From Canon to Olympus - Journey Begins

[Reality4711]

Retired Pro, my hands ache and my stamina left some time ago - so!

Smaller camera, less kit and different ideas.

Going from 1Ds mkIII to E3 is a big jump - Oh yes it is - gone are the highly detailed landscapes and tripod paraphernalia pixel peering and hours of post production perfection while in come spontaneity, blur, grain and photographs as I remember them.

This is not to deride the 'Olly' but to extoll its virtues. It still produces remarkable clarity, colour and depth.

Still it is too early for real opinions as my lens delivery is this Friday so if you don't mind I'll post how it goes as I start my journey.

Thanks.

 

[MattSepeta]

Interesting

Interesting prose.

I look forwards to it

 

[rpang]

I am a big fan of the Olly tone on its images. The E-3 is an awesome camera. Ive gotten a chance to use it and was happy with the way it processes the images straight from the camera. Olly glass is also some of the best out there due to their light weight, but top notch quality.

Whats funny is I went from Olly to Canon because of kit options. I do miss carrying Olympus because it was smaller and lighter.

 

[Ish]

Sounds good to me! I look forward to reading about your journey.

 

[yaroldb]

I own an E3 with some pretty nice lenses. I've never used anything else so I'm not really sure how to compare it. I started with an Olympus E-500 and a few bodies later, I had an E-3. For me, the big selling point was the weather seal. I go to Costa Rica a lot and am in the rain forest. Getting poured on is nothing out of the blue. Most of my lenses are weather sealed and I can continue to shoot without any problems. I've even heard stories of people dropping it in a lake for a few seconds and it still working. If you like reach, the 4/3rds sensor is 2x. Making the incredible 50mm f2.0 macro really a 100mm macro in the 35mm world. IS is in body, so you do not have to pay a premium for a lens with it. This also means you can get an adapter and use OM glass on this thing and it's still has IS. The 35-100mm f2.0 is the only f2.0 zoom in the market and arguable one of the best zoom lens out there. It is super sharp even wide open. This is my next lens, its on my lust list. Were we do miss is fast primes. Sigma makes the 50mm f1.4 and the 30mm f1.4. These seem to be hit or miss and tend to have focus problems. I used to own the sigma 18-50mm f2.8 but sold it due to not having weather seal. It was a great little lens. For the money, Olympus is truly a great product. It can not compare with the high end Canons and Nikons (body wise), but the glass really helps make this system attractive. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions, the menu is a bit tricky at times, but once you get used to it, I'm sure you will love it...

A side note, noise is also something that is killing Olympus. While I think the E-3 is the best in the Olympus line with noise, it is hard to shoot anything over 1600 iso. However, I did put in a few shoots takes at 3200iso into the new Lightroom 3 beta 2, and was blown away by how good the noise reduction works. It made something I would normally skip over totally useable.

Have fun with and and post some shots when you have em'

Yarold

 

[rpang]

A side note, noise is also something that is killing Olympus. While I think the E-3 is the best in the Olympus line with noise, it is hard to shoot anything over 1600 iso. However, I did put in a few shoots takes at 3200iso into the new Lightroom 3 beta 2, and was blown away by how good the noise reduction works. It made something I would normally skip over totally useable.

Have fun with and and post some shots when you have em'

Yarold

Noise is my main reason I moved from Olympus to Canon. I go on a lot of trips where I visit museums & churches and I cannot use the flash. What I do miss is carrying smaller, lighter, high quality lenses thanks to the 2x crop.

 

[HBOC]

this will be an interesting read. Why didn't you get an T2i or similar, that way you could use your glass?

 

[CrackedButter]

I went from Canon to Olympus and then back to Canon. The lack of good bokeh from the small image sensor and high noise brought me back.

 

[Reality4711]

Journey On

Well a larger response than was expected. Thank you'al!

The change was not entirely ergonomically driven, the deathly lack of inspiration had to be addressed also. It has been hard to revert to self directed photography having spent sooooo many years at the customers beck and call, be they newspaper editors. ugly faced child's parent or that must have new collection in Paris. Being my own customer has taken the edge out of my photography by removing deadlines, criteria and money, money and of course money.

Having been lost in this fog for a couple of years fate(the hands) and a brilliant deal on my entire setup prompted my rebirth as a hopeful and quite excited beginner with a dream of finally being the creative man I started out to be.

Further. Later.

Thankyou.

 

[Reality4711]

Apology

Hello all,

I am so sorry for not keeping you up to date, health/hands have prevented that for a while. I will be up to speed in the next couple of days.

Thank for patients.

 

[srf4real]

Must follow this thread.

 

[Reality4711]

First Report

Well, here goes. I finally managed to get out and about with my new 'Olly'. With expectations high and a burst of unusual (for me) enthusiasm I looked for subjects to test my new partners capabilities. Have to say the day was bright and beautiful but as photogenic (to me) as fog on a grey day with no wind. Hmmm - not good, but a few frames were shot and one or two observations made.

