The Olympus E-M10 Mark IV is the last camera to carry the Olympus name following the transition to OM System back in 2021 – and OM System Japan has just given it the axe. While Japanese retailers are discontinuing the fan favorite budget camera, the company told Digital Camera World that the camera has only been discontinued in Japan and that it will remain available in the US.
While the E-M10 Mark IV hasn’t gotten the axe outside of Japan, the budget mirrorless will turn six years old in 2026. With the new OM-5 Mark II carrying several similar specifications, doubts are swirling about the series’ future – but I think discontinuing the budget line would be a mistake.
When I interviewed OM System executives last year, the company seemed to expect to continue the E-M10 line as well. While the company couldn’t speak to future launches, the E-M10 Mark IV’s success suggests that the camera's lineage will continue.
“The E-M10 series is a very popular model, even though it's a bit older now, but for this price class, it's still one of the best selling cameras, and we think one of the best looking ones as well,” Sandro Rymann, OM System head of business for EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Asia) and Americas, said in an interview back in July. “However, of course, we consider this also an important part of our lineup, right? So, yes, we will continue to develop in this direction as well.”
While it’s been a few months since I spoke to Rymann on the future of the E-M10 series, that interview was just a few weeks after the launch of the OM-5 Mark II, the next step up price-wise in the brand’s lineup.
The OM-5 Mark II has a number of similar features, but the OM-5 Mark II is faster and weather-sealed, sitting at a higher price point.
One of the reasons that I think the E-M10 Mark IV remains popular so far from the original launch is that it makes an affordable alternative to a compact camera. The Micro Four Thirds camera is fairly compact for a mirrorless – or at least for a mirrorless that still has a viewfinder and some semblance of a grip – and the kit lens is also fairly compact.
But I think the biggest reason the E-M10 has done so well is the price. The camera with a lens retails for under $900 / £900, but the camera’s age often means sale prices push the kit well under that mark.
Compact cameras are popular – and that’s driving up the price. Smaller mirrorless cameras like the E-M10 may not fit in a pocket, but in several cases can be a more affordable buy than some advanced compact cameras.
While the price is one of the reasons the camera has sold so well, it’s also a reason not to update the camera – the camera’s age lends well to a lower price, which is going to keep sales coming.
The other question is how the company could add updates without eclipsing the OM-5 Mark II. I would expect any E-M10 Mark IV successor to be called the OM-10 instead (like the best-selling Olympus OM-10 35mm film SLR from the 1980s) in keeping with the new OM System nomenclature.
But if the affordable model gets weather sealing and a faster burst, then there will be few reasons to pay for the OM-5 Mark II. I suspect if an OM-10 is on the horizon, it would follow in the likes of the changes between the OM-5 and OM-5 Mark II, which is a smaller update with changes like a better grip, computational photography button, and USB-C charging.
Whatever the future holds, the popular E-M10 Mark IV is safely still on retail shelves, at least for now.
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