Do u think this makes sense?

[digitalbuff]

Hi

Just wanted to ask ard to see if this makes sense. I initially wanted to sell off my E-1 and get the D200. However, I got another idea but not sure if it's sound and whether CSers here will do likewise (Assumption: $ not a problem)

1) Keep E-1 and use for WA (11-22mm) and Macro + Portraits (50mm)
2) Get D200 +18-200 for Travel and Portraits and General Photography

[Hacker]

I shoot a lot of WA. I had to decide between Canon and Olympus. Unfortunately, nothing out there had a proper WA coverage, and I had to get the 7mm-14mm with the Oly. Absolutely no regrets. All the others have problems with the edges and corners.

I took a few shots with the Canon telephoto lenses and the colors were not as rich and vibrant as the Oly one. So the solution was to get the Oly. Of course, there are a lot of little things that bother me with the Oly: viewfinder is not 100% like the Nikon F3s, WB button gets in the way, no vertical grip, etc. These things are not major show stoppers for me, just that I have to get used to them. Ultimately, I'm looking at the end result, and Oly has so far delivered (except for the the 14-35mm and the 35-100mm lenses in SG).

For my travel, just use a P&S. The Sony DSC-R1 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscr1/ looks highly promising. I can't imagine lugging my gear just for a vacation shot. But if I had the 11-22, just get the 14-54 (not sure why you sold it). Most vacation shots are taken with that. You want to put things in context for the memories...

Anyway, my opinion only.

[digitalbuff]

Originally Posted by Hacker I shoot a lot of WA. I had to decide between Canon and Olympus. Unfortunately, nothing out there had a proper WA coverage, and I had to get the 7mm-14mm with the Oly. Absolutely no regrets. All the others have problems with the edges and corners. I took a few shots with the Canon telephoto lenses and the colors were not as rich and vibrant as the Oly one. So the solution was to get the Oly. Of course, there are a lot of little things that bother me with the Oly: viewfinder is not 100% like the Nikon F3s, WB button gets in the way, no vertical grip, etc. These things are not major show stoppers for me, just that I have to get used to them. Ultimately, I'm looking at the end result, and Oly has so far delivered (except for the the 14-35mm and the 35-100mm lenses in SG). For my travel, just use a P&S. The Sony DSC-R1 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscr1/ looks highly promising. I can't imagine lugging my gear just for a vacation shot. But if I had the 11-22, just get the 14-54 (not sure why you sold it). Most vacation shots are taken with that. You want to put things in context for the memories... Anyway, my opinion only.

Thanks Hacker. Hmm, might just keep my E-1 for the WA. I did not sell the 14-54, mine is 14-45mm.

But will prob still get the D200 + 18-200 which is a very versatile pair.

[Hacker]

When I decide on a system, I will go with the lenses, not the bodies. Lens design has been pretty stable for some time, but not the bodies. Once I have all the lenses that I need, then it's just waiting for the next best body to come out.

Today it is Nikon, tomorrow it is Canon, then Oly....like merry-go-round. It is better to have two bodies of the same brand and then interchange lenses.

[Hacker]

Originally Posted by digitalbuff Thanks Hacker. Hmm, might just keep my E-1 for the WA. I did not sell the 14-54, mine is 14-45mm. But will prob still get the D200 + 18-200 which is a very versatile pair.

OIC, then better get the 14-54mm and the 50-200. The 14-45mm is pretty useless for me.

[nightpiper]

Originally Posted by digitalbuff Hi Just wanted to ask ard to see if this makes sense. I initially wanted to sell off my E-1 and get the D200. However, I got another idea but not sure if it's sound and whether CSers here will do likewise (Assumption: $ not a problem) 1) Keep E-1 and use for WA (11-22mm) and Macro + Portraits (50mm) 2) Get D200 +18-200 for Travel and Portraits and General Photography

wah!! u really got a lot of money!! buy D200 juz for travel!! i think a D70s is more than sufficient.

anyway, i dun think its a good idea. what u can find in Nikon range, can also be found in the Oly. ok i must admit the 18-180mm is not released yet, but think about it for a short while. mega zooms have never had good image quality compared to smaller zooms (within 3x zoom range) & primes. so it really depends on what u r willing to compromise, quality vs versatility. but if u were to buy another sys juz for travel, either get a cheaper body like a 350D or a D50.

i also think the Sony R1 makes a very good travel companion but dun expect images to be of Oly ZD's standard. go peep a few pics & u will know what i mean.

happy shopping!!

