What Future for M43?

[ColSebastianMoran]

The M43 sensor is far too small for any serious imagery.

Au contraire — Not me, but my good friends are making excellent images, especially of wildlife, with M43.

 

[Tom Diaz]

I don’t know nothing anything about the camera business. Zilch. Zero.

However I believe the folks at the company formerly known as Olympus have excellent platforms in existence already. Refining them and offering useable video features would not be prohibitive $ wise and more $ could be spent on marketing them

Add raw video out to a hard drive. This should become standard in coming models. I’ll take great raw 1080p over 5k any day of the week. Add this to the EM-1 and EM-5 line. You’ll sell bucketloads of E-M5 if you can keep it around $1000 and include zebras

The current lens line-up is outstanding. Seal up the primes and leave it alone

Build an exlr interface/pre-amp available for sale separately

Build an HDMI screen compatible with EM1/EM5

I saw it mentioned elsewhere and thought it was a brilliant idea. A 4/3 sensor XZ-3 with solid 4K video specs and audio in

The EM-1 should set the G9 as a benchmark for video performance. Add raw out, a pre-amp option and dummy battery to V plate support

The EM-10 should have audio in. Vloggers of the internet unite!

And that’s a damn good start without breaking the bank

Pretty good pitch for someone who don't know nothing about the business.

I knew when you started with that phrase that you were going to make a business pitch. I don't think investors would give you zillions of dollars to do this, but then might give you 10% of a zillion if you had some customers lined up and would give them half the company.

 

[emraphoto]

Pretty good pitch for someone who don't know nothing about the business.

I knew when you started with that phrase that you were going to make a business pitch. I don't think investors would give you zillions of dollars to do this, but then might give you 10% of a zillion if you had some customers lined up and would give them half the company.

I reckon it was more of a ‘don’t re-invent the wheel’

My somewhat limited experience tells me that sensor size isn’t the holy grail it is portrayed as, keeping in mind that photography is a multifaceted discipline. I need light, fast and intuitive to use cameras. Large file sizes are not imperative. 20 mega pickles on a 4/3 sensor is more than enough for most requirements. Video needs to be robust with options outlined already vs. super high resolution for the sake of marketing

 

[Tom Diaz]

I reckon it was more of a ‘don’t re-invent the wheel’

My somewhat limited experience tells me that sensor size isn’t the holy grail it is portrayed as, keeping in mind that photography is a multifaceted discipline. I need light, fast and intuitive to use cameras. Large file sizes are not imperative. 20 mega pickles on a 4/3 sensor is more than enough for most requirements. Video needs to be robust with options outlined already vs. super high resolution for the sake of marketing

I'm very strongly in your camp. My m43 equipment accounts for more and more of my output. (The other equipment being Leica M digital stuff.)

Whether this is reason enough for my favorite company (Panasonic) to keep making m43 gear, I don't know. Anyway, I am geared up for at least several more years because the equipment I own is good and fairly robust/long-lived. (For video as well as still because I am not a pro video shooter.) I would not be likely to buy another m43 body or lens any time soon. So there we have the business problem.


TD

 

[Patrick M P Donnelly]

I love Bill's provocative comment that invigorated this thread!

My reason for liking m4/3 is the C mount lens universe.

Lenses in 25.4mm screw mount have been produced for a century. The adapters are a few $ to buy. Incredible diversity of MANUAL focus lenses.

My current favourite is the 6mm Kowa. Full sensor coverage on 2.2 'crop factor' sensors such as GH4 etc. Plenty of videos on YT show the effects of this stunner. Want wider? Try the 4.7mm Kowa, nominally for 1 inch 3/3 sensors.

How about a 75mm 1.4 lens that covers APS for $100? Kowa/Computar or Asahi/Pentax. Fujinon 75mm 1.8 for much the same.

The c mounts are now being adapted to Leica M mount, if long enough. If not telephoto, then the focal length shows the potential sensor size that can be covered. So a 35mm c mount can cover APS. A 75mm can cover Fuji GFX etc.

The rendering varies from sharp, to insane swirly, to soft. Modern lenses are being softened by mist filters that cost more than most c mount lenses. For cheap artisitic access to video the combination of the 4/3 sensor and c mount lenses cannot be beaten. China is currently producing lenses with more and more resolution.

