Hobbies And Interests
Creation of Four Thirds
Four Thirds is a system of digital camera soft- and hardware developed by Olympus in 2003. The brand encompasses a group of lenses, accessories, software and camera bodies that use the same systems and are marketed under the same brand. Olympus had dropped out of the market for 35 mm film cameras for the general public in the early 90s, and the Four Thirds brand was their way of re-entering the modern version of that market.
Other Brands̵7; Involvement in Four Thirds
Kodak makes the camera's sensor chips and has done so since Olympus launched Four Thirds in 2003. Since that time, FujiFilm has also supplied technologies, though it̵7;s unknown to the general public exactly what their contribution is. Panasonic has since joined the brand and now is the primary producer of sensor chips and has come out with a Four Thirds camera model of their own, called Lumix DMC-L1. As of 2011, Four Thirds is still a joint venture between Olympus and other camera companies, as it has been since its inception.
Meaning of the Four Thirds Name
The Four Thirds camera is named for the size of the video tube sizing on the cameras, which is 4/3 inches. The 35 mm frame is four times that size, and has double the diagonal measurement. The ratios between the 35 mm frame size the Four Thirds are relatively simple, which allows for easy calculation of the relative focal lengths of the two types of cameras; the Four Third̵7;s actual focal length is half of the focal length of its 35 mm counterpart.
Four Thirds Cameras' Aspect Ratio
The Four Thirds system also uses a 4:3 aspect ratio in its image frame (as opposed to the traditional aspect ratio of 3:2). The aspect ratio refers to the width of the image relative to its height. Four Thirds cameras̵7; images have a slightly more square shape than traditional 35 mm cameras, since their aspect ratio is closer to 1:1.