E300 Users

[jamestan]

I'm buying... But not pre-booking... Till I know the price of the underwater casing. The Regional sales director refused to comment anything on it, but he said around region of SGD 1000.

Was told the 8080's cost only 590. Then buy 2nd hand 8080 SGD1000, still a cheaper set-up. (I'm sure pple will start throwing 8080s once they get their hands on the E300. Already saw one on sale in B and S)

 

[jamestyemk]

For those eventually building a system around E-300, saw some prices at Olympus America & Olympus Singapore websites:

(www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/oima_holiday_giftguide_accessories.asp):

E-300 with 14-45 kit lens USD999.99
Zuiko Digital 14-45 USD249.99
FL36 flash USD199.95
HLD-3 battery holder USD99.95

(eStore @ www.olympus.com.sg):

Zuiko Digital ED 50mm F2.0 S$1,120
Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 F2.8-3.5 S$2,235

 

[kahheng]

For those eventually building a system around E-300, saw some prices at Olympus America & Olympus Singapore websites:

(www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/oima_holiday_giftguide_accessories.asp):

E-300 with 14-45 kit lens USD999.99
Zuiko Digital 14-45 USD249.99
FL36 flash USD199.95
HLD-3 battery holder USD99.95

(eStore @ www.olympus.com.sg):

Zuiko Digital ED 50mm F2.0 S$1,120
Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 F2.8-3.5 S$2,235

Surely the local estore prices are a lot more than street prices in town........

The US prices appear to reflect the expected street prices there.

 

[Evilmerlin]

1. raycsk
2. serene
3. jamestyemk
4. hhho
5. tomcat
6. Evilmerlin

Add me!!! just placed my order today!

 

[tomcat]

1. raycsk
2. serene
3. jamestyemk
4. hhho
5. tomcat
6. Evilmerlin

Add me!!! just placed my order today!

Congrats. I thought you were leaning more towards the D70. Glad that you managed to steer yourself away from the Darkside of the Force at the last moment.

 

[Evilmerlin]

Well, ultimately the sheer value for money of the E-300 won me over. hehehe

 

[tomcat]

Studio 1.2 looks pretty good though. You probably need this to squeeze the max out of RAW. What's it cost at Sitex?

I am interested in getting it too. Though I read that Adobe Camera Raw of Photoshop CS is just as good if not better, it is likely that Adobe Camera Raw cannot read the lens data and carry out geometric aberration correction like Studio can.

I didn't ask for the price at SITEX as I noticed that the prices for lenses and accessories quoted there seemed to be the recommended retail prices eg I was interested in the 50mm Macro and the price quoted was $1,100+. I could probably get the Studio software at a better price at the local dealers. What's the best local price for the software by the way?

 

[kahheng]

I am interested in getting it too. Though I read that Adobe Camera Raw of Photoshop CS is just as good if not better, it is likely that Adobe Camera Raw cannot read the lens data and carry out geometric aberration correction like Studio can.

Trust me as someone who's been very intimate with Studio, ultimate quality wise ACR doesn't do it as good as Studio can. ACR is very very good, but Studio has the edge in terms of getting colours just right, and squeezing just that much more detail out of orfs. But then Studio 1.11 has quirks that still needs fixing. (I haven't used v1.2 and it may not be likely that I'd want to)

That said, I'd would pick ACR, as the more flexible raw converter, on the whole, and more importantly, for the tightly-integrated-with-Photoshop workflow.

All out quality is but *one* consideration when it comes to picking the tools for the job.

Lens geometric distortion is IMO a far overplayed consideration for most enthusiasts, unless you're in the habit of shooting a lot of subjects with rectilinear lines. Then, if geometric distortion is a critical factor, you'd want to go for symmetrical type lenses of which most LF and some rangefinder lenses are your best bets.

 

[tomcat]

Here are some E300 (and E-1) winter pics posted by a user. Many were taken with the ultra-expensive 300m f/2.8 lens as well as other E series lenses. This lady must be very rich

http://homepage.mac.com/lsippu/PhotoAlbum43.html

Some of the E300 images can be downloaded from her iDisk Public Folder.

