Why did YOU choose Olympus?

--

...Nikon (D200), and Olympus (E-1)....just have a look at the "myfourthirds" site for some nice samples of Oly shots.

I LOVE my C8080, and would purchase a Olympus DSLR if / when they come out with a 10mp model.

If it's built like the C8080 (like the old Chevy ad's - "Built like a rock!") - I'll be the first in line.

I'm a beginner at best, but love what I have done do with my C8080

Karl

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

When I decided to take a serious plunge into digital my local camera store, with which I had done business for 13 years, recommended an Oly D340-R, which produced very good results. I then stepped up to a D460 (and 490 for my wife), moving on to a 2020z, D560, 5060, E-300 and 330. Sadly the camera store went belly up after the 5060, but all the Oly's have been free of defects, rugged and good image makers. Among them my favorite, I think, remains the 2020z for its ergonimics, fast and sharp lens and portability, though I am taking a real shine to the 330. I only had to call on Oly service once (bent pins in 5060) and they were good. I have few regrets, though I wish Oly would produce more lenses, particularly a prime wide angle. I guess, though, I represent real brand loyalty.

I own a range of OM-X camera's and a lot of old Oly lenses, but those are difficult to use with a small viewfinder, no splitscreen and no AF conformation (why not Oly, Pentax has it). So when the E-330 came out it was just the camera I was looking for. When you are not in a hurry (action photos), nothing beats liveview B and 10x magnification. Olympus AF may be exellent compared to some other brands, manual focus and liveview B is more accurate.
--
Alfred (Capteyn Morgan)



Keep to the CODE !!
I love my OM's, still working after more than 30 years !!

cheers
radix

Wilmar Boer said:

Almost 2 years (19 months) ago I had max €1200,- budget to spend on
a DSLR. For that money I could get a E300 with 14-45, 40-150,
battery grip, 4 batteries, FL36 flash and a 512 MB card. With the
other brands I could only get the body + kitlens and some memory
(Minolta 5D, Canon EOS350, Nikon D70s). And since it's the
photographer and not the camerabrand who is most responsible for
the quality of the pictures I thought it was best to go for the
most complete package and learn to master it.

It's one of the great things that happend to me in the past 2
years. The other one is in the picture I took with the E300.



--
-----------------------------------------------
http://album.zoom.nl/user/wilmar/

Click to expand...

I still have and ocassionally use Oly E-100RS - the camera has a lot of nice features, but the decision factor was the quality of pictures, nice colors out of the camera, very plastic/3D feel.

E-1 was the first 4/3 dSLR, designed from scratch as digital system, weatherproof, good lens roadmap, the antidust system ... I bought the camera when it became available without testing the pic quality, I just believed, that it will be better than the E-100RS ... and it was. I started with E-1, 14-54, 50-200 and FL-50, later I bought 11-22, gave it to my son, when I bought 7-14, still missing it, thren came 50/2 plus EX-25 and EC-14 ...
I am fully satisfied so far ... but I am not a pro ... just hobby photographer.
--
pka
http://www.karlach.net/

Her is my version of the things already mentioned in this thread:

I began with Minolta 35mm SLR's about 20 years ago. My camera gear started with a XG-M but soon I liked the heavier pro bodies. 9000AF and 9xi were the top of the line. My last analog bodies were two Dynax 7 with absolute perfect ergonomics (see all the threads for a whish to be Minolta DSLR). But there was none coming......

One day I went occasionally into a shop I never was before, some knowledge about the upcoming "digital designed" E-1 in my mind. That particular day they had their first E-1 on stock they got one day before from Olympus.

I checked it out ;-)

Ergonomics fitted perfectly! The body was heavy but comparably small. Everything felt OK so I bought the E-1 with 14-54 and flash right away in autumn 2003. In the meantime I got th 50-200, the 7-14 and the TC-14. Every piece is of excellent build quality!

To the Canonians and Nikonians: I'm always checking out their bodies and nothing fits as well as the E-1 does. Nevertheless I own a D2H for speed reasons (AF and FPS). It's heavy, big, loud, expensive and ergonomics is still behind the E-1 (one touch manual WB, custom settings of main and sub dial wheel, menu structure), but I like it too.

