@all: I agree that u43 will continue to be viable. As has been said, u43 + FF are distinctly different with very different strengths. @brudney: Not everyone buys a FF for 'paper thin' DOF or to supposedly improve their photography. I wound up buying a used Nikon D750 and a used 70-200 f2.8 lens in order to get photos of my daughter's swim meets. The swim meets are often held in indoor, poorly lit pools, and I just could not get satisfactory pictures with my u43 gear (I have both f2.8 zooms, but, with the u43 sensor and the need for fast shutter speeds to freeze motion, the images were just too noisy). I rented several different combinations of APS-C and FF cameras before deciding on Nikon FF and saving enough $$ to get the used Nikon gear. I still mainly shoot u43 for outdoors because I have built up more lenses over the years, and it is a lot easier to carry. But, for swim meets: it has to be FF so I can use shutter speeds of 1/1000 and still get results that are not 'too noisy'. So...I am an example of someone who has both u43 and FF, but needed the FF for one specific reason: low light indoor sports. I doubt that I will get the Panasonic FF cams since I now have several Nikkor FF lenses so it makes more sense for me to eventually get the Z6 (after it has been around for a while and can be bought used). One nice thing about Nikon gear is that there are always opportunities to pick up fine gear at a good price. My used 70-200 f2.8 G VR II lens was pretty cheap, because a new Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 E lens came out, so gear freaks unloaded their 'old', 'obsolete' 70-200's for the newer version. :-)

Thing with m43 is volume.

With any modern camera you need big volume just to make LSI.

Biggest issue Panasonic has now is they can't finance development from money they made selling compacts. And all Panasonic compacts had same LSI that their top cameras had, just with fewer RAM/ROM and sometimes clocked slower.

Jjj_ri_usa Agreed, there ARE some specific scenarios where it makes more sense to go FF, even if you could have gotten close with that lens on a speedboosted for instance (EF version to get af). Sounds like you found a solution that works for you, and as you hinted at, m43 has other strengths, so it is just a different alternative overall, not an inferior one.

@tosvus

I am talking about LSI, for now.

As for sensors - usually modern APS-C sensors just lack necessary models (with m43 proper crop and such).

@tosvus

Cost of making LSI is rising exponentially. And sales are mostly dropping (if you count m43+compacts).

@tovrus

Answer is very complex here :-)

https://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/15422/semicinductors-industry-has-serious-issues-stop-will-follow/p1

As for "compact will struggle". Never underestimate mass media that also help a little. Compact owners are very bad for ruling class. In case of smartphone it is just few key presses to check all your current shots and all old that are in cloud (it is enabled by default usually). With all GPS and such things in them. Compacts are shitty as most of their photos are offline.

People at big sites know perfectly - promoting smartphones is good, telling that all compacts are inferior and shitty - will be also praised.

Yes, that makes sense, though I'm not the most paranoid except for certain countries, I'm sure at the very least they know it's useful for legal investigations. Then there is the whole convenience thing. I love bigger cameras, and have a lx100 for more normal situations, but in the end, the thing is, the cell phone is always with me, and I do take pics and videos with that, so I always prioritize the camera quality on the phone. Most people forego the compacts altogether of course.

In terms of LSI, maybe I'm not forward thinking enough(but in my defense I'm at least a 4K nut!) - i just don't see a need for much improvement for a long time. As long as it can keep up with some improvement in resolution and focusing for video, for m43, there is very little else I or most m43 owners need out of those cameras.

"YN43 camera"?? Sounds like Yongnuo is going to make the MFT version of a Sony QX1?

Edit: https://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/19677/yongnuo-yn43-new-upcoming-m43-camera-with-4k-video/p1

Ahhhhh..... I see now! I somehow forgot about that news, I guess because I was so very busy back in May with a million other things going on. Is it still the weird MFT sensor with EF mount?!

M43 has the biggest variety of mirrorless cameras and lenses. If you want to go small, which a lot of people do, there's equipment for that. If you want lowlight capability or shallow DoF there are lenses for that.(or gh5s for lowlight) If you want to go to Antarctica, there's equipment that can handle that. Olympus and Panasonic has the best Ibis in the business, and combined with fast native lenses or speedboosted lenses, there is very little that cannot be achieved on m43, unless you happen to be a pro that needs 50MP plus resolution on moving objects.There are also 3rd party companies doing various cameras and lenses. It is not a dying format at all.

The only threat is the constant bashing and tricking people into thinking it is somewhat inferior. The fact of the matter is that most of us on this forum are gearheads to a much larger degree than talented photographers or videographers. The good ones in those fields can use m43 without issues, while most of us are looking for the next thing to take a slightly better picture, to compensate for lack of skill, artistry etc.

Nailed it.

@IronFilm not sure if the YN camera was in reference to the ones I mentioned, but I really meant the YI M1 (check Amazon). Kodak also has a PixPro S1, both with native m43 mount. BlackMagic, JVC, and DJI also make cameras with native m43 mount + the new ZCam, so not sure what Vitaliy is talking about.

Couldn't you apply all the same reasoning to the full frame mount systems? You aren't seriously claiming that expensive cameras for "professionals" sell in higher volumes are you?

OK, I think I follow the thesis. So really, both (all DSLR DSLM?) formats are eventually doomed to failure by being technologically & economically surpassed by devices that can be more efficiently manufactured.

In the long term this is very likely true, but the question is "how long will it take?" And does the "extreme" price & tech of full frame really give more time (for users) once you allow for the fact that there will be a ramp up period for lenses, etc.

Given that, I would be very reluctant to chuck money at L mount.

Olympus is committed to the Micro Four Thirds system because it gives photographers a smaller, lightweight alternative to full-frame cameras. That was the message from the head of the company’s imaging business, Shigemi Sugimoto, when I spoke to him in an exclusive interview at Photokina.

According to Sugimoto, Olympus is aware that its users want more high-quality telephoto lenses. It’s an area that the company wants to ‘improve and grow’. So it looks like we can expect some new long lenses in the near future.