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Upgrade (to shoot kids) for e510, 15-54mm & 50mm owner

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Emil20111030

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Hi all,

this is my first post here: I have been shooting with an Olympus E330 (sold) and now an E510 for a few years, mostly landscapes and am happy with the results.

The lenses I own are the 14-54mm II and the 50mm Macro.

In the near future though, my photography interest is going to shift from landscapes to little ones ;) (That will be mostly indoors.)

Therefore I am thinking of an upgrade to my cameras to have better low light performance (I don't want to "flash" the little ones). At the same time I would like some more DR and faster AF, especially for the 50mm macro.

Now I have done some research on this forum about the situation with 43rds and m43rds. I've also read the stories about the stories about the old and new CEO.

Therefore I am a bit unsure what to do:
  • I could get the E5, but it appears very expensive to me. (I should add that I live in Germany, where the E5 is a little bit more than 1500 Euros). It's also very big for me, probably too much of an upgrade.
  • I could switch to m43rds and get the EP3 (I like manual controls), but I've read that the 50mm macro, which I would be using for portraits, would AF very slowly. And also, I am a VF guy, so I would need to buy an EP3, and adapter to mount four third lenses and a VF, which would also make this combination about 1000 Euros.
  • And in general I am not sure if getting another Oly body is a good idea with the current situation, basically because I would like to be able to upgrade my camera bodies also in the future, and there seems to be some uncertainty here, but this point isn't too big for me, my new body would last me for a few years.
So the above two are my options with Olympus as far as I see it and I am not sure that either of those is a good upgrade path, because both upgrades are relatively expensive, because the E5 is expensive and heavy and the EP3 wouldn't focus my 50mm fast enough. (I did have a look at a used E30 or E3, but ideally the low light performance would be better than on those, as that is my key argument for an upgrade.)

Alternatively, I could switch to another brand. I've been looking at the K5 and the D7000 and both are around 850 Euros body only. So for the price of the E5, I could get either of those and a couple of nice lenses.

I am a bit stuck here really, so any insight from your side would be much appreciated!

Lastly, let me add that I shoot mostly RAW, and do just a little bit PP, like adjusting WB, cropping, exposure, so nothing serious and wouldn't want to spend too much time on that in the future in order to get good results.

What would you do? Have you been in a similar situation and what has your upgrade been and are you happy with it?

Many thanks all in advance!

Cheers,
Emil
 
Hi Emil,

First, congratulations on your forthcoming new photo subject!

The E-510 is a poor low-light camera. You might consider finding a new or nice used E-30. It's far better to focus in poor light and can be shot at ISO1600, which the 510 should not. Your current lenses will function much better and in fact, you'll be able to use live view and face recognition with the 14-54.

An alternative would be an E-610, which doesn't have the E-30's good viewfinder but still has a good feature set.

Good luck,

Rick
 
may not be ideal for you, but I currently have the E-520, and when cash is available (tax refund?) I'll be looking to get a lightly used or refurb E-30

While I would have liked an E-50, such a camera might be long in coming, if at all.

You might lose a little sharpnes over the 510, but gain resolution, improved focusing, and most of what you get in the E-5, at slightly less weight.

Or... pick up an FL 36 or 50 and use it for the focus assist light w the flash turned off... cheaper than replacing the camera if all you need is better low light focusing.

BTW, I don't think the 50mm macro will be a snappy focuser on any camera, it just has too far to travel to infinity and back.

--
Art P
"I am a creature of contrast,
of light and shadow.
I live where the two play together,
I thrive on the conflict"
 
I was in the exact same situation (same lens, same body) with our first grandchild arriving and the biggest impact was learning to bounce flash. I continued using the 50mm as my go to lens but the bounced flash just changed everything. The flash did not, in any way, bother my grand daughter so you need to reassess your point of view on that, particularly keeping in mind bouncing the flash as compared to the flash on the body which anyone would find annoying.
Emil20111030 said:
What would you do? Have you been in a similar situation and what has your upgrade been and are you happy with it?

Many thanks all in advance!

Cheers,
Emil
Click to expand...
 
I use mine with the original 14-54 lens and it's OK but focuses slowly. I understand the newer version of the lens focuses much faster.

Other than that, the GH-2 is great especially if you intend to shoot RAW. Probably the best 43 sensor you can access currently, although the G3 runs it close for less money.

The GH-2 will also give you excellent video - perhaps the best in any hybrid camera. You might not be looking for that but with kids it may become more useful than you think.

