If you have just a few lines to say about Olympus, what would you say?

[zoossh]

If you have just a few lines to say about olympus's DSLR, especially with regards to its major strength and weakness of this brand among many other brands, and perhaps about the best value for money model (e.g. the entry level or intermediate level model), what would you say?

I'm thinking of gathering just a very short introduction for each brand for a newbie thread. well, it will never be exhaustive and comprehensive, i understand a few lines can't say it all, but that introduction would probably be just the first step for the newbies anyway.

[wind30]

U get better response in the 4/3 forums.

Anyway,
1) lighter, smaller lens. Sharp corner to corner.
2) the only affordable wide angle lens is 22-44mm (35mm reference) Unlike of other camps where you can get a 16mm wide zoom under $1k.
3) dust buster really works.
4) Fantastic out of camera colors for the E1.

[kcuf2]

As usual, one word is enough:

Innovative

[XiaoMiaoWang]

bleeding sharp. =P

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by kcuf2 As usual, one word is enough: Innovative

that is difficult to give a precise idea to ppl who dun know the system.

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by XiaoMiaoWang bleeding sharp. =P

in what way, becos of sensor, inbuilt vibration reduction system or its lenses?

[XiaoMiaoWang]

Originally Posted by zoossh in what way, becos of sensor, inbuilt vibration reduction system or its lenses?

The so called 4/3rds system...

there is that apparent sharpness, but other camera makers aren't far behind too.

It looks sharp only on monitors, I find. Print wise, there is a loss of image sharpness.

[philshots]

Originally Posted by zoossh in what way, becos of sensor, inbuilt vibration reduction system or its lenses?

I would add more than a few lines. To me, firstly I like the dusk buster. And secondly, it is the e330's Live View. This babe works and feel like a point-n-shoot if you wanted it to, if not, its 100% dSLR quality straight out of the camera. To me, both the Live View A and B mode is useful.

This shot is a few cm from my camera. The Gundam is on my coffee table, not far from my window. The natural light shines through and give it a "product shot" effect. The background and flare is added digitally:




As for focusiing using the LV B mode, I specifically focus on the tip of its finger and thus achieved a very shallow depth of field. The rest are added digitally:



Isn't Olympus innovation cool? It allows you to be creative the way you want. This is an incentive for those looking at upgrading to dSLR.

[XiaoMiaoWang]

Dust busker? You forgot Canon has one too?

Shut down is slower due to this....

Canon one start-up (can choose to interrupt) and shut down all have this cleaning thing...

[philshots]

Originally Posted by zoossh If you have just a few lines to say about olympus's DSLR, especially with regards to its major strength and weakness of this brand among many other brands, and perhaps about the best value for money model (e.g. the entry level or intermediate level model), what would you say? I'm thinking of gathering just a very short introduction for each brand for a newbie thread. well, it will never be exhaustive and comprehensive, i understand a few lines can't say it all, but that introduction would probably be just the first step for the newbies anyway.

For new comers to decide on a camera system, they should know some history… Actually, it is not a matter of people not knowing the advantage of the Olympus digital system over the rest of its competition. In general, people feel safe with numbers. Many years ago when I was still a student in school, most of my school mates use Nikon. As a result, I went for Nikon SLR and eventually spent a bomb to acquire its accessories. I could have considered Canon as well because they are both well established brands. Should I face problems, I can always ask my peers how to solve this or that problem because we are all using the same brand.

It has been many years since I’ve last handled my Nikon. I remember the E1 was released in 2003 as their flagship camera. Looking back before 2003, the Oly team must have been busy working out a new solution for a purely digital system. I have no idea how many years they took before they came out with the E1. One thing for sure is this. Back then, Oly kept spending $ into R&D while C & N kept making $ by selling more cameras based on “old” technology.

There are obvious technical reasons for not using 35mm film lens on digital bodies; such information is available at their Oly website. For Oly to abandon their entire film lens, it is a very brave decision few manufacturers are willing to make.