My dog was impressed and obviously pleased with my new found ability to walk more than 100 yards or so with my kit on board, also with my ability to take pictures quickly and move on - very important to a dog - moving on ;-)

Seriously, mobility was affected positively to a degree that enabled far more shooting than normal. I know this means little to you fit chaps and chap-ess's but believe me even you would benefit from the flexibility this system bestows. Getting into and out again of awkward places - and getting the shot - an improvement worth having.

I should list the 'kit' I suppose:-

e3 + 7-14mm + 12-60mm + 50-200mm, the latter two being SWD versions. I am not totally convinced this is the best setup for me but that is to be tested as we go.

Right, some observations. From a techie. point of view the lenses are 'damned' fast to focus, on this camera anyway, with no empirical evidence to back that up obviously it is just my opinion but, my feeling is that the SWD's are sharper than canon 'L' stuff. Stopping and starting shockingly quick. To some extent this distracted me for some time from actually taking the shot - now that is fast! That said the combination did suffer a little in the lower light of evening. From my standpoint an anticipated result.

I am finding the control wheel positioning on the e3 probably the most difficult ergonomic change to come to terms with. Using my first and second finger (RH) to get to focus/shutter release and the main wheel at the same time proving to be the most reliable so far ie. first finger stays on the release and second finger deals with the main dial.

Many others (too luminous to mention) before me have mentioned the different bokeh of the 'Olly' and this was something I was a little wary of. Sure enough it is different and being different is open to criticism but I don't think I will. Instead I would liken it to changing your brushes or chisels when painting or sculpting. Creating is not a process of making your work look like all others - bit pointless that! No it is a refreshment of your eye, perspective and goals. I don't disapprove of this difference nor approve, more like see a difference for what it is. I would not use an 'Olly' for high end portraiture for the fashion market but - big but - I would definitely use it outdoors with water sparkling in the background. Makes for a fascinating back clothe!

Old Canon kit:- 1DsIII+1DIIn+16/35L+50/1.2L+85/1.8L+135/2.0L+200/2.8L+300/2.8L+400/4LOD+600L in the closet;-)

Downsides have appeared - OMG! - yup downsides - this is not an advert after all!

I wear glasses and despite a wonderfully bright viewfinder today was hard getting a clear view of my limited subjects. Why that was, is hard to say straight off but I will get there in the end. Zooming is still problematic for me - my hands not yet having gotten used to the rather stiff action - and smooth arrival at the desired framing not quite as I would like. The former two points mean a bit panicky when a shot appears quicker than I am prepared for (with the Canon stuff quick draw action was a smooth gunslinger certainty)and whether that improves you will find out as soon as I do.

Hope you have enjoyed the read so far. All comments welcome, especially if you have a specific question or answer on how I am doing.

Sorry no images - when I am happy with one I promise to post it - If I can figure out how ??

Thanks.

 

[srf4real]

Reality, I might steer you towards Photoshop if you are shooting the E-3 in RAW mode, it really has the best raw processing engine in my opinion for E-3 far superior to Aperture 2.

I've never seen through any Canon L glass, but that 50-200 swd is purty sharp, huh!

 

[Reality4711]

Sharp

Reality, I might steer you towards Photoshop if you are shooting the E-3 in RAW mode, it really has the best raw processing engine in my opinion for E-3 far superior to Aperture 2.

I've never seen through any Canon L glass, but that 50-200 swd is purty sharp, huh!

PS. CS5 upgrade downloading tomorrow ;-)

Sharp, as in speed to the focus point? Oooh Yes!

As to IQ sharpness, only time will tell me. It is ,for me almost impossible to compare these lenses with my previous collection. The sensor being completely different. It will (12/60mm) get a test soon though as I intend to recreate, roughly an image taken with my 135mm a couple of months ago. As I say no where near perfect, but an indicator at least.

 

[yaroldb]

Thanks for the post, as an E-3 owner I am really glad to hear that overall you like the system (at least it seems that way). While I am far from a professional, I love my E-3 and am very happy with it. Great review...

 

[Reality4711]

Return of the Parodical

Well with many apologies to my myriad of readers for the inexcusable delay, the journey continues.

Finally have been out and about with my new Olly and have been fighting a continuous urge to chuck the whole kit over a cliff!!

Why? The cry erupts from shocked lips.

It did not feel good at all. Ah! 'Did Not'. That means it does now? Doesn't it??

Well no, not entirely. Better, much better but not there yet.

One of the biggest changes to learn about and conquer is AF settings and photographing a moving subject. I admit to being spoiled by my EOS1's in this respect especially the 1DIIn but I had not expected there to be such a difference in the Olly.
Combine the lightness of body, body mounted IS and an unfamiliar eye view and you have a bird shooting disaster OOOH YES YOU HAVE!

Maybe 1 in 20 are exceptable. Disaster! Ah Ha!! Got Ya!!!!

This is exactly what I expected and the truth is after viewing the images at home for some time it was really obvious that I(me) was the problem and the E3 had performed miracles to get that many.

