For readers interested in an OMDS 2023 update, this short article contains a link to an extensive interview done by Dave Etchells of Imaging Resource.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge. Photos have been added to serve as visual breaks.

Dave’s interview covers a range of topics including some information on the fundamental strategy that is being pursued by OMDS, as well as some thoughts on product strategy.

Dave’s interview and his interpretation seems to confirm some of my thoughts in an earlier article indicating that camera companies will stop making ‘entry level’ cameras.

This level of product makes no sense from a strategic marketing perspective as there would be insufficient demand from consumers, and little possibility of effectively competing against the latest generation of Smartphones.

Plus the weak margin potential of entry level cameras would make it difficult for camera manufacturers to recoup R&D costs and make a profit with those types of products.

It appears that OMDS will not be updating the E-M10 Mark IV, and that the company will be focusing on two camera bodies, the OM-1 and OM-5, to compete in the mid and high price market segments.

While not completely ruled out yet, it appears that the E-M1X will not be updated. It also appears that no additional PRO f/1.2 primes will be added in the future. My guess is that any additional PRO prime lenses in the future will utilize an f/1.4 aperture.

Since the E-M10 Mark IV will not be updated, I don’t think it would make any sense from a strategic marketing perspective for OMDS to update its lineup of f/1.8 prime lenses. I think it is possible that those lenses will be phased out over time to streamline production, marketing, inventory management, and service support. Replacing many of current f/1.8 primes with PRO f/1.4 versions would make sense to me.

OMDS seems committed to expanding computational photography technologies and does not seem to have much interest in joining in the megapixel wars. Competitive advantage through computational photography technology appears to be the road forward.

It is also apparent that OMDS is following a Niche Market Differentiation strategy as was theorized in an earlier article.

Overall, the interview by Dave Etchells provides a great OMDS 2023 update and is very positive about the progress the company has been making in the camera market. Definitely worth a read.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW  files or out-of-camera jpegs using my standard process.

For those readers who are interested in calculating equivalent field-of-view, multiply focal lengths for Olympus M4/3 cameras by a factor of 2. This is the 1,269 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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