What would you do?

To swap what you have for 5DII (with good lens on it) I would not hesitate for a second. FF is simply a better format (than FT) to be in now, if you are serious about it.

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-sergey

Do it. I would if I were you, just for the fun of it, as you do not have too much invested in Olympus system yet.

The worst you may have in the future is "Oh I wish I did not do it". That's not much worse than "Oh I wish I did it" and you will get at least a few exciting days, if not more.

I assume you are not a pro. For a non-pro, having fun is the most important thing about owning a DLSR. For practical photos, any of the cell phone camera would cover 95% of my need.

Do it.

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Stacey

Olympus has no plans to offer  4/3 solution in the price range of the E-30, as far as the information on it goes, and certainly not a Dslr in that range. They are only working on a higher priced solution for the 4/3 lenses, that may or may not be a Dslr, but probably something more advanced and possibly a hybrid solution. The technology from that may trickle down eventually into a more affordable camera that could replace your E-30 in 2-4 years time, but that's all very uncertain.

If you want to know what to expect, than I guess Full Frame is a good choice.

Good luck deciding

I have back in the time had the chance to choose between a Canon EOS 1Ds Mk3 + 24-105mm L and my E-5 + 12-60mm at the same price (don't ask ).

While the Canon was clearly the better camera for most usages, it is precisely with the 24-105mm that I found to not bring me much more. I remember vignetting at 24mm, big time.

Curiously, it was when comparing the E-5 + 50mm macro (which is one of the best configurations possible in 4/3) to the Canon + 100mm 2.8 Macro L IS that the Canon setup was clearly better.

The E-30 is no E-5, but the 5D II is no 1Ds Mk3 neither. So all in all, proportions stay pretty much the same

So it really depends of your usage. The 24-105mm will be wider than your 14-54mm all things considered, so all in all - maybe give it a try.

Keep in mind that the E-30 still fetches a good price used. If you don't like the Canon setup, you can always resell it for a good price and jump back directly to an E-5.

And the lenses you have and use.

Skipping to the FF system with a zoom, and loosing the ability to use a slew of lenses that you already own may lead to you feeling like you shouldnt have sold, or to spending more money to try to get the functionality of the FF kit.

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“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” -Ansel Adams
blog.alatchinphotography(dot)com

It's not just about the price for the used 5D mkII camera body and one zoom lens. The cost of the full frame includes the right lenses. Basically, you need to buy all of the top f/2.8 lenses to get the resolution, clarity and sharpness that FF offers. That Sigma 50-500 offers a lot of reach with Olympus, 100 to 1000 mm equivalent. If long telephoto matters to you, price the longest lens available for full frame. And unfortunately, for FF you still need a faster lens to fill the sensor. So look at the price for a 500 mm or 600 mm f/4 and realize that's as long as you can get. Price the other items you have in Olympus for the same with FF.

What is your total camera budget? Price what you have in your Olympus lenses so far, in equivalent lenses for FF. You have a high grade standard zoom that focuses close, a macro that's also very sharp, a standard grade 40-150 that offers macro from farther away when coupled with the EX-25, a good flash with a GN of 50, and that long Sigma 50-500. For the price of any of those items in FF you could afford the Olympus 50-200 mm f/2.8-3.5 tele zoom and sell your 40-150 mm lens for a significant upgrade in IQ and range.

If the E-30 gives out a few years from now, but before the next, more affordable Olympus DSLR is offered, you'll always be able to buy a used E-5 or a used E-7. Olympus may not offer another E-620 but an E-30 replacement is possible and an E-5 DSLR upgrade is coming at the end of this year.

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Dave
No thought exists without an image. Socrates
http://whaleshark.smugmug.com

The only compelling reason not to switch, in my humble opinion, depends greatly on how much you use telephoto lenses. If you are a birder or like to shoot with long lenses, FF is probably not the best choice, especially moving from 4/3 to FF.

If you don't do a lot of long lens work, then go for it. High quality lenses are expensive regardless of the system and Canon has a number of high quality lenses just like Olympus does. Luckily we don't need the highest quality lenses on any system to turn out decent photos.

I sure wouldn't surrender all that capability for one body and lens. My advice is to not, unless the new camera fits a very specific shooting requirement your current gear does not, as there's a vast range of things the new camera and single lens cannot do that you can, today.

Put another way, does it make sense to trade an 88-key piano for a 24-key piano that sounds rather better in a two-octave range?

Cheers,

Rick

That depends.

How many megapixels does the 24 key have?

The thing is FF like most of the other formats are moving forward, whereas Olympus is dead in its tracks.

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-sergey

I disagree. I have extensively used said 1Ds Mk3 + 100-400mm L and the E-5 + 50-200mm SWD side by side, and the Canon setup is a very serious set of tools. The only thing it lacks is weatherproofing on the lens, but in usage it's a blast, as well as in results.

If you feel the new set up will meet your needs, go for it. You only go around in this life and "I could have" doesn't do well on a tomb stone.

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JimB
Bug Whisperer
Join us in The Weekly Close up every weekend

Chon, I did something similar. I had the E-30,12-60, 40-150, 35 and the 70-300. I got the Canon 7D and 24-105 f4 L IS and the 60 2.8 Macro. Frankly I miss the built-in IS. Its a much more complex camera and I still have not been able to get images as sharp as I did with the 12-60 and 35mm. Time will tell. Their are good points; camera layout, viewfinder and the way that the menue is set-up.

Good luck, Tom W(ret)

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...a bad picture is like a missed putt, it's never your fault.

Agreed.  That is the only possible, relevant and right decision to make.

You'll get a lot of comments from those bashing one brand or another here, when none of them, or any of us, can read truly what you want from a system, irregardless of the brand.

Over on 1041, someone has put up a detailed comparison of 5DII to OMD, which has the latest 4/3 sensor from Sony.

The bottom line: the OMD is about the same as the 5DII n terms of sensor performance, does better with AWB.

So all the FF sensor in the 5DII gets you is better DOF control and substantially larger lenses.

Here's a tip for an alternate direction: the 14-54II and I believe the 35M are CDAF enabled, will AF decently (though not as fast as the latest native lenses) on the OMD - the grip really helps with handling on larger glass. Plus the electromagnetic IBIS that works very well.

On the downside, I've heard that the 4/3 bigma doesn't AF very well, if at all, on M43 bodies.

Next fall, 4/3 gets a body of indeterminate design, that will AF all of the 4/3 lenses decently. That's the future direction. It won't be cheap, though.

I agree, the 1Ds Mk3 is a serious tool but cropped to E-5 size, it only has 5Mp. Why did you handicap the E-5 with only 200mm? Put a 400mm on it and for slow moving birds the 1Ds Mk3 with 400mm can not touch it.  Yes, the 1Ds Mk3 has much better continuous AF.

Dan

If you are truely stuck with only being able to have one lens for the canon I would keep what you have. You have a nice lens selection in place and while the canon lens is nice it is a F4 with and only one lens. I think the lens selection is more important then the body.