Olympus m43 vs FF - Size and Weight

[Steve]

The main reason that I shoot with Olympus cameras is that I don’t like carrying the weight of larger format systems. That said, I wonder why FF makers don’t build more lenses with fastest apertures of f5.6 or f8 given that they would be much lighter than faster FF lenses? If FF manufacturers built more lenses with fastest apertures of f5.6, f8 etc. smaller formats would lose their size/weight advantage over FF. An f8 FF lens is roughly the same size as a similar focal length f4 m4/3 lens. Both would offer similar depth of field. Furthermore, by raising the ISO on the FF camera with a slower lens, you could match the shutter speeds you can achieve using a faster m43 lens without sacrificing image quality. After all FF sensors operating at higher ISO’s can match the image quality you get with m43 sensors used at lower ISO’s. The advantage of FF cameras, in this scenario, is it gives you the option of using faster lenses at times when you are willing to carry around the extra weight.