Fourthirds and my sanity
Discussion
OK, I need a sanity check.
Am I certifiable in buying a less mainstream DSLR - not a Canon or Nikon but an Olympus, say the e420 with the fourthirds mount. I'd arguably get beeter value for money on the body, but at the same time limiting my choices of lenses, especially as I'd be buying pretty much everything except the body (and kit lense) secondhand. That being said, I suspect a standard kit lense zoom, a 250ish zoom (airshows & motorsport) and possibly a macro would be all the glass I need.
I am very tempted by the reconditioned EOS 400D's on the Canon Outlet, but would like live view so others could use it (yes, one oc them can't use a viewfinder
). As 450d's look pricy at the mo, and am a liitle weary of the 1000d (tried one - didn't get on with the total lack of grip in the body) the Olympus is tempting and gets good reviews. Am I just being stupid here and actually going down the more expensive route in the long run?
Am I certifiable in buying a less mainstream DSLR - not a Canon or Nikon but an Olympus, say the e420 with the fourthirds mount. I'd arguably get beeter value for money on the body, but at the same time limiting my choices of lenses, especially as I'd be buying pretty much everything except the body (and kit lense) secondhand. That being said, I suspect a standard kit lense zoom, a 250ish zoom (airshows & motorsport) and possibly a macro would be all the glass I need.
I am very tempted by the reconditioned EOS 400D's on the Canon Outlet, but would like live view so others could use it (yes, one oc them can't use a viewfinder
). As 450d's look pricy at the mo, and am a liitle weary of the 1000d (tried one - didn't get on with the total lack of grip in the body) the Olympus is tempting and gets good reviews. Am I just being stupid here and actually going down the more expensive route in the long run?Stigmundfreud said:
friend of mine saved a packet going olympus
now spending a fortune converting over to something with more support and larger flexibility when it comes to lenses (canon)
That confirms my suspisions. As a follow-on the refurb 400d's seem to be going for about £270 - this seems reasonable, but is it?now spending a fortune converting over to something with more support and larger flexibility when it comes to lenses (canon)
At the end of the day if you are a real enthusiastic photographer you should just stomach the cost of a nice Canon or Nikon and enjoy it.
For the sake of 100 or 200 quid you dont want to be regretting your decision.
Remember some people spend far more and dont even know what an F stop is.
For the sake of 100 or 200 quid you dont want to be regretting your decision.
Remember some people spend far more and dont even know what an F stop is.
Agree - four thirds is half way between bridge compact and crop DSLR. The system is cheap for a reason.
Main concerns for me would be:
- Lack of support for third party lenses
- Smaller sensor - lower signal to noise ratio - nasty noisy photos ( this is based of physics to bias, I don't know how well the sensors cope with noise)
- Smaller focal length for same field of view = larger depth of field for a given apperture. This is something they see as a plus point! If you want to use selective depth of field (ie keep the subject of the image in focus, but make the rest of the image all nice and blurry) you need even faster lenses = more money.
Basically will cost you more in the long run.
Go Canon <£500, Nikon >£500 (IMO as a Nikon user!)
Main concerns for me would be:
- Lack of support for third party lenses
- Smaller sensor - lower signal to noise ratio - nasty noisy photos ( this is based of physics to bias, I don't know how well the sensors cope with noise)
- Smaller focal length for same field of view = larger depth of field for a given apperture. This is something they see as a plus point! If you want to use selective depth of field (ie keep the subject of the image in focus, but make the rest of the image all nice and blurry) you need even faster lenses = more money.
Basically will cost you more in the long run.
Go Canon <£500, Nikon >£500 (IMO as a Nikon user!)
Ordinary Bloke said:
Rob has loads of money. Nothing wrong with a 350D or 300D if you can find one with a clean sensor. Canon lenses are cheaper than Nikon, in general. But either is a better choice than 4/3rds...
lol What I has is a 350D, which is OK used I guess, IMO the better viewfinder and screen on the 450D is worth it tho.Unless the 300D is significantly cheaper I would steer clear of it, it realy shows its age thesedays.
bobthemonkey said:
OK, I need a sanity check.
