anyone bought the E-1


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kentaroC said:
Anyone tested the E1?

No one? I am keen to know too. Handle one at AP last Sat. Very impressed. The review on the lenses is very good, up to the bar of canon L lenses.
 

ivor said:
buy buy buy... only S$4100.00

Buy buy!...E10/20 users go back to Oly... :D
 

$3800-3900 E-1 w/14-54mm, Camera kit w/lens
$630-660 for FL-50 Flash
$1700-1800 for 50-200mm lens
$820-850 for 50mm Macro lens
$830-860 for SHLD-2 Battery Holder Grip kit (incl charger and battery)

Prices from the usual sources.....saw a couple of people using the E-1 w/50-200 at the F-1 Boat race.
 

i tested it with the 14-54mm and the 300mm f/2.8 lens... kinda like the handling. nice and lightweight. some people complain about the shutter, but i like it - soft and quiet.
 

For those who had bought the 10D/D60, then need to get rid of the 10D/D60 first...

henavs said:
Buy buy!...E10/20 users go back to Oly... :D
 

ivor said:
For those who had bought the 10D/D60, then need to get rid of the 10D/D60 first...

There will be sudden influx of 10D in the 2nd hand market... :bsmilie:
 

The only drawbacks is it's resolution - only 4.92M effective pixels. Not good enough for a 300dpi A4 printout.

In addition, the 2x magnification field of view crop might be a little turn-off for those wide angle fans. Luckily, this undesirable factor has been kinda salvaged by offering 14-54mm lens (28mm for the 35mm equiv) in the E1 package. Still might not be wide enough for some....... :think:

Nevertheless, I think it is a great contender for the DSLR market. Excellent highly water/dust resistant body and lenses, innovative Supersonic Wave Filter" that cleans CCD, LCD cover...... etc.

I guess I shall wait till some of those issues that concern me are resolved in the next model (I hope soon...) before digging deep into my already pretty depleted savings.

Cheers.

Just my 1-and-a-half cent of opinion..... ;)
 

I totally agree to this. :thumbsup:

pHi said:
Nevertheless, I think it is a great contender for the DSLR market. Excellent highly water/dust resistant body and lenses, innovative Supersonic Wave Filter" that cleans CCD, LCD cover...... etc.
 

pHi said:
The only drawbacks is it's resolution - only 4.92M effective pixels. Not good enough for a 300dpi A4 printout.

----rest snipped-----

Cheers.

Just my 1-and-a-half cent of opinion..... ;)

You seem to think it's only the no. of megapixels alone that determines print size.

One wishes that it is that simple. Unfortunately, that's rather inaccurate. It's not just about pixel count. The overall quality of the captured image plays a big part in how scaleable the image is. The E-1 preserves a lot of edge detail, and has a wider dynamic range than most of the competition in the DSLR market. The high resolution of the digital lenses for the camera play the other part. This is why the E-1 images are very very scaleable despite 'only' having 5MP.

There were 40x30 inch Lightjet prints made from E-1 shots at the launch last week that impressed most people - pros and enthusiasts alike - when they saw them. This is especially true of Geoff Ang's shots as well as most of the nature shots.



;) ;) ;)
 

I'm confused... why is everyone so excited about the E1. I mean... the D100 and 10D are selling for $2800, which leaves you money to buy a wide angle lens (okie lah... top up a bit) to match the E1 and the 14-54mm lens. Some more the D100 or 10D will enable to use your exisiting Canon or Nikon system lenses and accessories right?

I know about the advantages of the E1, such as the digital-optimized lenses, the ultra-sonic dust filter etc. But for the price isn't it better to buy a D100 or 10D? No flames please... I don't support any brand or system... I'm just genuinely interested to know why would some photographers choose the E1 over a 10D or D100. Or is the E1 ideal for photographers who've not bought into any brand yet? Or perhaps the E10 or E20 owners who believe strongly in the Zuiko lens advantage?

Playing the devils advocate, would you sink the same amount of money into the brand new 4/3 system of the E1 or purchase a Canon/Nikon system?
 

Neo said:
Playing the devils advocate, would you sink the same amount of money into the brand new 4/3 system of the E1 or purchase a Canon/Nikon system?
Actually I would be more interested in getting the new Sigma SD10 with the innovative and award winning Foveon CMOS sensor. At least the lenses and accessories are a lot more affordable than those of the E-1.
 

Neo said:
Playing the devils advocate, would you sink the same amount of money into the brand new 4/3 system of the E1 or purchase a Canon/Nikon system?

