Announced firmware update for OM-1 is unsatisfactory!

OM Digital System has today announced, “…We are planning to release a new firmware update for the “OM-1” in the fall of this year …“ and further informed the community that OM Digital Solutions is planning to release two types of updates.[1]

Our firmware petition team was delighted to learn that OM Digital Solution acknowledges the fact that firmware-based improvements to the original OM-1 are indeed possible.

But why would such firmware updates only be released in autumn? In our opinion, this debases such updates considerably. For, by that time, the summer season for photographers will be over. Moreover, the OM-1 will approach 3 years of age, which means the launch of a potential successor camera with new hardware might be getting closer.

We also do not comprehend the second type of improvement announced today: “Autofocus: Improvement of some AF performance capabilities, such as S-AF and C-AF in all-target mode to improve capture of main subjects.1” Later in the text, it says, “It will provide some AF performance improvements only…“ Does this mean that the OM-1 will not benefit from improvements related to AF reliability in other modes (such as those typically preferred by wildlife photographers), beyond those related to "all-target mode"? Nor will the OM-1 benefit from improvements in subject recognition, especially for human subjects? We would find this very disappointing, since back in 2022, OM Digital Solutions representatives had already stated that such AF-related improvements could be made at firmware level.[2]

For these reasons, we maintain the pleas in our petition

1. for an OM-1 firmware update now, and ask you to
2. please ensure that a new firmware release goes beyond a “cosmetic” update and best addresses the improvements for which we and the petition’s supporters are hoping!

Furthermore, we would like to once again invite OM Digital Solutions to engage in direct dialogue with the users of its products – providing more than “one-way” communication in press releases, etc. With this in mind, we already informed the CEO of OM Digital Solutions of our intent to launch this petition as well as of the reasons for it, in a letter delivered to their headquarters on February 9.

1 Source: https://learnandsupport.getolympus.com/support/om-system-om-1#section-download-software, retrieved 21.02.2024

2 https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2022/10/07/OMDS-2022-interview-great-outlook-aiaf-vs-tracking-af-150-400-eye-candy, retrieved 21.02.2024