[NMSS_2]

if money is not an issue...... get d200 with the lens u mentioned. nikon is good for photojournalistic shoots but u can only shoot in raw to draw out the colour to give it a decent punch.

[tao]

D200? Be wary of the banding issue with the CCD and the softness of the 18-200mm VR that many are complaining about. Maybe should wait till it matures... remember the D70 circuit board failure & CCD dust problems? Quite a while for Nikon to sort out the issues in their production line.

Olympus may be slow with their product launches but what I like is that I have never seen any quality glitches in their products before since their first DSLR, the E-10. Everything released is solid, top notch quality and reliable.

[serene]

If we assume that money is not a problem, then it will be whatever makes one happy I heard that a digital Leica is very droolable, (what do you think Nightpiper)

[digitalbuff]

Originally Posted by serene If we assume that money is not a problem, then it will be whatever makes one happy I heard that a digital Leica is very droolable, (what do you think Nightpiper)

Come to think of it. I correct myself la. If one has 4K to spend on cam eqpt and I already own the E-1 + 14-45mm kit. The question i am asking is, shld I:

1) Get 11-22mm, 50mm, 50-200mm OR
2) Get another body D200 + 18-200mm and a Oly 11-22 or 7-14mm later

[Raptor1]

Stay with the system,
Option #1
Reason, there is no need to "relearn" the characteristics of the body, you will understand the body, and shoot better shoots.

[jamestyemk]

Originally Posted by digitalbuff Come to think of it. I correct myself la. If one has 4K to spend on cam eqpt and I already own the E-1 + 14-45mm kit. The question i am asking is, shld I: 1) Get 11-22mm, 50mm, 50-200mm OR 2) Get another body D200 + 18-200mm and a Oly 11-22 or 7-14mm later

I had a slightly reversed outfit; my 'main' system is Canon (3 bodies, 5 lenses & 3 flash units). Most of them invested over many years and too entrenched to switch system totally. End 2004 made the 'mistake' of visiting Sitec and ordered the E-300 set on impulse. It had grown to be my favourite travel outfit, sometimes with the FL50 flash. The 50 macro waits for occasional walkabout.

If I were to reconfigure my outfit, I would still keep the E-300 for the once-to-twice a year travel, and trade-in the Canon system for an E-1, 11-22, 14-54, and a 50-200.

I would think that you can consider the lighter E-300 or E-500 for your travel need (assuming those are not intensive photographic trips). Don't discount the 14-45 lens; sharp enough and awesome colour (http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showphot.../ppuser/12566).

[digitalbuff]

Originally Posted by jamestyemk I had a slightly reversed outfit; my 'main' system is Canon (3 bodies, 5 lenses & 3 flash units). Most of them invested over many years and too entrenched to switch system totally. End 2004 made the 'mistake' of visiting Sitec and ordered the E-300 set on impulse. It had grown to be my favourite travel outfit, sometimes with the FL50 flash. The 50 macro waits for occasional walkabout. If I were to reconfigure my outfit, I would still keep the E-300 for the once-to-twice a year travel, and trade-in the Canon system for an E-1, 11-22, 14-54, and a 50-200. I would think that you can consider the lighter E-300 or E-500 for your travel need (assuming those are not intensive photographic trips). Don't discount the 14-45 lens; sharp enough and awesome colour (http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showphot.../ppuser/12566).

Hey, thanks. Very insightful, your experience and set up.

[Hacker]

Originally Posted by jamestyemk Don't discount the 14-45 lens; sharp enough and awesome colour (http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showphot...ppuser/12566).

I see color; I don't see sharpness on the 14-45mm. The 11-22, 14-54, and the 50-200, that's a different story.

[koolz]

Yeah, have thought of changing to the D200 and switch over to the darkside cos I heard they have got cookies . But nah, still prefer my oly E-1's colors.