However, with the introduction of the 4/3 open standard, Oly managed to have partners like Panasonic and a few other Japanese brands to join in the 4/3 camera system development. Being profit driven companies, if they do not see value in joining force with Oly in the 4/3 standard, would you think they will be making big money by selling 4/3 camera bodies and lens? Obviously, the 4/3 advantage makes complete money sense to them.

Thus, so far we have the Panasonic L1, a 4/3 camera just like Oly digital cameras. It’s just that they each focus on unique features to win the crowds over; their baseline is still the 4/3 system.

Why N & C (and possibly the rest) are not joining the 4/3 system? It could be because they still have a large stock of film lens to be sold off. I could be wrong. As one of the most popular brands in the world, they simply cannot afford to “throw away” millions worth of “old” equipment just to join the new 4/3 … In response to the change in demand, they came out with “digital lens” for digital bodies but still advice buyers to invest in their film lens because they are “just as good”.

For me, I believe Olympus made the right choice in coming out with the 4/3 standard. Many camera buyers will one day be able to use 4/3 lens on any 4/3 camera bodies without problem. Currently, the "smaller players" are making lens mount based on the 2 popular brands but it is not true vice versa - sad, isn't it?. This way, for best results, people have to stick to N & C lens ... they have no choice lar. The above is just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for reading.

[btfiend]

Olympus E-System:

Pricey but fantastic Zuiko optics (if you don't get a lemon),
Dust-free images,
Excellent colors,
Atrocious after-sale support service in SG

[microcosm]

Olympus as a whole? Well.... that is really hard. I do not like their PnS, I would recommend the buyer to look at Panasonic. The Lumix is really in a class of its own.

As for their DSLR, this is what I feel makes Olympus stand out among the competition :

• They managed to shrink the size of the DSLR because of the 4/3 sensor.
• Produces superb colours.
• Amazing lenses with ultra high resolution, though pricey when you start collecting lenses from the higher range.
• Innovative, from the original dust buster, 4/3 sensor design, live view, to name but a few.
• The E-1 being built like a tank and very weather proof.

The bad :

• Technical support issues that they are facing with some members in this boards.
• Some say range of lenses not enough, but personally, I have all I need in 9 lenses that I own.
• The FL series of flash units loses out in terms of performance when compared to Nikon and Metz.
• Not exactly the system you will use for sports as the AF system is not as fast as the offerings from Canon and Nikon, but then again, compare the prices. And also, the final image quality.
• Not enough accessories like wireless flash solution.
• Some complain of noise, but I feel that the noise adds to realism in high speed ISO setting, so to each his own. If you believe in low noise, there is always Canon and you are welcome to switch. I hope Olympus will develop new sensors with the option of turning off low noise/high speed functionality to keep the high noise/high speed realism.

[wind30]

I really don't think olympus lens are pricey. I just got a $200 40-150mm f3.5-4.5 lens 2nd hand. Which gives me 80-300mm f4 lens. The canon counterpart is 70-200 f4 lens is like MUCH more expensive even second hand and heavier too.

NPNT. Here is a full res sample shot WIDE open at f3.5. UNDEDITED out of camera Jpeg.
http://www.pisduck.com/e330/40mm.JPG


The 14-54 f2.8-f3.5 is also MUCH cheaper than the corresponding nikkor 17-55 mm f2.8 lens and I think the quality is comparable.

The 50-200mm is around the same price as the nikkor AFD 70-200mm f2.8 but it is MUCH lighter at around 0.8kg I think with a longer reach of 400mm compared to the nikkor at 300mm.

