Everything You Need to Know About Micro Four Thirds

As an early adopter for Micro Four Thirds, I’ve blogged about it came out in 2009. This post is a compilation of my posts and thoughts, and is meant to be a starting resource for everything and anything you need to know about the Micro Four Thirds system.

The world of photography is complex and always evolving, but with a core understanding of Micro Four Thirds (and other sensors), it will help you make decisions on which cameras and systems in invest in for the future.

The topics we’ll discuss are below. This resource is created for a beginner, so feel free to skip ahead to the section of your choice.

• Definitions – What is Micro Four Thirds?
• Why is it called Micro Four Thirds?
• Which cameras are Micro Four Thirds?
• Comparison to other systems – Micro Four Thirds vs APS-C vs Full Frame
• What are the advantages to Micro Four Thirds?
• What are the disadvantages to Micro Four Thirds?
• What Micro Four Thirds Lenses Should I Buy?
• µ43 Statistics and Trends

What is Micro Four Thirds?

Micro Four Thirds is a camera system released in 2008 by Olympus and Panasonic.

On the internet, you’ll also see to it referred to, or abbreviated as, MFT, m43, µ43, Micro 4/3, etc.

Why is it called Micro Four Thirds?

According to a Senior Product Manager at Olympus, “Micro Four Thirds refers both to the size of the image sensor and the aspect ratio.”

Below is a comparison of different sensor sizes:

Which cameras are Micro Four Thirds?

Panasonic, OM System (Formerly Olympus) and Blackmagic are the most popular amongst the format, though a few other manufacturers have produced cameras; DJI, JVC, Sharp, Xiaomi, Kodak and Yi.

The flagship camera for Panasonic is their GH series, with the latest in the lineup being the Panasonic GH6. A popular sub $2000 camera for filmmakers and video production companies.

Olympus has seen its struggles, they’ve recently been acquired and have rebranded as OM System. As a fan of their flagship OM-D line, I feel as though Olympus has struggled to find a niche in photography. If I’d point in one direction, I’d say that have a strong fan base amongst wildlife and bird photographers. Their hand picked “Olympus Explorers” program features mostly landscape and wildlife photographers.

Comparison to other systems – Micro Four Thirds vs APS-C vs Full Frame

Crop sensor cameras (m43 and APS-C) tend (though not always) to be a cheaper entry point into photography and thus dominate the camera market. Canon, Nikon and Sony, who own the majority of the market share, have both APS-C and full frame cameras available.

My #1 resource for comparisons is my in-depth post on Full Frame vs Micro Four Thirds. I recommend starting there, and I’ll provide a by answering the following two questions below:

What are the advantages of Micro Four Thirds cameras?

Because of the smaller sensor, this allows for a smaller camera and lens builds. Though note that Sony’s successful foray into the full frame mirrorless has led to an evolution of smaller full frame cameras. But overall, if you compare a Micro Four Thirds and Full Frame camera with a lens of the equivalent focal length and light gathering capability, the Micro Four Thirds camera will be smaller:

Micro Four Thirds also produces more pancake lenses than their full frame counterpart.

Another advantage (but also disadvantage) is that it’s easier to achieve a deeper depth of field.

I use both formats, I tend to use my Micro Four Thirds cameras for video, real estate photography and travel. I use full frame for professional portraiture, the main side of my business.

What are the disadvantages of Micro Four Thirds?

Low Light Performance – Compared to same generation full frame sensors are about 2-stops better in low light. For example; ISO200 on Micro Four Thirds would like ISO800 on a full frame camera.

Background Blur / Bokeh – I’ve mentioned this many times on this blog, a Micro Four Thirds camera can certainly blur the background for portraits, here’s an example with my Panasonic-Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f1.2:

But you can blur the background a little more on full frame, here’s the Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f0.95:

Now that is quite a speciality lens, uncommon in most photographers bags. But look at the razor thin depth of field, and the separation from both the foreground and background. In any case, your average kit lens on a full frame camera will still blur the background a little more than your average kit lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera.

What Micro Four Thirds Lenses Should I Buy?

Lenses are such a personal thing, what’s perfect for a wildlife photographer is foreign to a street photographer. I’ve written plenty of lens guides for Micro Four Thirds, I’d start with my Ultimate Guide and Sharpest Lenses Guides:

• My Ultimate Guide to the Best Lenses for Micro Four Thirds: https://1kcreatives.com/best-micro-four-thirds-lenses-the-ultimate-guide/
• Sharpest µ43 Lenses: https://1kcreatives.com/the-10-sharpest-lenses-for-micro-four-thirds/
• Good µ43 budget Lenses: https://1kcreatives.com/best-lenses-under-500-micro-four-thirds/

That will provide a few tips on what to look for when buying a lens. From there, you can start to branch off to my more niche guides depending on your personal preferences. Examples include wide angle lenses, pancake lenses, and video lenses.

Another consideration is whether you want to adapt lenses, such as my personal faves, Canon FD Lenses.

If you only wanted to buy one or two really, really, good lenses, I’d read about the Panasonic-Leica 10-25mm f1.7 and Panasonic-Leica 25-50mm f1.7.

µ43 Statistics and Trends

• Micro Four Thirds is more popular internationally vs the US. A lot of theories why, some suggest America’s “bigger is better” ethos. For the first few years, people shrugged at the idea of mirrorless cameras, instead continuing to purchase larger DSLRs. It could also because of the advertising we see, Canon and Nikon advertise heavily in the United States, Canon sponsors the NFL, the NY Yankees, etc. 2020 data indicates that Micro Four Thirds was the best selling mount in Japan, bringing it’s market share in Japan to 21.7%.
• 22.6% of Top YouTubers are using the Panasonic GH5, G9 or G85 series cameras.
• Olympus (now OM System) continues to struggle, posting a 44.7 Billion Yen Loss (~$400 Million USD) according to their latest financial reports (2021), consistent losses in their financials is a core reason they sold their imaging business.
• Panasonic, the company as a whole is well according to their latest financial reports (2021), posting a +226 Billion Yen Net Income in 2020, and +165 Billion Yen in 2021. They attribute the Year Over Year decrease due to one time gains acquired in 2020. They expect all segments to be profitable in FY2022. The success of the imaging division is harder to pinpoint, as it isn’t disclosed in the financial reports, and is grouped among a bigger division (Entertainment & Communication Business Division).
• It will be interesting to see how the imaging division shakes out with the seemingly impending demise of Olympus / OM System. Panasonic has already branched out efforts into full frame with the L-Mount Lens partnership.
• Canon still leads overall market share, with Sony and Panasonic gaining market share. Nikon has been losing market share, and Fuji has been up and down:

Anything else you want to know? Ask in the comments below!