Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

Reliability, Availability and Support. Cameras are tools.
We can look at any industry and make our own assessments as to what are the most important aspects.
We're on a computer forum as an example. If we were to have a conversation about which laptops brand is best, you'd get at least half a dozen responses. Even in regards to your one preference for "reliability, availability, and support." How about cars? Hell, how about literally power tools? You're going to find there are people that are die hard for their brand regardless of what it is.

But also directly to your point, you'd have to show a substantive difference between the support you'd get from one company versus another. And then show that that difference is enough to warrant and override all the reasons to be on another system. In other words, you have a strong preference one way. Above cost. Above performance. Above glass quality. Above glass selection. Above ergonomics. Above feature set (meaning you'd still recommend Canon cameras even if it's not capable of doing what the buyer needs it to do). "Reliability, availability, and support."

I agree: cameras are tools. And you should pick the one that's best for your work. Which may not be limited to your views on which aspects are most important.
 
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I remember selling that back in '97 when it was a $1600 camera (1280x1024) and I worked at CompUSA. One of the main alternatives was an $800 0.3MP (640x480) Sony Mavica that used a 3 1/2" floppy disk. Resolution was terrible, pictures were awful, but it didn't use Olympus's SD technology, which may have been proprietary. I think the Sony also had a 10x zoom.

I remember using a floppy camera. Can't remember the brand though. It was awful.
 
Part of it for me is that I have big hands. I have a D90, which is large compared to many (most? all?) mirror-less models, but I found the body to

D810 or d850. I believe the D850 is larger body than the d810. If a local shop carries both, I'd hold htem both and decide if the larger size of the d850 is worth the premium. The d850 does do better in low light than the d800 (and I assume 810). As I recall, there are some ergonomics I like better about the d800, but the touch screen on the back of the D850 can be very convenient. I'm not sure what an 850 sells for used (or new) these days.

But with big hands, you definitely want to look at the D8xx cameras over the 6xx models (I'm not sure about the 750/60.
 
That Nikon didn't put a better AF system in the Df is a sore spot for many to this day; a refresh of that camera with the system in the D850 would probably prove quite popular, at least as a DSLR can be.
I thought the DF used the D4 focusing system. Did it only use the D4's sensor?
 
I thought the DF used the D4 focusing system. Did it only use the D4's sensor?
D4 sensor, D600 AF system. Great image quality if it focused it properly. Honestly one of those cameras that made me somewhat interested in grabbing just to have a Nikon, but man, I don't do AF that doesn't put out.
 
D810 or d850. I believe the D850 is larger body than the d810. If a local shop carries both, I'd hold htem both and decide if the larger size of the d850 is worth the premium.
https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D850-vs-Nikon-D810
The D810 and D850 are functionally the same size. Also feel free to use that site to see all of the differences between the D810 and D850. But as you'll find with my argument below (which is essentially also what I was saying up above), I would say for the most part they're functionally the same.

The d850 does do better in low light than the d800 (and I assume 810). As I recall, there are some ergonomics I like better about the d800, but the touch screen on the back of the D850 can be very convenient. I'm not sure what an 850 sells for used (or new) these days.
Yes every version of the D8** improved. The D800/D800E came out first (2012). Then the D810 (2014). Then the D850 (2017). Basically that's all you're saying. You're bringing up ergonomics, but there wasn't significant changes there. In short the big question is: did they improve enough to warrant paying an extra $2000? As a business decision I'd buy a used D810 for $1000 versus even considering buying a D850 new for $3000 or used for $2400. There aren't enough substantive changes to warrant the upgrade. Definitely not $1400-$2000 worth of improvements. The D810 is already ridciulously overspeced. The 3D AF tracking is already incredibly good (from the D4s no less). It has plenty of MP already. And it's DR with a native ISO of 64 is class leading (as some reviews said: "medium format like"). The D850 again doesn't really add any "must haves" over a D810.

