The OM returns..

It's back!
After making an exit in the early 90s, the Olympus OM system is back.
Re-incarnated as a micro four-third system, the new OM boasts of weather-sealing while it maintains its compact size.

A noteworthy camera..
I remember the OM system when I was a kid.
A camera shop at the Koperasi Supermarket in Jalan Raja Bot, Kuala Lumpur used to sell a full-range of the OM system.
As a matter of fact, the OM-1 was a favourite camera among students in the 70s and 80s.
The most sought-after OM was the OM-4ti, which was complemented with a full-range of Zuiko lenses.
Sadly, when film was outdated, so did the entire OM system.

The Olympus OM-D

A new beginning..
There's a lot of excitement about this new camera and it will be launched in Malaysia on Feb 09 (tomorrow).
This new SLR-styled camera will be competing directly with the micro four-thirds from Panasonic.

The micro four-turd

How reliable are the micro four-third cameras?Late last year, I was contemplating on trying out the Panasonic Lumix GF-1 system, but was not convinced with its practicality.I think of the lot who produces the micro four-thirds, Panasonic has the worst representation in Malaysia when it comes to media relations.They suck in every aspect.Anyways, I went asking around about the GF-1 and learned that a basic system with two kit lenses covering wide angle and medium-telephoto has an asking price of RM4.5k.This is not including its external flash (small guide number) which is priced at RM800.I wouldn't give Panasonic a single sen for selling Indonesian-made accessories although their camera body and lenses are made in Japan.With the fridge and television maker out of the equation, the next best thing is Olympus.Now, despite what they have done about three decades ago with their OM system, Olympus had lost out to giants like Canon, Nikon and Pentax.The micro four-thirds are jointly developed by Panasonic and Olympus and till now, I don't see folks like Canon and Nikon following suit.I know for a fact that Sony had showed their prototype micro four-thirds, But then again, Sony is a failure in selling their A-series D-SLRs and having micro four-thirds would further sink them.Now, back to the Olympus, I was impressed with their latest offering - the EP-L1 camera.This is the more compact little brother of their EP-1 and EP-2 'pen' cameras that are heavily promoted.I don't know if they are effective, but seeing as it is -- the EP-L1 is more of a lifestyle camera.I am yet to see any superb images produced by the GF-1 or the EP-series cameras.And since it has a point-and-shoot kind of feel, the micro four-thirds are good as a back-up camera.One of the factor that is preventing me from sinking my claws is price.They are expensive and if you factor in accessories and after sales service, both Panasonic and Olympus suck big time.Anways, this is just my opinion on the micro four-thirds. They might improvise the system further by leap and bounds.