WHATS NEXT FOR M43, after Olympus, what future is left?

[ricohflex]

Robin Wong released a video 2 weeks ago. In it, he said some things. Fast forward and view these segments:

42.24 to 43.25 { general idea of what he said } MFT has proved to be a failure so far. So do you wait another 20 years to consider other options?

57.24 to 58.14 { general idea of what he said } Olympus should have gone Full Frame in 2011/2012 if they wanted to.

 

[one eye jack]

42.24 to 43.25 { general idea of what he said } MFT has proved to be a failure so far. So do you wait another 20 years to consider other options?

What Robin said was since 2008 till now Olympus had 20 years to improve or innovate but it did not. Doing it now is too late. So it is a failure .

eey a57.24 to 58.14 { general idea of what he said } Olympus should have gone Full Frame in 2011/2012 if they wanted to.

Robin said that if Olympus had entered the full- frame market in 2011 , they would have beaten Sony, Canon and Nikon but to do so now against the 3 big boys when they are ahead is a losing proposition.

Asides, President Trump's administration has scraped the cheap backdoor way to import into USA via what this report said. So American consumers wanting to buy cheap lenses, camera flashes and accessories can no longer do so. Basically USA wants the postal services of these countries to collect tarrifs on their behalf but their system are not equipped to do so.

The end of the “de minimis” exemption for cheap parcel shipments, nearly a century old, is prompting countries everywhere to suspend shipments to the U.S.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/de-minimis-exemption-ending-canceled-orders-shipping-us-what-to-know-rcna227794

Thread views have crossed 159K .

 

[ricohflex]

{ @ricohflex , Where did you dig that trash from? }

This is similar to the Kodak top management reaction - when Steve Sasson presented his invention/idea within the company in 1975.

We all know what happened to Kodak. It is true that Kodak deserved to die a corporate death.

When a company or people are unable to envision new ways of doing things and are fixated to one particular concept/idea/rechnology.

 

[one eye jack]

Making sense of the forces that is shaping world economic power. A study of historical legacy of economic systems.

 

[one eye jack]

Americans are losing buying power.

Thread views have crossed 160K.

Political wayang?

 

[one eye jack]

US supreme court ruled tarrifs illegal but Trump's administration will appeal.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-tariffs-trump-us-may-have-unwind-deals-5331266

 

[Blu-By-U]

Photography is getting expensive.

https://explore.omsystem.com/c/en/m-zuiko-ed-50-200mm-f2-8-is-pro?olycmp=soco-5020_opr_sep25-owned-fb-link-5020_mpdp

Not for the normal users.

 

[Pitachu]

I love everything about the latest OM 50-200 F2.8 lenses ......
except the price. Sigh!

Yes, it offers the equivalent of 100-400 F2.8, a unique focal range where I don't see any Full Frame cameras offering.
But honestly, 1 F-Stop is not that useful nowadays, as even smaller M43 and APS-C can shoot at very high ISO within acceptable noise level.

If this is lenses is more reasonably price closer to the 40-150 F2.8, I am sure it will attract a lot more photographers.

 

[one eye jack]

Camera sales is not about to improve when EU and American consumer is losing buying power with these financial developments.

Also think about Sg reserves in US bonds.

 

[Pitachu]

Retail sales do not do badly in all counties. China is making it easier for tourist to purchase and claim the GST/VAT.
I was in China purchasing my drone and while waiting for the processing, the salesperson chit chat with me and told me his colleague just sold 8 pcs of Mavic 4 Pro to the American! Earlier, I was purchasing my OM-3 and the saleslady said the same thing too. She noticed more and more foreigners and going to China to purchase Photo and Video equipment.

 

[Pitachu]

Back to the topic of M43, it seems that OM System have no more upcoming releases on lenses.
Good news is that M43 already has a very comprehensive variety of lenses.
Hopefully, it is channeling its resources to develop the much asked for Pen-F and the OM-10 Budget Camera.

OM’s updated lens roadmap reveals no upcoming releases – 43 Rumors

www.43rumors.com

 

[one eye jack]

Regardless American and EU consumers are financially strapped for cash. Retail business are not importing Chinese drones ahead of impending ban. Read link.​

Your story about American who bought 8 DJI drones...​

3. No U.S. Mavic 4 Pro Release​

DJI’s highly anticipated Mavic 4 Pro launched globally in May 2025, but was never released in the U.S. due to ongoing customs issues and regulatory uncertainty.

The Complete DJI Ban Guide [Updated for 2025]

Is DJI banned in the U.S.? No, but it will be if DJI isn't formally audited by the end of 2025—here's what you need to know.

uavcoach.com

 

[Pitachu]

Another amazing lenses from OM Systems.
The new-om-50-200-f2.8 lenses is equivalent to Full frame 100-400 F2.8!
Currently I don't see even any constant aperture 100-400 zoom lenses for Full frame, even at F4, don't say F2.8

Everything is great about this new lenses from OM Systems.
Ideal for sports, and dim lighted performances etc.

As usual, the only issue is the price

Finally also Amazon is taking preorders on the new OM 50-200 f/2.8 lens! – 43 Rumors

www.43rumors.com

 

[4everNoob]

Another amazing lenses from OM Systems.
The new-om-50-200-f2.8 lenses is equivalent to Full frame 100-400 F2.8!
Currently I don't see even any constant aperture 100-400 zoom lenses for Full frame, even at F4, don't say F2.8

Everything is great about this new lenses from OM Systems.
Ideal for sports, and dim lighted performances etc.

