2 stops. That is the difference between the smaller sensor and the larger. Visit the wildlife 2018 photographer award on the home page. Note the apertures are stopped down for the most part and depth of field is best described as "deep" in most images.
Most sports imagery is not poster material, but online and in small print. This is why, combined with speed, all sports cameras have around 20mp.
Often one of those 2 stops is clawed back by lenses. So if a FF users uses a 300mm f4, the difference is one stop, one. The FF user needs to buy the fastest long lenses to maintain that advantage. So they need a 300mm f2.8, 400mm f2.8, 600mm f4. And if they select the lighter option the advantage is now 1 stop, one.
"Noone will buy it"
The idea that the majority of m43rds users are frail individuals who only casually use the equipment and need the lightest stuff possible becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. If Olympus never builds a top of the line body, people who want a top of the line body will never be able to buy it.
If technologies are as leading as seem to be implied:
Fastest FPS with AF
Industry leading stabilization
Hand Held High res (portrait, landscape, macro
GPS, barometer and thermometer readings in camera
Longest battery life of any mirrorless camera
Fully functional wifi and high speed sharing of files
Most complete mirrorless lens suite of any camera maker
Improved video with LOG and framerate options
Industry leading weathersealing and ruggedness
Those elements have real value. The hand held high res might be enough for me to get it. If it combines that with GH5-ish video quality it is a no-brainer.
"It is like 43rds all over again"
This is complete revisionist history. When Olympus moved to Mirrorless it was ahead of the game, when it moved to AF cameras and Digital SLRs it was behind the times.
When Olympus launched the E-Volt system it began with its most expensive cameras and lenses and trickled down. However in mirrorless it built from the ground up, with smaller lenses and cameras first, building up to a professional set of bodies.
When Olympus made the E-5 it was trailing the leaders in almost every technology, AF, DR, Resolution, Video specs, Lens selection etc. Today with the new EM1x the m43rds system has one of the most diverse lens selections and technologies in the market.
To finish, without a doubt the camera market is contracting. However the production of lenses and bodies to expand the usefulness of the lenses in the system makes the system successful. When DJI makes a drone with the M43rds mount they sell Olympus and Panasonic lenses, as Black Magic makes a class leading video camera with a m43rds mount they sell m43rds lenses etc.
The success of this mount is less on the individual bodies, but as an ecosystem. The EM1x builds on 10 years of mirrorless development, as the major players move into mirrorless and their users move into the mirrorless space, being the maker with the smallest high performance body and fullest suite of compatible lenses is not to be ignored.
The major push at winning the FF mirrorless wars will leave Olympus and Fuji with a larger crop sensor market with both companies having deep lens selections and little competition. In fact, so little that I wouldn't be surprised if sony releases an APSC body soon.
Anyways, back to work.
