Micro Four Thirds

Olympus micro four thirds lenses are M.ZUIKO and are significantly smaller than lenses designed for Four Thirds (DSLR) cameras.  The Olympus four thirds camera has an in-body Image Stabilization system which, combined with quality Olympus micro four thirds lenses, do much to compensate for camera shake.

Perhaps the most useful and versatile of all the Olympus micro four thirds lenses would be the 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 II R.  That’s coming from someone who tends more towards the wide angle needs rather than macro uses for a camera.  This lens is $300, which is the low end of the price spectrum. The Olympus website has a page that lists all the  Olympus micro four thirds lenses.  Notice that there’s a similar-looking lens with the same name but minus the R at the end of the name.  It’s the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 II.  The two are the same, except some cosmetic differences so the new version looks stylish with the new Olympus micro four thirds called the E-PL3.

At the high end of the spectrum of Olympus micro four thirds lenses is your super telephoto lens.  Olympus claims it’s the world’s smallest and lightest super telephoto.  Called the M.Zuiko Digital ED
75-300mm f4.8-6.7, this Olympus micro four thirds lens also claims near silent HD movie recording.

As a general rule, since micro four thirds cameras are only a few years old now, the Olympus micro four thirds lenses which are available now are still relatively expensive.  Lenses for Four Thirds cameras can be found at cheaper prices since there are third party manufacturers, more competition, and lots of used models out there for DSLR lenses.

With that in mind, some photographers are using a micro four thirds adapter with their DSLR lenses rather than buying this first generation of Olympus micro four thirds lenses.

Most interchangeable lens cameras, including DSLRs, come with a kit lens.  The micro four thirds lens that comes with the Olympus E-PL1 is 14-42mm.  The newest Panasonic micro four thirds is the DMC-GF3 and it comes with either a wide angle 14 mm pancake lens or a  14-42mm F3.5-5.6  lens.

Usually these kit lenses are good but not as good as a non-kit  lens.  If you want ultra sharp pictures, try a prime micro four thirds lens.  Prime lens means one that doesn’t zoom.  Also, any micro four thirds lens that’s not a kit lens will be better quality because as a general rule, the kit lenses are the lowest.  The camera manufacturer wants you to keep buying things, remember.  If you really want to get precise results from any micro four thirds camera or DSLR, investing in lenses is inevitable.

If you want to stick to buying a  micro four thirds lens, one which has gained huge popularity and great reviews is the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7.  This is a pancake lens (meaning it doesn’t zoom) and costs aboaut $400.  Being a micro four thirds lens, it will fit on your Olympus micro four thirds as well as the Panasonic Lumix GF series it was designed for.  It’s rated exceptional as a base prime lens.

Another micro four thirds lens that’s really popular is the 7-14 Lumix ultra-wide.  However, at $1800 this is in a whole new category of micro four thirds lenses. 

In a quick micro four thirds comparison, the first thing to notice is that the makers are aiming downward.  That is, they are making new micro four thirds cameras that more and more aim to look, feel, and behave like point and shoot cameras.

Take for example the E-PM1.  There are hardly any buttons on the back of this Olympus micro four thirds, and this has to count in a micro four thirds comparison.    The colloquial name of the camera – PEN Mini, says it all.  With fewer buttons, users are less intimidated and will feel bold in stepping up to an interchangeable lens camera system.

This newest micro four thirds is also much smaller than others in the PEN series.  Take a look at the picture here, how slim the camera really is.  It looks exactly like the sort of camera most people want to buy: simple, small, and colorful.  Yes, the PEN mini comes in a rainbow of colors, so as to more fully blur the line between micro four thirds and point and shoot cameras.  To the layman, the Mini would win out in any type of micro four thirds comparison, no matter how you lined up the cameras.  Size and color choice are big factors.  Now you’re getting the attention of the teenage market.

Panasonic hasn’t yet developed anything like the PEN mini so as far as tiny size and simple interface.

The first Olympus micro four thirds camera was breakthrough technology and along with Panasonic they were the first to come out with such a camera.  Olympus developed technology that allowed a mirrorless camera with DSLR-like capabilities and quality and even trademarked the term micro four thirds for themselves.   Called the PEN series, there were however some criticisms of the first Olympus micro four thirds.  Mainly, it had no flash and the auto focus was slow.

Well apparently they’ve fixed that and the latest model (E-PL3) of Olympus micro four thirds cameras is popular with reviewers.  The auto focus is supposedly lightning fast.  An Olympus spokesperson actually claimed it was the fastest auto focus in the world.

For gizmo hunters, the new Olympus micro four thirds has even more Art settings.  As with most cameras out of the box, the kit lens is good but the real sharp shots come from using a prime lens.

What we liked about the Olympus micro four thirds was that compared to its only competitor, the Panasonic micro four thirds, y0u get a lot more options when it comes to accessories.  Even if underwater photography isn’t your bag, the full range of accessories on the Olympus website will delight.  But in putting together an underwater photography setup, nothing compares to the Olympus micro four thirds.  And who doesn’t sometimes find the need to take pictures under water, on vacation or whatever.

The total price of the underwater housing plus Olympus micro four thirds setup (the E-PL1) is half of what it would be if one goes the Panasonic route.  In fact, Panasonic doesn’t make an underwater housing, and third party housings are twice as expensive as the one made for the Olympus micro four thirds.  There are also accessories for the underwater housing.  The case itself is compact and hugs the Olympus micro four thirds like a glove.  The new housing for the E-PL3 is more expensive ($200 more), however.  It’s not in stock anyway, as of this writing.

Yes, what an exciting idea, but no, there is no Canon micro four thirds yet.  Anyone who loves Canon eagerly awaits the popular camera manufacturer’s entry into the micro four thirds market, but so far there are no signs of that.

