Sans Mirror  

This page is a "living one" in that it will updated with new information as it becomes available. The latest products to be announced are at the top. Everything on this page was introduced prior to or at the CP+ trade show (February 27 to March 2), the largest photography show in Japan each year. (Should you understand Japanese, the online schedule of CP+ presentations is available here. OMDS and Sony have extensive online presentations planned. Nikon's presentations will be streamed via the Nikon CP+ site.)

• Feb 18 — Nikon Zf firmware update to include Nikon Imaging Cloud — not out yet, but pre-announced
• Feb 17 — Viltrox 50mm f/2, 35mm f/1.2, and 85mm f/1.4 — The first is Z/E mount, the latter two FE mount.
• Feb 14 — Voigtlander 35mm f/3.5 lens — A new, small, light manual focus lens for the Leica VM mount.
• Feb 14 — Tokina 11-18mm f/2.8 lens — A return of an autofocus wide-angle zoom lens, for the Fujifilm XF mount.
• Feb 12 — Nikon 28-135mm f/4 PZ lens — Nikon's first full frame video-targeted lens is a mid-range power zoom.
• Feb 6 — OMDS OM-3 — A retro-styled camera based upon the OM-1 Mark II.
• Feb 6 — OMDS 17mm f/1.8 lens — A weatherproof and new branding update of the original Olympus 17mm f/1.8 lens.
• Feb 6 — OMDS 25mm f/1.8 lens — A weatherproof and new branding update of the original Olympus 25mm f/1.8 lens.
• Feb 6 — OMDS 100-400mm f/5-6.3 lens — A weatherproof and new branding update of the original Olympus 100-400mm f/5-6.3 lens.
• Feb 6 — Nikon 35mm f/1.2 S lens — This is the third lens in Nikon's fast f/1.2 pro series of prime lenses.

OM Digital Solutions today announced the OM-3, a camera that takes the spot between the OM-1 and the OM-5. In essence, the OM-3 is mostly the OM-1 internals and capabilities inside a new gripless body, because, you know, retro. OMDS uses the word "timeless design" to suggest a style link to the past, and doesn't actually refer to function, so not exactly retro. There appears to be no significant new features or abilities, with the impression that it's OM-1 electronics in a new body. One difference that isn't getting mentioned is that the EVF has been downgraded to 2.36m dot (from 5.76), the eyepoint has increased, and that the OM-3 is not dual slot. I found a few other small differences from the OM-1 Mark II, as well, but mostly things that looked more like firmware updating than functional differences.

Again, the OM-3 is a camera slotted between between two existing ones, so that tends to restrict what is done, otherwise the new body might hurt sales of the existing ones. That said, if you can handle a flat front body, the OM-3 is pretty much an OM-1 at a lower price (US$2000 versus US$2400, though the OM-1 Mark II is currently on sale for...wait for it...US$2000). 

Along with the OM-3, OMDS also announced redesigns of the 17mm f/1.8, 25mm f/1.8, and 100-400mm f/5-6.3 IS. These redesigns don't change the optics, but do add weather sealing in modern OM-clad housings. 

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Commentary: Here's a puzzle: how do you create a "retro design" camera when your modern cameras are not all that removed from what you originally did? 

When I first heard the rumors that OM Digital Solutions was going to make a retro camera, my first thought was "don't they already make those?" The OM-5 in panda cladding looks an awful lot like an old film SLR. It's really just the back (screen and controls) that screams "digital," and I'm not sure how you avoid a screen and additional controls for a digital camera. (Yes, I know there are a couple of examples of that, but they don't strike me as fully usable, general purpose cameras.)

Interestingly, Olympus seems to be using the 1972 OM-1 film SLR as its target for aesthetic design. Too bad they missed the 50th anniversary ;~). Just saying you're doing "retro" is no longer really a big thing, and not much of a marketing message. OMDS made a big mistake in not doing using that 50th anniversary, where they could have built a fuller, more compelling story behind the marketing efforts. "It's the 53rd anniversary" doesn't have much of a ring to it, after all.

