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What is micro 4/3? - zero - 05-05-2010
What is micro 4/3?
And what is the deal with the Sony EVIL cameras? Will their image quality surpass all compacts?
Anyone have a few good links?
TIA!
Re: What is micro 4/3? - M>B> - 05-05-2010
Start here...
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/fourthirds/index.html
And, Google is your friend!
Re: What is micro 4/3? - Lux Interior - 05-05-2010
Evil never triumphs.
Re: What is micro 4/3? - bazookaman - 05-05-2010
Don't touch it! It's evil!
Re: What is micro 4/3? - Billybob - 05-05-2010
My totally unscientific opinion:
Pluses:
image quality much better than P&S (sensor size is closer to that of DSLRs than to P&S cameras)
image quality approaches that of DSLR
Camera and lenses are much more compact (easier to take with you all the time)
interchangeable lenses for DSLR-like creative control
much less obtrusive (better for candid street photography)
Negatives:
image quality is inferior to best DSLRs with good/great quality lenses
Less depth-of-field control (but much better than P&S cameras)
limited lens choices (should improve)
Systems are not as fast as DSLR (sub-optimal for sports and bird-in-flight photography)
focus accuracy?
Some of these disadvantages will fade or even disappear with improving technology.
I suspect, that for the majority of people who want high quality photographs but are turned off by the size and bulk of DSLRs, the micro-4/3 option will increasingly become the camera of choice.
Re: What is micro 4/3? - Psurfer - 05-05-2010
Their big advantage is DSLR image quality* w/well-implemented full time live-view**, and the ability to use nearly any make/model lens of the last 70 years***.
They will win the coming hybrid still/video war, too****.
* really about equal, except at the ISO's >1200 on more pricey DSLRs. m4/3 sensors are only slightly smaller than aps-c (eg Canon rebel), same size as the regular Olympus DSLRs.
** w/no delay. In the (electronic) viewfinder, and on the rear LCD
*** via cheap adapters. Any Nikon Ai, pre-Ai, Any Pentax, Canon FD, Leica M, Leica screw, cine camera, etc.
**** as they can autofocus and do other tricks while filming.
Re: What is micro 4/3? - thermarest - 05-05-2010
M>B>'s link is good, though potentially too much info for some. Billybob's list seem pretty much true but doesn't answer "what is it."
Maybe the simples way to think of it is a sensor size and lens mount format. The sensor is fantastically larger than most point-and-shoot cameras but somewhat smaller than most DSLRs. The lens is closer to the sensor than in a DSLR.
These two attributes lead to the conclusions in Billybob's list.
To add to that list:
Focus accuracy is great. It is focus speed that lags behind a good DSLR in its regular AF mode. But since micro 4/3 was designed for Live View, its live view performance blows away the live view on the current DSLRs.
I have a Panasonic G1 that is a great lightweight complement to my Canon stuff. At 20x30" prints seem to be a bit grainy but still more than acceptable from a normal viewing distance.
Re: What is micro 4/3? - Racer X - 05-05-2010
"I have a Panasonic G1 that is a great lightweight complement to my Canon stuff. At 20x30" prints seem to be a bit grainy but still more than acceptable from a normal viewing distance."
You and I must have different standards. I have a 5D full frame Canon, and the biggest I have printed is 16x10 uncropped, and the image is starting to come apart and get soft. I grew up shooting 4x5s and 120 film with Schneider and Fujinon lenses. Now the 5D is comparable to good 35mm film though.
Re: What is micro 4/3? - Psurfer - 05-06-2010
In tests (fwiw), the G1 has proven to outresolve the original 5D.
In comparisons to DSLRs, resolution of the m4/3 cameras (esp the Pana's) is not an issue.
In my experience, the significant user diffs worth mentioning are the negs of focus speed (really just w/moving subjects), and the much more noticeable tradeoffs of the electronic VF - excellent that it's larger in size than all the aps-c dslrs, but more contrasty, and then gets ugly and laggy in low light.
Re: What is micro 4/3? - Mike V - 05-06-2010
I'm not a fan.
The sensors are a third smaller than Canon crop sensors and half the size of Canon full frame.
Four Thirds has been described as all the disadvantages of an SLR with the image quality of a Point and Shoot, but maybe this is a bit harsh.
I'm really interested in seeing what the Sony cameras will be like as the sensor is bigger.
For me it's not about the actual image quality.
I don't like the perspective, the distortion and the general look of having to use a really wide lens all the time just to get a standard shot.
For me a Canon 550D is only very slightly bigger, but offers a lot more for about the same price.