Olympus changes to OM System in the big announcement that had been teased for October 27. It’s interesting that not only Olympus had a less-than-exciting announcement, but so did the Lumix folks. On October 27 we heard a bit more about the new Olympus camera that’s coming and even less about the Lumix GH6. To call both these announcements anti-climactic would be an understatement.
New OM Systems “Wow” Camera
Though there was not a lot of updated information on this new camera from OM System, they did provide an inspirational video about their place in the camera industry. A vision that carves out its niche as a leader in small, mobile, bulletproof quality for photographers who want to “break free.”
And I think it’s a compelling promotional video. You have to get through the first part of the new CEO talking about what’s happening, but about mid-video, you get a better idea of what they have planned. You can follow this link to read more about my take on all things Olympus.
There were a few darkly lit photos released of the new camera as well. From these pictures, it seems OM System plans to go with the same push-button feature on the left-hand side of the camera, top deck, that we have on current OM cameras. I was hoping they would adopt the Panasonic feature that does the same thing with dials on the top deck. I personally think the dials on the G9 are much quicker and easier to operate than a push-button system.
Panasonic Lumix GH6
The folks at Panasonic were also making announcements, but they weren’t quite as enthused as OM System. In a press release translated by Google, they talk about concentrating on the cinematography aspect of the GH6 with new lenses and the like. There was much hope there would be much more information than what they gave. In particular, everybody dreaming of an announcement of a new autofocus system for the GH6.
Conclusion
As I said at the beginning, it was a fairly anti-climactic announcement from both companies. But of the two, it seems OM System was more excited to be in the game. I guess only time will tell.