1st outing with E-3 (imgs)

Great camera with a lot to learn. I've been shooting with an E-500 for two years. These are from a drive in rual North East Mississippi today in the early afternoon. The sky was mostly high overcast with a few patches of hazy blue and a number of heavier, lower clouds.

Old abandoned house..........



outbuilding across the road.......



Hopewell Church. This church has been defeunct for 30 years or so. The building was still used for reunions of former locals up till about 10 years ago. The graves in the churchyard are mostly from around 1880 to about 1970 or so. There are a few earlier and a few more later. The area has always been rual but it used to have quite a few homes nearby. There is only one home withen 5 or 6 miles now. It is way off the beaten path now. The roads are mostly used by hunters.





This old building is across the road from the church. It was used as a voteing precent house for many years.

Nice photos. Locals in your area must be more respectful then in mine (Southern California) a local cemetery with grave stones similar to yours finaly had to be fenced in and they went looking for funds to reset stones after vandals toppled them repeatedly.

I am curious though as I have a E-500 and am considering either a E-520 or an E-3 how much harder is it to get used to the larger camera? Also how much better is the viewfinder? The one time I was able to handle an E-3 the store was a mad house and I gave back right away so then the clerk could wait on another customer. Thanks John

I like the first two. Love old structures.
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Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: I don't think they wanted me to say anything. It was just their way of having a bit of fun, the swines. Strange thing is they make such bloody good cameras.

They aren't as respectful as they look. A lot of those stones have been broken and repaired. It doesn't look like it happens very often though. I doubt many vandels get up there, it's way off the beaten path now, even for drunken teenagers in the country.

I've only had the E-3 for 5 days. I noticed the weight when I first picked it up but I really don't now. I always loved the way the E-500 felt in my hands, it's one of the reasons I bought it over the other entry levels two years ago. This one feels even better even though I have fairly small hands. To me the "feel" is as important as any other aspect of a camera.

The view finder is a BIG improvement over the E-500. It's much brighter. It's VERY noticably larger. You don't have that feeling of looking down a tunnel. I wear glasses and I can actually SEE the shooting information in this one. I can't remember seeing it over 4-5 times with the E-500 and mine has about 50,000 snaps on it.

You have some nice captures there. I especially like the old wood building across from the church.

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Good Shooting,

English Bob

I upgraded from an E-500 to an E-3 and a 12-60 lens recently.

I have to admit, the learning curve is definitely steeper. The E-500 lulled me into being a picture taker due to the fact that it's colors were so gorgeous and it seemed like all i had to was adjust ISO most of the time to get a shot to work.

Back in the day I was a fairly avid amateur with a Canon A-1 and A2E and when digital came along I shot a Coolpix 995 for more than a few years before getting back to a dslr with the E-500.

The E-3 will make you learn what those things on the menus are for. Luckily there is a wealth of great info here and on the web to help decipher the manual and the camera's settings. It's much clearer now, and I've gotten some very pleasing shots.

As far as construction goes, it's built like a tank. Coming from the E-500 I noticed the weight and size, but I like that. When I bought the E-500, one of the biggest reasons I picked the Oly over whichever Rebel was that the Rebel felt like a little toy and the Oly felt like a camera. Now the E-3 makes me feel the same way about the E-500. When you attach a lens, if feels so precisely machined.

The viewfinder is spectacular, and the Live View is a very nice feature too. With the 12-60, focus is very fast.

Living in Los Angeles (or even California), there are no places that have that old Americana feel that you captured in these images. I see bare foot children running out of that house, one hand holding a straw hat on a head and the other holding a fishing pole over one sholder. The screen door slams behind them as they leap over the stairs, off the porch and down the path. The only sound, other than their sqeels and shouts, is the buzz of the insects and the call of a few birds.

Wow, for a "first outing", these are WAY better than I expected when I clicked on your thread. Thanks for sharing them.

Brian

I like the cemetary picture most. Your new camera seems to work for you, and I am curious for more pictures.
Why do people abandon their homes and their land?
Herbert
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http://www.pbase.com/herbRD
Olympus E-330, Vario-Elmar 14-150mm, Sony H1, Sony S600, Olympus C-2020 (IR)

Thanks all. I'm about to send the photo of the old house to a local type historian. I, like a poster above, would like to know why that one was abandoned. It can't have been THAT long ago because it is still in sort of fair shape and is not overgrown with vegitation. Also, unlike the church, it's not THAT far off the beaten path. If he can tell me anything I'll come back and post it.

I got a quick reply. Here is a link to the historian's blog story he did on the house back in Feb of this year. According to him the house and land belonged to one of the leading early familes in the area. The heirs live abroad now. The house was occupied until recently and is handled for the heirs by a local man. His photos show many different angles and there is almost no vegitation around it so you can see much more of it. His photos were made back in Feb and to me it looks like the house and other buildings have declined quite a bit since then. It's sad really. Even now the main house could probably be saved. I wish I had the $$$$$$, I might try it.

http://hillcountryofmonroecountry.blogspot.com:80/2008/02/hill-country-farm-house-and-buildings.html