Olympus Korea seeks rebound in mirror-less camera market
Models promote the latest mirror-less camera from Olympus, the OM-D E-M5 Mark II, during a press conference at the JW Marriot Hotel in Dongdaemun, eastern Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Olympus Korea
By Yoon Sung-won
Olympus Korea showcased a new mirror-less camera here Friday that supports anti-vibration video recording.
The Japan-based optical-device manufacturer said it aims to regain its lost market share of Korea’s mirror-less camera segment with the new model, chasing after Sony and Samsung Electronics.
“The new product will give Olympus fresh growth momentum,” Olympus Korea’s imaging business division head Kim Gyu-hyung said during a press conference at the JW Marriot Hotel in Dongdaemun, eastern Seoul, Friday. “We expect the new model to make a splash here with its movie-taking and super high-resolution features.”
According to market researcher GfK, Olympus Korea had a 4.9 percent share of the nation’s mirror-less camera market between May 2013 and April 2014, down from 6.2 percent year-on-year.
The company used to lead the mirror-less segment when it entered the business in 2009, earlier than its competitors. But it was overtaken by aggressive marketing strategies by Sony and Samsung Electronics, which respectively hold a 53 percent and 35 percent market share here as of October.
The new model, dubbed the OM-D E-M5 Mark II, is an upgrade to its predecessor, the OM-D E-M5, which was released in 2012.
It is one of the world’s first cameras with an anti-vibration technology called “5-axis image stabilization.”
The technology quickens system response and focusing accuracy, producing clear images and videos without blur, even in dark places and close-up picture taking, the company said.
Olympus Korea also said the new model has a video recording technology called “OM-D Movie,” which helps users take movies without vibration as they can with expensive “steady cam” equipment.
Inside a retro-style casing, which has been designed after the company’s non-digital “OM” cameras, the new model includes anti-dust and splashproof functions, a high-resolution electric view finder, a swivel liquid crystal display monitor and the Four Thirds system image sensor that supports 40-million-pixels resolution.
The new camera is scheduled to be rolled out in March at an as yet undisclosed price, the company said.