Macro & Image stabilisation

[unid]

Hello folks,

I am a newbie to dslr from an art & design background.
I am considering buying either an olympus e420 or perhaps an e520.
I will be using it for macro, landscapes, and some stop motion work.
My question is, how valuable is the in camera stabiliser to macro work?
Are there any other considerations that I should be having in reference to this type of work.

 

[jampat]

Use a good tripod and the stabiliser will be unnecessary. It mainly helps for handheld shots, most of your shots seem to be posed and with thought and time put into their setup. Perfect situation for a tripod.

 

[unid]

Thanks for that, being new to macro photography i did wonder if the IS system
would be of significant benefit.
You are right my 'style' of shooting means i think about the shots first, and it is probably of greater benefit to me to have the compact version of this camera to say nothing of the £100 less in cost.
Now that the e450 is about to appear i'm hoping I can find the e420 at an even
greater discount.

 

[gkarris]

You could splurge and get the E-620, which is their new compact with IS.

 

[yaroldb]

I have the E-520, it's not that much larger than the 420. If you Macro is what you're after the 50m f2.0 is a great lens. If you want true 1.1 the 35mm F3.5 is amazing. I own the 35mm and for the price you just can't go wrong. It's not the fastest lens but with some good light you won't be dissapointed. You may also want to look at the Sigma 105mm macro and the 150mm macro depending on how far you're shooting. Both F2.8. There is also rummors that Olympus is releasing a 100mm macro. I'm a big Oly fan. It's strange stepping out of the Canon/Nikon box, but I'm far from a pro so it suites me just fine.

 

[gkarris]

^^^ Interestingly enough, I'm trying to get the guy over at lenrentals.com to stock the Panasonic Four-Thirds Leica lenses.

He said that there's such an upswing in Olympus rentals, he had to spend the budget this month on more Olympus equipment.

Looks like Olympus Four-Thirds is getting popular for those who want portability, but not a P&S sensor.

I love my E-420, talk about portability! I saw some pics online where people matched it up with the Panasonic Leica OIS lenses - really, really nice.