As usual, the only issue is the price

Finally also Amazon is taking preorders on the new OM 50-200 f/2.8 lens! – 43 Rumors

www.43rumors.com

Nowadays do people still believe you multiply focal length by crop factor but not aperture? Then you should look at the iPhone 17 pro max. That one has a 200mm f2.8 lens. No need to bother with big cameras.

 

[Pitachu]

Nowadays do people still believe you multiply focal length by crop factor but not aperture? Then you should look at the iPhone 17 pro max. That one has a 200mm f2.8 lens. No need to bother with big cameras.

Of course Law of Physics still apply.
APS-C has a crop factor of 1.5. Some Sony, Nikon etc users still use them on their full frame cameras and some even program a custom button to get the 1.5x focal multiplier from their FF lenses, but of course with a slight compromise in quality. M43 push it a bit further to 2x and again with a slighter further compromise in image quality. It is just like using a 1.4x TC or 2x Teleconveter BUT without having to sacrifice 1 to 2 F-stops of light in terms of aperture.

Not sure why you ask whether people still believe crop factor I still see tons of birding photographers using a button to crop their 600mm F4 lenses to 1.5x to reach 900mm to longer reach and when that is not long enough they even add another 1.4x TC.

There is no official numbers of what is crop factor for mobile phones but I would think it could be maybe 5 to 8x. I have not seen 200mm photos from iphone 17 yet (I dont have one yet) but I have seen very acceptable image quality photos on social media from my friends with Samsung and Vivo X200Pro with focal lengths of 200mm.

A lot really depends on the level of convenience you prefer and the level of image quality you desire.

 

[4everNoob]

Of course Law of Physics still apply.
APS-C has a crop factor of 1.5. Some Sony, Nikon etc users still use them on their full frame cameras and some even program a custom button to get the 1.5x focal multiplier from their FF lenses, but of course with a slight compromise in quality. M43 push it a bit further to 2x and again with a slighter further compromise in image quality. It is just like using a 1.4x TC or 2x Teleconveter BUT without having to sacrifice 1 to 2 F-stops of light in terms of aperture.

Not sure why you ask whether people still believe crop factor I still see tons of birding photographers using a button to crop their 600mm F4 lenses to 1.5x to reach 900mm to longer reach and when that is not long enough they even add another 1.4x TC.

There is no official numbers of what is crop factor for mobile phones but I would think it could be maybe 5 to 8x. I have not seen 200mm photos from iphone 17 yet (I dont have one yet) but I have seen very acceptable image quality photos on social media from my friends with Samsung and Vivo X200Pro with focal lengths of 200mm.

A lot really depends on the level of convenience you prefer and the level of image quality you desire.

Sorry that I might have come across as a bit rude. I was very active on Clubsnap 10+ years ago but I’ve forgotten my password so had to create a new account. Back then I remember people were already debating whether you should just x2 on focal length and leave the aperture untouched etc. The argument essentially boils down to this. The aperture is the focal length / physical diameter of the aperture. So you see for a 200mm lens to have a 2.8 aperture the glass element will need to have a minimum diameter of 200/2.8 =71.5mm. This is the same regardless of which system you are one. Now if I have a 400mm f2.8 lens for a full frame camera I will need a lens with 143mm diameter glass which makes the lens gigantic in size. Now say you have an OM 200mm f2.8 lens and the diameter is 71.5mm, if you x2 on the focal length but your actual aperture diameter is still only 71.5mm then do you see the issue of saying it is still f2.8?

Then there were those that argue it doesn’t matter because at f2.8 I can shoot higher shutter speed vs my full frame bro who only have a f4 lens. Now the full frame sensor has an area of 864mm2 while m43 is 225mm2. So setting aside sensor tech or in camera processing difference the FF collects 4x as much light as m43. 4x is equals 2 stops. So a FF can push iso by 2 stops higher and give the same result as m43. Ie m43 shooting at iso 1600 gives same result as FF at iso 6400.

So consensus nowadays on Reddit is that for m43 or aps-c you have to multiply both focal length and aperture by the crop factor to get the equivalent number to FF. So the benefit of m43 nowadays is really weight and sensor density, having high MP in a small crop sensor. However the weight argument is also not a fair comparison. For example a Canon r8 with a 28-70 f2.8 lens is less than 1kg. There are lighter canon kit lenses but those are crap. There is no m43 14-35 f1.4 lens to compare with the Canon example. The place where m43 still has an advantage is for birding or shooting the moon where you can latch on a sigma 150-600 and get a 1200mm reach with a 24mp image.

 

[Pitachu]

Nice explanation as this part was not covered during my school Physics lessions on lenses LOL.
But there are some points to note:
1) Equivalence theory is only a theory. It is true that FF image quality is better than APSC and M43. But in real world applications, it is not true that that Aperture will drop by 2 stops or FF image quality is 1.5x or 2x better (using the same resolution eg. a 24mp FF camera). I think the Reddit users are referring to Depth of Field and not image quality or brightness.
2) Besides size and weight, price is a very important factor 2. A Full Frame 600mm F4 lenses cost $18,000. A equivalent M43 lenses that can reach 600mm cost about $4500 (1/4 the price)