Olympus in trouble

C

combatentropy

Veteran
There is some news about Olympus having money troubles and even lying to stockholders.

Since Olympus and Panasonic are the two main companies making 4/3 mount cameras and lenses, I wonder what the future of the format is if Olympus goes under or gets bought out (I have no idea how close it is).

Although many of you are not terribly excited about it, it is an open format and only a little smaller than S35. It hasn't really taken over, but it is one of the few times more than one brand used the same mount.
 
That certainly is bad news. I like m43 I think it's a really mature sensor size. GH1 was my first mirrorless cam and it opened mad doors for me as far as lensing goes. It's a format I'd hate to see go.
 
It's sad what has happened to Olympus. So many hard working employees there and the company gets ruined by poor and possibly corrupt management.

Olympus, along with Kodak created the original 4/3 format. Olympus then joined Panasonic to create Micro 4/3. So they've been there all this time. Fujifilm was part of the original 4/3 consortium, but it looks like their new CSC (compact system camera) will be their own format.

The only other camera company making an m43 camera is Ikegami, but Ikegami cameras are never cheap.

Truthfully, I think S35 will become the dominant single large sensor format in the future (for professional video). The key is the lens and there just way more lenses out there for this format. 2/3" will remain for broadcast and ENG.
 
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I guess it all depends on Panasonic. Unless they up their game -- 4K, raw, 10- or 12-bit consumer HD models, a better selection of lenses (including something like a 10-100 mm T2.4 constant-T-stop for less than 2K), etc. -- they might as well give up. The AF100 isn't enough to carry the m4/3 format. Ideally, I'd like to see a QuadHD or 4K, global-shutter model for about $5K that can handle raw and/or 12-bit AVC-I output, with frame rates up to at least 60 fps. That would shut Red up for a while.
 
Imaging is just a small portion of Olympus' business, they make far more income from medical devices. Finding a buyer for the whole company won't be easy.

On the other hand, a drop in the stock price doesn't automatically result in bankruptcy. If they are profitable -- and given the fudging of the numbers that is far from certain -- the stock price has little bearing on the company's ability to continue normal operations.
 
Most of the big issues have to do with trying to cover (or cover up) losses from at least a decade ago. This is a classical corporate problem. The actual value of the company itself today will be the determinant of whether it goes forward or not.
 
Whatever the reasons for their troubles are - I dearly hope Olympus comes out of it. Loved their equipment since the days of the OM-1 & OM-2. And great lens makers.
 
From the little I've read on the situation, it looks as though the camera division could be the most vulnerable to a sell off. Whatever happens, I hope they can keep their talented team and keep this end of the company on track.
 
The other day I heard someone say "Panasonic doesn't make cameras, they make codecs." How will a most robust lens division help them sell codecs? Just a thought. Hey, it's almost turkey day! I wanted to shoot something in a pie shop this month and stupid me didn't know they were gearing up to make some 300 pies per day.
 
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