What impact could the current full frame frenzy have on micro four thirds?

Keith

Keith

The best camera is one that still works!
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It would seem it's only a matter of time before full frame sensors become par for the course in mirrorless cameras. Sony have done it, Fuji are talking about it and there must be other manufacturers paying attention to the current groundswell in interest in full frame.

Micro four thirds without a doubt is a fantastic format ... but sometimes these things as good as they are get 'run down' by desire for the latest and greatest.
 
Eh. Olympus was doing the same thing 30-50 years ago with the PENs. There will always be smaller formats - having a 4/3rds camera means you don't need as powerful as a processor, it's easier to have a faster buffer and record high quality video, it's smaller, and it can accept lenses with smaller image circles. There will always be a niche for that type of camera.
 
I just got one, and there a pretty neat cameras. I think there will always
be (in digital) different format's for different people. I'll get a full frame
again and have the other camera's as back up or use for fun.

Range
 
while a m4/3 camera used to be my main camera, i have since moved on to a full frame camera and the m4/3 became the "when i need something small" camera that hardly got any use. i have recently come back to m4/3 for infrared photography, but that aside m4/3 is indeed secondary. while possibly not the majority of m4/3 users, i think a fair amount of people use m4/3 primarily for its size and awesome lens range as a secondary to something larger. however, if something else with the same advantage as m4/3 in terms of size but with a bigger sensor came along.... yeah, i think people may start overlooking m4/3 for those other options, especially if they haven't already invested much in the m4/3 system.

i love my m4/3 gear and think it very capable in most areas, but i can't say i wouldn't be mightily tempted if something just as small came along that allowed me the same advantages that my full frame camera has over crop sensors in general.
 
I think the format has life left... and too many players in the mix to be dead. Lenses have road maps and cameras are coming out left and right. There is room for all of it.
 
I think the m43 makers will need to work on making the camera smaller, and generally more affordable and attractive. M43 cameras are no smaller than APS-C ones like the NEX, and likely soon won't be any smaller than full frame. The attractive m43 cameras like the OM-D and EP3 are very nice looking cameras, but they're far too expensive for what they are. The cheaper Panasonic cameras have an ugliness problem just like DSLRs.

I think they can make it work, but they need to up their game I think.
 
jsrockit said:
I think the format has life left... and too many players in the mix to be dead. Lenses have road maps and cameras are coming out left and right. There is room for all of it.
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From my observations there's not a lot of interest here at RFF in micro four thirds. Sure, there was a surge when we heard about the OM-D but in my opinion that has faded suprisingly quickly and there's currently very little activity around this camera in the MFT forum compared to the other mirrorless offerings ... and the OM-D is the flagship camera in this format IMO!

As for your "There is room for all of it" theory ... can you be certain of that?
 
Keith said:
From my observations there's not a lot of interest here at RFF in micro four thirds. Sure, there was a surge when we heard about the OM-D but in my opinion that has faded suprisingly quickly and there's currently very little activity around this camera in the MFT forum compared to the other mirrorless offerings ... and the OM-D is the flagship camera in this format IMO!
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All camera hype fades quickly these days... the OM-D is not unique in this respect. I think what happens is that many people post about these cameras based on what they hope the camera is (before it is released). Once it is released, then you have to accept what it actually is and just use it or move on... and then you don't care to write about it on a forum anymore.

As for your "There is room for all of it" theory ... can you be certain of that?
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Keith, look at all of the cameras that have come out recently... manufacturers wouldn't be making so damn many if they didn't think they could sell them. Even if m4/3 died today... it has served its purpose and will have a place in camera making history.

We have the tendency here to pronounce many things dead, but they all just keep chugging along despite the doom and gloom here.
 
I have to add I do think olympus will have to make a larger sensor mount/system camera if they are to avoid becoming the new 'consumer point and shoot' company. It's certainly possible m4/3 could be this in a few years.
 
thegman said:
I think the m43 makers will need to work on making the camera smaller, and generally more affordable and attractive. M43 cameras are no smaller than APS-C ones like the NEX, and likely soon won't be any smaller than full frame. The attractive m43 cameras like the OM-D and EP3 are very nice looking cameras, but they're far too expensive for what they are. The cheaper Panasonic cameras have an ugliness problem just like DSLRs.

