The new mirrorless system will arrive soon

Sep 24, 2014 08:10 GMT  ·  By

While present on the grounds at Photokina, representatives of major photo companies usually talk to the press, giving interviews in which they tend to drop a few spicy hints here and there.

So it’s no wonder Olympus President Ogawa Haruo who was talking to DC.Watch revealed a bunch of interesting details about the company’s upcoming plans for the future.

The Olympus E-M5 replacement will arrive soon

He has confirmed that the Olympus E-M5 replacement is “ready” for action and should be announced soon enough.

The newcomer will be part of the mirrorless category and luckily will take advantage of Micro Four Thirds technology.

Even if Olympus abstained from making any new OM-D model official at Photokina, it doesn’t mean the company is pushing the family into the background. On the contrary.

During the world’s biggest imaging event, Olympus preferred to bring the Silver OM-D E-M1 camera in the spotlight instead. On top of that, the photo gear maker launched a firmware update for both E-M1 models. But this doesn’t mean Olympus forgot about its OM-D line.

Even if we’re hoping Olympus might push out the new mirrorless in time for the event, accompanied by a full frame mirrorless camera, neither product came out.

But that’s not the case with the Olympus E-M5 which is apparently ready and will soon be launched into the wild for the whole world to behold. Sadly, the company official didn’t go as far as to provide us with info about name, specs or exact launch date, so we’ll have to wait and see hoping the rumor mill will eventually spurt them out.

Olympus is betting on the mirrorless

Olympus has been having problems maintaining its business afloat in the past few years, but gradually things have improved as the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera sector has started to produce profit, compared to the year that has just passed.

Since mirrorless systems seem to be the ones attracting most customers, Olympus will focus on this product category for the time being, and the Olympus E-M5 will come to support the company’s strategy.

Mister Haruo has recognized that smartphones are eating up a big chunk out of compact camera sales and this is unlikely to change for the time being.

However, the company is looking to outfit its models with properties that differentiate cameras from handsets, like improved low-light capabilities, long zoom or weather-resistant capabilities.

The company’s CEO didn’t say anything about a full frame mirrorrless camera, so our advice is that you forget about it for the time being.