Olympus, purveyor of fine photography goods, has put it on the record that they are out of the crowded entry-level DSLR game. I don’t blame them; with a great Micro Four Thirds series like the Pen, and with Canon and Nikon duking it out at the sub-$1000 level, they’ve got no reason to spend precious R&D cash on an also-ran product.
An Olympus exec said this regarding future DSLR gear:
We do not have concrete plans to replace the E-620 and other recent SLRs. The entry level SLR class can be completely replaced by the Pen system in terms of performance.
Read: “The Pen system is replacing our cheaper DSLRs.”
I doubt this will affect their prosumer and up lines — stuff like the recently released E-5. Micro Four Thirds doesn’t really scale to that level yet. As reasonable as the decision is, though, I’m sorry to see an established brand leave the field.
[via Photography Bay and Photo Rumors]