olympus E30 - would you recommend it ?
Discussion
I didn't answer this because I don't know anything about Olympus cameras; I imagine most of us here are the same.
However, the generic question when considering an upgrade is, "What is it that your current camera doesn't do well enough?" If the answer is "nothing", then there's no point upgrading other than retail therapy. If there's something about your current camera that you find limiting, then maybe we can help answer whether the E30 will do it better, and if not, what camera will.
However, the generic question when considering an upgrade is, "What is it that your current camera doesn't do well enough?" If the answer is "nothing", then there's no point upgrading other than retail therapy. If there's something about your current camera that you find limiting, then maybe we can help answer whether the E30 will do it better, and if not, what camera will.
Ive had expereince of the E1 and an E420, neither of which are an E30 of course but my general feeling s on theE-system are thus...
THe E1 - Totaly solid and proper weather sealing, feels at least as well made as my D1/2x, Nicely weighted and smaller. Thats a bonus for me as I prefer small cameras.
Image quality at 100 iso is excellent, no one should be worried, its 5mp are enough for great A4 print and upsized to A3 are excellent too, I recently printed an A3+ shot and was extrememly happy with the result. (none of this if you view it from 10 miles away it looks good but not real close up rubbish either). That said, I wouldnt want to go bigger.
Noise at higher iso in low light is a problem, if its dim then 400iso upwrds can be noisy but in good light its ok, looks like film grain more than digital noise anyway. HWEVER its old tech now and whils that doesnt mean it stopped working when a succesor came out, it is very slow, card write times etc. Focus is accurate but slowish, although ive used it for motor sports several times without issue.
E-420 - Build seems better than Canikon entry level models, certainly feels more solid in you hand. Focus is OK, no sports camera though. Although with good technique any camera can be used for that really. Image quality - cleaner than E1 froma noise perspective but I actualy prefer the E1 files.
The Zuiko 'digital' lenses that ive used are utterly superb, simply cracking. (14-54 & 50mm) Can say enough good things about them, except the price is a little high maybe. Kit lenses (14-42 in this case) seem to be if much higher quility than Canikon etc.
What does this have to do with the E30. well, it's newer so its bound to be faster, and the image quality will be at least as good as the 420, im sure it will be better, worht taking a cf card to a dealer and shooting some images to look at at home.
Second hand E1's can be had for 250 quid though with a lens, an utter bargin in my opinion. Unless you do lots of low light shooting of course. E30 is bound to be much improved in this area, the E420 certainly is.
I like the E system but if you need to shoot in low light with high ISO a lot then it isnt for you, its the one reason why I dont own them. Think carefully, the latest wunderkind from Canikon are great but if you don't need iso3400495850394848 on a daily basis then the E system is worth a look at the very least.
I know that told you nothing about the E30 but I hope it was of at least some help.
THe E1 - Totaly solid and proper weather sealing, feels at least as well made as my D1/2x, Nicely weighted and smaller. Thats a bonus for me as I prefer small cameras.
Image quality at 100 iso is excellent, no one should be worried, its 5mp are enough for great A4 print and upsized to A3 are excellent too, I recently printed an A3+ shot and was extrememly happy with the result. (none of this if you view it from 10 miles away it looks good but not real close up rubbish either). That said, I wouldnt want to go bigger.
Noise at higher iso in low light is a problem, if its dim then 400iso upwrds can be noisy but in good light its ok, looks like film grain more than digital noise anyway. HWEVER its old tech now and whils that doesnt mean it stopped working when a succesor came out, it is very slow, card write times etc. Focus is accurate but slowish, although ive used it for motor sports several times without issue.
E-420 - Build seems better than Canikon entry level models, certainly feels more solid in you hand. Focus is OK, no sports camera though. Although with good technique any camera can be used for that really. Image quality - cleaner than E1 froma noise perspective but I actualy prefer the E1 files.
The Zuiko 'digital' lenses that ive used are utterly superb, simply cracking. (14-54 & 50mm) Can say enough good things about them, except the price is a little high maybe. Kit lenses (14-42 in this case) seem to be if much higher quility than Canikon etc.
What does this have to do with the E30. well, it's newer so its bound to be faster, and the image quality will be at least as good as the 420, im sure it will be better, worht taking a cf card to a dealer and shooting some images to look at at home.
Second hand E1's can be had for 250 quid though with a lens, an utter bargin in my opinion. Unless you do lots of low light shooting of course. E30 is bound to be much improved in this area, the E420 certainly is.
I like the E system but if you need to shoot in low light with high ISO a lot then it isnt for you, its the one reason why I dont own them. Think carefully, the latest wunderkind from Canikon are great but if you don't need iso3400495850394848 on a daily basis then the E system is worth a look at the very least.
I know that told you nothing about the E30 but I hope it was of at least some help.
E30 seems to be well regarded.
Have a look and an ask on http://e-group.uk.net/forum/index.php or one of the other 4/3 forums.
I've got an e1 and an e510. Both very good imo and I agree with the post above - 510 feels much better made than the canikon entry level stuff.
Lenses are a tad on the expensive side, but are all very good. The only downside is the lack of a cheap wide angle - due to the crop factor on the 4/3 stuff.
Have a look and an ask on http://e-group.uk.net/forum/index.php or one of the other 4/3 forums.
I've got an e1 and an e510. Both very good imo and I agree with the post above - 510 feels much better made than the canikon entry level stuff.
Lenses are a tad on the expensive side, but are all very good. The only downside is the lack of a cheap wide angle - due to the crop factor on the 4/3 stuff.