--
H.P. Bertschinger
http://www.pbase.com/hpber

"PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENT"? Are you serious? Most people get their opinions from TV, or even worse the ads on it.

Try reading "The WANT makers - How they make you buy" or any similar book, it will open your eyes a bit.

I once asked the local Jamo (speaker) Importer why he didn't submit more of his speakers to XXX stereo magazine becasue I thought they were good.

His answer, delivered quick as a flash, and with a firm gaze at me? "BECAUSE IT COSTS ME TOO MUCH MONEY TO GET A GOOD REVIEW"!

It is the same for almost any consumer product, yes EVEN CAMERAS, Jimmy. Any magazine (or site) which carries ads will be afraid of offending their advertisers - their bread and butter depends on it. There's no conspiracy, it is only business.

That is the REALITY, impartiality is a dream that is simply not bourne out in the trenches,

Notice a lot of CaNIkon ads on a site? Work out the reality for yourself, wherever you see ads, you have bias. It is the nature of the beast.

A friend of mine gets excellent results with his E-500.

Tell ya what, post it to Australia if you like. I could use a second body, and you could start afresh. We'll both be happy. You don't have a 35-100 F2 do you?

My E1 is rarely a limiting factor.

Jimmy Lai said:

other DSLR, I can only judged from the PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENT
opinions. I personally own ( about 4 months) an E500 because of
the price like 50% of the repliers here.

Click to expand...

--
Measurebaters: Isn't the ultimate 'measurement' the result, IE the print?

I've mentioned this before in here and in the Oly Talk forum - but there was no reason at all for me to choose Oly SLR other than that I have stuck with Olympus since 1978 when I was a kid.

1978: Olympus Trip35 (our family camera. Long dead)
1990: Olympus OM-10 (Still have it. But not used used since 2004)
2004: Olympus C-750 (still have it / use it)
2005: Olympus C-8080 (now sold off)
2006: Olympus E500 + 14-54mm (still have it / use it)
Future: ?? erm...Olympus ?? ;-)

--
AH - Professional Daffodil Hunter

I seek them here, I seek them there,
My camera gets them everywhere,
Whether in a park, or down some hills
I’ll get those yellow daffodils!

Your story is very similar to my own. In 1990 (as a student) I started to get interested in photography and took myself along to the nearest second hand camera shop. The guy showed me two cameras to suit my budget:

Canon AV-1 + Vivitar 28-200mm

Olympus OM-10 + Zuiko 35-70mm

What made me plump for the Oly ?? Erm...It had little red LED lights in the viewfinder that indicated shutter speed. So that was "cool." And we'd had had an Olympus Trip 35 since 1978. Rest is history...

--
AH - Professional Daffodil Hunter

I seek them here, I seek them there,
My camera gets them everywhere,
Whether in a park, or down some hills
I’ll get those yellow daffodils!

After some years with Canon AE1, and Olympus μ zoom as a complement, I decided it was time to go digital with a Canon Ixus and later with a Canon 300D. The 300D was a bad choice.

The right price and a lousy metering. Good colours, but even for my humble experience as an amateur, I did not like it. Kept it only 3 months.
So I went for the most fantastisc DSLR I ever had in my hands.

Pricey, fabulous ergonomy, good lens and wonderfull colours. A joy to use, even with only 5 mega pixels.

Even now, that I already have the E400, I still believe that the next E...Something should be based on E1 ergonomy. Perhaps a larger screen and without doubt a new sensor with a new processor, but still the same body, just like other brands do.
António

sngreen said:

Bootstrap said:

No camera I've ever used has matched the quality and flexibility of
the Olympus offerings.

Click to expand...

I suppose Olympus was the only dSLR you ever used? How could then
others match?

Click to expand...

Your posts always put a smile on my face. Your comments are insightful, informative, and relevant. Thanks for contributing...

Oh, it's Sergey? I thought I was replying to Higuma. Never mind.

