JVC (news via Olympus Japan) officially joined Micro Four Thirds! And they also said they will show a new 4K camera (with MFT mount) at the NABshow in Las Vegas! Info at jvckenwood.co.jp. There are no images or specs of the camera yet! Let me know if you can find them…thanks 🙂
This is again a great new for the MFT system!!!
85 Responses
This is great news. There is no stopping this format now. Precisely because of it’s vendor independence for both bodies and lenses. The only thing we are missing is Sigma and other lens manufacturers investing real R&D to great native MFT lenses that also deliver AF. With the growth of the MFT system the economic incentive will be there.
Yes, JVC was the tipping point. All formats waited, hoping upon hope that JVC would jump in and support them. When their long history of profitability in the SLR world and the digital camera world, this makes for an unbeatable victory for micro 4/3. Look out Nikon, Sony, Canon, there is no way you can withstand the mighty market power of JVC.
I know we have been declaring the death of the DSLR for the last six years, but this time we really mean it.
What long history in SLR world???
quite times at Nikon rumors?
LOL
The time has come for a crusade! To teach the infidels the virtues of the one and only true m43 format!! /s
@ronin, please `/s` at the end when you employ sarcasm.
Chill out man, this isn’t a competition, your fabulous APS-C/FF camera won’t stop working and neither will its lenses disappear, don’t let the rise of mirrorless frighten you. The success of m4/3 shouldn’t take away from your enjoyment of whatever camera you currently have so stop wasting your life coming here to troll, this topic doesn’t concern you.
Sooner or later you’ll have to acknowledge the fact that mirrors, prisms and overall moving parts are going to become obsolete in the age of digital photography, if you didn’t see that coming 10 or more years ago then you’re as naive as a newborn. Mirrorless was gonna happen sooner or later regardless of how much trolling you spread around the web. m4/3 is the most widely supported mount (I don’t see many companies besides canon doing canon cameras, same for nikon, sony, fuji, etc…) and the mirrorless system with most diverse lens catalog currently available, if you feel threatened by this for some delusional reason then write to Canikony and tell them to do something about it, coming here won’t change anything nor will it benefit you in any way.
Mirrors are already obsolete; however, m43 is no competition because it has the worst price/quality ratio in the entire industry. It also has the dumbest supporters.
Sorry, you forgot: m43 has the worst quality in the industry.
Good. I appove it.
Gee thanks !
I was afraid you won’t approve it, and then everything m4/3 would just go down in flames…
lol
Good news. JVC have always been innovative with the small camcorder format so I think they will bring out an interesting new m43 camera.
Nice. That may even bring back (Konica-) Minolta lenses for system cameras…
Whatever the relationship between KM and JVC may be, KM was already rumored (as I remember it, it was more than just a rumor) to be working on some M43 lenses. They’re taking an awful long time to come up with an official announcement though.
It’s looking like the start of a universal standard mount, this M43, Panasonic, Olympus, Kodak, Blackmagic, and now JVC. Anyone still want to make mirrorless cameras would be silly not not jump on board, and have instant access to so many nice lenses for their cameras. Sigma may be next, if it still want to be relevant in camera making. And Ricoh-Pentax, if it still want its system camera business to survive.
This is how the small guys beat the once dominant IBM in the PC business, by adopting common standards (ATX, ISA, …) and thus with the huge volume of interchangeable accessories, parts, services and support so affordable, easy and accessible. Commercial forces then take care of the rest. Canon and Nikon can stay on the sidelines with the DSLRs.
Good points. It looks like the mounts of the future will be MFT and Sony’s E mount for larger-sensor cameras. Users of all types will have the choice of picking either superior image quality or better portability, but the mirrorless future is slowly beginning to come to fruition.
E mount? Sony all but announced that the E mount has been abandoned in favor of their new EF mount.
Sony’s new full-frame cameras use the same mount, the E mount. However, both E lenses and FE lenses use the same mount. The difference is that the E lenses cover an APS-C image circle while the FE lenses cover a 35mm image circle. So same mount really, but two categories of lenses.
Just like Canon and Nikon really two formats each with a common mount.
