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.