Micro 4/3

swintonphoto

Looks like Olympus is gearing up for some micro 4/3 announcements in the coming months. This was recently added to their website:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/oima_slr_microfourthirds.asp

ziggy53

Now that looks interesting. clap

Internaut

Just bear in mind that m4/3 is not a Panacea. If you look at the Olympus interview with dpreview for example, there is a tacit admission that at longer focal lengths, the lenses will not be noticeably smaller. Also, many have pointed out that they do not liking composing through an LCD display (though I'm hoping Olympus will implement an OLED display for front lit shooting in bright light).

Another thing to bear in mind is that Panasonic have adopted a new approach to lens design and take an approach that requires more software distortion correction (some purists are up in arms while others argue the end result is actually rather good so why bother). As to what approach Olympus takes, no one knows outside of Olympus.

In the meantime, as an early adopter, I can assure you that m43 works. The eye level viewfinder that Panasonic has produced is awesome - for daylight shooting, think looking down the viewfinder of a D700 on a camera costing £500. The silent software (both in camera and in PP packages I've tried) correction of distortion works very well with no (at least to me) discernible impact on sharpness.

It's worth reading the Olympus and Panasonic interviews on dpreview. The Panasonic guys in particular are remarkably candid in a way you might never expect from the big two.

NikonsandVstroms

Internaut wrote:

Just bear in mind that m4/3 is not a Panacea. If you look at the Olympus interview with dpreview for example, there is a tacit admission that at longer focal lengths, the lenses will not be noticeably smaller. Also, many have pointed out that they do not liking composing through an LCD display (though I'm hoping Olympus will implement an OLED display for front lit shooting in bright light).

The good news is even with 4/3 telephotos are pretty small, the 40-150 (80-300mm) is smaller than the non-VR nikon 18-55. So I don't think there will be much of a worry with the slower lenses atleast.

swintonphoto

Internaut wrote:

Just bear in mind that m4/3 is not a Panacea. If you look at the Olympus interview...

That is certainly true - by posting it I was not attempting to suggest such a thing. I have read the interviews and I think they are exciting. I think the new format is exciting because it shows new ground being explored in the photo world. I don't think anyone (even Olympus and Panasonic) is trying to say it will replace all existing DSLR systems. Rather, it will add another interesting option that will have benefits for certain applications. There are obvious drawbacks which is why this has not been attempted in the past. But, in a technologically advancing world, why not push the limits some more? After all, computers filled a whole room in the not to distant past, why not try to make a camera that is smaller that can pull excellent quality?