True. But the difference is that Sony’s E mount was designed for mirrorless and is much more efficient in terms of physical space.
It’s just too bad that the PeeSea business settled for such a POS OS, enriching the scabrous thieves at MS.
Oh dear, the only thing that makes me think you aren’t 13 years old is that you didn’t write M|cr0$0f7 IZ DA SUX BALLZ.
PeeSea, wtf, grow up.
Jeeze, I didn’t think of that! Thanks! 😛
Apple fanbois, please stop it. You do not know what you are talking about. TL;DR version: at the time when it was relevant, MS was the most generous of the “scabrous thieves”; others were, imagine that, even worse (including Apple!).
Would most MFT lenses cover the Super 35 image circle in a statisfactory way?
I think using the physical M43 mount doesn’t prevent one from using a bit larger sensor and develop a new line of lenses. Not sure about that though – they might just do what BlackMagic is doing.
BM uses Super 16 on MFT mount, which is actually SMALLER than the native MFT sensor.
Quite big difference!
Wow! That came out of nowhere. Great news!
M4/3 is looking better and better.
I love that today is not 1-st of April !
Fun fact. For several decades til 2007, the Panasonic was majority stakeholder of the JVC.
Ok…so this is official …4/3 Rumors has to be splint into two sites:
4/3 Photography Rumors
4/3 Video Rumors
🙂
Nah. Video evolves slower. We have now the flush of news only because the 4K is still hot.
I dont agree. MFT is born in the meltingpot age of video&photo. I am not a videogrpaher but the video part is interesting (except for the the ridiculous demanding hobbyists who demand prograde video specs, pathetic imho). I prefer to to see it all in one site. But to a certain point I can understand you , i think…
Hey.. I only shoot stills…its annoying to have to sort thru all of the video stuff.
I have a point. Thanks for acknowledging that!!!!
Why is there always someone out there wanting to split m4/3 related forums and websites ? This is ONE system, get over that outdated bipolar/canikon mentality.
why so angry?
good news for new m43 system and its video fans!
FYI …on other forum I found interesting link which cameras Hollywood uses
http://nofilmschool.com/2014/01/which-cameras-were-used-on-the-oscar-nominated-films-of-2014/
Yeah. And have you seen the budgets of the movies this days?
They can probably cut every frame in diamonds, and there would be still spare change left.
The way they structure their business, it appears as if costs simply do not matter to them. Or they are still in the race who’s movie is more expensive.
People thought that CGI would brings the costs down. A touch of Hollywood… and the average cost of a movies scene with only CGI in it is close to a million per minute.
Crazy. Crazy and unsustainable.
CGI is cheap enough for tv productions since a decade or two. The problem is that movies demand the the latest top of the line CGI(sonce the public is very spoiled), thats why.
I’m actually fine with the HDTV level of quality. Stargate Universe and Almost Human are full of good CGI – and broke no banks. That, coming on heels of the research that most, at normal viewing distances, can’t tell the difference between 720p and 1080p.
recent years ..I have no spare time to watch a movies …so their milion$ budgets are totaly out of me …
anyway I hope the M43 video consorcium will be succesfull in local tv shows, reportage, outdoor & sport video work, travel agencies martketing etc …maybe indie movies … cross finger for for m43 !
What a silly statement. There are thousands of movies made every year. Most on a tight budget. A couple of Hollywood blockbusters are not representative for the global or even the US movie producing industry.
Great News! Micro Four Thirds is THE standard =)
This might be a pic: http://cinescopophilia.com/three-4k-cameras-from-jvc-a-mini-compact-and-a-shoulder-mounted-pl-mount-camera/
It says something about a Super35 4K sensor there, as well. That would be lame if the JVC camera had vignetting or needed cropping if using anything other than JVC lenses.
Unless this is a new type of m4/3 lens that covers S35 format but uses the m4/3 lens mount.
3 Sigma lenses should cover the image circle.
It could use mft for video with a cropped region of the sensor and then use the full sensor for still photos with APSC sized lenses. This would get you say 16MP stills and 4K video without cropping the FOV of either lens type. I don’t know if people would want to change lenses to switch from film to stills.