Reading the handbook is a very good thing to do. Please write this at the top of every page of every article about photography. It will be worth it. ;-o

Problems with metering/focusing have been cured by simply understanding how each of these functions work in THIS camera. Not as a generic guide would have it.

I found that spot metering mixed with single AF shooting using the middle focusing option (dynamic single) allowed for the best control and most accurate rendition of moving (gulls) on a bright blue sky.

On to the good stuff.

Hand held multiple exposures to use in HDR production! Yup! Very well carried out by camera and combining the ORF> raw files was a doodle! Much easier than the massive files of the canon and to the eyes around me, actually more lively and authentic looking images (in print especially)

Single file images have also proven to be a bit of a surprise. Resampling enabling really good prints from 8/9mb files from the camera.

So how are my hands getting on with this little monster? V Very well indeed is the answer and my ability to type this is the proof of the pudding. A day out with the eos would be followed by at least one day of rest before getting the hands into typing mode - well my version of typing anywayup.

I am impressed with the overall performance of all of the lenses but am still not getting the right feel from the 50/200mm lens with its heavy (relatively) extension when zooming. I may try the much more expensive 90/250mm f2.8 in the next few days. This does not have an extending design - so maybe ;-)

Going now to have a real dig through the stuff I shot yesterday and see if there are one or two that might be worth a bit of production work.

Thanks for reading. All questions/comments most welcome.

 

[HBOC]

post some results!

 

[pdxflint]

Mark me down as an interested reader of your posts, past, present and future. I'm currently dealing with some mobility issues myself, with a suddenly appearing pain in my lower back, likely a slightly pinched nerve, which seriously limits my quick range of motion. Even though it's relatively temporary, I'm starting to have a real appreciation of the physical limitations some photographers face when considering which equipment to haul around... so, I'd welcome hearing more about your situation, and how you're coping with it.

 

[HBOC]

I also have back problems, and recently injured my knee which i had major surgery on several years back. I can already tell arthritis will not be fun, and i am 30.

A few things that i think i will get to help me ease the pain..
an angle view finder for my camera, so i don't have to lay down in the dirt/water/rocks/etc as much, even though i don't really mind, and maybe a good knee brace. I have the full leg brace with metal rails, but doesn't help me now.

I just finally bought hiking shoes. I hike in flip flops! I bet i have 130+ miles on them!

 

[Reality4711]

Boat in Stromness

As requested. A simple shot is jpg straight from camera plus a bit of sharpening & saturation for the web.

post some results!

 

[HBOC]

So are you going to go back to Canon? Are you getting more keepers now than you initially did? I couldn't imagine the contrast between they Oly and the 1D series.. I went from an xxD body to a G9..frustrating to say the least..

 

[Reality4711]

No Return

There is no way to return either physically or financially - so onward and upward.

However if you look at the basic pic i've posted, I see no reason to at the moment anyway.

I am looking forward to learning production techniques for my arty stuff.

That takes up most of my time and direction.

Quality is a very relative thing after all, some of my best professional work was done old and crappy kit by necessity(cost) driven by hunger and fear.

Speak later.

 

[srf4real]

Alas, you are not alone in feeling continuous a/f to be the achilles' heel of our Oly flagship.. hopefully a future release will resolve some of this weakness in the brand. Although I am a surf shooter and constantly track moving subject matter, I have found single spot auto-focus and feathering the shutter half-way to be my answer to sharp subjects in motion. After 30k clicks, my E-3 still hits the mark accurately and having the quickness to focus of the 50-200 SWD allows me to keep most shots in sequence. I prefer center weight spot metering as well.

Glad to see you taking photos!

mywavepix.com

 

[Reality4711]

Ohh Dear

I took the 'olly' to Shetland for a few days.

Spent a week looking and playing with results - and - not happy bunny.

Practiced quite a bit before we went and was quite confident of getting some good results - but - a combination of finger numbing button combinations, a continually opening flash, real difficulty in focussing even slow moving stuff, a steady loss of confidence in the 'olly', jpgs looking sharp and raw proving them not, the list goes on but the result is that I am back to Canon 7D and my good lady is trying out the 'olly'.

It was her 7D but she had not had time to get used to it so was happy to give my camera a go. Her style will suite the 'olly' far more readily than mine - I hope!!!

Options if that is also a failure are limited but we will get there. The 7D fits the bill for size and my focus confidence was instantly rekindled.

I am sorry the change did not prove too successful, I promise I tried all tips and hints to get the best out of it but in the end the e3 just did not work for me.

The lenses are however terrific, especially the 7-14mm which given a more receptive sensor (I think) would blow my ef 16-35L mkII way out of the water.

The End

Comments welcome (even I told you so's)

 

[srf4real]

At least you tried, rather than following the 'wisdom' of the masses. Sad, but true- Olympus dslr is not for everybody. And most of their glass deserves upgraded bodies, as well. Thank you for sharing your experience here.

But you never trudged waist deep in tumbling white water to get a good shot at something, with that trusty E-3 + 50-200 (100-400mm focal length) combination!