Olympus is not cool.
Last night in Tokyo, I was given the opportunity to view a couple cameras I’ve had my eye on for a while. Ones I can’t get in the United States. The Ricoh G600, which is a type of heavy use contruction or utility working camera and a newly released water and shock resistant Olympus uTough 8000. I believe Olympus has equivalent models in the United States but this one is brand new as of this writing.
I was so disappointed while looking at the the two. They are, among the very few water resistant cameras. There have been just 3-4 cameras like this which is astounding to me. Just like the lack of water resistant phones. I wonder why just these companies have created a minimal number of products that seem to me to have a greater demand. It’s one thing to say “well our customers aren’t asking for water resistance” but we have to assume that durability is in of itself good design and not necessarily a way to lose money (because our product never needs replacing.) If anything, right now, you can win market share with durability and continue to sell cameras with advancing technology. Plus the cameras are not absolutely impregnable, they are just resistant.
I feel like the Ricoh camera is simply overpriced for the offering. I think it’s a decent camera, and the fatter controls for gloved hands are lovely. However for the price I would expect some sort of alternative imaging capability included such as infrared or some other specialized spectrum. I’m not imaging scientist so I don’t have the vocabulary for a suggestion at the moment. I just think given that the camera seems more basic in controls, the durability is worth more, but not THAT much more in materials. However, I can only suggest that it feels to me expensive. My money guage is for me alone I suppose.
The olympus is simply aggravating. Because it’s so close. Sure it’s not a perfect camera and neither are any of the others. But it has fun features that standard olympus cameras have, plus the water, cold and shock durability It’s hampered by something which to me is absolutely unforgiveable. The problem results from memory cards. Olympus uses XD format. This camera can also use Micro SD. Along with being more expensive, a non-standard and inferior out of the gate with limited storage space, it seems to me that it is unnecessarily small. You might find it strange to hear somebody say that a card is smaller than necessary because we think technology should advance smaller, lower power and lightness, however devices like cameras and phones still need to be at a human scale. Our hands aren’t evolving as fast as cameras, so we have to operate them and be able to locate their cards. The SD card could fit in this camera. The same SD card that last I saw could be found at 32 gigs. That’s a far cry from the 2 gig XD card I found. Micro SD was better at 8GB, but it was more costly and while in the camera, hampered the video clip length. These are needless problems and limitations. Why give us the problems when you don’t have to?
This is why I’m unhappy with Olympus and decided last night that I won’t buy their camera even at 1/3 the price I found it. And believe me, I was torn last night.
But I’m so happy that I made that decision. Because today I learned of Canon’s spring line. They include a camera called the Powershot D10 which is nearly the same specs in water depth and shock and uses SD. Plus is has some of the Auto mode bells and whistles that Canon does so well.
This is why it’s great to have choice. This is why we should vote with our money and not settle and keep our eyes open. Because sometimes a purchase is about not compromising, about going with what is more open. The sad thing here is that Olympus could have won this. I don’t care about the brand name. I care about the capability for the need here. Olympus might have won my confidence for many other products, but they failed. It’s a shame really because when a standard like SD is demonstrably more flexible with more storage, to go against that with something not as good for aesthetic reasons or stubbornness Olympus is just not cool. Cameras and photos are for sharing. Sharing requires compatibility. Enough said.
Wait there’s more. I may actually get a camera before I return to the U.S. after all. In April, Panasonic is releasing an updated Lumix. I used to have a Lumix and I loved it. Unfortunately it fell in a river and disappeared. This Lumix has a 28mm wide lens, and shoots video in AVCHD lite, which allows for longer sessions. The Lumix might be the winner here if it can handle macro shots like my older one did. It will go 10 feet in water, unlike the Canon’s 30 feet, but I think the shape of the camera and features may make it my choice over Canon.
March 4, 2009 at 8:52 pm | general | No comment
