Olympus Selling Imaging Division News

[Rob Trek]

From Olympus.

Today, Olympus signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan Industrial Partners, Inc. (JIP). According to the MOU, both companies are committed to entering into further discussions about the transfer of Olympus’ long-standing Imaging business, known for its digital cameras and IC recorders, to JIP by the end of 2020.

Please find our disclosure document here (PDF: 86.2KB)opens in new window. (Olympus Corporate Disclosure page opens in new window).

During the ongoing discussions, Imaging will continue business as usual. Sales, service and marketing departments will continue to work hard to support customers passionate about photography with great products and services.

We believe this is the right step to preserve the legacy of the brand, the value of the technologies and the outstanding products. Olympus sees this transfer as an opportunity to enable its Imaging business to continue providing value to longtime and new customers, fans and photography enthusiasts.

https://www.olympus-global.com/news/2020/nr01695.html

I'm a little sad but not surprised. It's never a good thing when a parent company sells off one of its divisions.
I'll talk about it more in the live stream tomorrow.

[dcrooks]

Rob,

I am glad you have the information about the MOU as I have been posting in folks YouTube videos with clickbait to check out Robin Wong's video.

David

[WalterRowe]

This has been in the rumor mill for some months if I recall correctly. Let’s hope it turns into a positive thing for Olympus and for Olympus equipment owners.

[Cdnmint]

As an Olympus shooter who still has a soft spot for Pentax after shooting with Pentax back in the film days and the first couple digital models, I wish Oly would have sold the division to Ricoh, then maybe Pentax and Oly could share tech and help each other out.

One thing I’m definitely not going to do is panic and sell my Oly equipment. I made that mistake back around 2008 or so when I sadly sold off my Pentax gear because their demise was supposedly imminent. Yeah, they got sold to Hoya then Ricoh, but they are still here, and have made many nice bodies and lenses.

[John_Matthews]

As an Olympus shooter who still has a soft spot for Pentax after shooting with Pentax back in the film days and the first couple digital models, I wish Oly would have sold the division to Ricoh, then maybe Pentax and Oly could share tech and help each other out.

One thing I’m definitely not going to do is panic and sell my Oly equipment. I made that mistake back around 2008 or so when I sadly sold off my Pentax gear because their demise was supposedly imminent. Yeah, they got sold to Hoya then Ricoh, but they are still here, and have made many nice bodies and lenses.

I had a similar experience with Pentax, but I started out with Olympus (e-420). I moved onto a Sony RX100 (mark i), after I got a Pentax k5, then a GX85, a Sony A7rii, and now I'm back to Olympus and MTF to stay with a little PL9 and just picked up a em5 iii on a great Ebay refurbished deal. After my A7rii experience, it just felt like "too much" camera for me in every way (big, expensive). I would rather get fantastic similar results with my MFT gear. Super-happy.

I really appreciated Rob's remarks about Olympus and their future. Looking on the internet, the sensationalist headlines lead one to believe they've already boarded up the factory and JIP is actively selling patents and trademarks to the highest Chinese bidder (because no one else could possibly be interested). American Businesses operate like that; not the Japanese ones who have tremendous pride in what they do and make (after all, that's why they're so good at manufacturing). It's crazy. Still, I'm keeping my eyes pealed on Ebay for any panicked and burdened seller to unload their MFT gear at bargain prices.