I try to keep up, via CompuServe and other sources, with what's what among
Nikonistas, Canonites and Minoltans. Altho' the Maxxum 9 is well respected
as a solid pro camera equal in every respect to the F5 and EOS-1N, there
remains some skepticism about Minolta's AF lenses, an unfortunate legacy of
some earlier poor designs. So the feeling is that Minolta is working hard
to catch up and regain the status it held during the '70s as a premium
optics maker. It's a major gamble and, frankly, they may have waited too
long.
But, as you've noted, it's an impressive committment. Canon was able to
knock Nikon off their perch as the de facto pro standard with the EOS line -
abandoning the entire FD line in the process - which must have caused some
shudders among at least a few in Canon Corp.
Regarding Olympus, well .... they continue to rest on their laurels in the
35mm film world. Just MHO as one who only recently chose Olympus as a
second system. No regrets. But theirs is a puzzling position.
Lex
===
From: Dr Peter Gilbert <peterg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] Olympus Commitment to OM line
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 11:58:51 +1000
Just wanted to make a comment about Olympus and their support or
otherwise for the OM System. We have talked before about how the
"pro" market is dominated by Canon and Nikon, and how that leaves the
other major consumer brands like Olympus, Pentax, Minolta etc
struggling to compete in the 35mm SLR market.
Browsing through a November 1999 photo-retailer catalog, I noticed
that Minolta have a range of 34 lenses for the Minolta 9....How can
Minolta afford to develop a range of lenses like this for
their 35mm SLR cameras? Remember that the OM line-up includes a lot
of lenses that were designed and introduced more than 20 years ago
(this doesn't mean they aren't excellent lenses). The only real Zuiko
lenses that Oly have released since the late 1980's (I don't count
the ones released with the OM 2000) are the 35-80 F2.8, and the
180/2, 250/2, 350/2.8 (admittedly they are all pretty neat lenses!).
Since these Minolta lenses have all been presumably been introduced
in the last 5-8 years, this is a pretty impressive line up and shows
a fair bit of corporate commitment. Maybe Minolta are trying to crack
the "pro" market? I don't know.
If Minolta can bring out an 80-200/2.8, a 400/4.5, a 600/4 and a
17-35 why can't Olympus? Surely there must be more OM-mount bodies
still in action around the world than there are Minolta AF-mount
lenses?
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|