I think they can make it work, but they need to up their game I think.
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Smaller is not always better in my book. The M4/3 cameras are about as small as I'd want to get with my hands. And I would be tempted to go with a FF, if the camera ergonomics were right, if a decent line of lenses were available, and if the cost were affordable by the average joe who is soon to be retired.
 
Keith said:
From my observations there's not a lot of interest here at RFF in micro four thirds. Sure, there was a surge when we heard about the OM-D but in my opinion that has faded suprisingly quickly and there's currently very little activity around this camera in the MFT forum compared to the other mirrorless offerings ... and the OM-D is the flagship camera in this format IMO!

As for your "There is room for all of it" theory ... can you be certain of that?
Click to expand...

We're out taking pictures with our lightweight, easy to handle affordable cameras 🙂
 
This whole thing is interesting to me. Here we have a holdout from the film era, a 24X36mm rectangle. And this has affected (infected?) the thinking of both hobbyist and professional for more than a decade now.

Perhaps this came about because the earliest pro digital cameras were little more than converted film Nikons with a digital back, albeit with a much smaller than FF sensor. That and a mountain of legacy film lenses designed to cover a 46mm image circle. I know that's true for myself, sitting there with a bag full of Zuiko OM primes and complaining when the E-1 came out 'Why can't Olympus just make me a OM sized FF digital', not then understanding the difficulty and expense of the task. That of course was a bit disingenuous of me since I have always been, and remain still today a fan and user of Olympus half frame cameras.

Now I wish we could get away from the confines of the 24X36mm box. It is based on joining together two cine-frames on 35mm double perf movie film almost a hundred years ago by our friend Herr Barnack and is not some devine mandate. Personally I think a square sensor would make more sense and take advantage of more of a lens image circle. About 30X30mm would seem to fit inside most FF bodies and as an added bonus you would not have to design the body to accommodate a vertical grip in portrait orientation.

As to the survival of 4:3? Couldn't really speculate, the market is a weird thing and many buy more on emotion than need.
 
dasuess said:
We're out taking pictures with our lightweight, easy to handle affordable cameras 🙂
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That's probably right. Maybe that ties in with Gavin's comment about them becoming the new consumer point and shoot! 😛

I spend a bit of time over at the micro four thirds forum and I have to say compared to RFF that forum is very image heavy.
 
Once the manufacturers make a full frame interchangeable camera as small as the RX1, I'll switch. Till then, I'll hold on and use what I have. The OMD is a great little system camera.
 
Maybe it's just us old heads having grown up with 35mm who crave for FF.
The next generation has only ever looked at the back of a camera for an immediate picture review, do they really understand or care about sensor size.
 
Funny, I recently bought a Panasonic GF2 with the 14mm lens. Added a couple of other lenses and I had a cheap kit that I can take on my bike, out with the kids and not worry about.

The new point and shoot - the GF2 and 14 cost half what I paid for an LX5 a year or so back!!
 
rodt16s said:
The next generation has only ever looked at the back of a camera for an immediate picture review, do they really understand or care about sensor size.
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Why only next generation? Majority of people who had to use 35mm cameras back then as only viable choice, nowadays really do not know kind or size of sensor in camera they use. When they discover how to upload pictures to blogs from their iphones they put digicams in drawers or sell right away. Ask them about full frame - answer will be "why have I to buy and then carry separate device when my phone does it all?". Yes, even iphone isn't ideal device but those people want to take picture now and here without hassle of separate device even if picture is a bit...not what they would expect - but then there are "filters" allowing to make it looking just right. If it looks right then tech details don't matter anymore.

Come on, just agree most of people are interested in pictures not in gear (not to mention members of certain forums 🙂). From here, to make FF a mass product, it should sell for money targeted at masses. It's a closed loop. If FF goes route of APS-C sensors, manufacturers will be able to make affordable FF cameras. Just first years it will be novelty, but then every housewife will have such camera like it happened with APS-C.
 
Have been shooting Olympus since the old Olympus Chrome and SemiII folders, and Zuiko lenses on the Mamiya 6 Automat Folder.

As a veteran of Olympus and Zuiko, let me simply ask this one question.

"When is the last time Olympus was swayed from whatever path they deem appropriate by either the market or the competition."

Olympus has always created their market. I count on them to continue to do so.
 
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