I know I'll risk being hounded by Terry Thorn for even discussing
this issue...but here goes:
1. Why are you thinking of an upgrade - this is a very, very
important factor in the decision making process. There is no point
to upgrading unless you have a real complaint about the E10. It's a
great camera in many ways so you need to be sure you will really
value the improvements, otherwise it's a lot of money...
For me the issues were:
i) I didn't like the cost or the ergonomics of the add on
converters and I wanted a wider lens than the standard zoom
ii) I prefer the shape of traditional SLRs that have a left side to
the body
iii) Power management with the E10 is quite a hassle - I kept
running out of juice at awkward times despite loads of effort to
manage batteries etc. The lipo is the obvious solution but in
Europe it cost almost as much as the camera and is big and bulky.
I've only re-charged the D100 battery once since I've had it and it
has shown full charge for a month now. I'm beginning to think it
will last forever...
iv) Image quality. I was getting the best quality prints I'd ever
made from my E10/Epson printer combo and at first I was ecstatic.
Then I started to get picky when I saw that the samples from 6Mp
cameras were sharper, more detailed and lower noise...
v) I like to stitch multiple images to go for those super sharp
landscapes and it works so much better when you have a high res
format to start with (e.g. 4* E10 frames will yield about an 11 MP
image whilst 4 * D100 frames will give you about 20MPs (medium
format, take that!).
2. Used D30's can be found at good prices and look tempting... but
the image quality, whilst silky and low noise, doesn't have better
resolution than the E10 so you would probably end up hankering
after a D60 or Dxx later anyway. Might be best to hang on a bit and
hope for further reductions in price on the newer cams.
3. For what it's worth, I do find the D100 to be quite an
improvement over the already very good E10 in most areas (as would
the D60 and S2pro be too) and a worthy upgrade. I'm delighted with
it so far and would definitely feel deprived if i had to give it up.
I've had mine a couple of months now and I can't actually think of
anything significant about it that is worse than the E10 (the build
is more utilitarian and mid quality rather than luxury like the E10
but it's perfectly solid and you soon forget the differences; there
is no LCD preview or time lapse facility but I haven't missed out
because of that so far).
It's basically exactly like a 35mm film SLR but digital. If you
choose to upgrade you will get the benefits of much faster power on
times, menu operation, playback times (essentially instant) as well
as unbelievable battery life from a battery little bigger than 2 AA
cells that recharges in 1 hour.
However, it will cost you to buy into these systems and even if you
are determined to upgrade at some point, you need to sure you go to
a system you can live with, as it will cost a lot more to dump a
whole system and change brands at a later date.
4. One to thing to bear in mind about Photokina is that even if Oly
announce a new compact interchangeable lens SLR you may have to
wait an unspecified time before you can actually buy one. Think
Sigma SD9 - where are they!
5. Are you really, really sure you want to upgrade? You done some
excellent work with the E10 and you know how to work around the
foibles and little flaws.
You don't have to keep up with Jono "A new camera a day helps you
work, rest and play" Slack - just kidding, Jono!
Okay Folks,
All this interest in Photokina implies that I'm not the only one on
this board who has an upgrade in mind.
I'm in no rush--I don't think. Unless the shutter goes on the E
again, I think I can wait 'til the 'Angel of No-Coiincidences'
signals me that it's time..the right camera has come along!
My brother thinks I should buy into a used D30 as a stop-gap, but
I'm not sure that's such a great idea. The smoothness of the D30
image is tempting, but spending $1000 (or more) on a camera that
marginally improves what I can do with the E makes little sense to
me. He's thinking a D30 will make it easier for me to wait for the
'right' camera to come along.
I'm hoping to hold onto the E and get the kind of service out of it
that will make it possible for me to wait several months to a
couple of years if necessary.
I'm hoping that Oly comes out with something tempting! If it does,
I can wait for the price to drop some, I think.
Anyone else thinking long and hard about upgrades too? What are YOU
thinking? Care to share?
Beth
--
Olympus E-10, TCON, MCON, WCON and Fl-40
Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/galleries/cokids
