Micro Four Thirds system

The Micro Four Thirds system (MFT or M4/3 or M43) (マイクロフォーサーズシステム, Maikuro Fō Sāzu Shisutemu) is a standard released by Olympus Imaging Corporation and Panasonic in 2008,[1] for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses.

[2] Camera bodies are available from Blackmagic, DJI, JVC, Kodak, Olympus, OM System, Panasonic, Sharp, Logitech Mevo and Xiaomi.

MFT lenses are produced by Cosina Voigtländer, Kowa, Kodak, Mitakon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samyang, Sharp, Sigma, SLR Magic, Tamron, Tokina, TTArtisan, Veydra, Xiaomi, Laowa, Yongnuo, Zonlai, Lensbaby, Venus Optics and 7artisans amongst others.

However, unlike Four Thirds, the MFT system design specification does not require lens telecentricity, a parameter which accommodated for the inaccurate sensitivity to off-angle light due to the geometry of the photodetectors of contemporary image sensors.

Later improvements in manufacturing capabilities enabled the production of sensors with a lower stack height, improving sensitivity to off-angle light, eliminating the necessity of telecentricity and decreasing the distance from the image sensor at which a lens's rear element could be positioned without compromising light detection.

[3] Such a lens, however, would eliminate the room necessary to accommodate the mirror box of the single-lens reflex camera design, and would be incompatible with SLR Four Thirds bodies.

Compared to most digital SLRs, the Micro Four Thirds system (body and lenses) is smaller and lighter.

Although some current models, such as the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, feature a hybrid phase-detect/contrast detect system, Panasonic Lumix cameras continued to use a contrast-based system called DFD (Depth from Defocus) until the release of the G9 II in 2023.

Electrically, MFT uses an 11-contact connector between lens and camera, adding to the nine contacts in the Four Thirds system design specification.

Olympus claims full backward compatibility for many of its existing Four Thirds lenses on MFT bodies, using a purpose built adapter with both mechanical and electrical interfaces.

The use of separate PDAF sensors has been favored in DSLR systems because of mirror box and pentaprism design, along with better performance for fast-moving subjects.

Four Thirds DSLR cameras designed by Olympus and Panasonic initially used exclusively PDAF focusing systems.

As a result, newer Four Thirds system lenses were designed both for PDAF and contrast focus.

The much shorter flange focal distance enabled by the removal of the mirror allows normal and wide angle lenses to be significantly smaller because they do not have to use strongly retrofocal designs.

However, a further aspect of image resolution is limitation by optical aberration, which can be compensated the better the smaller the focal lengths of a lens is.

These EVF's not only slip into the accessory hotshoe, but also plug into a dedicated proprietary port for power and communication with Olympus cameras only.

Due to the short native flange distance of the Micro Four Thirds System, the usage of adapted lenses from practically all formats has become widely popular.

Therefore, most adapted glass from the 35mm film era and current DSLR lineups provide effective fields of view varying from normal to extreme telephoto.

Wide angles are generally not practical for adapted use from both an image quality and value point of view.

Using older adapted lenses on Micro Four Thirds sometimes leads to a slight losses in image quality.

Overall, the ability to use adapted lenses gives Micro Four Thirds a great advantage in overall versatility and the practice has gained a somewhat cult following.

As of June 2012[update], Olympus, Panasonic, Cosina Voigtländer, Carl Zeiss AG, Jos.

The first Micro Four Thirds system camera was Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, which was launched in Japan in October 2008.

Blackmagic Design sells cameras made for cinematography, some of which use the MFT lens mount.

In 2015, DJI released the Zenmuse X5 and X5R, which are gimbal-mounted cameras with a MFT lens mount, as optional upgrades for its Inspire drone line.

[40] Because the flange focal distance of Micro Four Thirds cameras are shorter than DSLRs, most lenses are smaller and cheaper.

Panasonic called the combination of lens and body stabilization "Dual IS," and this function won an award of the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) in the category Photo Innovation 2016–2017.

Panasonic claims that OIS is more accurate because the stabilization system can be designed for the particular optical characteristics of each lens.

[45] On July 27, 2010, Panasonic announced the development of a three-dimensional optic solution for the Micro Four Thirds system.

A specially designed lens allows it to capture stereo images compatible with VIERA 3D-TV-sets and Blu-ray 3D Disc Players.