Madrid, May 2010 – When the members of TIPAﾒs Technical Committee (TC) began working on the 2010 awards nomination process they quickly realised that a new category needed adding to the usual list.

By announcing the Micro Four Thirds standard, based upon the existing Four Thirds System at Photokina in 2008, Olympus and Panasonic have revived the concept of the small format camera with interchangeable lenses.

Whether these cameras are fitted with or without an electronic viewfinder, the concept is based on the product being compact, light and flexible so that different lenses can be interchanged.

Since the debut of the Panasonic Lumix G1 in 2008, followed by the Olympus PEN E-P1 in 2009, the market has reacted positively. Following the addition of new models and the challenge from competitors as powerful as Samsung and Sony, it was clear the TC ﾖ who report to TIPA members at the General Assembly ﾖ had to find an easily recognisable and remembered definition for this new category.

The TC considered many proposals by TIPA members as well as early definitions used by manufacturers themselves. At this yearﾒs TIPA General Assembly a solution was approved and now the name Compact System Camera or CSC has been adopted by TIPA. The ubiquitous ﾑDﾒ for digital was considered unnecessary and dropped.

ﾓI believe what TIPA has proposed is the perfect name to identify this new type of camera,ﾔ said Thomas Gerwers, Chairman of the Technical Image Press Association. ﾓIt is clear and easy for users to understand and the concept is entirely consistent with the acronyms currently being employed by the photographic industryﾔ.

TIPA hopes the whole industry and the media community will share the Compact System Camera name and shortcut CSC, just as has previously happened with the globally used terms of TTL, SLR, and DSLR.