If you go down this route, it's worth getting the kit with 14-140 lens as a one size fits most solution - the lens is pretty decent and focus is very fast.
--
http://jonschick.smugmug.com/
 
You should be able to pick up a used FL36 for peanuts. Bounce the flash,with good rechargeables, you will have more than enough light. You may read complaints of poor recycle times, but I have found I rarely need full power on a shot, so with good rechargeables it cycles plenty fast enough. You'd probably be happy with any of the bodies you mention but by far the best bang for the buck is a flash.

--
STFU and do it.
 
The E-1 is the only Oly DSLR to have a built-in focus assist light. If you are determined to not flash, that is one way to go.

Another is the 12-60, which I don't have. By many accounts, it makes the E-3 and E-5 (maybe others) focus well in dim light.

As others have mentioned: use a flash — including off camera TTL or radio slaved flash. The advantage to leaving the flash on-camera is that you get the AF-assist beam, which is often critical in indoor light. The flash head can be pointed elsewhere, for bounce.

I was taking some snap shots of my infant grandson indoors today. I used my E-5 and ZD-50 at f/2. Other than the few on the back porch, I binned most of the indoor shots. The 50 works pretty well on the E-5 in good light... but it's a dog in poor light, not good for lively kids.

P.S.: another work-around is to UP the house lights, which will make your camera much happier. WB might be a challenge.
--
Barry
 
Emil20111030 said:
  • I could switch to m43rds and get the EP3 (I like manual controls), but I've read that the 50mm macro, which I would be using for portraits, would AF very slowly. And also, I am a VF guy, so I would need to buy an EP3, and adapter to mount four third lenses and a VF, which would also make this combination about 1000 Euros.
Click to expand...
If you got the EP3 and picked up the [email protected] you'd have an awesome portrait setup, even in low light. The [email protected] is very similar to the 50mm macro, but since it is not a macro, it focuses more quickly and is a faster lens.

Ask this same question on the 4/3 forum and I bet you'd get the same answer, although maybe with a GH2 body, though you lose the IBIS in the Oly that way.

If your budget won't handle it, pick up an EPL2 for now. It still has some manual control and can be had for much cheaper. The EP3s will be much cheaper next year. The EP2 isn't a great choice as it is an older generation.

I love my e520 and 14-54mm, but I really don't take it with me much. My wife's Oly XZ-1 has taken up that role and performs admirably. I might pick up an E-PM1 to have a 4/3 sensor again which is portable.
 
I don't think you "need" to upgrade...every system will have some weakness. Yes your 50mm will focus slow on EPx and you need to buy the adapter.

I would add a flash and bounce it...opens up a whole new world too.

2nd, I don't understand why people don't just use manual focus (esp with the lovely 50mm). It's not that difficult. Alternately use the auto focus assist light (if 510 has one?)

A cheap upgrade might be the E30 if you feel you must for all the reasons listed. I just got one for $450 lightly used, but that is the cheapest I have seen one. $500-650 is more realistic. IS is a big help.

If you feel you must get m43rds the new primes look very nice, but are not cheap. The 45mm F1.8 looks quite nice @ $400...the other fast lenses are much higher priced.

Others had good ideas like upping the house lights or use window light.

--
I'm not a professional, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night.

http://www.2112photography.net
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21868346@N00/
 
Oly500Enew said:
2nd, I don't understand why people don't just use manual focus (esp with the lovely 50mm). It's not that difficult. Alternately use the auto focus assist light (if 510 has one?)
Click to expand...
This much I can answer: the E-510 viewfinder is not only dim, it's not terribly accurate manually focusing to shallow DOFs. An E-30 (or E-3/5) is leagues better in this regard and indeed makes manual focus quite viable in dim light.

I take the OP at his word he'd like to avoid flash, bounced or not.

Cheers,

Rick

p.s. The FL series flashes have IR focus assist that can be used with the flash itself disabled. it's a viable workaround for autofocus in tough conditions.
 
Well, the bounced flash might be an alternative. I am just anxious that even if it wouldn't hurt the babies eyes, it might startle the very little ones.

Does any of you guys have taken shots of newborns or very young children with bounced flash and how did the little ones behave? Did they twitch or where they really just fine with it?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Emil
 
Thanks for your reply.

I replied on the bounced flash here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=39729876

Skeeterbytes already pointed out that the VF of the e510 isn't that great, I can still MF, but it is rather tedious with that dim tunnel VF... But even if the shot is in focus, the bigger problem is ones the little ones start moving, that's why I am after better high ISO capabilities (or flash as I am told ;) )
 
Thanks for your reply, I might look more into the GH2 direction.

