This is actually news to me... I bought a M43 camera a couple years ago because I thought it was a standard with staying power and a healthy ecosystem of lenses and bodies from many manufacturers. Is Panasonic the only one still producing M43 gear? I thought Fuji did as well, unless they decided to ditch it, too. I'd be upset if the standard disappeared!
I think only Panasonic and Olympus make M43 bodies, so effectively yes, Panasonic is now the only one - though there are a few other companies making lenses still. The bodies are presumably going to be the more difficult thing to replace. I have a number of M43 lenses, and I'm concerned about how long I'll be able to use them for - it's not like the simple manual-focus lens days of old when you mostly just needed the right thread adapter.
I've owned three Olympus cameras. The first was a mju-1 compact camera in the early 90s (known as the Stylus in the US - the original one before they added a zoom). This was a remarkably good camera, with a great lens at a nice practical 35mm focal length (like the old Trip line, which I never got to use) in a really stylish body. I sold it a few years later when I really needed the money... The other two have been M43 digitals - an E-PL3 (now in use by my kids), and an E-M5 mark II, which has been my main camera for a few years and which I am very fond of.
IIRC, Kodak and a couple of Chinese mfgs (Mi and I believe Yong Nuo has announced an M43 in a smartphone like form factor) also produced some bodies and lenses in the past decade, although I wouldn't put them in same class as Oly or Panny in terms of build and/or handling.
I'm in a similar situation!
I still use my trusty GF1 which is by far the best camera I have owned and I wanted to eventually upgrade and bring my lenses that I accumulated over the years with me.
Olympus had a solid m43 lineup back when I last checked. I was always a little frustrated how some vendors just started their own mirrorless, fragmenting the business. Its a shame and I am afraid to what will happen with m43.. its a shame if it goes, it is still a world better than cell phone cameras and it is so much more convenient than full frames.
I got one better: i sank $2k into a full four thrids lens a while back (the f2.0 zoom; its still worth every penny). I've been wondering about finding a new sensor to put behind that, if i have to embrace the suck of adapters anyway, what should i be looking for now? Seems like "any Cannon" is the only sensible answer.
> Seems like "any Cannon" is the only sensible answer.
Why? Most cameras made after 2014 are more than adequate for most non-pro hobbyists. A recent vintage Olympus or Panasonic M43 camera is still pretty competent, and assuming you mean 4/3 by "full four thirds" and not "micro four-thirds", you can always get a mount adapter to use it with an M43 camera. IIRC, the E-M series might work best with the old 4/3 lenses from a focusing perspective though.
I'm an Olympus user / fan - but my understanding is that Panasonic made the better video bodies. I suspect one generation back would have some highly competent video capabilities are very reasonable prices now.
> my understanding is that Panasonic made the better video bodies.
I love the stills output (esp the colors) from Oly cameras, but for some reason I don't quite like the handling/ergonomics.
I don't know if it's because I had a Panasonic LX3 way back when, but I find my GM5 way more usable than Olympus E-PL6 from a button and menu perspective. YMMV of course, but my GM5 and GF2 feel much more solid than the Olympus bodies (EPL6 and EP2) I have.
I've held a friend's Panasonic, but that's as close as I've come to one - never used it, navigated menus, etc.
I had a Minolta 7Hi originally - fixed lens, but sophisticated for the time - then Olympus E620 (FT), and then the EM-5 MkII (mFT). So my experience has consistently improved, but isn't very wide.
With FT and mFT cameras, the Olympus menus for a long time (and perhaps still) have an unfortunate default setting of the 'Super Control Panel' being disabled. Almost everyone enables this excellent feature, but that requires some deep diving into the standard menu system, and sometimes some conflicting settings need changing. But (!) once you've done that, I've found navigating the settings & controls to be blissful.
