There is a weird mystery going on for a while now, every now and then I'd receive emails or comments on my YouTube videos with random people welcoming me back to Olympus and saying how they got heartbroken when I stopped using Olympus and glad that I have returned. It got me completely dumbfounded, because the truth is I never stopped using Olympus! I seriously wonder where this confusion came from, because I take a lot of pride in not being the photographer/content creator/influencer that changes his cameras as frequently as they change his underwear!
 |
| Image taken by Van Ligutom, used with permission. |
I have been using Olympus as my main camera from day 1. My first DSLR was Olympus E-520 in 2008 (well, technically E-410 which got stolen 3 months after purchase, but that's a story for another day). I then upgraded to Olympus E-5 in 2011, and subsequently migrated to mirrorless in 2014, with Olympus OM-D E-M1 original as my main camera replacing the E-5. In 2017, I upgraded to Olympus E-M1 Mark II, which I have used ever since as my main workhorse. I still use the E-M1 Mark II today for my professional shoots. I have remained consistent over the years, I never pursued other systems. Not only have I used Olympus cameras for my jobs, I also produced tonnes of content over the years on my blog here, as well as on my YouTube channel. I'd like to think that people would know me as a faithful Micro Four Thirds fan. I don't mind to be called an Olympus, or Micro Four Thirds fanboy, that is just a fact.
Some events that happened involving Olympus directly. I worked for Olympus Malaysia as a product specialist from 2013-2017. I left to pursue a full time career as a photographer. In 2018 I was invited by Olympus Malaysia to join the Olympus Visionary program. It was just a fancy name for being a brand ambassador, we did not have that before 2018, I was the first in Malaysia to join the program so I said yes, since their interests aligned with mine and I still do genuinely believe in their camera system. After Olympus Malaysia got shut down in 2020, and the global Olympus Imaging got carved out and bought over by JIP, the local distributor of Olympus/OM system products in Malaysia, OMD World Imaging engaged me as their ambassador for a year, from 2021-2022. I left the ambassador program in 2022, because of zero communication and support from OM Digital Solutions global office. I still remain in good relationship from the local distributor here in Malaysia.
Throughout all the events that I have listed, I have never switched systems, I have always used my Olympus gear and nothing changed. I quit my work in Olympus Malaysia, I still continued using Olympus system for my professional shoots. I stopped being OM System Ambassador, I did not "jump ship". I still continued on with my existing gear and I'd like to think that counts for something. I never made any videos or blog articles saying "I have given up or stopped using Olympus", or "used another system to replace Olympus".
The only explanation that I can think of is this - every time a brand ambassador quits, automatically that photographer would give up on the existing brand immediately, and switches over to another brand or system. That is the stupidest thing anyone could ever do. If I believed in the brand when I was an ambassador, I still believe in it even after I have left. Whatever I have said, whatever content I have made, all my reviews, my claims about the good qualities of the system I helped to promote, still are true even when I have left. Just because I am not an official ambassador it does not invalidate all my hard work I have done in the past. I am consistent, I don't change my mind that often. Apparently that is not a common trait among a lot of other photographers.
Photographers, like artists, are emotional creatures. Maybe overly emotional. When something bad happens between them and the brand they work with, that bad blood translates to their real life decisions. It is not difficult to predict that once the contract is over, they would dump the system which they have worked so hard in the past year or more to promote. Suddenly, what was the best thing ever became yesterday's news, and another new camera from another camp replaced the slot of the best of the best. All the good things that were mentioned were forgotten and became untrue overnight. Emotions drive their goals and ambitions, and there is zero regard for credibility and integrity.
I chose another path. I chose not to suddenly change my opinion because I no longer was an ambassador. If I said this lens was amazing when I was an ambassador, I still say it is an amazing lens even when I have left the program. My opinion cannot be easily bought or swayed. Especially now in the age of internet where everything is online and people can easily search back your old articles or what you said back in the day, and if you are not consistent, people can easily call you out.
Yes, I admit I have flirted with a lot of different cameras and brands, but isn't that just a general curiosity of being a photographer? If you truly are a photographer, you should love all cameras regardless of format and brand. There are no bad cameras, only bad photographers. If I have all the money in the world I would spend every day trying out different cameras and that would be a dream! Just because I tested other cameras that did not mean I abandoned my main Olympus system! Also, being a camera reviewer, someone in my position with a sizeable audience, I need to constantly educate myself and keep up with what is available out there, new releases from any brand. How can I be objective and create meaningful content if I just use one system and never had any experience trying anything else? How can you trust what I have to say in my review if I had nothing to compare to, or am totally unaware of competing products? I'd say it is not a crime to explore different formats and systems, your knowledge base expands and you learn more, that is a necessity being a photographer in the creator space.
Let's come back to the opening question - why do people think I have given up on Olympus and then come back? Honestly I don't know. Maybe it is a mystery best left unsolved. It is just strange being questioned this way, because I cannot think of another person, at least not in the YouTube/Blogging community that have stayed on with one system for as long as I have. That is something worth celebrating, don't you think?
Please support me & keep this site going:
