Tomoko Yamamoto wrote:
>Shawn, John A. and other pessimists!
[snip]
>Why do you become so skeptical and pessimistic?
[snip]
>I have seen this year's dealer's catalog from Olympus America in my local
camera >store. I have seen pages and pages of OM system items with list and
dealer's >prices.
Perhaps my skepticism comes from the fact that it appears Oly distributors
worldwide are emphasing less and less OM and more and more digital. If you
check out Oly's UK site, you will see that it is devoted almost exclusively
to digital with nary a mention of OM (This was at least the case as of a
month ago. Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.). The Oly USA site is
definately slanted toward digital and P&S.
I have a copy of the Oly USA dealer catalog (minus the dealer prices). Oly
USA will send this to you if you request it. While there are pages of
goodies listed, most of them are digital or P&S with limited listings for
OM. The point being that there are less OM items in this dealer catalog than
the last, and less than the one before that, etc. There is definitely a
trend here. Couple that with a lack of Oly USA factory service and parts for
the OM series, and a pattern is developing. Even if Oly Japan is still
heavily supporting OM, how long will that continue if the Oly worldwide
distributon channel does not support Oly Japan in their efforts. Can Oly
Japan continue to manufacture and support a product that is primarily for
domstic Japanesse consumption with a few gray market items making it to
other countries.
There has not been a new OM body or accessory in almost ten years, and no
new lenses in almost five years. The OM stable of equipment is not growing,
or even remaining stable. It is shrinking. OM is often compared to Contax
and Leica as a niche camera.This might be a good comparison. However, Contax
and Lieca continue to refine their products and release new ones. Oly, on
the other hand, stagnates with the OM and deletes items from the catalog. As
has been pointed out by other list members though, the OM system will die
only when we the loyal users allow it to. As long as we continue to use OM,
the system will live on. I just feel that in the future it will become
harder and harder to be an OM user. I'm not advocating that we abandon the
OM sytem, just that we keep our eyes open to what is really happening. I
still feel that the forthcoming Photokina will be a barometer of future OM
development.
Regards,
John Austin
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