So what made you Choose Olympus then?

[Melaka]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

My 35mm were Minolta 7 series and very good they were too. I'd probably have stuck with the brand if they'd been quicker off the mark into digital.

I spotted a second hand C3040 in Jessops about six years ago at a price that made digital experimentation worthwhile. Shortly after I had to write up an event for a magazine and asked the editor whether he wanted digital or 35mm. He said 35mm but I took both and in the event he only used the digital, after which I hardly took a trannie.

I then paid what seemed like a fortune for an E20. It was almost the ideal camera. The 35-140 equivalent lens covered most of the range in which my photographic sins are committed and it had enough knobs and switches to keep me happy. The only drawbacks were the NiMh batteries which are more hassle than Li-on and the snail like speed of the electronics. With the TCon14 converter it took some lovely wildlife shots at fixed 200mm equivalent on a trip to game parks in SA. If there was an E30 I'd be tempted not to bother with 4/3rds.

A friend then showed me an E300 which overcame most of the shortcomings of the E20 so I bought an E500 kit. Subsequently I added an E1 and upgraded to the better quality lenses. The remaining Minolta stuff, the C3040, E20 and E1 went late last year to fund the E3, with which I am well pleased. The E500 remains as a backup. As you'll know from my other postings I'm less than happy with the way the E3 promotion has been handled.

I have to confess that I was also influenced in the 4/3rds direction by Patrick Litchfield who I had the pleasure of meeting on some non photographic occasions. Unsurprisingly he was very much in favour and you couldn't resist an old smoothie like him. It's sad he is no longer around and that David Bailey is not the photographic force he once was. Olympus could do with another couple of high profile photographers to boost its image.

[R MacE]

[Ray Shotter]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

Many of the reasons for choosing Olympus which have been quoted by others apply to me. However, my transfer from film to digital was very cautious. I had a very fine Nikon FM2n with some superb lenses and initially wanted to find an efficient method whereby I could stay with film, manual split-image focusing and through the lens exposure measurement and then digitise the film photographs as required. However, the cost of an efficient film scanner and the poor resolution of the films I had scanned convinced me that I ought to consider a Digital Camera. So, before selling my film SLR and lenses (in order to fund a DSLR) I bought a second hand bridge camera (an Olympus Camedia 8080 Wide Zoom - 8MP). Its main features which appealed to me were - it had a superb ED lens f2.4-3.5, a 35mm equivalent focal length of 28-140mm and a battery grip holding two BLM-1s (needed because "zooming" is battery driven) plus the camera body is made of magnesium alloy. (I am prejudiced against plastic bodies since I normally expect my cameras to last for many years).

I was very impressed with the resulting photographs produced by the C8080WZ. So used it to advertise my Nikon Camera and lenses on e-bay in order to fund an E-1 some two and a half years ago. My main reasons for ignoring Nikon and Canon was partially cost, the fact that my Nikon lenses could not use the exposure meter in the Nikon Digital cameras and (you may smile at this) but those within my price range were all made of plastic. In addition my research over a period of two years or so, before purchasing a digital camera, had demonstrated beyond doubt that the Olympus 4/3rds system had attempted to make the transition from film to digital cameras using proven design principles - unlike either Nikon or Canon. Also the prices of quality Nikon and Canon lenses were exorbitant and no provision at that time had been made to deal with the problem of dust on the sensor.

However, ultimately, apart from the photographer's skill in selecting a suitable subject, the resulting photographs are heavily dependent on the quality of the lens. The Olympus 4/3rds lenses are not only designed for digital but are smaller, lighter and, consequently, less expensive than their Nikon and Canon counterparts. The excellent quality of Olympus 4/3rds lenses is now recognised by all - especially, their ED lenses. The development of effective image stabilisation in the camera body rather than the lens has put Olympus 4/3rds lenses well ahead of the competition at least in regards to price.

My final comments, are - if the E-510 had been made with a magnesium alloy body and a fully articulating LCD screen plus a larger viewfinder (I had to buy the ME-1 magnifying viewfinder for my E-510 as my old eyes found the standard E-510 viewfinder a little difficult to use effectively) - I doubt if I would have bought the E-3. I have said it before but I consider the E-510 is the best value for money on the market and its 14-42mm ED kit lens is excellent. However, I am very glad that I now have an E-3 since it has many more very useful features including an excellent viewfinder and the camera body (or most of it) is made of magnesium alloy.

[Glyn R]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

I had a Minolta 700si SLR and got tired of scanning slides. There was no Minolta DSLR at the time. After trying a Minolta bridge camera I needed a DSLR. I kept reading about the dust problems with Canikon etc and then came Olympus with a solution. I bought an E-300 kit. I was delighted and never had a dust problem ever. I have thought about buying Canon because they are very good and all the 3rd party stuff is available. Now I have an E-330 ,Live view, dust reduction, Oly colour I will only change now for IS. Canon show no signs of introducing on board IS so I wait for the E-520.

[Jim]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

Well to be honest, it was the fact that my sister was a student and Olympus were giving a 50% discount on E1's at the end of 2004 and early 2005 so kinda had to have one

Eventually got caught in the megapixel chase and sold it for a Nikon D70s then went through some other Nikon and Canon bodies in a short period until I nearly gave up waiting on a replacement for the E1 and had ordered a Canon 40D when the E3 started arriving in the US, well send the 40D back and only had to wait 2 weeks for the E3 to arrive. I know it is subjective but the Oly colours are just a step above the rest to my eye.