Serious photography? Often, but always FUN!

Guess what? The lenses are tiny to medium size and weigh less than the plastic fantastic AF lenses that will melt in the back of your vehicle. Very compact and easy to carry several primes. The zooms are not so light. Want a 22X Zoom? Cost ya $200 to 300. 10x Zoom? $60 or more.

Only m4/3 can use the whole gamut of c mounts. Nikon CX 1" 3/3 sensor cameras are better for 16mm and 1 inch lenses, but the Nikon 1 series is definitely dead and may be guilty of having killed Nikon, we shall see.

Lenses that last 100 years .... what an investment!

CLA of the old primes is easy, with few of them having 5 or more glasses.

APS and FF are in danger of being diminished by the Medium Format sensors, for serious, even dour, photograpy ....

Long Live the 4/3 sensor cameras!

 

[Archiver]

It's mid 2022 and things have changed a little. The GH6 is out, as is the OM Systems OM-1, and both look like great cameras for their intended purposes. Both Panasonic and OMS have released new lenses this year, too. Hopefully, Panasonic introduces successors for the G9 and GX9.

In response to agentlossing talking about the GX9, I'll say that the GX85 still works very well for me, and I even take the original E-M5 out for a spin every now and again. Back in the Before Times of late 2017, I took the E-M5 with me on an overseas trip and was delighted with the images it took, especially as my experience with postprocessing had grown since the last overseas trip of 2013.

I'm looking forward to getting the new Panasonic 9mm f1.7, which will be wonderful for art galleries, cathedrals, and other places with low light and the need to capture wide expanses. It will pair well with any of my m43 cameras, particularly the G9 and GX85. A travel kit of G9 with 9mm f1.7, 17mm f1.2, 25mm f1.2 and 45mm f1.8 would be quite something. You could even take a second, smaller m43 body like the GX9 or GX85 and not need to change lenses for days, if at all.

 

[Bingley]

I recently returned from a three week trip to Croatia and Slovenia. I took a digicam and a small film camera (Rollei 35S); the digicam was an Olympus Pen F. Before the trip, I acquired the Leica DG Summilux 15mm f1.7 ASPH lens, and took that lens along instead of the Zuiko 17mm f1.8. And am I glad I did!! The resolving power and sharpness of the DG Summilux proved impressive. My sense is that, w/ a lens of this caliber and Olympus’s refinements to the m43 sensor, there really is no need, for travel purposes, to take a full frame or APS-C sensor camera, at least from an IQ standpoint. And I’ve got an M-E 240 and a CL digital, both of which I’ve taken on trips, so I have a basis of comparison. I think the files from the Oly Pen F w/ the DG Summilux were just as sharp as anything I’ve gotten from those larger sensor cameras. The Oly Pen F is more compact, and has a fast AF, making it good for street photography. Based on this experience, I would say that m43 cameras are not a fading format, but remain a very viable option for photographers who want the advantages of lighter weight and compactness w/out making significant concessions on image quality.

 

[gabrielelopez]

I use micro43 for professional wedding photography. Of course I know their limits, especially talking about high ISO, but since I am a film shooter, I am used to work with limits. The point is that if you want to use this system you better use fast lenses. There are even 1.2 lenses that can really make you work without big worries, without talking about modern software help available...the new adobe noise reduction is incredible.
I still have a nikon full frame for using my AI lenses, until it will not collapse, but the OM system is incredible, is a good option to have lenses really small, compared to any other system where lenses are even bigger than they've ever been. It cam make the difference in many aspects, professional or personal. Then again, I don't care at all for hyper-clean files, but prefer the organic grain of m43, really similar to film grains seen with a focus checker in the darkroom.

No one knows what will happen to any system (we don't even know what will happen in general life) , but let's enjoy it while it's here.

