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.
Micro Four Third time’s the charm?
There aren’t a lot of details about the new camera yet, although 43Rumors reports that it’s based on Android and will have a 4K resolution. Images posted to Weibo do show multiple views around the camera and there doesn’t appear to be the usual touchscreen LCD typically associated with Android devices. So, exactly how you’re supposed to control it or if you even can get a proper Android UI interface to the camera is unknown.
There are some things we can pick out from the images though. For a start, it looks like it sports a pair of 1/4-20″ threaded sockets. One underneath and one on the side, allowing for either horizontal or vertical shooting. It also looks to have an HDMI output, judging by the view on the big TV in the image above. Of course, there’s a Type-C USB socket, which appears to offer all of the usual USB connectivity, according to the USB hub that’s plugged into it – and what looks like a UVC logo on the front of the camera.
What, no screen?
On the rear of the unit where we’d expect to see a large touchscreen display, we see what appears to be a second USB-C socket. Looking at the symbol next to it, it appears this one may be for power. But there is also an obvius battery on there. I’m not entirely sure what this battery is, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a Canon LP-E6. That seems to be the most common battery used by third parties besides NPF and it looks way too short to be an NPF battery.
There are two sockets at the top left on the back panel, with one slightly smaller than the other. The lower of the two looks like a standard 3.5mm socket. This is presumably either for a microphone or a pair of monitoring headphones. The one above it, however, looks like a 2.5mm socket. Your guess is as good as mine on what this one’s for. Perhaps there’s a wired remote control trigger? Panasonic – also in the Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group – uses 2.5mm sockets on many of their cameras for their wired remote triggers, so it’s at least plausible.
Price and Availability
The camera has not yet been officially announced by Yongnuo, although 43Rumors believes it will cost less than the YN455, which was around $600. The last two Yongnuo cameras featuring Micro Four Thirds sensors weren’t officially available outside of China, although the YN455 pops up on auction sites occasionally. Whether or not this one will see a global release or will also be limited to China is currently unknown.
[via 43Rumors]
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