A development of the Four Thirds format originally developed by Olympus and then Panasonic, which keeps the same sensor size but changes the lens mount and lenses to allow smaller, hybrid cameras.
The sensor size is 17.3 x 13mm, which is smaller than the APS-C format used for most digital SLRs, but still many times larger than the sensors used in compact cameras. Technically, Micro Four Thirds cameras should not be able to match APS-C cameras at higher ISO settings, but in practice the differences are not always easy to spot.
A combination of good quality lenses and compact, efficient camera designs means that Micro Four Thirds hybrid cameras are seen to offer pretty much the same quality as digital SLRs.
Showing posts with label Micro Four Thirds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Micro Four Thirds. Show all posts
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Hybrid cameras | Neat, but digital viewing only
'Hybrids' are a new type of camera which use SLR-sized sensors but in a body designed like a compact. You get the advantages of a compact, including smaller size, a simpler mechanism and full-time live view, but with the image quality and photographic controls of a digital SLR.
The other key point about hybrids is that they have interchangeable lenses, which means they are now competing directly with digital SLRs, particularly at the lower-cost end of the market where buyers are perhaps upgrading from a digital compact. Using a hybrid is very much like using a compact.
Olympus and Panasonic were the first to launch hybrids, Olympus with its retro-themed 'Pen' series and Panasonic with its SLR-styled G-series cameras. Samsung's NX10 is the first hybrid to use an APS-C sized sensor (Olympus and Panasonic use the slightly smaller Micro Four Thirds format), but Sony has now launched its own NEX-3 and NEX-5 modes, which have the same 14.2-megapixel APS-C sensor used in some of its digital SLRs, but in a very much smaller body.
This picture of the Panasonic Lumix G2 with the lens removed shows the key difference between a hybrid and a D-SLR. Hybrid cameras don't use mirrors (that's the sensor you can see there), which means that the distance between the back of the lens and the sensor is shorter. As a result, they use different lenses and lens mounts, though manufacturers who make both D-SLRs and hybrids provide adaptors for using SLR lenses on hybrid cameras. It doesn't work the other way round, though - you can't use hybrid lenses on D-SLRs.
The only real drawback of hybrids is their electronic viewfinders. Digital SLRs have very bright, clear optical viewfinders which are far superior to even the best electronic viewfinders available today, and this is especially noticeable when focussing manually or shooting in especially bright or dim lighting. Some hybrids don't have viewfinders at all, relying solely on the LCD on the back of the camera, though it may be possible to attach an external viewfinder to the camera's accessory shoe.
The other key point about hybrids is that they have interchangeable lenses, which means they are now competing directly with digital SLRs, particularly at the lower-cost end of the market where buyers are perhaps upgrading from a digital compact. Using a hybrid is very much like using a compact.
Olympus and Panasonic were the first to launch hybrids, Olympus with its retro-themed 'Pen' series and Panasonic with its SLR-styled G-series cameras. Samsung's NX10 is the first hybrid to use an APS-C sized sensor (Olympus and Panasonic use the slightly smaller Micro Four Thirds format), but Sony has now launched its own NEX-3 and NEX-5 modes, which have the same 14.2-megapixel APS-C sensor used in some of its digital SLRs, but in a very much smaller body.
This picture of the Panasonic Lumix G2 with the lens removed shows the key difference between a hybrid and a D-SLR. Hybrid cameras don't use mirrors (that's the sensor you can see there), which means that the distance between the back of the lens and the sensor is shorter. As a result, they use different lenses and lens mounts, though manufacturers who make both D-SLRs and hybrids provide adaptors for using SLR lenses on hybrid cameras. It doesn't work the other way round, though - you can't use hybrid lenses on D-SLRs.
The only real drawback of hybrids is their electronic viewfinders. Digital SLRs have very bright, clear optical viewfinders which are far superior to even the best electronic viewfinders available today, and this is especially noticeable when focussing manually or shooting in especially bright or dim lighting. Some hybrids don't have viewfinders at all, relying solely on the LCD on the back of the camera, though it may be possible to attach an external viewfinder to the camera's accessory shoe.
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