{"id":11971,"date":"2026-10-20T05:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/10\/20\/micro-four-thirds-issues-an-interesting-warning-about-unlicensed-companies\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T05:04:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T03:04:00","slug":"micro-four-thirds-issues-an-interesting-warning-about-unlicensed-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/10\/20\/micro-four-thirds-issues-an-interesting-warning-about-unlicensed-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Micro Four Thirds issues an interesting warning about unlicensed companies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\n\tIt doesn\u2019t guarantee compatibility between devices made by non-member companies.<\/p>\n

\"Micro<\/figure>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\n

The Micro Four Thirds standards group recently posted a warning on its site<\/a> saying that it can\u2019t guarantee that products made by companies not in the group will work as expected. The message, a link to which is prominently displayed in the site\u2019s top navigation bar, doesn\u2019t name any specific brands or products, but comes at an interesting time for the Micro Four Thirds system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\n\t<\/div>\n
\n

The official statement says that \u201cthe Four Thirds Office does NOT guarantee that products manufactured or sold by non-member companies comply with the Micro Four Thirds System standard or are compatible with individual devices.\u201d It also tells users to check specific compatibility information with the manufacturer or seller of whatever gear you\u2019re trying to buy.<\/p>\n

Screenshot of the Micro Four Thirds website, showing a link to the \"Products from Non-member companies\" warning in the navigation menu<\/a>
You won\u2019t miss the notice on the Micro Four Thirds site; it\u2019s right up in the menu bar (on both the English, and Japanese versions).<\/figcaption>Micro Four Thirds<\/span><\/figure>\n

When we first saw the warning at DPReview, we thought it might be related to the recent GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS<\/a>. That camera has a Micro Four Thirds mount, but without any electrical contacts, so most of the lenses for the system from OM System and Panasonic won\u2019t work, since they require those contacts to control aperture and focus.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something potential buyers of the camera should be aware of, and it\u2019s probably the most prominent instance of a product that uses the mount but that\u2019s incompatible with many other products in the system. However, it also seems unlikely that the warning is referring to the ILS: while GoPro wasn\u2019t a member of the group when that camera launched, it has since joined<\/a>, and the warning explicitly calls out products from non-member<\/em> companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\n\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

It\u2019s worth reading a variety of reviews before spending your money on a product<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

So why was it issued? Honestly, there\u2019s no clear answer. We\u2019re not aware of any major scandals in the Micro Four Thirds world recently, though there have been rumors swirling around Insta360 using the mount for the cameras it\u2019s currently working on<\/a>. As of the time of writing, it isn\u2019t listed among the supporting companies on the Micro Four Thirds website.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also, as was pointed out several times in a Reddit thread<\/a>, the case of SG-image, a budget lens company which is also not part of the Micro Four Thirds group. It has released one lens for the system that, according to several reports, doesn\u2019t work at all with older cameras<\/a>, and has some limitations on several newer models too. However, that lens has been out for a few months, so it would be a bit odd for the group to issue a warning about it only now.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s also possible that it\u2019s just a general message, issued as a standard bit of housekeeping as an increasing number of companies release gear with Micro Four Thirds-shaped mounts without official support. As always, it\u2019s worth reading a variety of reviews before spending your money on a product, especially if you\u2019re going a bit off the beaten path.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\n\t<\/div>\n
\n
About the Author: <\/span>Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn\u2019t stopped since. It\u2019s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.<\/div>\n
\n

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases?\u00a0Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t