M43 is looking more and more like… two different things:
1) 3rd tier still cameras – by now, they have lost
2) highly hyped video cameras – how much real good is in those? Where is the market demand? How many are willing to hang about with rigs and lights?
Well, we’ll see what happens with 2).
What is 3rd tier is your brain capacity. Show me any other mirrorless system with this many manufacturers backing it up, body and lens-wise, I dare you. How many companies are behind Sony and their E/EF mount ? How many are behind Fuji ? or Nikon, or Canon ? Are you starting to see a pattern here or is your troll brain too small to recognize it ?
M4/3 has this many companies behind it:
Olympus
Panasonic
Kodak
Blackmagic
JVC
Voightlander
Samyang
Sigma
Schneider Kreuznach
SLR magic
Mitakon
Kowa
(feel free to add any I might have missed)
M4/3 has been validated by most photographic manufacturers in the industry, get over it. I hate to sound like one of you disgusting trolls but APS-C has no place in the industry anymore, it’s neither as good as FF nor as compact as m4/3, as sensor tech improves m4/3 will only get better and there’ll be little or no arguments against it. FF will improve too but no matter what improvements end up benefiting APS-C it will always sit in the middle, with no clear advantage either way. Sony might be on the right track with the A7 line, but in the end, FF will shrink into a niche for high budget productions (much like medium format back in the day), meanwhile, m4/3 will be adopted as the mainstream mirrorless format, from entry level consumers up to semi and actual Pros. Trolls come to this site preaching the wonders of FF as if it was suited for every photographic need, IT IS NOT; Every format has certain applications which suit it best but no format is the holy grail for all every types of photography out there, but m4/3 is getting close to that sweetspot: Small, portable, mobile, fast, highly dependable, fantastic IQ, awesome lens catalog, superb video, widespread support, etc…And it can only get better.
I don’t know why the success of m4/3 irritates you so much, can’t you just be happy with what you’re using and go out to take photos ? how does this affect you ? Your APS-C/FF or whatever camera won’t stop working because of us. Leave this site and get a life.
It will be interesting to see which trend prevails. If FF becomes cheap enough, people will just buy larger sensor. But at the same time we are maybe one or two technological iterations away from reaching the point of diminishing returns in terms of IQ with larger sensors for most situations. I’d say both FF and M43 are destined to fill their particular niche. As for APS-C cameras… hard to predict. Depending on one’s point of view they either share the best of both worlds or they don’t have the real advantages of either.
While I don’t buy into this whole war with other formats the trolls keep bringing up, my friend has recently bought a 7100, and we were both using our cameras at a couple family events. He loves the pictures I get from mine, so he doesn’t see some ridiculous increase in performance by going to APS-C, at least from what is produced (he isn’t a pixel peeper… yet anyway :P)
One thing he commented to me yesterday was how much he feels he stands out with his 7100 with kit/85mm 1.4 on it. This surprised me, because he was saying my EM1 was more discreet, even with the 12-40 2.8 on it. While I agree m43 has some more discreet cameras, I wouldn’t have thought of the EM1 that way, but he obviously did.
The point is not everyone is holding back from FF only due to price, the size, portability, and how much it stands out can affect usage also. If they both got cheap enough, I’d probably want both. However, I want m43 more than FF for now, so with only being able to afford 1, m43 is it for me, and probably for others as well.
Well, maybe you’re not holding back but the “general public” is. If they’re going to spend money on a camera (which is becoming increasingly rare anyway) they’ll probably want the “best” on impulse even if such camera might collect dust just 6 months later. I personally value my GX7 as an ideal, inconspicuous traveler’s camera that is both lightweight and doesn’t intimidate subjects. But I don’t think many people actually make informed decisions based on research. One more point – with TVs and web becoming the most likely output medium I’d say even M43 is a bit of an overkill 😉
I agree to some degree. The problem for mirrorless (in the west at least) is mainly public perception. Most people don’t do any research before buying a camera, they just choose a canikon by default and rest easy that it was the best decision, BUT, I’m sure that if you put a mirrorless camera and a DSLR in their hands the bulk difference would be obvious and if on top of that you reassured them by showing them the system’s 3rd party support they would just be insane to choose the DSLR. As I said, convenience is king. The problem is, most people don’t get to hold any cameras before buying, they just go to amazon and see the DSLR rankings and go with what’s closest to their budget.
