[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by dougjgreen

I don't dispute that Olympus may have made a legitimate decision, based on their view that the OM lenses wouldn't provide the quality and/or ergonomics that Oly was looking for in their 4/3 system. However, my comment was based on why they didn't have buzz in the marketplace. They might have made the right engineering decision, but the wrong business decision.

But it would have been pretty much impossible for them to carry over the OM format in this day and age. The OM lenses had no AF for a start. It would have been a disaster surely. If you want to use the decades old OM lenses, then Olympus did hand out a free adapter (at first, now available for around $100 or less).

There is no question that the E-1 was a better camera than it's sales warranted. Another marketing gaffe that Olympus made in the E-1 was in failing to realize that 5 Million really good pixels is a very tough sell against 6 million or 8 million average pixels, even when the technical merits are justifiable. They finally figured this one out, however it left them in the strange position that their top-end camera had lesser specs than their consumer cameras.

Totally agree on pixels. They quickly looked out of step when other pro build DSLRs came out soon after with more. I think 5 million great pixels is better than 8 or 10 million mediocre.

The fact that they have not followed up the E-1 with another pro body in well over 2 years seems to indicate an understanding that they can't compete in that space with Nikon and Canon. OTOH, from what I've seen, the E-500 is also a superb camera that is targeted to a market space where Oly can possibly be more successful.

I think a lot of people who get into the Olympus concept would agree about the delays over a major upgrade of their flagship model. Still, they should have something this year and we get too caught up in the Canon way of constantly releasing models (no offense to Canon, but people now expect yearly updates whether they need it or not). Personally, I feel there is still a lot of life left in a 5.5mp pro-spec DSLR, which can now be picked up new for the price of a Canon 350D .

But, because of the lensmount decision, they don't have an installed base to build on.

But the installed base would be people who hadn't had a new OM release for a decade or so. I really don't think that base was worth catering for (or even if it was possible to cater for them). What I have found, however, is that Olympus users are pretty loyal and there are a lot of OM users who moved to the E-1. May not be so noticeable on some sites or in some areas, but certainly seems quite a popular model amongst Europeans from what I've seen. There will always be a market for quality cameras and lenses and innovative features. I hope that Olympus don't just try and compete directly with Canon/Nikon - I think they understand their userbase better than that.