Though I have an LX5 as well, and it's video output is sufficient for me. But it might be that once I see the video output from an GH2, I want to upgrade ;)
 
Yeh... as my kids started doing more things, the E3 and HG lenses just couldn't cut it.

I didn't have much problem with AF as I tend to guess where the kid might be, prefocus, then shoot a bunch of pictures, hoping that some of them will turn out okay. Most are like this one below, where it's slightly out of focus (or perhaps I needed to up the ISO to get higher shutter speed), but the few that are sharp, are very sharp. With E3 and a typical not-too-sharp kid picture:





Now if you can have a larger DOF, then the chances are better. With E3, 50-200mm SWD, probably at f7 or f8 and 200mm:





However, when you need something like f1.8, iso3200, AND 1/400 shutter speed, forget Olympus. Whereas the E3 could never these shots, the almost entry-level d5100 and the $200 35mm 1.8 lens can get these shots (not good enough for pros but good enough for a parent):
















Emil20111030 said:
Hi all,

this is my first post here: I have been shooting with an Olympus E330 (sold) and now an E510 for a few years, mostly landscapes and am happy with the results.

The lenses I own are the 14-54mm II and the 50mm Macro.

In the near future though, my photography interest is going to shift from landscapes to little ones ;) (That will be mostly indoors.)

Therefore I am thinking of an upgrade to my cameras to have better low light performance (I don't want to "flash" the little ones). At the same time I would like some more DR and faster AF, especially for the 50mm macro.

Now I have done some research on this forum about the situation with 43rds and m43rds. I've also read the stories about the stories about the old and new CEO.

Therefore I am a bit unsure what to do:
  • I could get the E5, but it appears very expensive to me. (I should add that I live in Germany, where the E5 is a little bit more than 1500 Euros). It's also very big for me, probably too much of an upgrade.
  • I could switch to m43rds and get the EP3 (I like manual controls), but I've read that the 50mm macro, which I would be using for portraits, would AF very slowly. And also, I am a VF guy, so I would need to buy an EP3, and adapter to mount four third lenses and a VF, which would also make this combination about 1000 Euros.
  • And in general I am not sure if getting another Oly body is a good idea with the current situation, basically because I would like to be able to upgrade my camera bodies also in the future, and there seems to be some uncertainty here, but this point isn't too big for me, my new body would last me for a few years.
So the above two are my options with Olympus as far as I see it and I am not sure that either of those is a good upgrade path, because both upgrades are relatively expensive, because the E5 is expensive and heavy and the EP3 wouldn't focus my 50mm fast enough. (I did have a look at a used E30 or E3, but ideally the low light performance would be better than on those, as that is my key argument for an upgrade.)

Alternatively, I could switch to another brand. I've been looking at the K5 and the D7000 and both are around 850 Euros body only. So for the price of the E5, I could get either of those and a couple of nice lenses.

I am a bit stuck here really, so any insight from your side would be much appreciated!

Lastly, let me add that I shoot mostly RAW, and do just a little bit PP, like adjusting WB, cropping, exposure, so nothing serious and wouldn't want to spend too much time on that in the future in order to get good results.

What would you do? Have you been in a similar situation and what has your upgrade been and are you happy with it?

Many thanks all in advance!

Cheers,
Emil
Click to expand...
 
Interesting question whether litlle ones even twitch when using a flash. I have small children myself, but have always avoided flash. Are others experiences with flash only positive?
 
I was very hesitant to use flash as well, however, I decided to use bounce flash (off the ceiling) and see how it went based on advice I received. My grand daughter didn't even blink and certainly didn't startle or twitch or I would have stopped immediately as this was the root of my concern.

I have no such concerns now.
 
I am in more or less the same situation

The E-510 is a damn good camera. After reading a lot of stuff I concluded, the E-520 is worse and the E-610 is equivalent. With respect to the color, the E-510 is a lucky compromise. Only the E-5 is better. The improvement of an E-3 or E-30 is not enough to justify the money spend.

I also looked at the Panasonics. I also concluded that the differences with the E-510 are to small to justify the investment. May be in a couple of years a GH3 or GH4 is interesting. The present GH2 is hardly an improvement.

So, I concluded that the best is to stick to my E-510 and wait for a cheaper E-5 or an E-50.

Lately I made a lot of pictures in the ZOO. I had a lot of trouble with light conditions. I just underexposed a lot of pictures and at home I corrected the lightning in Olympus Viewer. I am really critical, but in case of pictures of the nature, you don' t see the noise. I was really amazed that underexposing 2 stops and digitally correcting works.

So, stick a few years to your good old E-510.
 
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