[nightpiper]

Originally Posted by serene If we assume that money is not a problem, then it will be whatever makes one happy I heard that a digital Leica is very droolable, (what do you think Nightpiper)

u mean the Leica digital back for the R8 & R9? wow, that is very exp. buy the body & digital back, then end up no money to buy lenses. heard Leica is coming out with another digital back to complement their M series rangefinder cameras. no need to guess, its another very exp gear which i can only drool & dream about.

ok, i want to post soemthing interesting so watch for this little forum. heeheehee....

[KrY0LiT3]

Originally Posted by jamestyemk I had a slightly reversed outfit; my 'main' system is Canon (3 bodies, 5 lenses & 3 flash units). Most of them invested over many years and too entrenched to switch system totally. End 2004 made the 'mistake' of visiting Sitec and ordered the E-300 set on impulse. It had grown to be my favourite travel outfit, sometimes with the FL50 flash. The 50 macro waits for occasional walkabout. If I were to reconfigure my outfit, I would still keep the E-300 for the once-to-twice a year travel, and trade-in the Canon system for an E-1, 11-22, 14-54, and a 50-200. I would think that you can consider the lighter E-300 or E-500 for your travel need (assuming those are not intensive photographic trips). Don't discount the 14-45 lens; sharp enough and awesome colour (http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showphot.../ppuser/12566).

i agree completely with your suggested e-1 outfit. i want to 11-22! lol.

no experience with the 14-45 so i cant comment but there are complains about the sharpness. it's enough for most occasions though.

[Hacker]

Originally Posted by KrY0LiT3 i agree completely with your suggested e-1 outfit. i want to 11-22! lol. no experience with the 14-45 so i cant comment but there are complains about the sharpness. it's enough for most occasions though.

The problem with Oly is that they try to be all things to all men. They want a cheap range of lenses, and frankly, unless you do not mind ok pictures only, then the 14-45mm and the 40-150mm will suffice. It's definitely value-for-money. But I just don't see any differentiating factors except $$ value.

[NMSS_2]

Originally Posted by Hacker The problem with Oly is that they try to be all things to all men. They want a cheap range of lenses, and frankly, unless you do not mind ok pictures only, then the 14-45mm and the 40-150mm will suffice. It's definitely value-for-money. But I just don't see any differentiating factors except $$ value.

in terms of lens quality, 14-45 lose out to 40-150 by a grade. however, 14-45 is good enough for any 4r-5r prints.

[ParkertR]

okay... read enough~ hehe time to post liao!

coming from me... i've had the D70, D2H, S3 Pro and used them for a good time. Lens-wise, Nikon Mounts have heaps of lenses from Tokina, Sigma, Nikon and at a great range of prices from the dirt-cheap to the freaking expensive original ones. Thats a good point of the Nikon "Darkside".

noise wise, the S3 Pro was extremely noiseless - shooting at 1600 indoors wasn't a problem at all - barely any noise! U'd have to try hard to get noise out of it... haha~ I was afraid of the noise problem of the Oly systems but I took the leap of faith and a few weeks into my new E system, I've shot in low-light situations and mixed lighting situations without a hitch. You've gotta know your equipment well to shoot well... I don't even miss my D2H or S3 much (except for the vert shutter release button of the D2H and S3 Pro) because the colors of Oly cameras are very punchy! S3 will win definitely, but not by a whole lot. If I removed the exif tags, resized the photos to standard 3:2 ratios i think no one would know that they're not pictures from the S3 :P

BUT! Back to the topic! hehehe, i think you should stick with your kit and get another lens or wait for the next lens to come out because ZD lenses have been tested and proven to be the sharpest around! How about that? hehehe... don't be tempted to the 'darkside' because they have 'cookies' as expiredyoghurt has in his signature (btw, he switched to oly too! so now the oly side has cookies? hehehe).

For traveling purposes, I travel A LOT from thailand to singapore and singapore to thailand with all my gear... with the new Oly kit E-1, FL50, 11-22, 14-54, 50-200... it's so light compared to my Nikon/Fuji gear! The images are tact sharp too and I absolutely love this new kit that I'm lugging around in a small bag! No more Computrekker PLUS AW or a Compact AW... only a Stealth Reporter 400 - extra space can put biscuits etc... COOKIES too! haha can even squeeze my photo printer to print when i want to~ how's that? sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

gd luck choosing!