[microcosm]

Originally Posted by wind30 I really don't think olympus lens are pricey. I just got a $200 40-150mm f3.5-4.5 lens 2nd hand. Which gives me 80-300mm f4 lens. The canon counterpart is 70-200 f4 lens is like MUCH more expensive even second hand and heavier too. NPNT. Here is a full res sample shot WIDE open at f3.5. UNDEDITED out of camera Jpeg. http://www.pisduck.com/e330/40mm.JPG The 14-54 f2.8-f3.5 is also MUCH cheaper than the corresponding nikkor 17-55 mm f2.8 lens and I think the quality is comparable. The 50-200mm is around the same price as the nikkor AFD 70-200mm f2.8 but it is MUCH lighter at around 0.8kg I think with a longer reach of 400mm compared to the nikkor at 300mm.

It is true until you go the Platinum range.

[wind30]

Originally Posted by microcosm It is true until you go the Platinum range.

ya lah but for the 90% of the mere mortals like me, the good quality grade and consumer lense are sufficient.

So I don't understand why when I meet fellow CSers, they have this wrong impression that oly lens are expensive when in reality, they are actually cheaper than C/N.

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by wind30 ya lah but for the 90% of the mere mortals like me, the good quality grade and consumer lense are sufficient. So I don't understand why when I meet fellow CSers, they have this wrong impression that oly lens are expensive when in reality, they are actually cheaper than C/N.

That's mainly because you're comparing apples with pears.

I don't want to explain everything but just to mention the obvious : 150mm is not equal to 200mm even though the field of view is about the same when the former is used on Olympus's 2x crop factor sensor size and the latter is used on 1.5x crop factor bodies. The difference in resolution power is more evident when shooting distant objects. F4.5@150mm = 150/4.5 = 33.33 while F4 @200mm = 200/4 = 50.

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by microcosm Olympus as a whole? Well.... that is really hard. I do not like their PnS, I would recommend the buyer to look at Panasonic. The Lumix is really in a class of its own. As for their DSLR, this is what I feel makes Olympus stand out among the competition : They managed to shrink the size of the DSLR because of the 4/3 sensor. Produces superb colours. Amazing lenses with ultra high resolution, though pricey when you start collecting lenses from the higher range. Innovative, from the original dust buster, 4/3 sensor design, live view, to name but a few. The E-1 being built like a tank and very weather proof. The bad : Technical support issues that they are facing with some members in this boards. Some say range of lenses not enough, but personally, I have all I need in 9 lenses that I own. The FL series of flash units loses out in terms of performance when compared to Nikon and Metz. Not exactly the system you will use for sports as the AF system is not as fast as the offerings from Canon and Nikon, but then again, compare the prices. And also, the final image quality. Not enough accessories like wireless flash solution. Some complain of noise, but I feel that the noise adds to realism in high speed ISO setting, so to each his own. If you believe in low noise, there is always Canon and you are welcome to switch. I hope Olympus will develop new sensors with the option of turning off low noise/high speed functionality to keep the high noise/high speed realism.

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by zoossh If you have just a few lines to say about olympus's DSLR, especially with regards to its major strength and weakness of this brand among many other brands, and perhaps about the best value for money model (e.g. the entry level or intermediate level model), what would you say? I'm thinking of gathering just a very short introduction for each brand for a newbie thread. well, it will never be exhaustive and comprehensive, i understand a few lines can't say it all, but that introduction would probably be just the first step for the newbies anyway.

If I were to buy an Olympus DSLR, it would be because of it's smaller size & lighter weight (better portability) vis-a-vis competition. Prices of body + a basic kit lens is also slightly lower than main competitors. All these thanks to a smaller sensor size which enables a more compact system. Continuous Live view and flip LCD in certain models are also pluses.

However, the main thing which puts me off is from the flip side of a smaller sensor : higher noise level vis-a-vis competition. Also is the narrower range and availability of lens. Due to a niche market, resale of any used Olympus equipment later is not as easy as Canon and Nikon. Another minor downside with a more compact system is the lesser resolution power of a shorter focal length vis-a-vis competition when shooting distant objects at very long focal lengths.

Therefore if I were to buy an Olympus DSLR, I know that I'm buying a Mini at the price of a Mini and not erroneously think that I'm paying a Mini price for a Ferrari or Lamborghini just because they are both somewhat "exclusive".