 

[Archiver]

I recently returned from a three week trip to Croatia and Slovenia. I took a digicam and a small film camera (Rollei 35S); the digicam was an Olympus Pen F. Before the trip, I acquired the Leica DG Summilux 15mm f1.7 ASPH lens, and took that lens along instead of the Zuiko 17mm f1.8. And am I glad I did!! The resolving power and sharpness of the DG Summilux proved impressive. My sense is that, w/ a lens of this caliber and Olympus’s refinements to the m43 sensor, there really is no need, for travel purposes, to take a full frame or APS-C sensor camera, at least from an IQ standpoint. And I’ve got an M-E 240 and a CL digital, both of which I’ve taken on trips, so I have a basis of comparison. I think the files from the Oly Pen F w/ the DG Summilux were just as sharp as anything I’ve gotten from those larger sensor cameras. The Oly Pen F is more compact, and has a fast AF, making it good for street photography. Based on this experience, I would say that m43 cameras are not a fading format, but remain a very viable option for photographers who want the advantages of lighter weight and compactness w/out making significant concessions on image quality.

Darn it, now I want a 15/1.7 as an alternative to my Olympus 17/1.8! I do love that lens, but something sharper and a bit wider like the 15mm would be welcome. Now that I have the 9mm f1.7, I'd happily pair those lenses for a day out. That Pen F is a dreamy camera, it has a 20mp sensor which was the same as in the E-M1 III, if I'm not mistaken.

The Panasonic GX85, despite being discontinued, has been getting some traction from YouTubers of late. It would be good to pick up a spare at some stage.





Not to mention, it's now 2024 and we have the G9 Mark II, the GH7, and the OM Systems OM-1 Mark II. m43 is far from dead.

 

[TenEleven]

I'm 100% a film shooter. But if I were ever to pick up digital seriously - it would be definitely a m43 system.
My times lugging heavy cameras (Hasselblad/Rolleiflex/Contax/etc...) would be over.

I already have an Olympus E-M5 (the first one) and there are many fantastic lenses such as the Panasonic 20/1.7 among others. And even though the system is now apparently 12 years(!) old I find the crowing about image quality to be completely overblown. I have printed film half-frame images to A3 size for exhibitions and there were exactly zero complaints.

Ultimately once I am done with heavy cameras I would much rather have a system that is small and nimble than some "ultimate" in image quality which will be depreciated the next year around anyways!

Also the extra DOF is more than welcome to me as someone who had to the suffer razor thin DOF of medium format even at f/8 ...

 

[Archiver]

I'm 100% a film shooter. But if I were ever to pick up digital seriously - it would be definitely a m43 system.
My times lugging heavy cameras (Hasselblad/Rolleiflex/Contax/etc...) would be over.

I already have an Olympus E-M5 (the first one) and there are many fantastic lenses such as the Panasonic 20/1.7 among others. And even though the system is now apparently 12 years(!) old I find the crowing about image quality to be completely overblown. I have printed film half-frame images to A3 size for exhibitions and there were exactly zero complaints.

The E-M5 was my first m43 camera. It really appealed to me after a particularly rainy day of shooting, when I had to put my M9 under my coat, and I wondered what it might be like to get this tiny, weather resistant camera. It lead me on an odyssey of cameras including the GH3, GH4, G9, GX85 and GM1, and the E-M5 is on the desk as I type this. I hardly ever print my images, but with the right lenses and light, the results from the G9 are surprisingly close to the full frame S5.

Four years ago I was a bit despondent about the future of m43, as few cameras had been announced, but now we've got the GH6, GH7, G9 Mark II, OM-1 Mark II and even more lenses.

 

[stephen_lumsden]

I shoot film mostly myself, have a fz1000 one inch bridge camera as a catch all, but sometimes would like to get some shallow depth of field or be able to shoot in lower light. I got a g100 last week .The Panasonic g100 is not too small and pairs with an Olympus 25mm nicely for this and is smaller than a rangefinder.

 

[gabrielelopez]

m43 is the choice for film lovers as the files look as you look at them by a darkroom focusometer 🙂
Love them

 

[tortellini_man]

i like my OM E-M1 mkII; i picked it as my first mirrorless camera because of the availability of a (somewhat) reasonably priced super telephoto system with weather sealing and lens stabilization

i can shoot things like birds and whales in the rain without a tripod, which is perfect for the pacific northwest

i dont really care about sensor size at all though, and i have never owned a full frame digital camera