Good News for Micro Four Thirds
There’s more good new for Micro Four Thirds shooters. In a Photo Gear News interview, from the Marketing Director of Lumix in the UK, we’re told there is no way Panasonic is giving up on MFT. The simple reason being that MFT and APS-C, smaller sensor cameras, make up 70% of camera sales overall. The big, expensive, full-frame cameras are the other 30%, and that’s the market the new full-frame Lumix S Series cameras will be shooting for. A video of the interview is below, and you can skip to about 3:15 for the MFT declaration.
That’s good news since there is ongoing speculation from some on YouTube that Panasonic should give up on MFT. What a load of crap. The frustrating part of this kind of talk is people believe these YouTube pundits, and it can affect the sales of the current cameras. Thus the reason I’m adding this additional post to go along with my post The State of Micro Four Thirds.
Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. MFT is here to stay for the foreseeable future and I’m excited it is.
MarkOn Oct. 9th, 2018
So far, I have simply found no good reason to go back to full frame. I put a lot of time in researching m4/3…read blogs like this one (thank you Daniel), and got a feel for who was using the equipment effectively. Then I rented it…and it outperformed the full frame I was using at the time. I don’t think my images have ever looked better. And I shoot more because I enjoy it more.
I got accused in a forum of, well not dissing full frame but calling it a bit of hype. I was reminded of the technological advantages…but they are only advantages if you need them…which I don’t seem to be missing at the moment. Thus it is hype to me. For Panasonic and Olympus, I would never give up the market that m4/3 now represents, and although you will hear sensor size and limitations are a matter of physics, that’s not to say that technology or workarounds won’t solve those things down the road.
Daniel J. CoxOn Oct. 9th, 2018
Great inout Mark. I agree with your comment, “although you will hear sensor size and limitations are a matter of physics, that’s not to say that technology or workarounds won’t solve those things down the road”. And that is what I’ve been predicting will happen. Yes, at this point in time Full Frame still has a few advantages but you may not need them. Eventually, the smaller sensors will win due to the fact nobody wants to carry heavier lenses. It is possible that lens design will change, there’s new lens technology that was developed by Harvard where one lens optic replaces the typical three. If you could build lenses in the future that are 1/3 less weight, then that could spell trouble for MFT. But so far it’s not happened. Additionally, from what the article describes, I’m not sure the one lens element will be any smaller. It may just replace the two other elements typically needed to direct light onto the sensor surface. If that’s the case then full frame lenses may get lighter but I’m not sure about smaller. Thanks for stopping by to join the conversation.
Mike GOn Oct. 9th, 2018
Thanks for the reply. I hope they do keep a smaller body, eg G80, current: as they make for a compact solution when travelling and are a bit friendlier on the wallet. The GH5 and G9 are just that much larger and more expensive. Small trickle down upgrades would be fine by me, eg 20MP sensor.
Daniel J. CoxOn Oct. 9th, 2018
I agree with you Mike. One of the other benefits to the smaller bodies is the built in flash. I’m very frustrated that we’ve had no built in flash since the GH4. Most people think the built in flash is useless but I can tell you the GH4, GH3 before it and now the G85 are my favorite cameras for shooting macro. I use the built in flash to fire and off cream flash wirelessly. The fact the camera has the strobe to control the remote flash makes for a very compact and easy to carry system. If i want the better image quality of the G9 I know have to attach a large, bulky full sized strobe to the camera. Nikon took the same route, only having built in flash on their tier two cameras and that was just one of many reasons I started shooting Lumix cameras. Now Lumix is following Nikons lead on this issue and it’s very disappointing. Such is life.
Mike GOn Oct. 8th, 2018
That’s great to hear. I’ve been suffering from FUD, coupled with GAS, such I was starting to think about jumping ship to a FF option in the near future. Then I thought about size, weight, and cost. For my needs it quickly became obvious that MFT is the right place for me to be, and these sort of statements give me confidence to stay in the system.
Do you think Panasonic will release an update to the G80/G85 in the near future?
Daniel J. CoxOn Oct. 8th, 2018
I agree Mike. There is always temptation with the full frame systems, in particular Sony, but when I start thinking about adding to what I have, the large lenses make me cringe. I just don’t want to go back to carrying all that heavy gear again. I think we’re going to be fine longterm with MFT. There’s no doubt that Panasonic still needs to make some improvements, mainly low light capabilities and Predictive AF, but that’s it. And I predict we’ll get both, hopefully soon.
As far as a new G80/85? Unfortunately I have no idea. I would have said, absolutely, if the new full frame had not been announced. But with the Full Frame, the smaller GH5, G9 may be considered their second tier bodies, in effect replacing the current second tier body, the G80/85. Sorry I can’t be further help.