Sadness in the camera store

I visited a local camera shop today to see if it had the ZD 7-14mm lens in stock. I wanted to get a look at that puppy. One salesman handed me off to the "Olympus expert" and I had my first chance to hold that gem of a lens.

Now the sad part. First, the "expert" told me he had been trained on the E System. As he started talking about the lens he said the silver ring on the barrel had something to do with slightly better glass. He said "since the lens is f/2.8 it must be more of a pro lens." Sigh.

I asked to see the 150mm f/2.0 since I was there anyway. We discussed lens speed. Mr. Expert said the 150mm was certainly faster than the f/5.6 maximum aperture that the 40-200mm ZD has. (Yes, 40-200mm). Sigh.

I asked how sales were. He said that no one wants to buy 5mp DSLRs. When I asked about the E-300 he expressed mild surprise that it was 8mp. Sigh.

My expert was completely unaware of the pending fisheye and the three announced zooms coming this autumn. By that point I was not surprised.

By the way, I was quoted $1799.95 USD for the 7-14mm. Is that the going rate?

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Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

'I have not failed. I've merely discovered 10,000 approaches that do not work.' -- paraphrased from Thomas Edison

Sad story indeed for Olympus, but I guess those in the 'know' need to share the good news and enjoy the value we get from the tools that we have in the mean time.

Did the 7-14 and 150 meet your expectations?

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Did they quote you a price for the 150 f2 lens?
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Bruce

g'day Jim - at least you were able to find and try those lenses - i've not yet seen any copies here in london town - admittedly tho i've not looked too hard - the cost here is prohibitive...

EB - posted recently that B&H has the 7-14 at 1650 (after u load it into the basket), and i believe Arlington beat that by a bit.

if i remember correctly - you have the 50-200 - what was your impression of the 150 f2?
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adrianox

my stuff: http://www.pbase.com/adrianox

Olympus E Series 4:3 FAQ's (early days - but useful)
http://www.fourthirdsfaq.com/

gbbiv said:

Sad story indeed for Olympus, but I guess those in the 'know' need
to share the good news and enjoy the value we get from the tools
that we have in the mean time.

Did the 7-14 and 150 meet your expectations?

Click to expand...

Those two lense are as solidly built as any I've ever owned. The zoom on the 7-14mm is smooth with just the right amount of tension. It's a bit large compared to the 14-54mm, but I come from an EOS-1 and a 28-70 f/2.8L, so I consider the Olympus combination quite manageable.

The 150mm f/2.0 is the lens I really want. Focus is swift. That f/2.0 in a long telephoto holds my interest. I like shallow DOF quite often and that lens will certainly deliver. Photos from others indicate it to be one of the finest lenses on the market, regardless of focal length.

I'm savin' my pennies.

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

'I have not failed. I've merely discovered 10,000 approaches that do not work.' -- paraphrased from Thomas Edison

adrianox said:

g'day Jim - at least you were able to find and try those lenses -
i've not yet seen any copies here in london town - admittedly tho
i've not looked too hard - the cost here is prohibitive...

if i remember correctly - you have the 50-200 - what was your
impression of the 150 f2?

Click to expand...

Heavier. Focus is much swifter. Build is much better. I like the focus limit dial. I don't yet understand what the four buttons around the lens barrel do for the photographer. I do not see the 150mm f/2.0 in any way duplicating the 50-200mm. They seem a perfect complement for someone needing to shoot with that FOV.

My 50-200mm continues to provide excellent images. I am unlikely ever to let it go. Despite that, the 150mm is on my short list.

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

'I have not failed. I've merely discovered 10,000 approaches that do not work.' -- paraphrased from Thomas Edison

That's what he quoted me. I would have to pay $150 USD sales tax on top of that. Is anyone hearing better prices? I'll have to check with Texas.

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

'I have not failed. I've merely discovered 10,000 approaches that do not work.' -- paraphrased from Thomas Edison

James Pilcher said:

adrianox said:

g'day Jim - at least you were able to find and try those lenses -
i've not yet seen any copies here in london town - admittedly tho
i've not looked too hard - the cost here is prohibitive...

if i remember correctly - you have the 50-200 - what was your
impression of the 150 f2?

Click to expand...

Heavier. Focus is much swifter. Build is much better. I like the
focus limit dial.

Click to expand...

i can see the value here - stops excessive hunting when focus lock is lost? cost me pics on the 50-200 when i'm working close.

Day Hiker said:

I don't yet understand what the four buttons
around the lens barrel do for the photographer.

Click to expand...

??

Day Hiker said:

I do not see the
150mm f/2.0 in any way duplicating the 50-200mm. They seem a
perfect complement for someone needing to shoot with that FOV.

Click to expand...

darn - i wish u'd not said that ;-)

Day Hiker said:

My 50-200mm continues to provide excellent images. I am unlikely
ever to let it go. Despite that, the 150mm is on my short list.

Click to expand...

yup........ i was/am tossing up between the 7-14 or the 150mm.. i had been committed to the 7-14mm but my courier bailed at the last moment Perhaps thats a message..... i've seen too few images from the 7-14 to really have a good feel for it - it seems like it's more of an occassional lens, rather than a workhorse, like i know i'd use the 150mm.....hmmmm

thanks Jim, Adrian

Day Hiker said:

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

'I have not failed. I've merely discovered 10,000 approaches that
do not work.' -- paraphrased from Thomas Edison

Click to expand...

