CP+ 2021 started today and OM Digital Solutions is one of the camera companies that took the stage to showcase the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 150-400mm F4.5 TCI1.25x IS PRO and to reiterate that OM Digital Solutions will continue in the footsteps of the Olympus brand.
In the following video (with English subtitles), Setsuya Kataoka, Chief Technology Officer of OM Digital Solutions Corporation, share his “Thoughts on Carrying on the Legacy of Olympus.” In his speech, he paints a confident road ahead for OM Digital Solutions cameras and products.
Highlights:
2:22 Will continue development of OM-D as well as PEN and TOUGH series. Will also continue development of Voice Trek and LS series IC recorders, as well as professional dictation products for some regions.
3:56 The [relatively compact and lightweight] M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 150-400mm F4.5 TCI1.25x IS PRO (released January 22, 2021) symbolizes the Micro Four Thirds System, offering a shooting experience that can only be had with the Micro Four Thirds System.
5:31 The “updated” (last summer) lens roadmap.
5:54 A new manufacturing paradigm, and how advances in control, image processing and AI technologies will make new styles of shooting possible.
8:09 Olympus logo and brand name will continue to be used for the time being until they feel that users are confident that OM Digital Solutions can and will develop new products independently with the same care and commitment that Olympus did.
(Editor’s note: That makes good sense.)
10:50 Still looking at how advances in technology can bring new practical features to future OM cameras. For example, “depictive performance” for lenses that “eliminate restrictions and enable the capture of previously impossible photos.” Utilizing image processing and image recognition domains to “pursue impossible realms of photography.”
(Editor’s note: That all sounded very futuristic, until he mentioned Bird Detection AF as an example of what all that techno sounding phrases meant.)
12:13 Hand-held shooting will be a big feature of future OM cameras.
13:27 “What I have just talked about now are goals we are working toward with target products in mind.”
14:50 You’re now in charge of the new company. What do you want it to become?
(Editor’s note: He seems to know what he wants, what a good company should be, and how to treat its loyal customers. What has been left unsaid, of course, is what JIP wants from its purchase of Olymous OM. As long as the profits flow in as targeted, everything should be fine. But if not, watch out.)
17:18 There were restraints while part of Olympus, and they’re hoping there will be fewer restraints now while part of JIP.
19:35 “I believe we can provide value to the photography activities and culture of our customers in areas other than cameras and lenses…. a bag or a strap.”
(Editor’s note: Uh, oh.)
(Editor’s note: I may have missed it, or perhaps the google translation missed it, but nowhere in the interview did I hear what could have passed for even a hint of any new OM high-end camera.)
