I read in an article somewhere a lovely truism to the effect that, "I didn't leave Olympus, but Olympus left me" especially with the focus of their successors, OM Systems, on the wildlife & outdoor markets.
The camera in question, my last ever from OMS as it likely turns out, is my neat little OM-5 being the closest thing in size though not, disappointingly, in layout, build quality and elegance as my much adored Olympus Pen-F. I acquired the OM-5 as a stop gap, as I was getting extremely weary of waiting for an upgrade to ever come from OM System to the said Pen-F of 2016 vintage. It's a great little camera as I have said elsewhere with some great tech contained within it but it doesn't have the quality feel and handling of a Pen-F.
After OM Systems' various announcements of its focus on the wildlife & outdoor markets, then where does this leave a possible Pen-F II? Where now all of the MFT cameras that exemplified the elegance, compactness and mobility, the essence of where MFT began? Now I aim this question firmly not just at OM System but also that other doyen of MFT camera manufacturers Panasonic and their Lumix series which have in their latest incarnation grown to behemoth size.
When will this madness stop? I wish that OM System would realise that the market is now screaming for the re-introduction of quality compact digital cameras like the Pen-F II (as their competitors clearly have in other formats) and there is a killing to be made.
Sadly I think we never shall; the Pen-F II mock up shown in image above is of course a fantasy that is highly unlikely ever to see the light of day given OM Systems' stated marketing objectives. That being the case they will have nothing to offer me that I would wish to buy from them ever again (the prospect of an OM-5 Mk II as an upgrade to what is intended for me to be a stop gap solution does not excite me). Without a Pen-F II to offer me, OM System have indeed left me; in the lurch as it were.
Post Script: You watch me eat my words when the OM-5 II actually rocks up with Subject Recognition modes added and loads of other useful upgrades. I bet I will be one of the first in line to grab one, as I am very taken with my current OM-5 and use it a lot. 😀