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado, USA

'I'm always happier with the results I get than I am disappointed with the opportunities I missed.' -- Me

My digital P&S was a C-5000. Since I had no problems with that camera, when I chose to upgrade to a dSLR, Oly seemed the natural choice (the 2 kit lenses were wonderful bonus as well). However, when I got my camera and started shooting in low light, I really struggled with my decision and thought I had made a mistake. However the more that I learned about shooting in manual, the better I was able to combat my low light issues. Now, I'm so glad that I stayed with Olympus, and I can't wait to see how they WOW me next!

--
Crystal
Olympus E-500 with 14-45mm, 40-150mm, and 50mm macro

Jimmy Lai said:

I noticed over 50% of the repliers buy Olympus because of the good
price, there are very few offer of other opinions about the camera,
picture quality etc. Most of the repliers who are very happy about
their camera are E1 MODEL OWNERS, but the E1 IS AN OLD CAMERA, it
almost 4 years old technology. I have not see that many favourable
remarks about other models. I have read many CAMERA MAGAZINES
reviews compare Olympus to CANON, NIKON, SONY and PENTAX, Olympus
consistently has a lower marks than the others. I don't own any
other DSLR, I can only judged from the PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENT
opinions. I personally own ( about 4 months) an E500 because of
the price like 50% of the repliers here. I am not happy with the
quality of the pictures, I would appreciate anyboby own the E500 (
NOT THE E1 MODEL) express their views but so far, I am not
convinced.

Click to expand...

Hello Jimmy,

Although I own 2 E-1 bodies, I helped my neighbor select an E-500. She is very happy. I have to say, after processing some RAW files from her E-500, I am a bit envious of the extra megapixels. The E-500 is capable of very fine images. It's just a matter of using the equipment to its best advantage. Keep at it. I'm sure your skill set will come to match the capabilities of the camera.

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado, USA

'I'm always happier with the results I get than I am disappointed with the opportunities I missed.' -- Me

I choose the E-1 based on the following, in order of importance:

Look of the image, (not necessarily IQ)

Feel of the camera, (not necessarily ergonomics)

Quiet mirror/shutter sound

Superb JPGs'

Excellent lens system, close to being very complete. (I am strugglng to get the kind of bokeh and blurry backround I want however)

System size

I Like the format for High volume school portraits-But I also use canon for everything other then this type of work . I am waiting for liveview with a ac adapter And hopfuly a vertgal grip,which helps when I am posing a student on the left side.

I didn't buy my E-1 because I was a previous Oly user, I had owned only Minolta film slr and digital p&s cameras. I bought it because the Minolta 7D had poor lens choices imo, the Canon 20D didn't click with me (on paper it looked good, but in my hand it felt distant), the Nikon D70 was too plasticy, and when I studied the E-1 website I was blown away! I tried each of these cameras at the local camera store, took home a cd of images shot with each, and eventually bought Olympus.

The price of my system (E-1, SHLD-2, 14-54, 50-200, FL-50) came in at least $1000.00 under what any of the others would have been for similar quality.

The size, ease of use, image quality, etc. outway any percieved weekness the E-1 has. There is an indescribable synergy between camera, lenses and photographer that is often cited on this forum and always experienced here, in my hand, that I have not discovered with any other camera. I am proud of the images that I get, to the point that sometimes I have to hold my tongue around my N and C-user friends, so as not to offend them.

Brian

well, I had no real experience with digital SLRs (actually, I knew two guys who owned Nikon's D50 and were very happy with them). I noticed, however, that even pictures from simple P&S cameras were really terrific to me so I knew that, at least, I would be satisfied with the IQ of any dSLR. Anyway, why Oly?

firstly, I did believe some posters claiming that Zuiko Digitals are the best kit lenses available on the market

secondly, I did believe Olympus claiming that 4/3 is the future of the digital photography

cheers,
P.

Well regarding the aspect ratio, isn't 4/3rds as much a problem as 3:2 or anything else that doesnt match 4 x 6, 5 x 7, 8 x 10, framing? In terms of workflow, isn't a crop a crop - timewise that is?

I am not seeing the advantage in using the camera just for the aspect ratio when one presumably will crop anyway...just asking and thanks in advance. -Perry

TO : MickD

It's a fact, not a dream. In North America, may be not in Australia, we do have independent magazines like CONSUMER REPORT who doesn't accept any advertising in their magazine. Do you own a E500? if so, what's your experience with this model ?