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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, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses. 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.
The specifications of the MFT system inherit the original sensor format of the Four Thirds system, designed for DSLRs. 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. 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.
Micro Four Thirds reduced the specified flange focal distance from 38.67mm to 19.25mm. This reduction facilitates smaller body and lens designs, and enables the use of adapters to fit almost any lens ever made for a camera with a flange distance larger than 19.25mm to a MFT camera body. Still-camera lenses produced by Canon, Leica, Minolta, Nikon, Pentax and Zeiss have all been successfully adapted for MFT use, as well as lenses produced for cinema, e.g., PL mount or C mount.
For comparison of the original Four Thirds with competing DSLR system see Four Thirds system#Advantages, disadvantages and other considerations
Compared to inexpensive digital compact cameras and many bridge cameras, MFT cameras have better, larger sensors, and interchangeable lenses. There are many lenses available. On top of this, a large number of other lenses (even from the analogue film era) can be fitted using an adapter. Different lenses yield greater creative possibilities. However, Micro Four Thirds cameras also tend to be slightly larger, heavier and more expensive than compact cameras.
Compared to most digital SLRs, the Micro Four Thirds system (body and lenses) is smaller and lighter. However, their sensors are smaller than full-frame or even APS-C systems. The small lenses do not allow the noise depth-of-field tradeoffs of larger lenses in other systems. Many, but not all Micro Four Thirds cameras use an electronic viewfinder. Resolutions and refresh speeds on these EVF displays were originally compared negatively to optical viewfinders, but today's EVF systems are faster, brighter and much higher resolution than the original displays. Original Micro Four Thirds cameras used a contrast-detection autofocus system, slower than the phase-detect autofocus that is standard on DSLRs. To this day, most Micro Four Thirds cameras continue to use a contrast-based focusing system. 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. Both systems today provide focusing speeds to rival or even surpass many current DSLRs.
The image sensor of Four Thirds and MFT measures 18 mm × 13.5 mm (22.5 mm diagonal), with an imaging area of 17.3 mm × 13.0 mm (21.63 mm diagonal), comparable to the frame size of 110 film. Its area, ca. 220 mm2, is approximately 30% less than the APS-C sensors used in other manufacturers' DSLRs; it is around 9 times larger than the 1/2.3" sensors typically used in compact digital cameras.
The Four Thirds system uses a 4:3 image aspect ratio, like compact digital cameras. In comparison, DSLRs usually adhere to the 3:2 aspect ratio of the traditional 35 mm format. Thus, "Four Thirds" refers to both the size and the aspect ratio of the sensor. However, the chip diagonal is shorter than 4/3 of an inch; the 4/3 inch designation for this size of sensor dates back to the 1950s and vidicon tubes, when the external diameter of the camera tube was measured, not the active area.
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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, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses. 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.
The specifications of the MFT system inherit the original sensor format of the Four Thirds system, designed for DSLRs. 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. 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.
Micro Four Thirds reduced the specified flange focal distance from 38.67mm to 19.25mm. This reduction facilitates smaller body and lens designs, and enables the use of adapters to fit almost any lens ever made for a camera with a flange distance larger than 19.25mm to a MFT camera body. Still-camera lenses produced by Canon, Leica, Minolta, Nikon, Pentax and Zeiss have all been successfully adapted for MFT use, as well as lenses produced for cinema, e.g., PL mount or C mount.
For comparison of the original Four Thirds with competing DSLR system see Four Thirds system#Advantages, disadvantages and other considerations
Compared to inexpensive digital compact cameras and many bridge cameras, MFT cameras have better, larger sensors, and interchangeable lenses. There are many lenses available. On top of this, a large number of other lenses (even from the analogue film era) can be fitted using an adapter. Different lenses yield greater creative possibilities. However, Micro Four Thirds cameras also tend to be slightly larger, heavier and more expensive than compact cameras.
Compared to most digital SLRs, the Micro Four Thirds system (body and lenses) is smaller and lighter. However, their sensors are smaller than full-frame or even APS-C systems. The small lenses do not allow the noise depth-of-field tradeoffs of larger lenses in other systems. Many, but not all Micro Four Thirds cameras use an electronic viewfinder. Resolutions and refresh speeds on these EVF displays were originally compared negatively to optical viewfinders, but today's EVF systems are faster, brighter and much higher resolution than the original displays. Original Micro Four Thirds cameras used a contrast-detection autofocus system, slower than the phase-detect autofocus that is standard on DSLRs. To this day, most Micro Four Thirds cameras continue to use a contrast-based focusing system. 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. Both systems today provide focusing speeds to rival or even surpass many current DSLRs.
The image sensor of Four Thirds and MFT measures 18 mm × 13.5 mm (22.5 mm diagonal), with an imaging area of 17.3 mm × 13.0 mm (21.63 mm diagonal), comparable to the frame size of 110 film. Its area, ca. 220 mm2, is approximately 30% less than the APS-C sensors used in other manufacturers' DSLRs; it is around 9 times larger than the 1/2.3" sensors typically used in compact digital cameras.
The Four Thirds system uses a 4:3 image aspect ratio, like compact digital cameras. In comparison, DSLRs usually adhere to the 3:2 aspect ratio of the traditional 35 mm format. Thus, "Four Thirds" refers to both the size and the aspect ratio of the sensor. However, the chip diagonal is shorter than 4/3 of an inch; the 4/3 inch designation for this size of sensor dates back to the 1950s and vidicon tubes, when the external diameter of the camera tube was measured, not the active area.