Testing the Very First Four Thirds DSLR 23 Years After it Launched

Nearly every photographer is familiar with Micro Four Thirds, but what about Four Thirds? Developed by Olympus and Eastman Kodak five years before Micro Four Thirds, this DSLR format was short-lived, supplanted by the mirrorless Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses. Gordon Laing of Cameralabs has taken a look at a pioneering Four Thirds DSLR, the Olympus E-1, 23 years after its debut.

At its launch in late 2003, the Olympus E-1 was a genuinely groundbreaking camera. While it was not the most performant digital camera on the market, it was the very first digital SLR to feature a lens mount and format designed exclusively for digital. Canon and Nikon, although committed to digital SLRs by 2003, were using their lens mounts developed for film SLRs.

Although the Four Thirds sensor size, about 18 x 13.5 millimeters, is relatively small today since full-frame cameras are very common, back in 2003, this new sensor size was not much smaller than the very common APS-C DSLRs on the market. For example, the Canon EOS D30 introduced just a few years prior had a 22.7 x 15.1 millimeter CMOS sensor.

A smaller, digital-only sensor meant that Olympus could utilize purpose-built, smaller lenses that didn’t need to cover the full-frame image circle of a 35mm film camera. Although both Canon and Nikon developed lenses specifically for APS-C digital cameras, the Four Thirds system prioritized relatively compact cameras and lenses.

Laing got his hands on an Olympus E-1 kit for just a few hundred dollars, a fraction of its over-$2,000 launch price, which is more like $4,000 in today’s dollars. Despite being a 23-year-old used camera, the E-1’s tank-like build quality means that it is not too hard to find used ones that remain in very good condition.

The 5-megapixel Four Thirds sensor was competitive for its time, but, as Laing notes, it can show its age these days, especially if the user has to do any cropping. It can also struggle in challenging light, especially in dim situations. Nonetheless, the well-built camera can take great shots in the right hands, like Laing’s, and he thoroughly enjoyed taking the vintage digital camera for a spin.

Despite being a short-lived camera system, Four Thirds had some gems, as Laing notes, including the Olympus E-400 released in 2006. It was the last of the system to feature a CCD image sensor, and it was also an exceptionally compact, lightweight DSLR. It remains a sought-after camera by digital photography enthusiasts to this day.

The Four Thirds system did not last long. After Olympus and Panasonic announced the Micro Four Thirds system in 2008, releasing the first cameras the following year, Four Thirds lasted just a little bit longer. There were fewer than 20 total Four Thirds cameras, primarily from Olympus, although Panasonic and Leica also got involved. The final model, the Olympus E-5, arrived in 2010. However, Olympus did not officially discontinue its Four Thirds lenses until 2017.

Even more great vintage digital camera content is available on the Dino Bytes by Gordon Laing YouTube channel.

Image credits: Gordon Laing