Possible Olympus FF dilemma....what will they do?

Tom Caldwell wrote:

Common sense says it is for Olympus to decide.

Sony announced some time ago that they were going to concentrate on FF sensors (presumably for their own products) but it has to reflect on the pricing of sensors for other brands that use Sony sensors. Chances are that it will be as cheap to fabricate FF sensors as smaller ones. Not that they will be cheaper - just more profitable to make and use in large quantities.

There is a certain amount of hand-wringing over the prospect of Olympus abandoning the 4/3 sensor for FF as much as they happily dumped the 4/3 mount in favour of the M4/3 mount some time ago.

My technical antennae would suggest that the M4/3 mount has a good head of steam in the boiler and will not be left in the lurch as long as significant sales are made. This must happen as long as there are a wide range of lenses purpose made for the mount. That Olympus is still allocating resources to making new Pro-level M4/3 mount lenses shows that there is nothing in their thinking along the track of the prospective end of the m4/3 mount system. This is their volume product that gives them market share and the money engine to run the whole show.

This leaves the rumours. In my mind it would be common sense for Olympus to consider a limited foray into the FF sensor territory. These cameras would be premium high priced bodies for those whose ambitions will never be sated until they have a FF sensor inside the box. It will stop the drift to Sony A7 series from M4/3 and a marketing shot across the bows of any move by Canon or Nikon into a pro level FF mirrorless body.

In other words a FF Olympus must be an inevitable happening but more to protect their existing market share from slippage.

They can do it by seeking a premium price market in small volumes - they are likely to price in the Canon 5DRS or Sony A7R MkII region - where they can sell relatively small numbers of camera bodies and lenses at prices that will make regular M4/3 fans eyes water. But there will be enough dry eyed Olympus fans willing to pay the entry price to FF sensor to make it worth doing for Olympus even if their lens range is small and also very expensive.

For those that might suppose that Olymous will start a FF body price war I suggest that they forget it - the only way that Olympus can make such a move is by way of a small volume - high priced product for those that will pay anything and carry any size just to have that magic FF sensor inside.

An E-M1 body might well handle a FF sensor - whether the existing M4/3 mount itself could also do this I leave in the hands of the optical experts.

I'm really no optical expert but I believe the mft mount is wide enough. It's 38 mm wide and there are some historical mounts for 35 mm film with similar width.

What Panasonic might think of this antic imight be something else. I might suggest that they might concentrate on the area that M4/3 does best and make very high quality cameras in the GM series all no larger than the present GX7. Why fit a 4/3 sensor in a camera body and then make the body as large as a FF sensor Sony A7 series?

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Tom Caldwell

Interesting post, all you say seems very reasonable to me.