This is why advertising is CRITICAL for this new format, Oly and Pany (and all the other mirrorless players) need to increase public awareness tenfold, there’s no point on pushing mirrorless so much if no one is paying attention.
Plus, small mirrorless cameras look just like point & shoots people discarded years ago. It is not obvious for a casual buyer that their quality is on par with entry-level DSLR he or she is likely to buy. So yeah, Pana & Oly should ramp up their marketing and make the value proposition clear.
Pumping the “value proposition”? They are doing it big way already. The trouble is, there is no value.
LOL that is so true.
The EM1 is awesome. I use my Panasonic GX7’s in black more due to being a bit smaller but for more pro work taking hours then the EM1 due to a better grip. For most of my work M43 is perfect and not all shoots need shallow DOF I prefer small and light when I can
APS-C is essentially redundant if you have MFT and FF. It’s much closer to MFT, and MFT has significant size advantages.
I don’t think there’s a format war, but which format is optimal certainly depends on the technology employed. Years ago it was medium format. Now, for low light anyway, it seems to be somewhere between APS-C and FF. I don’t know if sensors as small as APS-C/MFT will ever surpass FF in ISO performance, but the gap has certainly closed significantly and at this point, so I wouldn’t rule it out.
I also don’t think there’s a format war going on. It doesn’t matter if it’s mirrorless or not, to get significant advantage from a FF camera, you have to carry some pretty heavy glass. And if you want FF performance on MFT, again, you have to carry to pretty heavy glass. There’s a tradeoff, but it’s a numerical one and a practical one only so far as the availability of appropriate lens options dictate.
Lens size! it’s all about lens size.
Even if FF (bodies) becomes cheap, it won’t become a mainstream consumer item, because its lenses will always be massive (and expensive). People want convenience above everything else, even IQ.
The real question is, at what point does IQ reach a satisfactory level for 99,999999999% of people ? Does anyone who’s not a paid professional realistically NEED FF’s IQ ? I don’t think so. And even then, what particular professionals actually need that IQ ? FF does not make for a good solution on every and all situations, for every and all pros. Why would you need FF’s IQ in the first place nowadays? mainly for large prints and cropping, but, who’s making those large prints and for what purpose ? resolution reached a high enough level for billboards and large prints a long time ago. Most pictures are either printed in small formats or displayed on screens nowadays, so why bother with bulky bodies and big lenses? FF will undoubtedly remain a viable solution for SOME pros but that market will change in the coming years.
M4/3 is already the most convenient and versatile format and, as technology improves, the few flaws it has (high iso, fast C-AF tracking) will become a moot point. FF will improve too, do doubt, but FF is already considered the pinnacle of photography (by people who don’t know about MF) so those improvements will be marginal for the applications FF is intended for.
If you want the best in terms of portability plus maximum IQ the best combo would be m4/3 + Medium format, anything in between is a compromise on both accounts IMO. Nevertheless, FF will continue as a niche for pros, while m4/3 or at least mirrorless will take the (ever shrinking) camera market.
Here is some news for fans and ignorant reps: equivalent lenses are the same size, if you except teles; but there are no (sensible) teles for M43.
Everything else is… 3rd tier poppycock.
Uhhh what? I’m not following you on this. The Oly 12-40 2.8 weighs 13.47 ounces vs. the Canon 24-70 2.8 which weighs 28.40 ounces. Not sure what you are smoking, unless you are putting DoF into your calculation, but if you do… you may want to also add ISO to your calc since an f2.8 on an m4/3 camera is STILL f2.8 in terms of exposure time or ISO even if its DoF control is 5.6.
The Oly 12-40 2.8 compares to a 24-80 5.6, and still loses (on paper) on several ends. And the trouble is, manufacturing a 2.8 lens is much more expensive than manufacturing a 5.6, never mind the format. Got it?
