Micro Four Thirds Standard Announcement

[Photo-John]

Olympus and Panasonic have announced a new Micro Four Thirds camera standard. I'm excitefd about the prospect of an even smaller, lighter camera from Olympus. I've written a bit of speculative editorial on it.

Micro Four Thirds Article

And we've also posted the press release:

Olympus and Panasonic Micro Four Thirds Press Release

[SmartWombat]

Looks very interesting.
They key thing to me is that there are going to be new lenses to match the bodies.
Smaller mount, shorter distance, ought to lead to very compact cameras and lenses.
I'm eagerly waiting for the results, perhaps as an alternative to the G9 in my pocket today.

[Photo-John]

perhaps as an alternative to the G9 in my pocket today.

Exactly!

Post a comment on the article page, too!

[Photo-John]

Any more thoughts on this? It's still very much on my mind. And reviewer Larry Chen and I have been going back and forth about it a bit in the article comments:

http://reviews.photographyreview.com...dard/#comments

[albot976]

I'm really interested and a bit excited about micro 4/3. I'm most interested in this for similar reasons that SmartWombat is.

Having a SLR quality compact camera is exactly what I'm looking for right now. If micro 4/3 ends up marketing at least partially at enthusiasts/pros and delivers as I hope it does, then I'll be one of the early adopters for sure. I would probably just put on a small high-quality prime on a micro 4/3 body and use it like that. Small, quick, quality. Since it would be my compact camera, my expectations as to EVF and autofocus aren't that high either - I already know it won't perform as well as my SLRs in some areas, I just want it to perform much better than current p&shoots.

I've voiced some concerns in the article comments related to the chance of micro 4/3 being a success since I don't think it's a guaranteed slam dunk by any means. If Olympus screws it up, then I think 4/3 might be in for a rough ride...

[dumpy]

Without a mirror they could be much quieter, especially if they go for an electronic shutter.

Small and quit? Hmm sounds like a digital equivalent to a rangefinder. This could be very popular, although i doubt the average consumer will understand the difference between this and a P&S camera.

[Greg McCary]

I would be very interersted in an RF type camera. Similar to the RD-1 or maybe the M8. I hope not as expesive as the M8 though. It would be great to carry around small camera with a good selection of lenses. I think there is going to be a growing market for this as film slowly fades out. I know I would certainly get one, no doubt. Thanks for posting John. This is great news.

[albot976]

Am I the only one that is under the impression that micro 4/3 will be more of a p&s platform than rangefinder?

[Greg McCary]

I think it will fall somewhere in between an RF an a P&S. I guess. It probably won't have an RF focus system but it will have interchangable lenses. Much like the L1. It looks like an RF. I would think the performance would be more like an SLR with no shutter lag, ect.

[Sushigaijin]

I think they will probably have P&S models and pro models. Pros have been calling for a RF style digital for a long time, and certainly the mFT format is totally capable of that. I think with Leica being involved, a new M series might show up. Oly will probably want a pro model too - no reason to let the other guys have all the fun. The question is whether they will go with a traditional RF viewfinder or use an EVF.

And there will probably be budget models too.