What's really sad about this situation is that there is or rather was a
market for OM's even in this age of autofocus. I bought my last new OM-4T at
Competitive Camera in Dallas, TX.
This was in 1993. At the time the store owner said the OM line was dead. He
talked about no product support from Olympus and no new products. He
commented that with a few modern zooms he could still sell OM's. Competitive
carried a small inventory of OM equipment up until '96 or '97. It would
appear that as OM sales dwindled in the late '80's, Oly gave up or
failed/refused to recognize a new but much smaller market for the OM system.
Having been in similar situations with other products (reduced market size,
investment versus profit potential, etc..) it takes a brave and ambitious
person and company to reinvent a products' image and position in the market.
Remember the last of the US OM ads in the early 90's? It almost always
discussed the professional merits of the OM system and usually featured some
Oly using pro. In the early '90's, fast zooms become common place for pro's.
Look at the impact the 35-80 has had. Virtually every magazine has written
about its' excellence. With little visible support and no "new" equipment,
it's easy to see how product usage has dwindled. There were supporters at
Oly. Most US members have spoken to either Pat M. or Vince M. Both guys have
always been extremely helpful. Without the tools most pro's use nowadays,
it's tough to get photographers unfamiliar with the OM system to buy into it.
As people on this list know, the merits of the OM system are subtle and not
readily apparent to many photographers. Gary Faulkenberry
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