burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Both were made by OM-Systems. Olympus sold its camera business to an industrial business developer a few years ago. Everything that was once Olympus is now OM-Systems. They were given a transitional period to change the branding and now all their new stock has to have OM Systems on it. If you buy a new item with the Olympus name on it, it is "new, old stock."

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I had the film OM 2 2n camera with
50 mm 1.4 lens. That was a camera

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Even though the first digital OM-1 had "Olympus" on it, it was the last tribute to Olympus Corporation for their camera start. Even though Olympus still has 10% of OMDS and the idea of the OM-1 started at Olympus, OMDS did all the R&D and manufacturing. Olympus Corporation gave OMDS a time limited usage for the use of the logo "Olympus". As we can now see, OMDS is now in charge of the company. We will no longer see "Olympus" and will only see "OM Systems" from here on out. "Olympus" will not be on the OM-1 mkII and future revisions.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Actually the real news is not the renaming but the new and upgraded features. Increased IS, specialized in-camera and live ND, better autofocus, better object recognition, and more, are all new. It looks like OMDS will not let the spirit that started with Olympus die.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The refinements are real and welcome, but the pundits are going ho-hum. Is it worth $200 more than the OM-1 Mark I? $500 more than a Lumix G9 Mark II? Hmmm… I'm sure the usual YouTube reviewers will get one of each and run them through an exhaustive battery of tests.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Panasonic and OMDS will continue to push 4/3rds forward. The G9 mkII will push the video side of 4/3rds even more and be even more competitive with other formats. I know some photographers are disappointed that OMDS is not keeping up with Panasonic's video. But it is hard enough for other formats to keep up at the 4/3rds price and features - let alone OMDS.

Base off this site and other sites, 4/3rds is pushing in as a second camera for travel. And then some replace their full frame prime camera with the 4/3rds. It will take a longer time, but eventually 4/3rds will make a bigger impact in the camera industry in manufacturing and sales.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I'm trying to decide whether I want the G9 II with $400 off a 9mm f/1.7 Leica prime, or wait for a price drop on the body, or wait for a GH7. Panny saved a bundle by modifying the S5 IIX into a G9 Mark II. I'll bet we see an S1H Mark II, and a GH7 or a GH6 Mark II, both based on the same body, at some point.

gwilliams6

It seems the OM1 II reviews are evening out now, with just as many being favorable vs the ones that seem disappointed.

I have used micro 4/3rds in the past, mainly as they were the leaders in video from the beginning of mirrorless.

I am just one person, but here is my take on this. There are excellent micro 4/3rd cameras and systems, and they fit perfectly for many shooters.

The reality is that when micro 4/3rds starts costing the same and even more than fullframe gear and starts to have lenses like this Sigma-inside 150-600mm lens that is as big and heavy as its fullframe versions, and also retails for $1200 USD more than the fullframe versions, then IMHO it becomes harder to sell the advantages of size, weight and cost of micro 4/3rds vs the image quality disadvantages inherent in the smaller sensor size of micro 4/3rds.

Cheers and best to you all.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

For what you get, yes, both the OM-1 II and the 150-600 Sigma guts lens are overpriced, IMHO. The 150-600 makes no sense to me, but then I'm not a user of super telephoto zooms. The OM-1 II is a better stills camera for some users, but wholly lacking the pro video features I need.

Where Micro 4/3 shines is in the overall SYSTEM weight and cost factors. For instance, the Lumix G9 II body is almost identical in form factor, size, weight, and function to the Lumix S5 Mark IIX full frame body, BUT, most Micro 4/3 lenses are about half the price for equivalent coverage and maximum aperture, and they are much lighter, too.

A bag full of Micro 4/3 lenses is much easier to acquire and carry than a bag full of equivalent coverage full frame lenses. In some cases you save 1/3 to half the weight, with a corresponding reduction in size and bulk. In other cases, there are lenses that simply don't exist in larger formats. The Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 zoom is a good example. 20mm to 50mm equivalent full frame coverage at f/1.7 is nothing to sneeze at. It's great for weddings, corporate, and social events, and its matching 25-50mm f/1.7 sibling is a great companion. Together, they are popular with video filmmakers. Add the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f/2.8 and the Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4.5 to f/6.3 Mark II, and you have a four lens kit covering 20mm to 800mm full frame equivalent fields of view. It can even go longer with a 1.4X or 2X converter.

The great thing about the camera market now is that we have four viable MILC system platforms: Medium Format, Full Frame, APS-C, and Micro 4/3, each of which has multiple brands with compelling attributes for certain use cases. That's somewhat akin to 8x10, 4x5, the several 120 roll film formats, and 35mm film cameras. We can all choose the right tools for the jobs we do.

gwilliams6

From Pangolin Wildlife Photography: (this is a year old, and every format and brand has had advances changes and updates in the past year, but this is a good discussion of micro 4/3rds for Wildlife Photography): "Should you switch to a Micro 4:3 Camera for wildlife?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4HeaPkB4Ec

Cheers and best to you and all micro 4/3rd users and lovers .

Full disclosure: I will have my new global shutter Sony A9III on Feb. 8, to join my 50mp A1, and my 61mp A7RV.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I've seen that video. I'll let people like Daniel J. Cox discuss that one over at https://naturalexposures.com/photography-blog/ since I don't do much wildlife photography. He's been doing or trying to do Micro 4/3 wildlife photography for nearly a decade. He's currently an OM-1 user. He's also a Sony A9 user.