Photokina 2008: The Four-Thirds Solution

Way back in the mists of time, I used to be the lead editor for Amazon's Photo store (when 4-megapixel point-and-shoots were the top of the line and priced at about $600), but I've taken my eye of the category in recent years as I've focused on other areas. Thusly, after being asked to cover Photokina for EndUser this week, I had to do a bit of cramming after seeing a slew of announcements regarding this new and emerging standard.

If you're not familiar with it, Four Thirds will essentially standardize lens mounts, sensor size, and communication protocols between lens and camera and allow digital cameras from multiple manufacturers to use the same interchangeable lenses, which are designed specifically for use with digital cameras. And with smaller CCD sensors, lenses can also be made smaller, enabling more compact cameras to be able to utilize interchangeable lenses as more bulkier DSLRs currently do.

One of the most intriguing items from the week was the Olympus announcement that it's developing its first Micro Four Thirds cameras along with the unveiling of its cooly hip'n'retro prototype (via DCResource):

Additionally, Olympus said that will also be developing a Four Thirds DSLR that, according to CNet's Crave, will "inherit the 11-point twin-cross sensor AF system and flip-and-twist LCD from the E-3, though the body will be smaller, and Olympus claims the sensor-shift image stabilizer will correct up to 5 stops. It will also have improved weather sealing and a maximum shutter speed of 1/8,000 second."

And while it was initially unveiled via press release before Photokina, Panasonic's more SLR-like/Four Thirds-based G1 got officially priced at $800 with a bundled 14-45mm lens. The Consumer Reports Electronics blog has a good rundown of its features, including this tidbit:

To make this camera as versatile as an SLR, Panasonic will offer a system of interchangeable lenses. There will also be a lens mount adapter that lets you tap into the array of existing Four Thirds lenses designed for SLRs like the Olympus E-420 or Panasonic Lumix L10. The Lumix G1 will also offer a myriad of features and functions found on SLRs, such as RAW-file capture, complete manual settings, custom white balance settings and others.

Electronista also reported that an HD video version that was demonstrated at Photokina will ship next spring, and it "will ship along with a special lens just for video capture; the lens motor will be quieted to avoid affecting video capture and will also have its own controls."

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Comments

[Chaz on September 28, 2008 at 10:58 PM]

I like a good cross market standard. This is nice.