The image above apparently shows the new 4K movie mode of the Olympus E-M1.
And for the first time I can reveal the source for this worked as a second unit assistant director on Iron Man 2.
Please note, this news until it is official from Olympus, we have to classify as a rumour but I really do believe this firmware exists.
And even though the source went into a lot of detail with me about the new recording options and functionality, this rumour only confirms the existence of the firmware and not the actual release, which could still be delayed, changed or saved for a different model to come.
Anyway, here’s what this source had to say to me about the firmware (corrected a little bit of grammar from original text, as the source is not a native English speaker):
“The firmware that I shared last time was not the official one, it was the beta firmware that didn’t include all the features (different revision firmware). The Olympus engineer contact told me that he is sorry to share this one with me, that it was the wrong one and that I can’t share any more of them.
“To clear out some doubt, it was never a new OMD, it was always the E-M1 during the beta lab test with a beta firmware. That included all the new video features (4K, slow-mo, SLOG = updated colour creator with more values, higher bitrate, framerate control, etc…) it never has any heat issues with 29min limit recording with 4K + IBIS, it was exactly the OMD E-M1. The next OMD is not even on their plan, they had a financial issue and they need to make profit from the OMD E-M1, so what’s the best way – sharing a new firmware that includes interesting video features and boosts sales, or release a new camera and kill the OMD E-M1 sales? Let’s think about it, if they will release a new OMD right now, the Olympus company will die, it is not the right moment, the gear OMD E-M1 + new firmware update will boost both market (videography and photography) and more recently they had a strong interest towards the cinema industry, etc. They also sell the cinema industry slow motion camera etc. they know exactly where they go.”
“I confirm that I was a assistant director on Iron Man 2 taking care of an American team in Monaco… I came in late during filming, I was not supposed to be there but they needed an extra assistant director. Usually you have an assistant director, second assistant director, but rarely need a third assistant director.
“[On the] R.I.S series (a well known French series), I was not only stuntman but also assistant operator (… I supervised a few stunt scenes, where to put the camera, where to film etc…)
“I was also working on different events, French film-series and also advertising. I launched my own company called never-prod.com to kinda help pros who require help at the last minute (for example).”
Another thing which is curious in all of this is that during the time our source was talking about the firmware update publicly on Twitter, the official Twitter account for Olympus favourited the tweet.
If this all ends up being a fake, I’ve never had a more convincing one.
However I really do have to repeat that this is a rumour and until this firmware sees the light of day, it will remain so.
Thanks for the source for reaching out.
