Sony saving Olympus? New OM Full Frame Digital?

Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei is reporting that Sony is considering investing in Olympus

Now THAT'S! what I'm talkin' bout'!

My vote suggests the new OM Digital shall accept Alpha AF AND Oly Legacy Zuikos with the same interchangeable mount. They already have Camera IS, and the new OM is purported to be AF. There is no reason for them to invest into an entirely new lens line... Not Sony. Not now when we still need Alpha/NEX glass. Make that new OM Alpha mount. Bring back multi spot metering!

I always found old Zuikos were lovely, and perhaps the most similar draw style to MinoMaxRokkors. Some real gems in there too... 90mm f2 Macro... quality f2 versions of everything between 21mm and 250mm.

Exciting times to be a photographer!

Edited by Photosopher - 24 January 2012 at 05:29

I share you desire for it to be FF, but my guess is it will be a 4/3 sensor. I do hope I'm wrong

Still glad I kept my Zuiko lenses, especially the 85/2 is a real gem on a Nex so can probably shine on any body, including the one from this speculation. I can see a big hit if they create a digital OM4 which has AF but can easily accept OM lenses with some facilities to aid MF.

Not really related but I like the look of the m4/3 OM body they're doing teasers for (announcement on the 8th of Feb). It's that or a nex7 for my next compact body.

Just about everything bar canon is going to be using sony sensors. The latest batch are simply superior.

I can well imagine Sony asset stripping Olympus for lenses.

From reports and rumours I have seen, I thought it was pretty clear that it was going to use the 4/3rds or m4/3rds mount. I agree with Bob, they have talked about mirrorless, but I also seemed to think I had seen something about viewfinders. So my assumption was a 4/3rds mount camera with a viewfinder. I really doubt they would use OM lenses as I just cannot see anyone making a mainstream camera that is only MF these days (except Leica of course!). However it may well be that they provide an adaptor for those who want to use legacy lenses on it.

Oh.. and Amateur Photographer in the Uk reported that Sony and Fuji were rumoured to be in discussions with Olympus, but they both denied it. I am not sure I see the synergy with Sony, although I can see some benefit to Fuji who have no interchangeable lens mass market camera system right now (whereas Sony already have 2!).

Sorry to disappoint but I think Sony is only interested in the medical equipment division.

Fujifilm has endoscopes business so they may be prevented from acquiring due to monopolistic concern.

Also don't forget that Oly and Panny are too locked together in 4/3 for separation.

My 2 cents.

5thElefant wrote: Yeah, it's just a retro OM looking m4/3 body with a built in EVF. The interesting rumours are the high dynamic range and fast AF.

I think it is a little interesting that Olympus are using another of their legacy brand names (OM) to launch what looks to be a more enthusiast orientated camera, but I cannot see it being anything other than a m43rds based camera. Probably to try and take some of the E-series owners with them onto m43rds, and capture some of the enthusiast market not catered for by the viewfinder-less EP-3. However, if you strip away the marketing then what you end up with is an Olympus version of something like Panasonic's G series cameras (G3 etc) probably with some natty slightly retro industrial design touches - and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. Apple et al have learnt that if you make something cosmetically desirable, it drives sales.

What will genuinely be interesting to see if what the performance of a new Olympus m43rds sensor is like. I have grown to have a soft spot for the Pen cameras and the lens range, but their moderate/high ISO performance is leaving Olympus looking increasingly vulnerable - as does the lack of a model with a viewfinder built in for enthusiasts.

As for any investment in Olympus from Sony or Fujifilm... well let's not forget that Japanese companies routinely invest in each other, often quite substantially, as it is viewed as a way of reducing corporate risk (if you dont do so well, but your comeptitors do, you still get some return). What any interest is, and where it lies, is hard to tell, but I can't quite see it within the camera businesses - but we will obviously find out at some point soon.