Nevin’s E-P1 day was very well done. Hat tipped.
Now that the E-P1 is ready for sale, photographers are tempted by it in large number. This blog may have served as one of the rumour mills to push this up; or has it? Anyway, if it is just for the sake of size which makes you comtemplating a switch, there should be stronger reasons for the voting by foot so, not least because the E-P1 is not really small. The investment to be poured on the lenses and the body(ies) will be no less that on a proper DSLR system.
What is so special about the M4/3 system (I sort of hate the codename of it, which is not great for typing it)? Does it worth the admission?
The birth of M4/3 for whom?
The story starts with the 4/3 format, which gave birth to the M4/3 format. As early as in June 2003, the first 4/3 camera Olympus E-1 saw the light of the market, giving photographers a choice in addition to the APS and full frame formats. It is called the 4/3 format because the imaging sensor is 4/3 inches in 4:3 proportion, which combines to give the sensor a dimension of 17.3 x 13 mm. This dimension is rought 1/4 the size of a full frame sensor as shown below.
The 4/3 cameras on the market today include the Olympus E-system (E-420, E-520, E-620, E-30, E3), Panasonic DMC-L series (L1 and L10) and Leica Digilux 3. Although the 4/3 cameras boast relative lightness in size and weight, they are a far cry in these aspects to many. Despite the fact that a lightweight E-420 mounted with a 25mm f2.8 Pancake lens is just 475g (380g + 95g), it outweights the digital compact cameras which do not exceed 200g. Size-wise, the two are not even comparable.
▲ 4/3 cameras
Market researches show that these dissatisfied customers include particularly family and female users. For family users, the requirements are simple operation and image quality which outperformed the digital compacts. For female users, the need is good image quality with a body much lighter than a DSLR. Understandably, the M4/3 system is targeted at these two groups of users.
The Strengths of M4/3
So the micro 4/3 system is modelled and improved on the full 4/3. The mirco version boasts the following special features
1. Smaller size – The mirco system sheds the reflex mirro and the pentaprism all together, which are replace by the LiveView function. This brings the camera a smaller size (but well not small in the strictest sense; just smaller).
▲M4/3 does away with the reflex mirror and the pentaprism
The LiveView function is made possible by the LCD screen, which is exactly the way how the DCs are doing. Judging from the performance of the G2 and GH1, we can expect that the LiveView focusing speed of the E-P1 will see some improvement (or proven by now?). This is an important point to note if you are thinking of a switch to the system.
Comments