what about olympus, will they stick around?

@pureaxis

Looking at their press event - they are in deep knockdown.

No new products until somewhere in 2019.

So it won't be new m43 product at all for around half a year.

Ok.

Dear SIGMA customers,

Thank you very much for your trust in and support of our products.

At Photokina 2018 (Cologne, Germany), we have officially announced the beginning of our collaboration with Leica Camera AG and Panasonic Corporation to adopt the L-mount for future SIGMA products.

Following this announcement, we would like provide an outline regarding our plans for future interchangeable-lens cameras and lenses to all customers familiar with SIGMA's SA-mount system.

SIGMA starts development of a full-frame mirrorless camera as part of its switch to the L-mount system.

For the development of a new and long-requested full-frame mirrorless camera, the adoption of an optimal, new lens mount system became a necessary step in order to achieve new standards in usability and performance.

While we did consider developing a new mount system in the beginning, the results of technical surveys and investigations led us to the conclusion that Leica Camera AG's L-mount offers an ideal solution in terms of our short flange back distance and optical design requirements. With our partnership with Leica Camera AG and Panasonic Corporation, we hope to offer a camera system with much greater scalability than possible as a independent manufacturer.

All future interchangeable-lens camera systems developed by SIGMA will feature the L-mount. SIGMA does not plan to develop new cameras equipped with an SA-mount.

SIGMA will continue producing SA-mount lenses.

We plan to continue developing, manufacturing and selling interchangeable lenses -- including lenses already available on the market and future products -- with the SA-mount, as part of our standard product lineup.

SIGMA is developing a special lens adapter to use SA-mount lenses on L-mount systems.

Parallel to the development of L-mount equipped cameras, we are developing a lens adapter which allows our customers to use their SA-mount lenses on L-mount cameras. We understand the importance of a product environment in which all of our customers are able to use their valuable lens assets without any cutbacks, and we plan to provide the mount adapter together with the release of our new L-mount camera.

We have always understood camera development as an enterprise which requires our passion and embodies the ideals and principles of our company.

In this respect, our employees' hard work is motivated by the strong conviction that this project cannot be realized without the understanding and trust of all our customers who have come to enjoy our cameras and lenses equipped with the SA-mount.

On this occasion, I would like to extend my personal heartfelt gratitude for your continued support.

At present, the digital camera world is embracing an unprecedented period of change.

On occasion of our company's full-scale entry into developing mirrorless cameras, we also have to think sincerely about the question, "What camera system does the future require?" Based on our careful investigations, we decided that the adoption of a new lens mount system is a necessary part of the answer.

We understand that in the face of this announcement our customers may be concerned about future product developments and the practicability of SIGMA products they already own.

SIGMA treats our continued support for SA-mount lenses as a top priority. This commitment of ours will not be affected by our move to a new mount system, and SA-mount lenses will continue to be part of our production. Please be assured that we are creating the next generation of our cameras with all of our customers in mind.

We want each of our customers, who came to love SIGMA products as part of a "SIGMA mount system," to continue using our products without any compromise, and we promise to provide you with an even greater variety of options to enjoy your gear in the future.

Thank you very much for your generous patronage and support.

Kazuto Yamaki
Company Executive Officer,
SIGMA Corporation

@IronFilm

Why would they announce a f1.7 zoom if they're only going to kill MFT next year? I don't see that happening.

In big companies they do not put all eggs in one basket.

All will depend on how FF thing will go.

Companies want to hide or trick their FF sales, as they are quite bad (except Nikon and some Sony models).
But all of them hope for wonderful transition and big jump in the sale price for each camera and lens.

You can get/make pretty small/light lenses for full frame (though not as small/light as m43). Just don't insist on buying the super fast versions of all of them.

The Sony 55/1.8 is small and light. The 24-70mm f/4 is pretty small and light. The depth of field on the 24-70 is still a little bit more shallow than on the Panasonic 12-35/2.8 and the field of view is similar.

Heck, I have multiple lenses which cover 4x5 inch film and have good quality and weigh (I think) less than 1/10 what a 24-70/2.8 that covers 24x36mm does. I have multiple 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.2 lenses which have nice enough image quality for most things and weigh less than half (maybe even 1/3) of what an Otus weighs.