Full Frame vs Micro Four Thirds (M4/3): What's the Real Difference (Canon R8 vs EM1 Mark III)

Great video and you are right on the mark. Coming from Canon ff (6D) to m43 three years ago with the EM5mkii, I took graduation portraits of my son and his girlfriend in the Arizona desert and was absolutely blown away. I would have never imagined in my pre m43 days that this would even be feasible with this "tiny inferior sensor a quarter the size of my beloved full frame". I primarily used the Lumix 35-100 2.8 and some with the Oly 12-40 2.8 and the colors, focus, details were so stunning. My expectations were a bit low but reality was exceedingly high.

I was an amateur last year and starting out so I went 4/3 I travel a lot and love the 45MM and 75MM lenses for my Olympus em-5 mk2 great little camera honestly love it.

Wow man, I wish you could slow down the way you speak. It would make your videos more enjoyable to listening to.

If you think that 45 1.8 is good, try the 45 1.2. It’s stupidly good and possibly my favorite lens for my OM-1. Shoot that at 1.2 and the difference with full frame will be nearly indistinguishable. I actually find the extra depth of field with more light gathering a serious advantage in low light vs full frame since you don’t have to stop way down to get everything in focus. Really, in the end, the photographer makes the biggest difference. All of these cameras are more than capable.

Sometimes - A more shallow depth of field does not equate to a better photo. A lot of times you have to stop down to get a face in focus.
MFT 1.4 lenses can give you shallow DOF if that is what you need. Personally, portability, quality and image stabilization are huge factors for me, which is why I use MFT.

m43 is a great system when you dont want to bring the Crop or FF gear.Your shots are close in quality for most eyes.The RP would also produce similar.Very much an individual choice on what ya want to spend and carry.R10/7 and P do it for me but GM1 Pen F and OM1(3) do too.Nice comparison

Both looked good…frankly you could have swapped the titles and no one would have known. The biggest difference would likely have been in really low light and even then marginal at best but you would get more of an arm and shoulder workout with the Canon I bet. Lens are key in either. And now I assume Ryan will have a new career as a clothing model.

Most portrait shooters i kno use full frame cameras but they usually stop down to 5.6-f8 because they want more in focus than just one eye

I love the M43 system. I have a EMl Mark III with a bunch of Pro lens'. I sell my work and no-one has have ever said, "oh I won't buy your pic because it wasn't shot with a FF camera"!!

I have both.. Zero difference in quality. I have some of the most amazing photos of my life with the Olympus. I switch my SD back and forth so the pictures are mixed in one card. No one pick what is Canon and what is Olympus until you pull the data.

I find the words “micro four thirds is good enough” to be quite misleading. Depending on what you are shooting it is beyond good enough. I’ve owned FF and now mostly use M43.

For portraits I love using the M43 combined with the 75mm and the 12-40mm PRO lenses. I don’t hesitate to use this format for portraits. I like that I can get both eyes and likely an ear in critical focus while still having good background separation. I have no concerns with shooting wildlife, landscapes and especially macro. But since this video is about portraits “ditto”. My main camera is an Olympus E-M1 Mk III.

Yesterday I was using an old Lumix GF1 with the 20mm f1.7 as a light carry system. I’ve even included images from this camera in a recent photo show.

After selling most of my full frame gear I still have a 5D Classic with the 40mm pancake. This camera still delivers dreamy colours and images that hold up today.

Most people don’t use half the capacity of the cameras they own. How many photographers actually make large prints? Let’s say 1 metre (39.4 inches) on the longest edge. A portrait printed at that scale from a well shot M43 file is stunning.

I’ll just add that it is more critical to think about your composition in M43 than it might be in FF since you have more capacity to crop. But IMHO that makes you think and potentially makes for better images. Perhaps it even makes you a better photographer. In reality though, this concept applies to any format.

In the end it will come down to buying the system that you need. Always opt for the glass that suits your purpose.

I’ve stopped pixel peeping and make my judgements based on the prints that I create. So print more and pixel peep less is my motto.

I use a panny G9 and an oly em5 - m3. I love the 45mm on both and of course the 12 - 40 oly pro. I photograph for pleasure, mainly family and travel and sometimes landscape. For background, I cut my teeth investing in the canon system from the 20D and only last week spent a shipload on the R6Mii - but funnily enough I don't yet feel vindicated in this purchase with this upgrade from a 6D mii and I am feeling a bit of buyers regret (ahh camera envy). I have photographed (my now adult kids) using canon ff and oly and now when I look around my gallery, it's the candid oly portraits hanging on my wall. I have taken all 3 (panny/oly/canon) to friends weddings and the prime 45 wins hands down. closely followed by the nifty 50 on the canon (and not my expensive L lenses). I will never, ever trade these 2 mft's - I can see myself using them for the next 5 + years, 20 megapixel is enough and the fun and joy I get from these light, portable, sharp unobtrusive cameras outweighs me lugging around a big canon (believe me I have stashed a canon in a bike panier whilst cycling through Asia, and I will never do that again). I have the most stunning shots now of my 1 yo grand kids using the 45mm (and the 75mm) - I just can't get that from pulling out the canon for impromptu shots. Maybe I'm rambling , but the MFT system is just the ants pants.........enough said!

