Replacement For Olympus E20P

[plasticpig]

I have had my Olympus E20P and lens kit nicked. Luckily it is insured on a new replacement basis . The one thing I didnt like about the Olympus is the built in lens. So with £1400 to spend including lenses whats the best digital camera for someone who likes taking pictures but 99% of the time relies on auto mode and also wants to use a wide angle and telephoto lens.

[simpo two]

Useful budget. How wide and how telephoto do you want to go? Is speed important? Do you need flashgun, tripod etc?

[simonrockman]

Not properly live yet (the about us says launched November 2005), but www.cameralabs.com/ looks like a good place to start.

[plasticpig]

The E20P Telephoto lens I had was equivalent to a 420mm f2.8 in 35mm terms which was fine and the wide angle was a 28mm f2.0 equivalent which was also fine. A flashgun if not built in would be a must. Never really used a tripod but I guess that depends on how heavy the camera is. As for speed 4 frames a second plus would be nice.

[simpo two]

plasticpig said:

The E20P Telephoto lens I had was equivalent to a 420mm f2.8 in 35mm terms which was fine and the wide angle was a 28mm f2.0 equivalent which was also fine. A flashgun if not built in would be a must. Never really used a tripod but I guess that depends on how heavy the camera is. As for speed 4 frames a second plus would be nice.

You just broke the bank

Sigma 120-300mm f2.8: £1300 even at Warehouse Express. And that doesn't include a camera!

You'll have to give up the big apertures I'm afraid.

I can't speak for Canon, but from the Nikon camp (all prices approximate):

D70s + 18-70mm AF-S £700
Nikkor 70-300 ED £275
2 x 1Gb CF cards £100
Bag + UV filters £50.

(multiply the focal lengths by 1.5 to get 35mm equivalent, so the above combo covers '27-400mm')

I chose the D70s over the D50 as it has 3fps not 2.5 (but you're paying about £200 for that small advantage). To go faster you'll need the D200 which is 5fps but £1295 body only, so a non-starter. The D70s has a built-in flash but if you want more power and less red-eye the Speedlight SB600 is about £200.

If you haven't needed a tripod yet, leave it for now.

You can either keep the change (£75) or throw more money at it and get faster lenses.

HTH?

[plasticpig]

Thanks for that I shall have a look at the Nikon. I have just checked the price of the telephoto lens for the E20P its £699 and £200 for the extension arm I paid £220 including the extension arm at a trade auction for mine I didnt realize i'd got such a bargain. Looks like I will be claming the maximum £2000 from the insurance company. I can forsee long arguments about what as new and like for like means

[simpo two]

plasticpig said:

I have just checked the price of the telephoto lens for the E20P its £699 and £200 for the extension arm...

If it's a fixed lens, how can you buy it seperately? I thought a 28-400 f2-2.8 was pretty staggering
Problem as I see it is you need a hi-spec body to get 4fps, and high spec lenses to get f2.8.

[plasticpig]

Its one of these a TCON-300 :

Effectivley it screws on to the fixed lens. As you can see from the pic it also has an extension arm to support the weight. I really dont know much about the technical details but the spec says its equvialent to 420mm f2.8 35mm. The question I guess is do I actually need such a piece of kit since I have probably only used it 15-20 times? I have genrally used it to take photos of ships out at sea or aircraft.

>> Edited by plasticpig on Monday 28th November 22:12

[simpo two]

If that's f2.8 I'm a banana - I'd guess f6.3.

Did I tell you about my Pringles tube idea? Very cheap and looks great