e 620

[Bill1097]

I posted yesterday about the e 650, I am sorry about that it was meant to be the e 620.

I am thinking of buying one but the review was kind of negative regarding the menu being really complicated, is it that bad or should I go ahead and buy one.

There is one other topic and that is the auto focus on Olympus being not quite up to par.

I have never owned a DSLR but would like to upgrade and Olympus seems to be the right price and the review was great other than about the menu.

Bill 1097

 

[Digirame]

Thanks for the clarification. I've been on these forums a lot, and I haven't heard of any problems with focusing with that camera. I also googled for that, and nothing came up either. Maybe you read something from someone that gave you that idea. A lot of people that first start using a DSLR camera make mistakes with them all the time, or occasionally there is a defective camera.

Also the focusing of the camera also depends on the lens used. For example, a lot of us really like the inexpensive Zuiko 70-300mm lens. But it does hunt at times, but that's not a problem with the camera, but a limitation of the lens. It will hunt, for example, if you are taking a picture of a flock of birds flying in the air, and you miss the birds with the autofocus, then the camera tries to lock on some detail on the empty sky and goes back and forth trying to find something. With almost nothing there other than maybe a few wispy clouds, that seems reasonable for me for the lens to hunt like that. I've just gotten better with my aim, so I put the responsibility on me to be a better photographer. See my photo of flying geese that I took a few days ago and posted here to illustrate this some.

The Olympus E-620 got a "highly recommended" rating from Dpreview's review. It has been very popular and has been highly recommended by many people here on these forums too. If you are new to this type of camera, give it some time...there's a learning curve with these. I admit myself many times, that I'm still learning too, even though I've been using these for about two years. But the rewards are very high for those that are patient.

I hope that helps.

A little edit: About the menu...I would expect it's similar to my Olympus E-510. They are not complicated at all. You just click the menu button and you have these choices on the left, and then sub-choices on the right side. You just go through them. There's the manual and on-line instructions that can further help. And if anyone has trouble with this, they can always ask on these forums. How many people have trouble with the menu? Well, it doesn't seem to be a common problem with anyone here. It's just too simple...like anything you had to get used to it...just spend some time with it.

 

[Digirame]

Also I should mention that the Olympus E-620 might auto focus better than my E-510. So maybe someone with that camera would be better able to comment on that.

A little typo correction for my last sentence on my previous post...it should have read: It's just too simple...like anything, you have to get used to it...just spend some time with it.

 

[Canadian Club]

I am thinking of buying one but the review was kind of negative regarding the menu being really complicated, is it that bad or should I go ahead and buy one.

There is one other topic and that is the auto focus on Olympus being not quite up to par.

I have never owned a DSLR but would like to upgrade and Olympus seems to be the right price and the review was great other than about the menu.

Piece of cake on the E620, but like anything else when it is new, you have to learn. Fool around with the menu the settings, like ISO, WB, spot focus, etc. then my advice is to go out and shoot and shoot with different settings, it is the only way to learn on a new camera especially if you are going to the DSLR for the first time.

I use mine with the 18-180 with no problems that you mentioned. Most of my photos are of airplanes and you can check this post out, below, from Detroit Metro.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1008&message=33266149

and this one

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1008&message=33300007

Life is good - Blue Skies

CC

--
Canadian Club with a chaser.

3D Frames and OOB Gallery
http://www.pbase.com/otfchallenge/george_mocks_3d_frame_gallery&page=all

 

[Bill1097]

Thank you so much for the exellent answer, you are quite right about a few people that don't bother to read the manual or learn about the camera before they comment on certain things.

I have had many slr's over the years that I have been involved in Photography but digital is really new to me, I have a fuji S6000 and really enjoy it but its time to upgrade.

I am aware that each camera has its own learning curve and I have no problem with spending time on that.
Thanks again.

Bill 1097

 

[Bill1097]

Thank you CC your comments are appreciated and I plan to really get to know the camera and as you suggest the only way to do that is to try different settings and get out and take lots of pics.

Checked out your pics and they are really very nice, colors are just fantastic and focus spot on.

Bill 1097.

 

[Bootstrap]

Don't let the menu configuration stop you. Like any other computer/software, it takes a bit of getting used to and I'd suggest that you'll get so used to it that anything else might be confusing for a while.
Go for it.

Bill Turner

 

[krakelis]

To give some background: I did over 50.000 shots with E510 in two years, and a few thousand with E620 in last few month's. The used lenses are 14-54 and 50-200 (old types).

The menu of E510 and E620 is not the same, but the difference is small. For a beginner the amount of possible settings is shocking, but the menu is very logical so getting used to it does not take to much time/effort.

My experience with Olympus AF is somewhat more complex. AF speed of E510/14-54 has always been perfect IMHO, but after repair I'm almost sure it got a lot slower. I can't imagine it is possible, but that's what I feel in the field.

I did have an E30 for a week, but the viewfinder was unsharp and the AF was slower then my E510. Changed it for E620, wich is only a little bit slower in AF then my E510.

