Wednesday, February 8, 2012

First impressions: Olympus OM-D

Is it worth it? 
I attended a product launch today at a fancy restaurant in Damansara.
Well, my main intention was to hand back the Olympus EP-3 loan camera which I had used for a couple of weeks.
Other than that, it was to touch-base with my contact who represented Olympus Malaysia in Public Relations.
The guy was pushing for me to purchase the new Olympus OM-D.
I sat through an hour of presentation of the entire Olympus product for 2012 and the place was really crowded.
Since the geek from our tech page was in attendance, I was just scouring in the background. 


Olympus camera's OM-D complements its micro four-third system
Changing the game...
I kinda lost interest in all the jibba jabba given by the Olympus product manager on their new OM-D camera.
Big words like: "Changing the game" was used repeatedly throughout the session.
As far as I am concerned, there are many choices when it comes to an interchangeable lens system to cover the serious amateur market.
For the OM-D, Olympus is pushing its five-axis image stabilizer and electronic viewfinder.
And all the marketing and sales jargon was thrown-in by the Olympus dude to draw the crowd.
I kinda dig the weather-sealing, but with a pricetag of RM4K for the camera body with the 12-50mm F3.5 - 6.3 kit lens, I think this camera is way overpriced.
Kit lenses, even with a motorised zoom and weather-sealed protection, does not impress me.
At the end of the day, its a coke bottle lens.
And for my kind of work, even though the camera is rugged and compact, the sheer looks of it could be just too 'intrusive'


Conclusion
It would take a lot to sway my views on purchasing this camera.
No, I don't need a micro four-third, not when I still have my reliable G-system from Canon. 
The factor that would sink the OM-D is the price. Too expensive, too much for so little. So, better luck with the next OM camera..

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