OM System Execs Confirm Company Weighed Full-Frame and APS-C Moves

OM Digital Solutions' two most senior camera executives have confirmed the company repeatedly considered building full-frame and APS-C cameras — and walked away every time. In a Japanese-language interview published on OM's YouTube channel, COO and CTO Setsuya Kataoka and OM System Business Unit head Eiji Shirota laid out why the company stayed with Micro Four Thirds for roughly 15 years, and where they see the format's ceiling.

"To be honest, shortly after we started Micro Four Thirds, I briefly considered expanding into full-frame or APS-C as a future option," Kataoka said. He dropped the idea after a senior colleague challenged him: "Before thinking about what happens with other formats, have you truly pushed Micro Four Thirds to its absolute limits? Jumping to other formats before you've even fully thought things through — that's just wrong."

Since that conversation, Kataoka said he has "spent the last 15 years continuously thinking about how we can surpass those limits using Micro Four Thirds."

What does this change for working photographers?

Nothing on the roadmap — and that's the point. Shirota said format-expansion proposals "occasionally come up and fade away repeatedly over time," and that he "never felt compelled to switch or build one" despite internal discussion. Photographers invested in MFT glass are betting on a mount whose maker has now publicly recommitmented to it.

Shirota acknowledged a performance gap to full-frame will persist but argued its importance is customer-dependent: "While the gap with full-frame may not vanish — they won't be identical — once image quality reaches a level that fully satisfies users, that physical gap stops mattering." He positioned the choice as scenario-driven: if portability is key, MFT is ideal; if absolute image quality in specific setups is the priority, full-frame remains an option.

Resolution and computational workarounds

The biggest measurable gap remains resolution between top MFT bodies and flagship full-frame cameras. Shirota pointed to computational features like Handheld High Res Shot as the offset: "Basic hardware performance has continually improved, which resolved many issues. We genuinely feel that complaints like 'It lacks X, so it's unusable' have decreased significantly."

Both executives framed OM's differentiators as weather sealing, low-temperature durability and packability rather than sensor size. Kataoka cited images shot at -40°C and a photo taken deep in the Amazon after a three-day trek carrying only the OM system. Shirota pointed to photographer Tetsuro Shimizu's Mongolia work, shot from horseback with camping supplies and camera gear sharing load space. "If the camera system weren't compact, taking it along wouldn't even be feasible," he said.

Business context

The interview lands as OM rides strong demand for the new OM System PEN camera, which has sold out in Japan — though one body doesn't reverse Micro Four Thirds' broader struggle to make meaningful leaps in recent years. CEO Shigemi Sugimoto told PetaPixel earlier this year that OM has "established a management structure that enables faster and more flexible decision making on mid- to long-term investments in new technologies, product development, and manufacturing."

Kataoka framed the target bluntly: "Our goal is to become the number one outdoor camera brand" under the tagline "Discover More Adventure." Whether computational photography can keep closing the resolution gap — and whether the PEN's momentum carries into higher-margin bodies — will define that ambition's credibility.