I think it would be reasonably safe to say that the 35mm SLR died in the
80s, not only the OM series. Here's my reasoning:
1. System-type 35mm SLRs were a niche market of a sort. While it was a quite
broad niche, it was nonetheless true that "your average consumer" wasn't
going to invest in much more than a body, 50mm lens and flash. And that was
assuming they bought an SLR at all, rather than something else.
2. People who *did* invest in system SLRs were unlikely to switch to another
brand. They simply had too much money tied up in what they bought for their
original SLR model of choice. It was a rare soul that was willing to take
the loss on thousands of dollars of Nikon gear to switch to OM. Or vice
versa. Camera manufacturers had an effective--and usually permanent--"lock"
on their customers.
1 & 2 above combined to produce a situation where manufacturers were forced
into competing to get that all-important initial purchase a new SLR buyer
was going to make, from an ever-dwindling pool of those who were "SLR
interested." If a given vendor did *not* get that first purchase, that buyer
was effectively *never* going to be a buyer of their product. By the
mid-80s, for most purposes, the SLR market was saturated. Prices were at a
point where all the Pros and serious hobbyists were already in.
There were darn few new buyers who were going to consider the purchase of a
"system SLR." There were more--perfectly viable as far as they were
concerned--options available at a much lower investment.
I don't think it's a stretch to say that the average person-on-the-street
doesn't give a damn about bokeh, interchangeable lenses, macro capability,
shutter speeds, f-stops, or the feel of a fine crafted instrument in one's
hands. Nor about any of the other things that those who made to choice to
own and use a system SLR care about. That's always been strictly the domain
of the working professional and the serious hobbyist.
One common complaint I heard back in the 80s regarding Olympus (which was
never a large section of any camera dealer's stock) was that Olympus
distribution practices made it difficult, if not downright unprofitable, for
smaller dealers to carry their equipment. I've no reason to believe that
statement is untrue. Dealers stated that they had much sweeter deals from
Nikon and Canon and Minolta; who made it *easy* for them to carry a broad
selection of their products. I don't know if this was simply an Olympus
America-caused problem or if it was a world-wide issue. Nonetheless, it
meant that, at least in the USA, Olympus never won the hearts and minds of
even serious hobbyists to the degree that the other manufacturers did. I
don't think that Olympus had as large a commitment to the working pros as
did Nikon; so Olympus wasn't winning over the working pros, either.
The results are as we see them. While the OM system is arguably head an
shoulders better than the competition in many areas, it simply never
achieved the large market segment that was necessary to sustain further
development. Olympus certainly saw this to be true, based on seeing their
subsequent actions regarding the OM line. I'm actually very surprised that
they have continued to manufacture new product for as long as they have.
That other "system SLR" manufacturers continue to introduce any new products
at all is, I think, only a result of the larger market share they gained
sustaining the viability of their efforts for a longer time.
---
Scott Gomez
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Hamm [mailto:bhamm@xxxxxxxx]
Subject: Re: [OM] The slow death of OM
A lot of talk lately has, understandably, been surrounding the death of OM.
I think the OM System actually died in the mid '80s.....we're just getting
around to the wake in 2002. I say the death of OM occured in the '80s
because it was at that time the I think Olympus decided not to advance the
system in any way, rather they chose to simply maintain it and concentrate
their efforts elsewhere. While this decision certainly led to the death of
OM, it almost certainly guaranteed the survival of Olympus.
Bruce Hamm
Ottawa, Canada
bhamm@xxxxxxxx
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