Image associated with m4/3

I have used my OMD some two-three months now almost every day walking on the streets of Stockholm. So far very few have had any comments on it, and none at all from other photographers. So I'm not sure m4/3 has any special image tied to it. One comment i got was from a man on the street who asked "are you a pro" as I walked around with my OMD with kit lens on my shoulder. I got a little disappointed, as I had hoped that my small camera should give me less attention than my dslr and give the image of being a tourist. Another comment was when photographing some scaffold building guys and one asked "is this going to be published, or?". So that' s to me trying to be disguised as a tourist or ordinary p&s cam user. But at that time I had a legacy 80-200 mounted, so, not so astonishing maybe that they took me for a journalist or something.

A funny reaction was when we had some friends on a dinner and one of them brought his "dated" 30D with a big 17-55 and battery grip on it. The other guests admired this huge camera and one said "that must take good pictures". Nobody commented my OMD at all. No image obviously knitted to that. Or the image is so bad that nobody said anything trying to be polite to their host. Anyway, this was very satisfying.

My sister, who is an artist (painter) and did some photography during her education years ago, obviously took my OMD for a film slr as she asked "why didn't you buy a digital?"

My conclusion: I have no idea how other photographers look at m4/3. And non-photographers don't have any specific connotations to it at all. With a small lens you can pass as a tourist, with a big lens, there's a risk you'll be taken for a pro.