As there's a Nikon thread and any number of Canon threads. How about an Olympus one...for the odd query...and info....for the small band of Oly users.....and would be, or might be users......

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Ok Sue , E-510 or E-410, if you had not brought the E-400 would you have got the E-410 over E-510?

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Paul
My glass is 4/3rds full :)

MY GALLERY

craftysnapper:

Ok Sue , E-510 or E-410, if you had not brought the E-400 would you have got the E-410 over E-510?

No. I'm a bit surprised that I liked the E-400 as I don't usually like small cameras and if I'd been without a camera and choosing between the 410 and 510, the size of the 510, together with the extra features and IS would have swung it - the price difference is'nt huge.

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...and as you can get an ex demo E-400 with 14-42 for 299.00 I certainly would'nt get an E-410.

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I'm looking to get the Olympus e-510 camera two lens kit when i have the money. what do you all think of it. reviews are all good but i'm a tiny bit worried about the 3 point/band auto-focus. Does it hold the camera back compared to say an equivilent Nikon or Canon? Also i've read a fair few reviews of the camera and they mension nothing about being able to use old lenses from an old OM. I've been told i can but i was just hoping someone could back that statement up.

I've always like Olympus sinse all of my compact cameras have been Olys and all (except one which was bloody awful) have been really good. And on top of that the first SLR (not digital) camera i ever used was my dad's old OM that he swore by until it unfortunatly packed in.

I've. never been bothered by how many focus points there are as I always set one. Look on ebay - you can get adaptors for OM, Nikkor, Canon, M42, Pentax K etc. - manual focussing but you do get metering.

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I'm using my E500 I got last year. It still knows more about photography than I do . And I still love using it.

We're not that small a band, I think surveys show Oly users are 3rd ehind Cakon in numbers.

DCM still keep on slagging off our lenses though grrr

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BPitW 9-10 June 2007.
My website My flickr

There don't seem to be too many Olympus users on this site - unless they're in hiding! There can still be an attitude of 'Olympus? OK, but not as good as Cakon obviously' - mainly by those who've never used them or those who point to the lack of 'pros' using them - does that matter to an amateur user looking for quality and value in a budget/enthusiast camera. Having used other brands, I stand by my opinion thats there's very little between them. I like the fact that you can pick up an olympus with a usp to suit you - E-1 built to stand rough use and weather, E-330 - articulated live view lcd, E-400/410 - tiny travel DSLR, E-510 - built in IS etc. - and they all have anti-dust that actually works.

The only problem they have at the moment lens wise is the lack of affordable long telephotos. For any other brand you can get budget lenses to take you to the equivalent of around 450mm. I'm looking forward to getting the new 70-300mm. A lightweight lens that takes you to a 600mm view - stabilised on the 510 - you'd need to carry quite a weight to get that on a non 4/3 camera. I have'nt used the new 40-150mm but the old one was very good - amazingly so considering the price. The old 14-45mm was'nt perhaps the best on the market, but I've been using the new 14-42mm and found it very nice - sold my 14-54, to help finance the 510, as I did'nt use it much, and the 14-42 does the job as well for me. When you think of the price you pay for the two kit lenses when you buy them in a bundle the last thing anyone should do is slag them off! The lens range might be smaller than some but at least they're all worth buying - and you don't have endless decisions to make between similar models.

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Great idea Sue i have a E-500 and love it and trying to find other Olympus user would be that much easier. I posted a thread about a macro len (which one to buy )and only got one reply from Veggiesosage which was a great help but if Olympus users knew where to look for each other I think there would of been a few more replys so you have the thumbs up form me   

sue allen:

I've. never been bothered by how many focus points there are as I always set one. Look on ebay - you can get adaptors for OM, Nikkor, Canon, M42, Pentax K etc. - manual focussing but you do get metering.

Cheers that really helps me out. i'm pretty sure i'll be getting the 2 lens kit 510 when i get back from my trip to Dublin next week. cheers for the help

This might be the place for me to have a little mini rant. Last 2 issues of DCM have included slr lens tests, Aug was wide angles and this month's is macros. In both tests the Oly examples (the 11-22mm and the 50mm respectively) got 2/5. In both cases there was no real explanation for such a low score. The Cakons got 4s and 5s obviously.

I'm sorry, but 2/5 for the Oly ZD 11-22mm? It makes you wonder if they actually used it or whether they drew their conclusions from the spec sheet. Their only complaint was that it wasn't as wide as the others in the test which is fair enough and that it was overpriced as a result. I'm really not sure about that, I'm sure its possible to make a cheap wide angle, its just whether it would be as good optically as the 11-22mm is a bit questionable. This is a high quality lens and thats what you're paying for.

And on another note, the test of the Canon 1D Mk111 was interesting. They gave it 94% which I'm sure is exactly what Canon would have wanted. However, its strange that the internet is buzzing with stories about this camera having a major auto focus problem (and Canon has announced a firmware update which apparently will only partly solve the problem) but it appears that DCM's sample didn't suffer from this issue. Strange but lucky I guess.

Oh well, rant over, I'm not normally one for brand loyalty but I do think the 4/3 system has suffered from unjustified cynicism and to be fair, DCM have been very impressed with the 410 and 510 bodies.

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BPitW 9-10 June 2007.
My website My flickr

Great idea Sue. I have an Oly E330 and I am still getting accustomed to it (DSLR's have a bewildering amount of features) but I have been very impressed with the quality of the pictures. My only criticism so far is that the frame assist grid isn't visible in the viewfinder, only on the screen. On the c8080wz it was shown on both and was very useful.

Another fact I discovered, and this is not a complaint just a fact, is that when you save as RAW & jpeg, the jpeg is a smaller file than shq.

As for lenses, mine came with the 40-150 1:3.5-4.5 and the 14-45 1:3.5-5.6 and I can't say that I have found either of them lacking, but maybe I havent pressed them hard. What did you dislike about the 14-45 btw? 

I agree with veggiesosage about dc mag's critique of the 11-22mm lens. They say "Sharpness was good throughout the zoom range. Colour rendition was fine, though contrast was on the high side at times. Unlike most ultra-wide zooms chromatic aberation was almost non-existent with ghosting and flare well under control."  and of the Nikkor lens "There was good contrast and colour reporduction and, while the lens suffered from a high degree of chromatic aberration..."  yet the Nikkor gets 4/5 for image quality and the Oly 3/5. Likewise the Canon had "more chromatic aberration thasn expected" but scored 5/5. Also of the Oly "The large zoom and focus rings make for comfortable handling." but the score for build & handling was 3/5. It hasn't put me off wanting one though.

Guy

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Don't let it put you off Guy, its a fantastic lens and I probably use mine about 70% of the time.

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BPitW 9-10 June 2007.
My website My flickr

http://www.photozone.de/active/survey/querylenstxt.jsp?filter=%22brand='Olympus%20Digital%20Zuiko%20(4/3)'%20or%20brand='Sigma%20AF%20(4/3)'%22

Based on actual user reviews.

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Hello. My names Graham and I use a Nikon! (forgive me for I know not what I do)

   Anyway, this months Digital Photographer has a glowing report on the E-410 awarding 9/10 for Features, Build quality, Handling, Quality of results, and Value for money.

  Sorry ,don't know what else to say but I thourght you'd like to know.

                           Cheers for now     Graham.

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