Micro four thirds is enjoying a bit of resurgence right now, with its lighter and smaller size, lower cost, and array of excellent lenses making it a fantastic choice for a wide number of genres and applications. Is it the ideal system for street photography? This great video makes a case for why that might be so.
Coming to you from Robin Wong, this insightful video makes a strong case for why the Olympus OM-D E-M10 line of cameras is perfect for street photography. It used to be that those who avoided micro four thirds did so mostly because the sensor was simply too small to provide decent noise performance and autofocus was often too slow to be trustworthy in more demanding situations. However, in recent years, sensor technology has come a long way, as has autofocus performance, and that small size, which was one seen as a hindrance, is now fantastic for anyone who wants a portable but high-performing kit or who wants to remain discreet, as is usually the case for street photography. On top of that, many micro four thirds cameras contain innovative features not found elsewhere, so if you haven't given it a look in a while, now is a good time. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Wong.
I have panasonic gx7 m4/3 but I am not using it in street photography. I still prefer my fuji for I have a little wiggle room for cropping images. In street photography, I rarely nailed the framing due to a tight window of time to shoot. Maybe it is just caused by my slow thinking skill.
I'm curious about what indications are suggesting an m43 resurgence. The long-term trajectory for m43 is down. Robin Wong has an endearing personality but he is a former Olympus ambassador who wears Olympus-branded rose-colored glasses. I own an OM-5, which is basically a re-labeled OM-D E-M5 II. It still uses a micro-USB port for charging. Inexcusable. Its tiny size does make it well-suited for travel but as a street camera, the user must be adept at zone focusing because its tracking ability is awful. I wouldn't recommend the OM-5 to anyone who is serious about photography. Maybe it would be a good choice for a soccer mom who has no intention of extensive investment in the m43 system.
For me, zone focusing works best on fullframe. The distance between 1m or 2m and infinity on a m43 or even an aps-c manual lens is often too short to be useful and the distance markings on the lenses aren’t really good enough (I’m looking at Voigtlander m43 lenses). Just my personal experience but I use FF for street and a manual lens. Really with street photography, there is no ideal camera but it is one photography genre where people can easily indulge in it without needing a particularly high end or brand new camera. Sensor size is less relevant too so it really just comes down to individual preference.
I have the EM-5 Mark III I find it does a great job for motorsports photography. I tried the CAF and CAF-TR but settled on zone focusing for getting the best results to capture the fast moving cars. Probably the OM-1 would be better with their subject aware focusing but it's not in the budget right now.