--
adrianox

my stuff: http://www.pbase.com/adrianox

Olympus E Series 4:3 FAQ's (early days - but useful)
http://www.fourthirdsfaq.com/

I haven't yet called Tx or Linn Photo, but for online prices I've found these:

B&H - $2219.95
Adorama - $2299.95 (add to cart and it goes down to $2219.95)
ephotocraft - $2179.99

Of course, there is a $200 rebate on top of this. That make's the price in the $2000 range - pretty tempting!

As you can tell, I'm really interested in this lens as well.

Bruce

James Pilcher said:

That's what he quoted me. I would have to pay $150 USD sales tax on
top of that. Is anyone hearing better prices? I'll have to check
with Texas.

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

'I have not failed. I've merely discovered 10,000 approaches that
do not work.' -- paraphrased from Thomas Edison

Click to expand...

We usually can find someone with some product knowledge. And I understand the situation of most retailers who sell what profits them. The fact is that 5 megapixels are considered passe by today's standards.

And it doesnt matter if it is waterproof, immune to alpha and gamma radiation, cures psoriasis, has the best and lightest lenses this side of Singapore. Once a brand is proclaimed dead, sometimes to all purposes it is dead. If the body is dead, the appendages, the lenses will have to be for the connoiseur. And one with deep pockets. OTOH, why leave my savings to the government and the HMOs....buy them all, and get that once in a lifetime shot of the supermodel baring her all, or the titmouse in the willow, or what turns you on. I like long lenses and there is nothing Freudian in that. Right?
Aloha,
GS,Flatus Inst.

show on the Comdedy Channel!
--
BJM

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BJM

James Pilcher said:

Heavier. Focus is much swifter. Build is much better. I like the
focus limit dial. I don't yet understand what the four buttons
around the lens barrel do for the photographer.

Click to expand...

The four buttons around the lens barrel are focus stop buttons. The primary application would be when shooting sporting events and using C-AF. If you see someone/something about to cross your field of view you press the focus stop button and it freezes focus until you release it after whatever has passed in front of you is gone. That keeps your lens which was tracking maybe a hocky player trying to jump focus back to the hotdog vender who just passed in front of you.

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Good Shooting,
English Bob

With idiot salesmen like that, you need a new camera store.

I went in to our local store to buy an E300. The store was quite busy, only two salesmen working, and there would be about 4 people ahead of me. This store has a mixed clientle, lots of working pro's, (I counted 12 16-35L's on the shelf in plain view,) have many long lenses for rental, Canon and Nikon. Also some well-heeled amatuers, (like me?) frequent tyhe store.

I watched as the salesman soldl 2 Canon 20D's as well as a few Canon 17-85 IS's. The salesman looked as if he had done this a hundred times, quite bored, same old same old, eyes glazing over.

Then I walked up to the counter and announced what I came for. You should have seen this guy perk up. Ran in the back and came out with a demo camera. He told me he really like the E300, reminded him of the PenF. We got to talking about some innovative Olympus cameras we had owned, including the XA series.

Thought I'd share that with you.

--
http://www.pbase.com/duncanmcklowd

I tried the 7-14mm lens at this year's Professional Imaging '05 exhibition in Zurich where Oly Switzerland let me try for a while. The picture is just a quick and dirty trial without any sophistication. Taken at 7mm F/4 and 1/60s shutter speed. ISO400 without noise reduction. RAW image converted to JPEG after tweaking the histogramme a little.

I liked the sharpness but there is some barrel distortion visible at the right hand side.



Cheers!
--
Hans H. Siegrist

James Pilcher said:

I visited a local camera shop today to see if it had the ZD 7-14mm
lens in stock. I wanted to get a look at that puppy. One salesman
handed me off to the "Olympus expert" and I had my first chance to
hold that gem of a lens.

Now the sad part.

Click to expand...

This is true of most stores. Go to a computer store and try to find someone who actually knows something. I overheard a customer ask about the risc processor in an apple machine, his reply was "There is no risk when you buy a windows computer." !!!! LOL

I was shopping for ranges and told the guy there I wanted the Kenmore model with the large oven, 2 small burners, 2 large but no frills. He said they all have the same size oven and all have that burner layout. I walked over and showed him the 2 different size ovens and 2 different burner layouts. He said, like it was supposed to be a compliment, "You know more about this that I do!"??? How can someone work 40 hours a week in a store and not know even the basics about what they are selling?

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Stacey

Speaking of Singapore, I was at Allan's Photo to test out the E300. 4 cameras were displayed on the same shelf, namely E1, E300, D70 and EOS350. I asked him which is the best. He pointed to E1 but stated that it's too expensive as compared to the other 3. I asked the next best question, which's second?, half expecting him to point to the EOS350 which sells for USD230 more than the E300.
He pointed at the E300! Enough said!

Salesmen are usually quite useless... When I bought my E-300 the salesman tried to convince me it was a bad choice as the camera was exotic and had no future. I asked him some things and I can tell you he definitely didn't know anything about upcoming lenses or even photography in general. He even thought that the 14-45 could be cropped to produce more detail at 90 (kbeq) mm then I would get with the 380 mm (kbeq) of the 2 megapixel zoom... so I really wouldn't need a big tele if I wanted a birdshot...

He also told me he hadn't sold any of them in a month's time. Considering they only had it on display and on their website 3 weeks after they first had it available, and taking his attitude into account, I wasn't surprised at all. In the time I tested the camera (5 - 10 minutes), about 5 canon digital slr's left the shop...

and B&M wonder why we use the net to shop....

Bill
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Bill Wallace
dpreview & pbase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/papa51