Edited by TooLateForAName on Thursday 28th January 13:08
I've always been a fan of Olympus DSLRs.
My first DSLR was an E-500. Loved it at the time. It was a cracking piece of kit and (in my opinion) was a far better camera to the equivalent Nikon/Canon onn both operation and image quality.
I then upgraded to an E-510. A far, far better camera. Image quality was better, dynamic range was better, just about everything was better. Since owning the 510 I owned a Canon 450d. Preferred the Olympus hands down.
I haven't used the new generation of E cameras but am planning to purchase either a 520 or 620 soon. I imagine the E30 would be a fantastic upgrade to the E-500, considering it is supposed to be speced to sit inbetween the E620 & E3.
My first DSLR was an E-500. Loved it at the time. It was a cracking piece of kit and (in my opinion) was a far better camera to the equivalent Nikon/Canon onn both operation and image quality.
I then upgraded to an E-510. A far, far better camera. Image quality was better, dynamic range was better, just about everything was better. Since owning the 510 I owned a Canon 450d. Preferred the Olympus hands down.
I haven't used the new generation of E cameras but am planning to purchase either a 520 or 620 soon. I imagine the E30 would be a fantastic upgrade to the E-500, considering it is supposed to be speced to sit inbetween the E620 & E3.
Thanks for the advice . you confirmed my suspicion that theyre not that popular - I bought the E500 (first DSLR about 4 yrs ago) because I'd had good experience with Olympus 35mm SLRs previously - in those days Olympus seemed as popular with enthustiastic amateurs as Canon & Nikon; it now seems that Canon & Nikon have cornered the market. The Zuiko lenses are good (not cheap though) but i've found few compatible 3rd party lenses which I put down the popularity of the cameras in the first place . I'd want it mainly for motorport. Where I've found the E500 lacking is (1)noise (above iso400) and (2)the time it takes to start up from standby and (3)the time takes from taking one frame to being ready to take the next (there probably a tech term for this but i don't know what it is).
the time between shots might be down to the noise processing settings. Cant remember which one off hand but one of the settings does a noise removal on the image after youve taken it.
Time to start up can also be altered in the settings - longer if IS is on, also there is the sesnor cleaning process.
Time to start up can also be altered in the settings - longer if IS is on, also there is the sesnor cleaning process.
I have used Olympus cameras since I traided my Zenith in. I currently have and Ee and an E500 both of which perform well, yes there is a lack of super wide angle and the lenses are expensive but they out perfoem me.
On the subject of printing I have blown up 4 and 5Mb pictures up to A1 (841X595) with perfectly good results
On the subject of printing I have blown up 4 and 5Mb pictures up to A1 (841X595) with perfectly good results
Only reason E system is not as popular is because so many read forums and forums always trot out the same advice about which camera to buy, general advice tends to be buy canikon or you bought the wrong camera. They tend to do very well indeed in comparative tests.
I had a little play with the E30 a few weeks back, felt great in the hand, nice size but not to heavy, better balanced then my E420. Viewfinder vastly bigger and better then smaller E cameras, although probably a little smaller then E3 (don't know just going by what reviews say as didn't have an E3 to hand). Not interested in art filters, in camera IS and better AF I am interested in though and supposedly better on the 2 top E system cameras.
The dxo sensor tests still worry me though and put me of, they basically say that comparatively there is very little difference in IQ going from the E420 all the way up to the E3. That is a big cost differential for the other features, I guess I naively expect that spending more money on new kit will result in a jump in IQ, maybe not.
I had a little play with the E30 a few weeks back, felt great in the hand, nice size but not to heavy, better balanced then my E420. Viewfinder vastly bigger and better then smaller E cameras, although probably a little smaller then E3 (don't know just going by what reviews say as didn't have an E3 to hand). Not interested in art filters, in camera IS and better AF I am interested in though and supposedly better on the 2 top E system cameras.
The dxo sensor tests still worry me though and put me of, they basically say that comparatively there is very little difference in IQ going from the E420 all the way up to the E3. That is a big cost differential for the other features, I guess I naively expect that spending more money on new kit will result in a jump in IQ, maybe not.
d1d215 said:
the first thing I noticed is that Olympus has a lot smaller sensor. but I guess for non-professional use it would be a good camera. in fact any mid-level dslr you see in shops is good enough to live with. but if you want to become a pro one day there is only one way - canikon .
The sensor is not a lot smaller really, its basically similar size to the sensors in its competitors mid market cameras but with the ends cropped off to make it 4/3rds. This review explains how they cropped the images from the Nikon to give the same image.http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_E-3/outd...
This link explains the relative sensor sizes
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/sensor-size.html
Edited by NJH on Friday 12th March 15:46
Edited by NJH on Friday 12th March 15:58
fair point I must say. although I still don't see Olympus as a long term investment. When there are new dslr's coming out Sony for example, I read as many reviews as possible to maybe switch from Nikon, but always they're not good enough for that. I would love to have olympus pen as a travel camera, but that's it.
Yeah if am honest the high iso noise bugs me, the million and one customisation options bugs me, the fact none of the E series cameras has a built in AF assist lamp bugs me. The new cameras with all the daft image modes and art filters I neither desire or need, that bugs me. The small viewfinder on the lower end models bugs me (although that is a fairly general criticism of low end DSLR's). I am not a fanboi, if I didn't already have an E series camera it would be D90 all the way. Crazy to switch formats if your happy with a particular make and already have all the investment in lenses.
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