Honey, I shrunk the DSLR

Olympus and Panasonic (a.k.a. Matsushita Electric Industrial) rocked the digital photography world yesterday with their announcement that they were working on a scaled-down version of their 4/3 camera system. The new Micro Four Thirds standard is expected to stoke the market for digital cameras with interchangeable lenses by creating a new generation of snappers in that category that will be small, light and easier to operate than anything on the market to date.

"The global market for interchangeable lens-type digital SLR cameras is growing steadily, but still only accounts for a 7% share of the total digital camera market," the companies said in a joint statement.

"Considering the much larger share held by interchangeable lens-type SLR camera systems when film was the dominant imaging medium, it seems that there is still ample room for sales growth in the category," they continued.

Cameras using the new MFTS technology will be thinner--even slimmer and lighter than the Olympus E-410, an ultra-compact DSLR that uses standard 4/3 technology--and their lenses will be smaller than DSLRs being sold now. That's because the distance from the lens mount to the sensor has been reduced 50% and six millimeters have been shaved off the outer diameter of the lens mount. Moreover, the guts of the camera has been redesigned so it doesn't need a mirror, prism or optical viewfinder to take photos.

In addition, the number of electrical contacts in the mount has been increased from nine to 11. That, the companies predict, should increase support for new features and increase system functionality. What those features might be will be the subject of speculation until the first models deploying the technology are announced, but they could include an optical image stabilization system, high-speed focusing motor and support for video capture.

What the new MFTS cameras will cost is yet to be determined, but market sense would seem to dictate that pricing be below that for existing entry-level DSLRs.

How soon might we see a camera with this new technology? Possibly very soon, according to one reporter. Leonard Goh, writing today for Cnet Asia, observed: "Our sources told us Panasonic may be launching a new DSLR during Photokina in September, and we wonder if the new format will take center stage then. We'll find out next month."