page_title: Micro Four Thirds system
section_title: Disadvantages of Micro Four Thirds compared to DSLRs
hierarchical_section_title: Micro Four Thirds system / Flange focal distance and crop factor / Disadvantages of Micro Four Thirds compared to DSLRs
caption_attribution_description: English: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 (US name) Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX80 (European name) Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 Mark II (Japanese name)
context_page_description: The Micro Four Thirds system is a standard released by Olympus 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, Panasonic, Sharp, and Xiaomi. MFT lenses are produced by Cosina Voigtländer, DJI, Kowa, Kodak, Mitakon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samyang, Sharp, Sigma, SLR Magic, Tamron, Tokina, Veydra, and Xiaomi, amongst others.
  MFT shares the original image sensor size and specification with the Four Thirds system, designed for DSLRs. Unlike Four Thirds, the MFT system design specification does not provide space for a mirror box and a pentaprism, which facilitates smaller body and lens designs via the shorter flange focal distance of 19.25mm. The short flange distance, when combined with an adapter of proper depth, allows MFT bodies to use almost any lens ever made for a camera with a flange distance larger than 19.25mm. 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.
context_section_description: The Four Thirds sensor (2.0× crop factor) is 32% smaller in area than Canon APS-C (1.6x crop factor), 39% smaller than Nikon/Sony APS-C (1.5x crop factor), and 75% smaller (i.e. one quarter of the area) than a full frame sensor (1.0× crop factor, 35 mm equivalent). This can mean lower image quality when all other variables are the same, including poorer color transitions and more noise at identical ISO settings, especially in low light, when compared with the larger sensors.
  Contrast-detection autofocus systems such as those used in Micro Four Thirds cameras were initially slower than the phase-detection systems used in DSLRs. Note that this disadvantage has mostly been eliminated, at least for static subjects; the Olympus OM-D E-M5 (2012) compares favorably with DSLRs in single AF. Contrast detection also tends to perform poorly when tracking moving subjects, though cameras with on-sensor phase detection autofocus, introduced in the Olympus OM-D E-M1 in 2013, can perform comparably to DSLRs in continuous AF mode. The Olympus OM-D E-M1X even uses technology trained by artificial intelligence in order to predict the area of interest and its behaviour.
  Due to the absence of a mirror and prism mechanism, there is no ability to use a through-the-lens optical viewfinder. A through-the-lens electronic viewfinder, an attachable not-through-the-lens optical viewfinder (similar to a rangefinder or TLR), or the universally-supplied LCD screen must be used instead.
  Theoretically, changing lenses can expose the sensor to more dust in a "mirrorless" camera design, compared to DSLRs that have both a mirror and a closed shutter protecting the sensor.  Mirrorless cameras have dust-removal systems that try to minimize this problem, and in practice they experience fewer dust problems than a DSLR. Many micro-four third users report never having found dust on the sensor at all.
  A larger crop factor (2× multiplier, versus 1.5× or 1.6× on APS-C) means greater depth-of-field for the same equivalent field of view and f/stop when compared with APS-C and especially full frame cameras. This can be a disadvantage when a photographer wants to blur a background, such as when shooting portraits.
  Some Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses are very small, which can result in relatively poor ergonomics for users with larger hands. This applies especially to handling, the depth of the right-hand grip, and the size and placement of buttons and dials.
  Micro Four Thirds lenses can be used on 35mm equivalent *(full-frame) and APS-C cameras but will be susceptible to lens vignetting.
caption: Rangefinder-styled Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX80/DMC-GX85/GX7 Mark II (2016)
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