My feeling is that AF speed is not to well controlled by Olympus and that one can find slower and more speedy E620's or whatever model. It will be very difficult to test this in the shop because you need reference (experience or other models) and even then it's hard to judge these fractions of seconds.

This should IMHO not be a reason not to buy one, the E620 is a very nice camera.

--
Bas Dekker
Steenwijk, Netherlands
My pics: http://basdekker.eu/fotografie.htm
Even more pics: http://basdekker.eu/beeldbank/index.php

 

[Bill1097]

Thanks for the tip Bill, I am sure I will eventually get used to it.

Bill 1097.

 

[Bill1097]

Thanks for your info, you have taken lots of pics with the e620 and after viewing some of them I like the colors and the focusing is fine.

I have made up my mind to buy the e620 shortly, not sure about what lenses to get though but I'll figure it out.

Bill 1097.

 

[Digirame]

For lenses, if you are tight with the budget, the kit lenses are excellent. You might want start out with the two lens kit; it's a bargain. That's one of the advantages of Olympus, is that the kit lenses are such high quality, that you don't have to go out and buy additional lenses right away. The inexpensive telephoto lens is the Zuiko 70-300mm lens. Most seem to prefer the Zuiko 50-200mm telephoto lens with the 1.4TC teleconverter, if they have the means to spend that much money. Other lenses we hear are favorites are the Zuiko 12-60mm lens, the 14-54mm lens, and the 35-100mm lens. I'm still using the kit lenses, plus the Zuiko 70-300mm lens for these last two years. They deliver sharp photos.

Of course, there's more lenses for even more money....

 

[Bill1097]

Thanks Digi, I planned on getting the 2 lens kit and most likely the 70 - 300.

Did you have any trouble updating the lens or was the problem with a camera other than the e620.
When you get to my age money is always a problem but what the heck. LOL.

Bill 1097.

 

[Digirame]

I didn't have trouble updating the firmware to either my camera or lens, but after about 20,000 images my Zuiko 70-300mm lens doesn't work below 120mm focal length. I'm going to try and clean the contacts and see if that helps.

Normally, I avoid updating the firmware unless it's necessary, because if the power cuts out exactly when the firmware is being updated, the equipment affected can be toast and has to be sent to Olympus for repair. So I hold my breath, when updating these...not likely the power will go out, but we know Uncle Murphy is out there waiting for us.

 

[Bootstrap]

The kit lenses, of course!

The 14-42, IMO, is nearly as good, although not as fast, as the 14-54 and the 40-150 can't be beat.

As a comparison, the lenses I own, other than the kit, are; 8mm FE, ZD 11-22, Sigma 18-50 f/2.8, ZD 50-200, ZD 50 f/2, ZD 35 f/3.5 and the ZD 25 f/2.8. The kit lenses are used, mostly, on my DMC-L1s and the bigger lenses on my E-1s.
Get the kit lenses!

Bill Turner

 

[totemjoe]

Hi Bill,

I just received my new 620 Saturday. Most recently I've owned Sony P&S cameras, H5, R1, H50, and was a tad bit shy about making the jump to a dslr too. After 5 days I'm feeling much more comfortable and am enjoying the 620 very much. Take the jump, the learning curve is always steep the first few days, but has become easier each day with some practice. Best of luck!

Regards,

Joel
--
Joel
Anacortes,WA

'Quantity has a Quality all of it's own.....'

 

[Steve Grooms]

And welcome to OTF. Come back with images soon.

 

[Bill1097]

Thanks Digi, let me know what happens after cleaning the contacts, hope it works for you.

I live in Canada BC Fraser Valley, at this time of the year power outages are a frequent occerence especially when its windy or snowing.

Bill 1097.

 

[Bill1097]

Thanks, nice to hear that the kit lens are that good, I will have to wait awhile before I get other lenses though. LOL.

Bill 1097.

 

[Bill1097]

Hi Joel, its nice to hear that you are getting to know the e620 so quickly, hope I can do the same.

Bill 1097.

 

[krakelis]

Thanks for your info, you have taken lots of pics with the e620 and after viewing some of them I like the colors and the focusing is fine.

I have made up my mind to buy the e620 shortly, not sure about what lenses to get though but I'll figure it out.

Bill 1097.

About lenses:

The short kitlens is one of those incredible things Olympus has developed. Only neurotic hairsplitters will find any optical differences between the short kitlens and the 14-54.

I did buy the 14-54 later, but in optical way it was a bit disappointing. Very good and sharp, but only very little better then the kitlens. But it has some other advantages like being faster and better build quality.

To start with the long kitlens is excellent, it's a bargain too, but the 50-200 f.i. is much better in IQ. I bought a used 50-200 and fell in love from the first moment.

14-54 and 50-200 are the only lenses I own at the moment.

--
Bas Dekker
Steenwijk, Netherlands
My pics: http://basdekker.eu/fotografie.htm