The Brand “Olympus” has Fallen – Welcome, OM System

Industry News

by Jeff LochOctober 28^th, 2021

The Olympus saga continues – or ends here in a way – as Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), the company that bought Olympus last year, just announced that all upcoming products will be released under the new brand “OM System”. So after more than a century, the Olympus brand is officially dead.

In June 2020, Olympus announced that they decided to sell their imaging business, including the Olympus and ZUIKO brands. Since January 2021 the new owner of Olympus’ Imaging business has been the JIP – Japan Industrial Partners.

JIP has been relatively silent since the acquisition of Olympus, as they only released one Olympus M.ZUIKO zoom lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras in a year.

Olympus becomes OM System

In the video above, Shigemi Sugimoto-san, the President and CEO of Olympus, announced that they’re writing a new chapter in the brand’s history that started in 1919. Indeed, Olympus products, including cameras, lenses, binoculars, audio products, and so on, will now sport the OM System brand name.

I think it’s a very bold move, as changing a brand name usually takes a lot of time and effort, so customers “forget” the last name – especially one that is as established as Olympus. Also, JIP tries to be reassuring towards their clients. Here is their official statement:

OM SYSTEM expresses our determination to continue to deliver unparalleled experiences to our customers through our mission of always challenging convention and a philosophy of continuous product development, which we have adhered to since the establishment of OM Digital Solutions. Through our products and services, we hope to create exciting experiences that bring joy and inspiration. Going forward, we will strive to be the brand that customers will treasure for a long time to come, devoting ourselves to craftsmanship that demonstrates a commitment and fulfills people’s lives.

Compliant with the Micro Four Thirds System standard, the interchangeable lens camera that we are now developing combines our industry leading manufacturing capabilities and cutting-edge technologies to significantly improve performance and provide an unrivaled photographic experience. We are leveraging the Micro Four Thirds System standard to make more compact and lightweight systems, strengthening the photographic support functions that broaden the field of photography, and accelerating the improvement of image quality and photographic expression through the use of computational photographic technology. We want OM SYSTEM to be a partner for the adventures of each and every person. We hope that you will look to our Micro Four Thirds system to bring photography to the next level.

OM System

As you can tell, the company wants to keep releasing Micro Four Thirds lenses and cameras. The announcement video teases what looks like an upcoming camera but with close to zero information around it.

I genuinely hope that OM System will soon release an impressive/groundbreaking new camera if they want to stay in the race and affirm their market presence.

For more information, please visit OM System’s website here.

What do you think about this name change announcement? Do you believe OM System has what it takes to thrive in the competitive camera market? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!