OM System OM-3: Is it for you?

 Those of us who have been using micro Four-Thirds for a while have been waiting for this HUGE announcement of a retro camera.  The company showed the original, 135 Format OM-3.

 I've been happy with the way the E-M1 worked but not necessarily its shape.  The grip was a bit cramped for my fingers and the rear display out in the open meant that I could change settings with my nose.  They fixed the rear display, and they slightly changed the grip with the E-M1 Mk II.

Time passed and the photographic division of Olympus was sold to a holding company.  They paid to finish updates that had already been through the engineering phase, and they created the OM-1.  Then, the time ran out for using the "Olympus" name and they modified it to say "OM System" and slightly modified it otherwise.

The other day the OM-3 arrived, as slippery as my old OM-1N from the 1970s.  Nikon has two bodies like that, the Z f (135 Format) and the Z fc (APS-C) .  I don't understand why, except for nostalgia, anyone would want a slippery camera body.  They're too expensive to drop. 

At US$2000, it's way too expensive to drop.  I immediately thought about buying an E-M1 Mk III to get much of the functionality without the risk.  The OM-3 is priced between the OM-5 and the OM-1 Mk II.  The functionality is between the two.

The one difference that the OM-3 has is the Creative Dial.  This is something they added to the Pen-F, a model which won hearts but didn't sell well enough for a follow-on camera body.

I've seen a few of the first impressions videos on YouTube.  Most of them are sales pitches, which isn't a good idea.  PetaPixel's Chris Nicholls and Jordan Drake tell it how it is but OM Digital probably doesn't appreciate that.

It's a good camera body.  The Creative Dial gives it interesting options that no other camera has.  I like my Panasonic S5 Mk II for the ability to use LUTs to change the look of photos or video.  It's color grading in the camera.  The OM-3 Creative Dial goes further.  You can play with the color as you're looking at the scene to create your own look right there.  That's impressive, but who will spend the time to use it?

There are a lot of Pen F users who feel abandoned by the lack of a Pen F Mk II.  Would they spend US$2000 for the OM-3 to get an update? 

Update 2025.02.20: Watching Micro Four Nerds video about the re-made 17mm f/1.8 and 25mm f/1.8 lenses that arrived with the OM-3, she states that they're rated IPX1, which is just slightly better than nothing.  I don't have the 17mm f/1.8 but I won't be replacing the 25mm f/1.8 until it's inoperable.

It's all interesting that OM Digital has been around five years now and they've survived.  The OM-1 was an improvement over the E-M1 Mk III with a new sensor but will they just create equipment by using what parts are already in the warehouse?  To many of us who became familiar with Olympus in the 1970s, it just seems sad that the innovator has gone away.  Other companies have examined and re-created Olympus' innovations over the years and put their own name on them, but without the company, would any camera body today be so good?