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Fake news is a real scourge but half-truths are more insidious.

 

Every other day you get articles of photogs switching from FF to M43 all in the mould of man bites dog simply because the move from m43 to FF can never be news. Some are exceptionally talented, by focusing on the strengths of the system while steering clear of its weaknesses, they make a good case even though it’s not a balanced view. Bear in mind that these pros are paid to do this and their opinions are not entirely unbiased or independent.

 

So there’s another one of these articles very recently but the points for m43 are so stretched, it becomes misleading. Just to be clear, I like my m43 system and I still shoot with it.

 

List of misleading half-truths;

 

1. IBIS is so fantastic you can shoot handheld up to 3-5s exposure

 

I can never achieve this on my EM5, EM1 Mk2 IBIS will have to be significantly better for this to happen and I have my doubts. Also, 5s exposure at m43 7mm is nothing like 5s exposure at m43 45mm but of course they won’t tell you this. The m43 IBIS is certainly very effective and allows you to shoot at lower shutter-speeds to largely mitigate the weakness of the smaller sensor but this mostly only applies to stationary subjects and not at telephoto focal lengths.

 

2. Noise penalty can be cancelled out with faster Prime lenses

 

Yes but how much is that Olympus 25mm f1.2 Pro lens again? Is there a m43 12mm f1.0 lens out there to compete with say the Nikon 24mm f1.8G nevermind how much more you’ll have to pay for the m43 alternative? If you delve deeper and examine the T-stops of m43 lenses, it is even worse. I won't elaborate on color depth.

 

Let's not forget that FF is not devoid of fast Primes either.

 

3. FF lenses are heavy

 

Olympus 300mm f4.0 Pro is often stated that at 1,270gms, it is 1/3 the weight of DSLR 600mm equivalents. The Olympus is a 300mm lens that allows you an FOV of 600mm on the m43 sensor, it is NOT a 600mm lens. The Nikon 300mm f4.0 PF VR is also a 300mm lens and this weighs a mere 755gms. You can reach 630mm with a 1.4TC on an APS-C sensor with this Nikon lens, even though you’ll end up at f5.6 vs f4.0 on m43, the larger APS-C sensor cancels out the 1-stop advantage in aperture on m43. Olympus EM1 Mk2+300mm f4.0 Pro is 1,844gms vs Nikon D500+300mm PF VR+TC14 with 1,805gms, so which is heavier now?

 

For completeness, let’s look at the very wide end. Sony A7RII+FE12-24mm f4.0 is 1,190gms vs EM1 Mk2+7-14mm f2.8 Pro at 1,108gms. The FF Sony combo is a mere 82gms heavier but you get to go much wider by 2mm!

 

Overall, it is misleading for instance to compare m43 f2.8 lens with an FF f2.8 lens simply because you can't use that m4/3 lens on an FF body. The m43 f2.8 lens on an m43 body is essentially similar to an FF f5.6 lens on an FF body.

 

So even in the standard focal range nifty-fifty Prime lens, not only is the Olympus 25mm f1.2 Pro lens significantly more expensive than the premium Sony Zeiss badged FE55 f1.8, the m43 lens weighs in at 410gms vs 281gms for the Sony!

 

4. Comparing older gen FF sensor against latest m43 sensor

 

EM1 MK2 sensor noise compared against Canon 6D is just wrong, the Canon is from 2012, 4 years older camera and possibly much older sensor tech. The 6D is on a much lower price bracket as well.

 

Comparing the EM1 Mk2 AF vs the Canon 6D is even worse, the 6D is not even a sports oriented camera and hence not equipped with more sophisticated AF system. The correct comparison should be against the Nikon D500 but of course this will not happen because the half-truth then goes up in smoke.

 

From experience, shadow details and noise of m43 sensor cannot be equal to those from larger sensors. You have less latitude in m43 files, period.

 

In one of these misleading articles, the comment that took the proverbial cake for me was “Even at wildlife I can shoot at shutter-speed of 1/X instead of 1/Xx3 in case there are no moving subjects”. Wildlife that does not move, can you imagine that!?

 

The list above is by no means exhaustive.

 

All these cross format comparison articles that swamp cyberspace these days are downright misleading and does a disservice to the true attractiveness of the m43 system. Focus should be on the real pluses of m43, keep it real and you get to keep your loyal customers instead of attracting new users with half-truths which will result in disillusioned users over time that will forsake the m43 system.

 

Bottomline is to shoot with whatever that works for you. M43 is a great system, it has certain advantages but like every other system, there are also disadvantages and it is important to understand all these. Not easy to do unless you shoot across format and by “shooting”, it’s a lot more than just pointing at a subject and squeezing the shutter button.

 

Done