The new E lenses have been reviewed to be as good as Canon "L" lenses. Edge to edge sharpness is outstanding. The body is one class above 10D/D100. It tries to be benchmarked at 1D/D1 body but fall short there. Compare E-1 + 14-54mm (28-108mm) and 10D + 24-70 (38-112mm):
E-1: $3800, ~1150gm
10D: $5050, ~1700gm

I am taking a simplistic view here. There are many other factors in choosing a system: use of film bodies, much cheaper other lens options, viability of 3/4 system...

Just my 2cents...

Sharing:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=6480532
 

kahheng said:
You seem to think it's only the no. of megapixels alone that determines print size.

One wishes that it is that simple. Unfortunately, that's rather inaccurate. It's not just about pixel count. The overall quality of the captured image plays a big part in how scaleable the image is. The E-1 preserves a lot of edge detail, and has a wider dynamic range than most of the competition in the DSLR market. The high resolution of the digital lenses for the camera play the other part. This is why the E-1 images are very very scaleable despite 'only' having 5MP.

There were 40x30 inch Lightjet prints made from E-1 shots at the launch last week that impressed most people - pros and enthusiasts alike - when they saw them. This is especially true of Geoff Ang's shots as well as most of the nature shots.

;) ;) ;)


Hi Kahheng,
thanks for pointing out that one shouldn't rely on megapixel to determine print size..... :thumbsup: However, it is one of the best and general indicator for consumer to have a rough idea how defined a picture will turn out with a given pixel rating, assuming lens quality the same. Glad that you have a chance to see those printouts from E1. By the way, are those printouts from RAW image? If that is the case, then Megapixel/RAW comparisons will be different issues altogether. I think most amatuer photographers are only using JPEG or at most TIFF...... that is the reason why I was concerned with 4.92 MP E1 has to offer.

Anyway good discussion. :thumbsup:

Rgds.
 

The E1 body is environmentally sealed....to match the 1D, 1D's and D1x.

The lens MTF for 50mm macro and 14-54mm looks really solid and rivals the likes of 135 f2 L USM and 24-70 f2.8L USM zoom.
 

Hah, MTF charts. Useless things that don't tell me how they perform in real life.

The E1 just simply doesn't offer anything much for those with an existing investment in Nikon or Canon gear to switch. Maybe if you're stuck with Minolta, hehe.
 

Yes, E-1 with 17-54 lens will not beat 10D with 24-70L lens. It will just offer same performance but at 60% weight and 70% cost of 10D set. How do I know? I have both sets with me (10D body not mine).
 

YSLee said:
Hah, MTF charts. Useless things that don't tell me how they perform in real life.

The E1 just simply doesn't offer anything much for those with an existing investment in Nikon or Canon gear to switch. Maybe if you're stuck with Minolta, hehe.

Well, MTF charts alone may not say enough, that's true, but they do tell you:

1. The quality of the image shot wide open and stopped down - contrast and sharpness

2. The evenness of this quality across the frame wide open and stopped to what the manufacturer thinks is the optimal aperture

3. The bokeh quality of the lens - if the sagittal and tangential lines track closely, you can be sure that the bokeh quality will be very smooth

Of course, I totally agree with you that the real proof is in real world pictures, which is why I think if you saw the pics at the launch, you'd be impressed with the system.

Will people who've bought into Canon or Nikon feel a compulsion to switch systems? I think it depends on how much DIGITAL gear from the brands you have bought into. And I do largely mean digital specific lenses.

I still see heaps of people walking around with either brand's enthusiast cameras with a third party lens that usually does not maximise the capability of the camera because they simply can't afford to shell out the dough for the pro range lenses that will max out the system. BTW, sometimes, it's out of Hobson's choice: with my D1X and S2 in the past, I actually HAD to buy some 3rd party lenses because the Nikon didn't have the focal length range I needed.

A lot (hobby) users have only two or three non-pro zoom lenses and frankly that doesn't quite qualify as really buying severely INTO the system, unlike the old film days where one might have far more SLR lenses from the same brand which will make it less likely for them to completely swop systems. With digital, I think things have changed. There's a lot less tendency for brand loyalty, especially amongst the hobbyist crowd. Also, enough experienced shooters who've used film specific lenses, especially the wides, on their dSLR bodies can testify to the less than satisfactory performance that they get.

For me, the neat thing about the pricing of the Olympus E-1 and the lenses is that it's the most affordable pro range equipment you can lay your hands on. Each of the Zuiko Digital is "L" grade in Canon parlance, at far less money than it will cost you to pick up an L.

It's actually good to see Nikon coming out with the DX range of lenses because it confirms the results from Olympus' research into digital imagers and lenses - that dSLRs need digital lenses. The announced prices of the DX range is rather breathtaking. I am keen to see what the actual street prices end up to be.
 

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