Unfortunately not a surprise but still not great news for such a classic photography brand. Investment firm is the same company that bought Sony’s VAIO line and says it will continue to sell existing cameras and develop new ones; unsure if that means they get to use the Olympus branding however.
Honestly though, it might trigger a glut of gear in the second hand market so there’s a chance I might pick up a kit at the right price.
I’m half expecting this to happen to Pentax (Ricoh) in the future. With the rise of very good cameras in cell phones there is less money to be made in dedicated camera consumer photography.
I used to enjoy Olympus point and shoots. Then I switched to Canon before getting a Canon DSLR.
This is shitty news for me. I moved to an Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKII with a couple off lenses a a little while back. Its a great system. Telephoto lenses are spot much lighter than any full Frame system, and they don’t cost as much as a decent used car.
I don’t have high hopes that Japan Industrial Partners will continue making these cameras but am very happy to be wrong on this.
In a few years when I am ready to buy a new camera body I might have to look at a new system.