Does everything have to devolve into a shouting match about equivalence?
Why does every single factor about every system have to get thrown into the mix?
Why can't people keep it simple?
If you look at bodies as if they were the equivalent to film types back in the day, you'd pick a film based on its total characteristics: Color signature, speed, grain, intended use of final output. If you were going to be often shooting in low light, you wouldn't pick a Kodachrome 25 film, conversely, in bright daylight when you needed ultimate sharpness and low grain, you wouldn't pick an ISO 3200 film to use. Why can people think of the overall output characteristics (noise, color, gradation) of each individual camera body as if they were film, and use that as their starting point for evaluating the rest of the system?
M43 bodies are going to be noisier (in their current incarnation) than current FF and most APSC sensored bodies. That's a given. Why not keep that as a separate entity from the rest of the equation, since it is a constant anyway about the bodies?
Here's my radical suggestion:
Anyone looking at M43 should look at images (either actual photos or images from test sites), and, before going any further, decide if the levels of noise at all ISOs are acceptable for their purposes.
If they are, then moving further and evaluating the lens and body options next makes much, much more sense.
If they are not, why kill yourself trying to make this system do what it's not best at? If you need more light to get what you want out of a camera system, then get a camera system that captures more light in the first place; e.g. FF.
Jumbling all of this together just clouds the issue completely, and makes people want to tear their hair out.
So, here's the summary in a nutshell:
You want great low light performance? Get a FF body (Some APSC's are good, too)
You want lots of tele reach in a portable system?: M43 is a great option
You do lots of macro work in good light?: M43 is your macro friend
You want tons of subject isolation without spending big bucks for high end lenses? FF is stupid easy for this
You do BIF a lot, and want tracking AF? Your choice here. There are good and bad in all formats now
You want to keep lens and system size down but still have lots of options in bodies and lenses? M43 is an exceptional option for this
You want advanced video options? Panasonic is a really a leader in this segment. Sony does pretty well also, but they have that overheating thing going that has been a problem in the past....and their lens selection is not as robust
You want to take photos in near darkness a lot of the time? M43 is the totally wrong choice for your purposes; An A7SII would be a fantastic option for you
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So, how about using this as a premise next time the E arguments start up?
Sensor characteristics are a constant per body. Pick the bodies that will give you the noise/color/DR characteristics that you want, and then move on to figuring out if the rest of the system options are going to work for you. All of this dancing on the head of a pin to make it all jumble together is futile, confusing, and a royal PITA otherwise.
-J
