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Olympus and Panasonic announce Micro Four Thirds
Last Update: 05 August 2008 03:09 PM
1 comment(s)
Author: Eric Cheng ( echeng )
Related Link: Micro Four Thirds @ DPReview
Today, Olympus and Panasonic announced a new mirrorless format based on Four Thirds. Sensors in the new system are the same size as they were in the original Four Thirds specification (18 x 13.5 mm), but Micro Four Thirds cameras will be considerably smaller due to the removal of the mirror. In addition, lenses for the new lens mount will also be smaller. The drawback is that without a mirror, optical viewfinders are not possible, and framing will have to done via Live View or electronic viewfinder. Micro Four Thirds is compatible with Four Thirds lenses through the use of an adapter.
This is particularly exciting for underwater shooters. A large sensor in a small package will allow us to maintain low noise in images while minimizing the size of a housed camera!
Just when I had convinced myself to buy an E-520 after the housing becomes available! A few questions:
1. When are these new cameras expected to be available?
2. As an Olympus C-8080 user, I’ve never understood the downsides of an electronic viewfinder. Can you explain why this would be an issue?
3. Although it probably doesn’t matter since I am gradually converting to fiber optics, would these cameras be able to sync an any shutter speed like the C-8080?Posted by rwe on 08/08 at 01:28 PM