs and lackluster marketing. kye and tupp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 I’m not sure why they changed the established brand name in the first place. I had a pair of EM5mkii’s with f1.2 and f1.8 primes for my video work around 6 years ago. In fact, must have been 6 years ago because when I moved to France they were what I was using. Liked them at the time, though I was less serious about video than I am now. Seriously considered the EM1mkiii for video work and it was only the lack of 4K 50p that killed it for me. Otherwise in the fence right now in regard to any/all future camera systems and I think Panny would have to bring out my ‘ideal spec’ S2H for me to consider anything this year. I’m interested to see what both the OM-1 and GH6 are capable of, beyond any initial media hype (good or bad). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ac6000cw Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 I think there's two reasons Oly hasn't historically been very popular with video shooters: 1. The EM5 ii was their first m43 camera to take video vaguely seriously, about 5 years after the GH2, 3 years after the GH3 (& G6 a bit later) and a year after the GH4 came out. 2. They've always seemed to market the cameras primarily for stills use. Based on my experience of owning the EM1 ii, G9 and G80 (and several older Pana cams), Oly has the best stabilisation in the business and great build quality, but their video quality just hasn't been competitive with Panasonic (other than DCI 4k on the EM1 ii, but that's 24p only for some reason). Nice colours but just soft in comparison, especially the 1080p. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoodlum Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 10 hours ago, M_Williams said: I'm currently testing the new OM System OM-1 and all I can say right now is to expect some pretty great video features, some of which exceed the GH5 (no idea yet about the upcoming GH6). Olympus IBIS has always been the best in the industry. Still is. OM System has done a great job with this camera. I am thoroughly impressed (but I hate the name "OM System"). Based on the latest rumor it looks like the name “OLYMPUS” will still exist on the front of the EVF on the OM-1. So the Olympus name will live for a while longer. But I guess you know this already. 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Hummus Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 38 minutes ago, hoodlum said: Based on the latest rumor it looks like the name “OLYMPUS” will still exist on the front of the EVF on the OM-1. So the Olympus name will live for a while longer. But I guess you know this already. 😉 That’s good because they had so many other good things to come up with other than f’ing “OM SYSTEMS” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Williams Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 1 hour ago, hoodlum said: Based on the latest rumor it looks like the name “OLYMPUS” will still exist on the front of the EVF on the OM-1. So the Olympus name will live for a while longer. But I guess you know this already. 😉 I can't say anything without violating NDA but let's just say I am not happy about the direction OM System is going with the naming scheme in some ways (in other ways it is better - OM-1 is much cleaner than OM-D E-M1). kye 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Williams Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 57 minutes ago, Video Hummus said: That’s good because they had so many other good things to come up with other than f’ing “OM SYSTEMS” It's a terrible, terrible name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Must be a reason surely why they have chosen to throw away the heritage of over 80 years of the brand name OLYMPUS. I’d hope so otherwise it’s not the wisest move… Say someone bought Ferrari and then had the bright spark idea to change the name to ‘FR-Cars’. Err, wot? Unless the new company does not have the rights to use the brand name? tupp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Romero 2 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 15 hours ago, kye said: I don't remember if the Oly had PDAF - I don't think I even knew that at the time. Later on I learned that they had it (thanks to @Dave Maze on YT) and it was one of the best kept secrets - no-one was talking about it. Just to add a historical footnote... The E-M1 MK II actually DIDN'T have PDAF in video until firmware 3.0, which was two-and-a-half years AFTER the release of the camera (E-M1 MK II was released in 2016, Firmware 3.0 released June 18, 2019). That also means the firmware was available only AFTER the GH5 had been available for two years and a couple of months. And I am with you in that I wasn't sure Olympus still even made cameras until I saw that @Dave Maze video, too. There are a few things that drive me mad with my E-M1 MK II, such as the fact that LOG and Flat Profiles are ONLY available in 24fps DCI (not in 23.978fps, nor in UHD 16:9), and you have to do a bit of menu diving to get in to those picture profiles. On the other hand, for non-log, using the Natural profile with reduced contrast, sharpness and saturation is really nice as long as the dynamic range isn't overwhelming. kye and ac6000cw 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Romero 2 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 1 hour ago, MrSMW said: Unless the new company does not have the rights to use the brand name? I think that is the situation but don't want to swear by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tupp Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Evidently, they will announce a new camera, according to the graphic at the end of this video. 1 hour ago, MrSMW said: Unless the new company does not have the rights to use the brand name? That would be my guess. Even the most vapid, short-sighted, self-absorbed marketing person couldn't be stupid enough to throw away a venerable brand name such as Olympus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tupp Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 It seems that one has to register to see the live camera announcement on Tuesday. Hooray for the social media event planners! webrunner5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Hummus Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 5 hours ago, tupp said: That would be my guess. Even the most vapid, short-sighted, self-absorbed marketing person couldn't be stupid enough to throw away a venerable brand name such as Olympus. 7 hours ago, MrSMW said: Must be a reason surely why they have chosen to throw away the heritage of over 80 years of the brand name OLYMPUS. I’d hope so otherwise it’s not the wisest move… Say someone bought Ferrari and then had the bright spark idea to change the name to ‘FR-Cars’. Ok, so why didn't they come up with a better, more memorable name than some bargain basement OM SYSTEM? They could have bought the rights to the Olympus "Stylus" or "Zuiko" trademarks. tupp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tupp Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 3 hours ago, Video Hummus said: Ok, so why didn't they come up with a better, more memorable name than some bargain basement OM SYSTEM? They could have bought the rights to the Olympus "Stylus" or "Zuiko" trademarks. One could ask those same questions if the situation were merely that some marketing person with zero sense of history had a whim to do a "rebrand." By the way, the derivation of the new name is demonstrated by the video at the top of this web page. Never underestimate the incompetence of corporate executives and marketing people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.