What is the 4/3 system?

[Jredtugboat]

Hi All,

A friend of mine has always liked Olympus cameras and lenses. I'm considering a dSLR and the front runner right now is the Canon EOS-20d.
I'm intrigued by the Super Sonic Wave filter technology of the Olympus, and also by the fact that Olympus (while a very respected name) often isn't mentioned in the "top two" when I ask people their opinions of what dSLR I should buy.

One thing I don't understand at all is the 4/3 system. I assume this is some sort of ratio expression, but of what to what? Any information would be certainly appreciated.

Thank you.

[Jim Last]

Take a look here (http://www.four-thirds.com/about.htm)

This should help :)

[Rhys]

Take a look here (http://www.four-thirds.com/about.htm)

This should help :)

Very interesting - who owns that site? I see the company through which it was registered listed. I do not see who owns the site though. That, to me, destroys the value of anything on that site.

Domain Name: FOUR-THIRDS.COM
Registrar: GLOBAL MEDIA ONLINE INC
Whois Server: whois.discount-domain.com
Referral URL: http://www.discount-domain.com
Name Server: NS.PPP.NET
Name Server: NS.PPP.DE
Status: ACTIVE
Updated Date: 24-jul-2003
Creation Date: 23-aug-2002
Expiration Date: 23-aug-2006
>>> Last update of whois database: Wed 12 Jan 2005 19: 24: 34 EST <<<

[jaykinghorn]

The 4/3 system is built around a different hight to width ratio that most other dSLRs. The most common ratio is 2:3, which results in print sizes that are 4x6, 8x12 and so forth. The 4/3 system is closer to the ratio of medium format cameras. There are a number of reasons Olympus chose to use that ratio, (the primary one being that the light is supposed to strike the sensor more evenly), all of which you should be able to find on the Olympus website.

Best regards,
Jay Kinghorn
RGB Imaging