Yes, I'm a contrarian when it comes to so-called retro designs. I have been since the Nikon Df, and later Fujifilm and Nikon models. There's a reason why camera user interfaces modernized: you can control more, and do so more quickly. The so-called "dials interface" retro cameras, with dedicated ISO, shutter speed, and aperture dials, tend to force you to work more slowly, They also usually leave off all the step savers and shortcuts to the more complex interactions you'll need to make with the camera at some point. 

Sure, three dials make the camera more simple in one aspect (exposure). But really, is that the thing you need so much control over these days? Dials are bit like a comfort blanket for those that learned how to photograph 50 years ago. To the young, they're a fad complication that will pass soon.

But the OM-3 doesn't even have those dials. Instead we have the more modern Mode dial, plus the digital Pen's front style "creative" dial. Moreover, the original film-based OM-1, while it did have dials, had two of them at the lens mount (shutter speed on the camera side of the mount, aperture on the lens side), which was itself a bit of a modernization (for smaller lenses with the camera held normally it moved the control of those two parameters to the fingers of the left hand without moving the hand). 

In essence, OMDS is doing a strange thing with this new model, squeezing the current OM-1 innards into a changed and slightly simplified body and trying to wedge that between the OM-1 and OM-5. I'm not sure that there's room there for that. Moreover, the body that needs some love is the E-M10, which still hasn't had it's OMization. Still, perhaps the "newness" of the "timelessness" may trigger some additional buying by a few. I'm unconvinced as to why I'd want the OM-3 over the OM-1 Mark II, though.

Then there's this: in producing the OM-3 they've taken the hand grip off because, well, old film SLRs didn't have one and they're trying to make this look like a film SLR. Handgrips, even the modest one on the OM-5, are useful, though. So what we have OMDS doing here is removing or redesigning useful things just for looks.

Meanwhile, the three "new" lenses are really old optical designs in new housings, something they were committed to having to do in the process of moving from Olympus branding to OM branding.

It feels to me like Olympus got stuck in a museum with the OMDS transfer. The preservation efforts continue, but it doesn't seem like innovation is in the building any more. This marks the second year in a row we've gotten essentially a no update update.

In going through the individual camera pages of this site during my site cleanup, I kept track of how many models each of the makers had created in the short life (2009 to present) of mirrorless cameras. 

Think you know how many cameras that was and who has made the most models?

Okay, get out a piece of paper and write down your total and the top three mirrorless camera creators.

Now scroll down to see if you’re right…

Clearly, the first movers (Panasonic, Olympus, and Sony, in that order) had an advantage. Canon's and Nikon’s late moves—even considering their now discontinued earlier entries (M and 1 respectively)—put them more towards the back of the pack still active in terms of overall mirrorless camera models.

A slightly surprising statistic is that we’ve had a grand total of 266 different mirrorless models produced, but 68 of those are "current" models. Note that I’m aggressive in moving models from “current” to “older” status, even though some of the camera makers will continue to sell overbuilt inventory of an older model when they introduce a replacement. Therefore, there’s probably 80 to 90 “new” models you can buy right now. Both numbers seem high given that the overall sales volume is just over the 5m unit mark each year. Quite a few models must be selling in the low tens of thousands of units a year worldwide.

Note: I haven’t counted the dedicated video mirrorless models, only the ones that I’d consider hybrids or stills-oriented. Pentax includes some discontinued Ricoh models in the Older column.

In the last five years we’ve seen 22, 14, 16, 17, and 14 new models introduced, so the still available current models are basically equivalent to the new camera model introductions of the past four-and-a-half years. 

Oddly, Panasonic is probably fifth in global market share of mirrorless cameras, but at the moment has one of the highest current model counts (though they're not available in every region). I suspect that will change soon, as it doesn’t seem sustainable.

Because the news articles begin to get buried deep in the menu item, I’ve promoted them into separate yearly or semi-yearly folders for awhile. If you’re looking for the current year’s news, just click on News/Views in the menus at the top of the page (i.e. don’t use the pull down menu). 

Here are the stories that appeared on this site in 2023 and 2024 (for stories from 2011 to 2020, click here, for stories from 2021 to 2022 click here):