 

[serene]

Here are some E300 (and E-1) winter pics posted by a user. Many were taken with the ultra-expensive 300m f/2.8 lens as well as other E series lenses. This lady must be very rich

http://homepage.mac.com/lsippu/PhotoAlbum43.html

Some of the E300 images can be downloaded from her iDisk Public Folder.

Nice pics :thumbsup:
But did you see the camera half covered by snow. For a moment, my heart stopped. I know the camera is not weather sealed (unlike the E-1) - oh dear.. :bheart:

 

[tomcat]

Nice pics :thumbsup:
But did you see the camera half covered by snow. For a moment, my heart stopped. I know the camera is not weather sealed (like the E-1) - oh dear.. :bheart:

She probably did that just to take that pic and quickly dust off the snow afterwards. At those temperatures, the snow won't melt and was probably too coarse to enter the camera. Either that or she is so rich that she can afford to destroy one E-300 just for one heart-stopping pic. :bigeyes:

 

[kahheng]

Some of the E300 images can be downloaded from her iDisk Public Folder.

What makes you think the he is a 'her'? :bsmilie:

 

[tomcat]

What makes you think the he is a 'her'? :bsmilie:

You're right. After going thru his portfolio and found his self-pic, I realised that he is actually a 'he'. Goes to show that one can't jump to conclusion based on the sound of a name, especially a foreign one at that.

His shots are superb. Must be a professional nature photographer. Really showcase how good the E-series cameras could be in the right hands.

I have been looking for examples of images taken by the 50mm Macro lens and after looking at his macros, I will definitely be getting one for myself.

 

[Evilmerlin]

The 50mm /2.0 looks real good(1000+!!!). Bright and with macro capabilities. Thats the only thing I feel lacking in the range of lens right now. a cheap bright lens like the 50mm F/1.8.

 

[tomcat]

The 50mm /2.0 looks real good(1000+!!!). Bright and with macro capabilities. Thats the only thing I feel lacking in the range of lens right now. a cheap bright lens like the 50mm F/1.8.

I think the price after discount here is $900+. If it is too high, can always order it online from B&H at ~$900 inclusive of express shipping via UPS.

 

[serene]

Hi
Yes, Ms and CP both quoted $870 +5% GST. I did a quick calculation and found out that B&H will end up only $10 cheaper (provided that today's US$ rate remains the same) so not really much saving. Surprisingly, the Japan bargain online store quoted something close to $900 since JYE has increased as US$ declined. Maybe when I travel to Japan in near future, will hv a look at some of the 2nd hand shops, understand that the prices can be quite attractive.

 

[Evilmerlin]

I've been reading the DPR forums and came across this OM lenses. what are these? Olympus seems to be offering free adaptors for them. I checked ebay and an OM 50mm f/1.8 can be had for about US$50!

If these OM lenses are good, I think I just found a good source of primes.

 

[fengwei]

Saw these pics at another forum. All taken by the newly released E300 with either the kit lens or a 50-200mm lens:

I'm sure you've made a great choice here.

Cheers!

 

[tomcat]

Saw these pics at another forum. All taken by the newly released E300 with either the kit lens or a 50-200mm lens:
I'm sure you've made a great choice here.

Cheers!

How come photos now all cannot see?
Was OK this morning.

Anyway, here's a post with a user's hands-on impression of the E-300 plus photos showing a comparison of noise at ISO 400, 800 and 1600 for the E-300 from the same xitek forum.
http://forum.xitek.com/showthread.php?threadid=256378
Looked quite OK up to ISO 800 to my eyes leh.
Even at ISO 1600, the noise might not show up on prints especially at 4R or 5R sizes.

 

[chancy]

Hello Evilmerlin,

Short answer to your question of what OM lenses are. They are the predecessors of the Digital Zuikos and ushered in the era of Olympus OM line of manual focus SLRs starting with the M1/OM-1 in the 70s. The OM system of camera bodies & lenses were made to be high quality, extremely compact yet simple to operate. The lenses are all manual focus and are generally characterised by having an aperture ring ahead of the focusing ring. Brainchild of Olympus visonary Maitani.

You can begin the path to being a Zuikoholic here

There exists an OM group here, notably amongst them BooChap and his fine collection of travel photos using the OM system.

Olympus has released a free adapter for registered E1 owners that allows them to use OM lenses on the 4/3 mount. Details in many DPreview threads & here.

Rgds,