Even though Olympus sold its camera division last year leaving its future with a question mark, its cameras will once again be a thing as a new brand emerges.
The year 2020 wasn’t a great year, and most of us know why. We’re still all largely dealing with the reeling ramifications from that reason, but 2020 also had other problems.
If you were Olympus, it means dealing with some internal issues at the company and subsequently needing to sell the camera division, raising a question mark over what would happen next for its cameras, and indeed for owners of the cameras.
When it happened last year, Olympus noted support would keep going, but little was said for when new cameras would come out, leaving Olympus cameras to age in a time when new models were coming out more progressively. As it is, there’s no full-frame Olympus camera in a time when pretty much every other camera maker has dabbled.
We’re not sure if that will change, but Olympus definitely appears focused on the future of Micro Four Thirds, even if it won’t be called “Olympus” any more.
This week, Olympus’ camera division announced it was becoming “OM Digital Solutions”, with the “OM” name being broken up between the Olympus name and the designer of its Pen cameras that helped put it on the map, Yoshihisa Maitani.
The newly revived brand will produce cameras under the new brand of “OM System”, which isn’t in fact a system like it suggests, but is instead using the Micro Four Thirds system Olympus has been working with for quite some time, complete with another camera in development set to be announced soon. OM Digital hasn’t said precisely when, but given the lack of new cameras from the brand, we’d say we should hear about it by the end of the year.
And it won’t be alone. OM Digital says it’s also readying both imaging and audio products for release under the OM System brand, covering two areas Olympus was previously known for.
As for whether current Olympus products will be rebadged under OM System, OM Digital’s local arm told Pickr that there’s no change immediately, with the two brands co-existing “during the transition period”. Eventually as OM System takes over from Olympus, the products will apparently transition to the new brand.
Beyond this, OM Digital in Australia hasn’t said much, and is keeping rather quiet on what we can expect for the future of Olympus cameras in Australia. But if you’re wanting to know what to do with your Olympus camera and lenses and whether something new will be out to stick with them, the good news is you might know soon provided you can just be a little patient.