So where’s the evidence ? You know nothing about telecentricity, image circle or flange distance. Show me any eq. APS-C or FF lens the same size as the Oly 17mm, the 25, 45, 75 , etc…show me any equivalent zoom the size of the 12-32mm or even the fast zooms.
And no m4/3 teles ? WTF are you talking about ?
– Kenko 400mm
– Rokinon 300mm
– Tokina 300mm
– All the uber expensive Zeiss ¨compact¨ primes (135, 100, 85)
– Rokinon 85mm
– Olympus 75mm
– Olympus 60mm
– Sigma 60mm
– SLR magic 50mm
– Oly 45mm
– Voigtlander 42.5mm
-Panaleica 42.5mm
-Panaleica 45mm
What are those then ? Admit you’re just full of it.
Bollox ? more like B·ll·cks.
One thing that goes a bit under the radar is Pana’s and Fuji’s organic sensor tech. It improves dynamic range roughly 40 times in linear scale and twice if we measure in decibels (logarithmic scale). 29 stops of dynamic range with pixels twice as small. Now that is something that could make serious impact on this small vs large sensor issue. It would make FF impractical because of the size of digital files alone. With 40 MP possible on MFT-like sensor sizes who would care anyway. We’re not there yet though 😉
How many ignorant words to say… Nothing at all.
So many posts and still no argument. Feel free to back up your trolling with some solid points any time, I’m waiting.
I agree. Seems a lot of folks just hate M43 for no good reasons
If you take Canon and Nikon as first tier and m4/3 below that, they’re at least 2nd tier, not 3rd
3rd tier? Not bad since Large Format would be 1st tier, Medium Format 2nd tier.
If it has in body stabilization then I am very interested!
Here is the English announcement.
http://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2014a/nr140407mfourthirdse.jsp
http://www.jvckenwood.co.jp/en/press/2014/04/press_140407.html
“A 4K mini camera system equipped with a 4Ksuper35mm image sensor, newly
adopted flexible interchangeable Micro Four Thirds (MFT) Mount* camera
head”
Huh? Is it possible to fit a Super 35 sensor (~24*18 mm, i.e. APS-C-sized) behind a MFT mount?
I don’t see anything in that link that claims the “4Ksuper35mm image sensor” is anything but a 4/3s sensor with new technology. It is important not to confuse marketing names with reality!
In testing previously done, some m4/3 lenses did cast a large enough image circle to cover a sensor this size. In my opinion, JVC will not use an active mount and the camera will be intended for using adapted FF, APS and super35 lenses.
JVC still exists as an independent company? Who knew?
I think it makes a certain amount of “ecological” sense. Olympus concentrates on high quality still cameras, Panasonic concentrates on those cameras that bridge the line between HQ stills
and video, and JVC could concentrate on more professional and advanced amateur video.
This makes m4/3s an even stronger player for serious photography.
Another interesting company. Maybe they will produce smaller m43rds camcorders ala sonys small camcorder?
Lots to look forward to.
pictures
Nice to have more players More competition Not that I expect they will produce something better than what Olympus and Panasonic have now as they have been doing it longer
But hopefully they will produce accessories as well
Ahhh, the eighties. nothing like a JVC, some fat shoe laces and a little bit of old school.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c110/sobechickk/music%20artists/rundmc.jpg
When M43 dies, you will lose your job. I understand you are nervous, but do not justify the lies. Whoever lies deserves to lose their job.
I didn’t know m4/3 had any incidence on other industries, that’s one hell of a butterfly effect deduction right there, how could I loose my job if it has nothing to do with photography, much less m4/3 ? Grow up and get a life, if these facts frustrate you or make you angry then stop coming here and do something productive and support your system directly instead of wasting your (and our) time. How old are you if you spend this much time trolling, 12 ? maybe you’re the one unemployed because you sure sound like a bitter SOAB.
I didn’t know m4/3 had any incidence on other industries, that’s one crazy butterfly effect deduction right there, how could I loose my job if it has nothing to do with photography, much less m4/3 ? Grow up and get a life, if these facts frustrate you or make you angry then stop coming here and support your system directly instead of wasting your (and our) time. How old are you if you spend this much time trolling, 12 ? maybe you’re the one unemployed because you sure sound like a bitter @hole