Ideal Sensor Size ? Part 4 Micro 4/3

Author  Andrew S  June 2013

This photo was made at night, Lumix GH3 camera held at waist height, viewing on the articulated monitor. Composition, framing, focus and capture took about two seconds. ISO 6400, 1/60sec, f2.8. If this photo had been made with a full frame camera f5.6 would have been required for the same depth of field, and ISO 25,600 for the same shutter speed.

In the beginning  The first camera built to the new Micro Four Thirds [M43] standard was the Panasonic Lumix G1 of 2009. At the time I thought and several other commentators opined that the destiny of M43 would be to become the dominant interchangeable lens camera format for amateur, enthusiast and eventually professional photographers.

What is M43 ?  The format uses a sensor with half the diagonal and about one quarter the area of traditional full frame. Much of the complex stuff in a DSLR such as the flipping mirror and prism  is not required  so the bodies can be much smaller than a DSLR. The smaller sensor allows the lenses to be much smaller as well.  The M43 standard is open, so any maker can produce bodies and/or lenses to fit. At the time of writing the M43 system offers a wide selection of bodies and compatible lenses from several manufacturers.

The latest models offer very good image quality, performance and ergonomics.  On my analysis, M43 cameras should be flying off the shelves right now.  But that is not the case. In fact some recent industry reports have indicated sales of m43 equipment have slowed recently after an initial surge.

What's the problem?   I have no inside knowlege of the camera industry at all but as a consumer I can see several issues which could be impeding market penetration of the M43 system.

Marketing:  In order to fly off the shelves goods need to be on the shelves in the first place. In Australia, that is not the case. It is difficult to find any M43 equipment on display in most camera shops and other places where cameras are sold.  Vendors want to carry fast moving lines, so they stock only the best known brands and camera types, so that is what their customers see and buy. This reinforces the dominant CanoNikon duopoly. Panasonic and Olympus need to devise assertive marketing strategies to counter this.

Brand Recognition/System recognition: The big names are Canon and Nikon. Panasonic has good brand recognition but not in the camera business, and I would guess that few people  recognise "Lumix" as a camera brand.  Olympus has a long camera making tradition but more as a niche player than dominant force.  

Corporate Problems: Olympus was hit with a giant fraud scandal last year and Panasonic has been posting massive corporate losses for the last several years.

Image Quality/Performance/Ergonomics: The latest M43 camera and lenses deliver excellent image qualiy, performance and ergonomics. But this has not been the case until very recently. Early M43 models lagged significantly behind their DSLR competition.

The burden of Disruptive Innovation:  The DSLR is an established technology. Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras and M43 in paticular are a Disruptive Innovation. It takes time and effort for the makers of the new technology to convince buyers that the new thing  is really better than established offerings.

Will M43 prevail ?  Who Knows?  If  Olympus and Panasonic can avert bankruptcy, stay in the camera business and  continue M43 research and development then yes, I think M43 can prevail. But those are big if's. We shall see.