Why are my friends telling me that the micro four/thirds (that I have) are not a dslr 35mm like a Nikon or Canon. It has the same function or not? They tell me it cannot domthe same thing as the big ones??? I don't get them

Well, technically your friends are correct, it's not a DSLR. DSLR stands for "Digital Single Lens Reflex." Reflex means the camera has a mirror that reflects the light coming through the lens into a different path for viewing. Mirrorless cameras like m43 don't have mirrors, so by definition aren't SLRs.

That has nothing to do with capabilities, however. The answer to that question is more complex, and depends on which m43 camera you're referring to, as well. There are certainly some things that some DSLRs do better. But for typical amateur use, I think you'll find that any m43 camera will do just fine.

My advice: ignore those friends, and anyone else who thinks the camera you use is more important than the vision you bring to the use of the camera.

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I'm not lazy. I'm energy efficient.

There is exactly one thing a real DSLR can do which an m4/3 or other mirrorless camera cannot: continuous/tracking autofocus. Image quality on an EM5 is better than all of the APS-C Canons. The lenses are better too, frankly. Single (one shot) autofocus is faster and more accurate. The people with Canikon DSLRs for the most part need to justify their purchases and simply don't know any better.

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Olympus E-M5, Sony A65, lenses.

Tell them you have a DSLM. It's a newer acronym than DSLR so it must be better. Problem solved.

Thank you all for the explanation. @Strang I think this is a good one LOL. I find that the m4/3 take nice photos.

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OM-D E-M5 / E-P3

Your friends think that the "big ones" are "dslr 35mm like a Nikon or Canon" and you trust them?

First, the big ones aren't the Nikon or Canon dslrs, they're the medium and large format cameras which are much bigger and do some things much better than the dslrs. Still, the dslrs do some things better than the big ones. Try doing sports photography with one of the big ones and you'll quickly downsize to a dslr. Try doing landscape photography and provided you don't have to carry the big view camera and tripod on your back to the top of a mountain, you will choose the view camera over the dslr when it comes to image quality.

Second, Nikon and Canon don't make any "35mm dslrs". No one does. 35mm is a film size and dslrs don't use film. What Nikon and Canon, and a few other manufacturers, make are slrs with a sensor the same size as a 35mm negative. They're called "full frame", not 35mm, because full frame refers to the image capture size and 35m refers to a film stock size.

So, if your friends don't know what the "big ones" are, or that there's no such thing as a "35mm dslr", why would you trust them to know about anything else?

There are a few reviews around including this one:

Full review: The Olympus OM-D E-M5

which compare the Olympus OM-D E-M5 favourably to Nikon D700 and D800 full frame dslrs. Ming Thein, the author of this review, comments at one point in this review "Frankly, in good light, with a contrasty subject, it gives my D800E a run for its money." He has professional experience with Nikon and Leica full frame digital cameras and also uses an E-M5 for professional work. That's a pretty good recommendation for a micro four thirds camera. There are a few professional photographers on this forum also using micro four thirds cameras professionally.

Yes, there are some things that a micro four thirds camera won't do as well as a full frame digital camera, the two main ones being providing very shallow depth of field and providing good continuous auto-focus for action shooting. You can get quite shallow depth of field with micro four thirds with the right lenses and you can do action shooting with it also, but you have to work harder to get good results and you won't get as high a proportion of good results. For pretty much anything else you will have no problems with micro four thirds and you can turn out extremely high quality results.

So read a few reviews, take a look at the photo threads here and the photos in the reviews, see what people say about the cameras in the camera discussion threads here and make up your own mind, but don't forget that your friends don't know what they're talking about if they think Nikon and Canon are the "big ones" and that they make "35mm dslrs". Both of those statements are inaccurate information.

Really? That's the sort of comment I hear from Canikon users about micro 4/3rds cameras. I use my DSLR's for moto sport photography where continuous fast multi shot AF is required and my micro 4/3rds cameras for travel photography where the light weight is important.

So... how then do you 'pigeon hole' those of use who have both formats? (keeping in mind of course that we "simply don't know any better").

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| Olympus OMD EM-5 | Olympus HLD-6 | Olympus 12-50mm | Olympus 75-300 II | Panasonic 14mm f2.5 | Sigma 30mm f2.8 | Olympus 45mm f/1.8 | Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro | Samyang 7.5mm f3.5 fish eye | Olympus FL-36R | Olympus EPM-1 | Olympus 14-150 f4-5.6 | Olympus EPL1 | 14-42mm IIR f3.5-5.6 | 40-150mm |

I thought because we don't use a mirror were just not as vain as the DSLR crowd.

Or you can read into this the opposite way as mirrorless owners have a chip on our shoulders and we need to justify ourselves over DSLR owners

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Olympus E-PL5
M. Zuiko 17mm ƒ1.8 | M. Zuiko 17mm ƒ2.8 | M. Zuiko 14-42 II | M. Zuiko 14-150 ED | M. Zuiko 45mm ƒ1.8 ED | M. Zuiko 75mm ƒ1.8 ED | M. Zuiko 75-300 ED II | Leica DG Summilux 25mm ƒ1.4 ASPH | Lumix G Vario 45-200 |

There is some truth in this. However, there's a long history of bias against Olympus and Olympus users on Internet forums by some (not all by any means) Canon and Nikon users that pre-dates . Understandably, some Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds users feel the urge to bite back from time to time, even though it may not be helpful or productive.

On one general forum I used to frequent I got so fed up with the constant jibes and false information about Olympus cameras that I challenged a few of the Full Frame protagonists to a shoot out - I would bring an E-5 with a selection of SHG lenses and they could use whatever kit they wanted. After a few sheepish excuses about not having time the thread went very quiet and suddenly I was all alone in the playground.

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