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The bigger, the better, right? Well, not always. Photographer Robin Wong shares his take on why there is quite a bit of merit in smaller cameras and lenses. In fact, if you look at Robin’s Youtube channel, it is almost dedicated to small cameras.
And while Robin shoots a little bit of street photography, where small cameras shine, the bulk of his portfolio is Events, Stage, Wedding, and Food photography. So I got curious.
For those who haven’t followed Alice’s story over the last couple of years, Alice is an AI-powered Micro Four Thirds camera that works with your smartphone. The smartphone is used both as the display for the camera as well as powering its AI features. It was announced in September 2020 and later came to Indiegogo. While shipping was expected to begin in the Summer of 2021, backers are still waiting to receive their cameras to this day.
Photographer and YouTuber Jimmy Cheng, also known as RED35, travelled to visit the Alice HQ to take a hands-on look at the camera and see what it could do. It’s long overdue, and past examples shown off in campaigns are believed to have been non-functional concept prototypes. Now, though, it looks like it can finally do all (or at least much) of what it promised.
In 2019, Yongnuo announced their first (sort-of) Micro Four Thirds camera, the YN450, a year before they joined the Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group. It was an odd duck, with a Micro Four Thirds sensor but a Canon EF lens mount. It wasn’t easily available outside of China, but the few who managed to get their hands on one were definitely not impressed. In 2021, they announced another, the YN455. This one actually had a Micro Four Thirds lens mount, although it still seems to have been limited to a China-only release.
Now, it looks like the company is trying again with what looks like an Android-powered Micro Four Thirds studio camera for live streaming. The new camera has not yet been officially announced, although it’s said to be called the YN433 and apparently appeared at a recent trade show somewhere. Some images of the new camera were posted to Chinese social media website, Weibo, giving us views from all around.
A recent interview published in Nikkei Business with Sony Vice Chairman Shigeki Ishizuka reveals that Sony once considered joining the Micro Four Thirds camera system. Back in 2007, three years before the Sony E mount was first released in the Sony NEX-3, he says Sony was invited to team up with the pair and join the MFT system.
Back then, the Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group was headed up by Panasonic and Olympus (now OM System). Since that time, they’ve also added Yongnuo, Venus Optics (Laowa) and DJI, amongst others. It sure makes you wonder how the camera landscape would look today had Sony decided to take the plunge.
In an interview with PhotoTrend at CP+, Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki says that the company doesn’t plan to develop any new Micro Four Thirds lenses. He claims that “demand for this format is decreasing very sharply”. This is the first manufacturer to publicly come out and abandon the Micro Four Thirds format that Panasonic and OM System both appear to be pushing with vigour.
The statement confirming the decision not to develop any new MFT lenses doesn’t come as much of a surprise – given that Sigma hasn’t actually developed any before. Sure, they have three MFT lenses in the lineup, but they’re not really MFT lenses. They’re APS-C lenses with MFT mounts on the end of them in a set set of focal lengths that’s pretty awkward for the 2x crop of Micro Four Thirds.
In a recent interview with DPReview, Yosuke Yamane, Vice President of Panasonic’s Entertainment and Communication business and director of its imaging business unit, spoke about a number of topics in Panasonic’s future. It covers, amongst others, things such as stills vs video, phase-detect autofocus and the role that AI will play in the future of photography. But what was particularly interesting to me was how he spoke about Micro Four Thirds.
What made it interesting to me is the fact that, like many people reading this, I’m a Micro Four Thirds shooter. Granted, I only use MFT for video, but how he describes it – and presumably how Panasonic sees it – is a little different. MFT does offer some obvious benefits for photographers due to its diminutive stature, but that small size also presents other implications. In essence, he described it as a gateway to larger systems.
Venus Optics has announced the new Laowa 6mm f/2 Zero-D lens, the widest rectilinear lens available for Micro Four Thirds. It’s essentially a photography version of the Laowa 6mm T2.1 cine lens announced back in February. It uses the same optical makeup but in a more handheld-friendly package. And while this one lacks the 0.8 MOD gears of its cinema counterpart, it does feature electrical contacts to pass EXIF data to the camera body.
The tiny 188g lens offers a massive 121.9° field of view with close-to-zero distortion, making it ideal for wide vistas, interior and exterior architecture and astrophotography, thanks to its large f/2 aperture. And with a 9cm minimum focus distance, this lens can let you get some very unusual and interesting compositions.
Meike has announced a new 25mm f/0.95 lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras. It’s a manual focus lens, which means it’s coming in Canon RF mount as well as Canon EF-M, Fuji X, Nikon Z, Sony E and Micro Four Thirds. This isn’t the first 25mm f/0.95 lens on the market, but it is Meike’s first at this focal length and aperture, which should keep Meike lens fans happy.
Being an APS-C lens, it offers a field of view similar to 37.5mm on full-frame. When used on MFT cameras, it’s equivalent to 50mm on full-frame. It has a 13-blade aperture for as round a bokeh as possible with 11 elements in 9 groups and a minimum focus distance of only 25cm. The Sony E mount version has already been released, with the others coming later in December.
As drones go, the XDynamics Evolve 2 drone sits in an interesting place. It’s an entry-level professional cinematic drone that’s above the likes of the DJI Mavic 3 (even the Mavic 3 Cine) and the Autel Evo II Pro but a hair below the DJI Inspire 2. It’s aimed primarily toward hybrid shooters who use mirrorless cameras on the ground for both stills and video and want to get the same or similar quality of photos and footage from the air.
It comes with a price tag to match, but it does feature an interchangeable lens gimbal-stabilised Micro Four Thirds camera, giving you a lot more filming and photography options than most drones below this price point. And if you’re already a Micro Four Thirds shooter, it can use the lenses you already own. But does the Evolve 2 live up to expectations? Let’s find out…
Meike has announced their new 50mm f/0.95 manual focus lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras. It’s available in five different mounts including Sony E, Fuji X, Canon EF-M, Nikon Z and Micro Four Thirds. With a maximum aperture of f/0.95, it joins the wave of low budget ultra-wide aperture lenses being released lately, and it’s very competitively priced at only $249.
It’s not quite the cheapest of the bunch – that honour goes to TTArtisan at $218 – but when compared to much of the 50mm f/0.95 and similar competition, it’s still a very low price point. The only question is how well it holds up to the competition.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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