OM System in 2024: Not the Year OM System Needed

We’re big believers not only in Micro Four Thirds as a platform but OM System as a company. But 2024 was, to put it mildly, a challenging year for OM System.

Just One Camera: The OM-1 Mark II

A big reason why this year was a bad one for OM System is evidenced by the shortness of this section. Since OM System took the reins from Olympus, picking up the torch in early 2021, the company has released just a few cameras. They are good cameras, but they are lacking in quantity.

In 2022, the OM System OM-1 arrived to significant acclaim. Later that same year, the OM-5 arrived, puzzlingly without USB-C. Finally, earlier this year, the OM System OM-1 Mark II landed with mostly minor updates. There was also the Tough TG-7 in 2023, but this is essentially a TG-6, which is basically a TG-5, a camera released in 2017.

So this year, OM System had just one new camera, the OM-1 Mark II. The OM-1 Mark II is an excellent camera, make no mistake about it, but it only introduced a few meaningful updates compared to the original OM-1. Some of the OM-1 II’s additions could have been a firmware update, while others relied on slightly upgraded hardware.

There is nothing inherently wrong with minor camera updates. Every company has them, and they help keep a lineup fresh while more significant improvements, which can take years to develop, are in the oven.

However, it’s a tougher pill to swallow in OM System’s case because since the company took over from Olympus, we have yet to see much by way of meaningful developments. Even the OM-1, one of the best Micro Four Thirds cameras on the market, is primarily the work of Olympus, even if the OM-1 II’s improvements are more attributable to OM System. A camera takes years to develop, so there’s no chance the OM-1 was all OM System’s doing. Besides, there’s a clear throughline between Olympus and OM System, as many employees transitioned.

The critical issue is that OM System released just one camera in 2024, and it didn’t make a big splash. The overall OM System camera lineup needs to be updated, and there is not much available for entry-level and enthusiast photographers. It started the year as a thin system, and 2024 did nothing to change that.

Two ‘New’ Lenses

The situation is only marginally better with lenses. OM System released two lenses in 2024, although how “new” they are is up for debate.

Both announced in January, the OM System 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II and 150-600mm f/5-6.3 IS lenses exist at opposite ends of OM System’s lens lineup.

The 9-18mm lens, equivalent to an 18-36mm wide-angle zoom lens, is a refreshed version of the super lightweight and compact original released in 2010. The new version maintains the original’s compact form and optical design. It gets a facelift, making it look like other modern OM System lenses, but it is arguably not a new lens. It is an old lens with a new coat of paint. If it ain’t broke, right?

The OM System 150-600mm f/5-6.3 IS is a much more interesting addition to the OM System lineup, but is it really new? Sort of.

On the one hand, yes, the lens is new. It didn’t exist for OM System or Micro Four Thirds at large before, and now it does. But on the other hand, it is a rehoused Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 lens, initially designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras.

It is a fantastic lens, but since it was designed for full-frame cameras, a lot of the image circle goes to waste, resulting in an unnecessarily large and heavy lens. One of the great benefits of Micro Four Thirds is that it’s possible to engineer very high-quality lenses that don’t weigh a ton. The OM System 150-600mm undercuts that benefit and is a needlessly big and heavy lens.

All that said, having 1200mm of reach on an OM System camera is incredible. It’s a dynamite lens for wildlife photography, even if it’s too heavy, and photographers pay a hefty premium over the Sigma 150-600mm lens for E and L-Mount.

Grading OM System in 2024

This one hurts. This was not the year OM System desperately needed to reinvigorate not just excitement for Micro Four Thirds and its distinct advantages, such as dynamite lenses that don’t break your back, but the company also failed to give people much cause for optimism. In a rapidly changing landscape where people are worried about the future of Micro Four Thirds, OM System did little to quell concerns.

The OM 150-600mm is a great lens, but it doesn’t capitalize on what makes Micro Four Thirds special, which makes sense… it’s not really a Micro Four Thirds lens.

That said, OM System is capable of great things, and Micro Four Thirds is an excellent camera system for many applications. There is still reason for optimism, and OM System could have a dynamite 2025 that makes the disappointment of 2024 fade into the rearview mirror.

But we aren’t grading potential here; we’re grading what happened, and it wasn’t much for OM System. What did happen ranged from fine (new lenses) to good (the OM-1 II), but quantity matters, especially for a company that has been awfully quiet for two straight years, releasing just a single camera and four lenses, two of which are “mark II” models, since October 2022. That isn’t enough.

Image credits: Featured image created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.