And I wouldn't consider a D800 or D800E at all. The auto-focus is atrocious and it had a lot of calibration issues from the factory. I could stop there honestly, because with bad AF it doesn't matter how good the rest of the camera is if you have less keepers then how good is it? But to that end, the high ISO is a stop worse and the DR is smaller. Nikon learned with their D800/D800E experiment that it also should just be one model without an AA filter. Basically D800 felt like a beta product even though it was supposed to be flagship. And after D810 dropped all the issues with the D800 became even more obvious.

But with big hands, you definitely want to look at the D8xx cameras over the 6xx models (I'm not sure about the 750/60.
As you move into more professional/performance oriented models, generally the bigger they become. The D6/D5/D4S/D4 being at the top with a full sized body with vertical grip. The D8** series being their high resolution professional series, and then as the numbers go down from there D7**, D6**, you're going down their product stack. Which also follows size. Their APSC sized sensor cameras as an example are the smallest (D7000 series, D5000 series, D3000 series) out of their dSLR's.
 
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https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D850-vs-Nikon-D810
The D810 and D850 are functionally the same size. Also feel free to use that site to see all of the differences between the D810 and D850. But as you'll find with my argument below (which is essentially also what I was saying up above), I would say for the most part they're functionally the same.

I'll take your word on it. I was thinking the d810 was identical to the d800 and that does have a smaller grip
As for ergonomics, the 850 (and perhaps the 810) lost a button or 2 and changed where other things were.
 
For stills photography, especially with any budget involved, it'd be hard to argue for a D850 over a D810. Much of the improvement relates to live view performance, especially live view autofocus, but there are other speed improvements as well.
 
I might buy a body replacement for my e-510 while I still can. I like my current collection of glass and really just need a new body. If I was to sell all my glass I'd probably move to Sony.
 
I might buy a body replacement for my e-510 while I still can. I like my current collection of glass and really just need a new body. If I was to sell all my glass I'd probably move to Sony.
You will need a 4/3 to M4/3 adapter. A good one if you want decent AF performance.
 
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Yeah I already knew this. :) It's partly why I haven't changed body, as well as the current one fit most of my needs. But it's been long enough now and I wouldn't mind a better quality sensor.
 
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Yeah I already knew this. :) It's partly why I haven't changed body, as well as the current one fit most of my needs. But it's been long enough now and I wouldn't mind a better quality sensor.
It's always a little hard to get rid of glass you like, reason why I still have a a few Pentax bodies (Film & Digital) around. And they keep making Pentax gear so no point ditching it.

With something a bit obsolete like 4/3 I probably would switch at this point, and find something else to really like :)

Besides all the usual suspects, the Pana/Leica L-mount looks pretty cool and I would like to try a small setup at some point.
 
Well that'll do it.

...Anyone interested in some Olympus/Panasonic lens? Lol.
(Probably more interest in the primes, e.g. 75 f1.8 or 42.5 f1.7)
 
Well that'll do it.

...Anyone interested in some Olympus/Panasonic lens? Lol.
(Probably more interest in the primes, e.g. 75 f1.8 or 42.5 f1.7)

I have 2 panasonic m4/3 bodies. I don't take photos regularly. But I have a small collection of few cheap/value lenses. I am eyeing the sigma 56mm f/1.4 for mft now. Costs equivalent of $400 in India.
 
Oh that was on my wishlist for quite some time. Considering the cost, size, weight, and focal length, it represented a great alternative to the 75mm f1.8 - especially if you wanted to get a more flexible lens to shoot with indoors.
But with how rarely I shoot - especially if I'm not traveling, it's hard to justify that purchase. Fortunately, my GAS has been effectively reduced to 0 - but the end of those 15%-20% off eBay coupons certainly helped as well.
 
I guess it's up to Fujifilm to pull off the xD card comeback I've been waiting for so I can dust off my type H 512MB monster. o_O
 
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