Am I certifiable in buying a less mainstream DSLR - not a Canon or Nikon but an Olympus, say the e420 with the fourthirds mount.
I guess it all depends on the user Am I certifiable in buying a less mainstream DSLR - not a Canon or Nikon but an Olympus, say the e420 with the fourthirds mount.
Many people would be / are happy with the fourthirds system. For me, the increase in DOF alone would discount it - and thats before you even start looking at the lens line-ups.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_thirds
Stigmundfreud said:
btw the 450d is cheaper than the 1000d
I think the 1000D is generally the cheaper ? Warehouse express has them (body only) at 450D - £421.00, 1000D - £389.99.[edit - Just read Robs' reply - Weird pricing then
]Cheers.
Edited by flat-planedCrank on Wednesday 13th August 04:20
I was in the same situation jst under a year ago, and plumped for an Olympus E-1, (body) secondhand from someone on a photography forum that I had conversed with over a few years and had therefore seen (stunning panorama) pictures taken with the same camera.
Great camera, and I bought a standard kit type lense for starters, as it was my first DLSR. Pricewise I got one hell of a lot of camera for the money, and I'm getting some great photos. (there is a "but" coming, can you tell...?)
but..
As has been mentioned above, now that I am actively looking for one, the lack of lenses is starting to grind me down. The other thing is the issue wth DOF. I can take cracking portrait shots, but for instance, seperating a single person from a group shot I am finding nigh on impossible. Maybe this would be eased with another lens (only have the 14-42 at the mo) but currently not convinced I want to go down the 4/3 route to find out, rather than selling up and go mainstream. I probably think i'll stay with it for 1 more lense and see...
Great camera, and I bought a standard kit type lense for starters, as it was my first DLSR. Pricewise I got one hell of a lot of camera for the money, and I'm getting some great photos. (there is a "but" coming, can you tell...?)
but..
As has been mentioned above, now that I am actively looking for one, the lack of lenses is starting to grind me down. The other thing is the issue wth DOF. I can take cracking portrait shots, but for instance, seperating a single person from a group shot I am finding nigh on impossible. Maybe this would be eased with another lens (only have the 14-42 at the mo) but currently not convinced I want to go down the 4/3 route to find out, rather than selling up and go mainstream. I probably think i'll stay with it for 1 more lense and see...
Simpo Two said:
urban_alchemist said:
There'll be the first generation of 'micro 4/3' - SLRs without the need for a mirror. Means they (and the lenses) will be much smaller and lighter (and probably cheaper too).
The word 'micro' and 'quality' are rarely bedfellows...VxDuncan said:
Simpo Two said:
urban_alchemist said:
There'll be the first generation of 'micro 4/3' - SLRs without the need for a mirror. Means they (and the lenses) will be much smaller and lighter (and probably cheaper too).
The word 'micro' and 'quality' are rarely bedfellows...For the OP, I would say that you should look at what glass you want and actually price it up for various systems, there will be a much bigger difference in the price of the glass than the difference in the price of the bodies. There may be a lot more canikon glass available second hand, but it isn't necessarily all that cheap either. FWIW I wouldn't choose a 400D because I would rather have spot metering than six million scene modes.
Have a browse round the web and find examples from the Olympus E3. I know the sensor is smaller etc but honestly I think this does a great job in a potentially smaller lighter overall package inc lenses compared to the Nikon or Canon alternatives.
Youmight struggle on getting the lenses second hand, esp the new very fast focussing ones but they are keenly priced to start with.
What I have not seen are examples of images where noise could be more of an issue.
You'd really need to go and hold and play with all you possible alternatives and see which you get on with as it's simply not worth a couple of hundred quid at the beginning of photography to get soemthing where you are not 100% happy.
HTH
Chris
Youmight struggle on getting the lenses second hand, esp the new very fast focussing ones but they are keenly priced to start with.
What I have not seen are examples of images where noise could be more of an issue.
You'd really need to go and hold and play with all you possible alternatives and see which you get on with as it's simply not worth a couple of hundred quid at the beginning of photography to get soemthing where you are not 100% happy.
HTH
Chris
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