The Olympus OM-D - A New Love Affair in the Offing?
The new Olympus OM-D E-M1
Possibly the worst-kept secret right now in the photography world is Olympus's imminent update to their groundbreaking OM-D camera. A few months back I wrote (perhaps foolishly) that in my opinion there was very little, if anything, that was needed to improve their flagship camera.
But of course, that's not how the world works, and so here we are.
So tomorrow, in the depths of the English countryside, will be the last time that I can claim to be working with Olympus's "current" model. But of course it matters not a jot. Will the new camera be better? Probably. Would I like one? Of course I would. Am I happy with what I've got? Absolutely - because I have all the quality I want in a camera I love to use.
So when might I start to pine for the new OM-D? Pretty soon, as it happens. How can this be?
I've written enough about the existing OM-D in this blog, and so before I (or anyone else) can say anything about the new camera here are just a couple of things I've been pondering in the waiting-room.
Firstly, Olympus are the only camera manufacturer who know how to get their marketing just right. By this I mean that the marketing and advertising operation is completely symbiotic with the product itself. You only have to look at the recent E-P5 launch to see what I'm talking about. Canon, Nikon and Sony are in the dark ages by comparison.
And why is marketing so important? Well, because it tells you, more than anything else, about the ethos of the brand. Olympus is of course a gigantic company but everything about how it interacts with its customers says "small" - and I mean that as a compliment. I now know some in the Olympus marketing department in person and what distinguishes them all is their sheer friendliness, approachabiliy, enthusiasm and almost puppy-like desire to please their customers. And all of that comes, of course, from the confidence they have in their products - as well as their passion for them.
Second, there's that Apple-like mystique thing. But again, mystique has to be borne out of something real so this is how I myself discovered it for the second time in my life (followers will already know how it first struck me with Olympus's OM-1 way back.)
Last summer I was in Cameraworld (London's best photographic dealership) buying a new lens for my then Canon 5D Mk2. It was a wide-angle zoom which I needed for a fashion shoot the follwing week. (As it happens, it was also the cheapest lens in Canon's premium 'L' series, a mere £650, and also as it happens, it turned out to be hugely disappointing.)
While someone went off to the back to fetch the lens, a couple standing next to me at the counter were handling an OM-D, wondering whether to buy it or not. I found myself gazing at them absently, far more excited about by soon-to-appear Canon lens to be paying much attention.
Beware 14 September . . .
But then, the woman turned and held the camera out for me. "Here, what do you think?" And in the remaining minutes before my lens arrived that mystical Olympus transformation had taken hold.
I used the Canon lens once (Cameraworld got it back in a part-exchange), and the 5D Mk2 itself just twice more.
(Cliché alert!) The rest, as they say, is history.
By the way, I'm told Cameraworld have a special Olympus day at their London store on 14 September to celebrate the new arrival. If you end up going just to see what all the fuss is about, be warned: if you pick one up you'll probably end up buying it.
That's why I'm not going.