[Garrie]

[Jim]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

Prior to getting the E-1 I forgot to say I had had the C-5060 and C-8080, before lower light issues sent me the DSLR route.

[Solar]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

I choose Olympus for the following reasons:

1) Timing: I was fed up with not taking photos. My last system was 35mm and it just got too cost prohibitive to develop and with everyone starting to run around with these fantastic digital slr's the choice was obvious.

2) I walked into a store and the guy handed me an Olympus. It felt right.

3) My main concern is with lens quality as a good camera with crappy lenses indeed shows. Olympus makes superb lenses and even good camera bodies.

4) I didn't want to follow the herd toward the pastures of Nikon or Canon. Being on a budget I didn't want to pay for a name (not saying these other two don't make good products, but I believe there is some extra $$ spent on being able to carry the name).

5) I thoroughly researched the different options of cost vs quality and found Olympus to be the best bang for the buck.

I haven't looked back or thought twice since getting into Oly.

Solar

[j.baker]

[Glyn R]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

I love my E-330, but the new Pentax/ Samsung DSLR though???????????

[E-P1 fan]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

My E-1 is my first 'real' DSLR. I chose Oly having used Olympus film cameras for most of my adult life and always loved them. It was a good choice. I love my E-1 to bits

[ukanalyst]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

Just under two years ago I was staying with my (soon to be) brother-in-law and got to play with his Canon 350D ... it was the first time I'd handled an SLR and I loved it. So over the few days of our holiday travelling across to France and staying at various travel lodges up and down the country I found out as much as I could about D-SLRs looking at the Canon 350D, Nikon D50 and Olympus E-500.

I liked what I read about the E-500:

• Weight: at the time the lightest D-SLR about
• Supersonic Wave Filter: I'd read lots of worrying tales of dust on sensors and expensive cleaning ... one of the reasons I hadn't looked at SLRs in the past is the expense of films and developing ... Digital means I can take as many photos as I like with near zero cost after the initial outlay
• The four thirds system: I love technology and loved the idea of a system being built from the ground up to be digital instead of converted and compromised
• The features: Almost all the reviews I read criticised the E-500 for having too many configurable options making it too complicated to use for the amateur ... perfect for me I love to be in control of my gadgets/equipment

• View Finder: Quite small and now and again pictures don't turn out how they look through the finder ... I also find the info panel at the right of the finder useless for me ... I never used to find it natural to look at
• Focusing: I never noticed that much until my friend showed me how fast his new Canon 400d focused, after that I really started to notice how much the E-500 seemed to struggle now and again
• Outdoor use: Not frustrating as such but I always felt it a real limitation I couldn't confidently use my E-500 in the rain

Then came the Olympus E-mail for the E-3 and Wow I thought, this looks fantastic ... should solve all my frustrations and also gives me IS allowing more hand held photo ops but also WOW is it expensive! Anyway a couple of months and a 15 month interest free credit card later and I now have an E-3 and I am really, really, really glad I was lucky enough to be able to buy it ... it is such a different camera to the E-500 and better in so many ways. I'm now waiting for Kerso to get the 12-60mm lenses in stock and then I can head out and get some rainy pics too which I'm really looking forward too!

So next steps for me ...

- Get to know the E-3 and have lots of fun taking photos of everything!
- Get my 12-60 lens and get outdoors with my camera
- Investigate selling photos and hopefully take some that are good enough to be sold to try and re-coupe some of the cost of the camera and save up for some more camera kit
- Look into buying some home studio kit

Sorry that was a bit of an essay but hopefully I've described my journey from P&S into the wonderful world of Olympus D-SLR photography!

Dave

[pilgrim]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

I was a Canon 35mm user for 25 years then my interest in photography fizzled out until a couple of years ago when I decided to buy a DSLR, why Olympus?? honestly it was the best value for money 550 quid for camera, 2 lenses, a 1gb card, printer and gadget bag from Currys, unfortunately until recently there were no camera shops here only Currys, Comet or PC world, Jessops opened about 12months ago, at the time the nearest camera shops were 35miles away and I didn' tlike the idea of having to travel if anything went wrong and didn't like the idea of spending that much money on the internet.

[Glyn R]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

To be fair Currys can be good value if you time it right. I bought my E-300 from them about 4 years ago, it was the best deal for miles at the time. I bought a 14-42 from Park Camera a while ago I have never seen it at the same price again. I think you just have to decide and then shop around. don't worry if its cheaper a month later.

[Meogeo]

Re: So what made you Choose Olympus then?

I was a SLR user many moons ago with my first camera being the Zenith E, after 12 month I upgraded to a Praktica PLC3, mainly snapping B&W it was handy for me to do my own developing. a couple of years later I went over to the Minolta Dynax. Then I just fell out with photography mainly because I had to give up my Dark room.

Then in 2001 I bought a Kodak DC3400 well I aquired it from a friend who ended up with 2. Later on I bought the Canon S50 which I find very useful but the pictures are just missing something.

After feeling I need to upgrade I thought I would go down the Digital SLR route,but my quest had only just started. My eyes were firmly on a Canon but after reading review after review and users problems with the poor build of the 400D then I started to look elseware. Another camera I looked carefully at was the the Nikon D40X with more consideration I felt the camera was lacking in something that I could do with the Image Stabilisation. "My Hands Shake " So I was left with 2 cameras in my list The Pentax K10D and the Olympus E-510 and after carefull consideration and the cost of the camera with Kit Lenses the Olympus E-510 took the prize.

I feel buying a camera is a hard process and takes a lot of research, especially coming back into photography after a long break. Not only does the camera take alot of research so does the software to process the images.