In fact, Canon seems to be holding out until they can come up with the best micro four thirds camera ever…and it doesn’t even have to be mirrorless, according to a spokesperson.  And that would not technically be a Canon micro four thirds camera…it would be a shrunken DSLR, the size of a micro four thirds.

Canon does have a great reputation in the Research & Development area of cameras, and some doe have hope that they can do the heretofore impossible by shrinking DSLR cameras down to a more compact size.  But until that happens, we have Olympus and Panasonic to the rescue with the PEN and the Lumix G series.  If you have a range of Canon lenses you’d love to use on a Canon micro four thirds, then there’s an adapter ring so you can put them on the Oly or the Panasonic micro four thirds.

There are some micro four thirds rumors out there, involving an upcoming Canon micro four thirds.  They hint at things like HD video in 1080 p, touch screen LCD, dual SD card slots, and a lens adapter for EF lenses.

As we all know, Panasonic and Olympus broke ground in 2008-2009 by introducing the world’s first mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras.  The Panasonic micro four thirds camera is one half the market, with Olympus’ PEN series constituting the other half.  There really are no true competitors as of yet.  The one pictured here, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2, takes 3D lenses and has a touch screen.

The Panasonic micro four thirds camera also boasts video capability at a size of 1920 x 1080 in 60i AVCHD.   In fact, if you’re thing is taking movies, the Panasonic micro four thirds camera will set you up quite nicely, with  range of options including shooting in HD Motion JPEG in 1280 x 720 and QVGA, VGA and WVGA.  The only shortcoming of the Panasonic micro four thirds is that it doesn’t do AVI format, whereas the Olympus PEN series does.

However, Olympus’ newest in the PEN series of micro four thirds cameras can only do 1080 60i HD video in either AVCHD or AVI formats.  Movie size potential is smaller and slightly less choice in movie format than you get with the Panasonic micro four thirds.  

The developers of the Panasonic micro four thirds really do seem to have concentrated on the video capabilities of the camera.  The artistic scene modes we’re all familiar with now can also be applied during video recording.  There are a total of 17 scene modes so imaging shooting your movies in sunset mode, or soft skin mode, for example.

Micro four thirds lenses are growing in numbers, as the mirrorless interchangeable camera gains popularity in the marketplace.  Compact camera users as well as DSLR users are learning the benefits of the micro four thirds, namely the compact size combined with large sensor and the ability to switch out different lenses.  When Olympus and Panasonic first came out with micro four thirds lenses for their cameras, there were just a few options, including buying an adapter so traditional Four Thirds lenses would fit on the micro mount.  Now each brand has 16 to 19 micro four thirds lenses options.

For Olympus, the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL brand of micro four thirds lenses are the standard option (still pretty much the only option), especially for the popular PEN series.  Interesting to note is that the Olympus PEN series has image stabilization built into the body of the camera, so there’s no need to pay for it in the lenses.  Olympus sells a range of micro four thirds lenses right off their website, starting at around $300.  There’s a super wide angle lens (9mm to 18mm) that costs $700 which they claim is less than half the size and only 60% the weight of a full four thirds wide angle lens.  All the lenses on the Olympus website are M.ZUIKO brand.

The micro four thirds lenses available for the Panasonic Lumix G series come with the same name, the G series of lenses.  They start around $200 and come with Optical Image Stabilizer functionality.  Panasonic’s ultra wide angle (7-14 mm) micro four thirds lens costs $889.  7-14 mm in micro four thirds lenses converts to the equivalent of 14-38 mm in 35m  format.

OK, this is an easy list: the best micro four thirds cameras in descending order are:

1. The Olympus Pen E-PL1
2. The Panasonic Lumix DMC GF1

Top of the best micro four thirds cameras list is hands down, the Olympus EP-1.   Yes, there are newer versions of the Olympus Pen available but they are in different ways inferior to the original model.  Olympus was the first of the camera makers to come out with the new compact interchangeable lens cameras and since the trend seems to be the dumming down of newer models, it’s still the best.  Why?  It’s just as good as its Panasonic competitor but way more expensive.  Also things like an underwater housing are cheaper for the Olympus as well.  Sometimes it’s the little things that determine things like the best micro four thirds cameras.

Camera makers are reaching for the mass market of compact camera customers who might be looking to upgrade.  The best micro four thirds cameras are being bought from this end of the spectrum rather than by DSLR users looking to downgrade.  Therefore, with each new model, the camera actually gets simpler and has fewer features.  Or, in the case of the Lumix models out recently, the newer the camera the more likely it is that there will be a trendy feature (touch screen) that’s not actually useful at all for taking pictures.

Micro four thirds cameras are the industry’s solution for people who want better quality pictures in a small camera.  Compact camera owners who are considering make the move and stepping up to a DSLR camera are put off by two things:  size and complexity of use.  In fact, about 20% of compact camera owners have thought about upgrading to DSLR, according to a developer at Olympus.  The micro four thirds cameras were developed to suit the needs of that 20%.

Since micro four thirds cameras have no mirror, the distance between the lens and the sensor allows a much more compact shape and size than DSLRs.  The sensor is better quality (bigger) than compact cameras, but we keep the DSLR-like option have having interchangeable lenses.  This new style camera will have a great impact on the market, according to analysts.

Right now, compact camera owners outnumber DSLR camera owners by ten to one.  If the 20% of those compact owners who are considering upgrading choose micro four thirds cameras, the whole ball field changes and so do the rules. Sales of micro four thirds cameras is expected to cut into the sales of compact cameras, but not sales of DSLRs (also called Four Thirds cameras).