The real difference: about 2 stops at the same apertures, and much more resolution from modern full frame sensors. However, for me, it doesn’t matter, I have more than I need quality, and the small and sharp lenses I use have no equivalent in the full frame world size wise. And that’s understandable, building slow and small lenses for full frame today is kind of a waste for most systems. If you make a small rangefinder-like full frame camera, with slow and small but sharp lenses……..well then you got the exact equivalent of m4/3 so what would be the point ?

nice comparison

The key for me is portability. This is where it is interesting that cameras like the R8 have high specs yet are relatively small. Sure the lenses are bigger, but there are several non-L RF and adaptable EF lenses which can suit. Sony’s A7C is obviously even smaller. I’ve recently added a Fuji XE3 plus TTArtisans 27mm to my canon FF and lumix MFT collection to see how the Fuji fares in terms of a portable camera for stills.

Every professional photographer: « You do NOT need Full-Frame, it’s you, not the camera 📷.. get a Crop sensor, go and practice, take pictures, improve your skills, enjoy 😉 »

Every professional photographer: Shoots in Full-Frame 😅

A more close comparison will be the EF 135mm f2 since the 75mm becomes 150 on m 4/3

I use my Lumix GX9 and G9 mostly now, the Full Frame DSLRS are mostly gathering dust 😂📷👍

The M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 is incredibly cheap for the quality it provides! And the (small) size and (low) weight come in handy when coupled with a small m43 body. But I would not compare it to anything more modern and FF, it has some (small) issues wide open. Still, I love mine and use it in many scenarios; sadly not weather sealed (but I think it is more about the price, and weather sealing would raise that).

In bright conditions, the two cameras make almost no difference (except for the bokeh), but in low light, the advantage of Full Frame will be very clear.

Compair ff to m43 without shooting at iso 1000 or underexxpourse then +2-3 rc

Nice one. Another good comparison to prove that comparisons are pointless. Stick with the Olympus :-)

I cannot tell the difference. I’m sure there is but splitting hairs at that point. M43 has all the advantages over full frame expect low light. Lighter cheaper, more lens…..

it is about the lenses with portraits, on m43 I like 60mm sigma and 35-100 f2.8 lumix, I like it better than the 42.5 this year.

Full frame magic I don't think really starts to show until you get to f1.4 with primes.

Canon 85mm f2 and the Olympus 45mm f1.8 but looks like full frame f3.6. Going to f3.6 to f2 its not really that much to write home about. Does the Canon look a little better yes. But I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

The Olympus 75mm is the sharpest len,s of any system, the 45mm great portrait len,s for the money. In short Oly do not make a bad len,s period.

Nice to see you're having a play with the 75mm. Hope it works on some sport for you. Nil difference out in the field against FF. Great comparison video.

Full frame cannot be matched for portraits with their sense of depth in images. I have a 6D and as good as the shots look though, focus typically misses (probably my 3rd party lens) and the colors are atrocious. Skin is too orange, no reds. Too many shots blurred or miss the subject. Mirrorless is the way to go, and I am sure the newer Canons don't have these issues. Still, the colors are kinda weird for anything BUT portraits and I quite prefer the colors on my Oly for just about anything else. My Oly also performs better in lowlight cause it has a super compact flash and cause the 1 second handheld exposures actually get me cleaner images than my 6D ever could

Wasn’t Rob Trek waiting for you to buy another system? It’s here. Lol 😂

This 75mm f1.8 and my pana Leica 42.5 noct is the reason why i am not moving to 35mm format.

They both look great in isolation. But there is definitely a difference when you compare. Even if you look at just the subject the full frame has more tonality, richness, and dynamic range. I think both systems have their place and their individual strengths. I went bike riding the other day and brought my Dad's original EM1 the 12-40 pro and the 75-300. I got some great picture of flowers, old churches, and cows and horses out in a farm field. There is no way I could have brought the same equivalent on a bike ride with full frame setup or even with apsc. Bottom line, I got to enjoy bike riding, photography, and captured some cool images.

The Canon had a little bit more bokeh but nothing really that would make me switch systems.

Good content as always we even get a Ryan cameo 👍

Agree with you on the stopping down to F2.8 I have an A7R III that I shoot portraits at 2.8 on, but I also have a Panasonic G9 with the TTArtisan 50mm F0.95, but on that lens I shoot at F1.4 to replicate the FF look. Of course the resolution of the two cameras is not comparable, but, for portraits where I am not pixel peeping they are quite comparable. Thanks for the video. John Pouw, NZ

I took pictures at a friends wedding yesterday (OM1, 12-40/2.8, 40-150/2.8, Sigma 52/1.4). There was also a professional photographer there with 2 Canon full format cameras with 24-70/2.8 and 70-200/2.8....he used my camera for over 2 hours and was amazed!

Just did a mother and daughter photo shoot with the 75mm. Just excellent for it.

I’m not saying one is better than the other but after reviewing 1000s of photos taken by all kinds of cameras FF offers a certain “richness” that is hard to be achieved by crop sensor. Can 99% of peole tell the difference…NO! There is more to portraits than blurry background though. Margin of error in terms of dynamic range being top of list

What you demonstrated, to me, is that if you shoot M43 you can adapt to the system when you want more bokeh. Shooting a subject farther from the background helps, along with a longer focal length. For me, full frame could have a purpose but it's not worth the investment at this time. Freezing action in a dimly lit environment is another time I wish I had it. The funny thing is that my full frame friends are often times impressed with my pictures and have never told me I should upgrade.

It's all good. After, it's just a question of money and your personal tolerances in terms of IQ, weight and size. FF and M43 can create imagery that evoke.