E-3 rollout in Tokyo

[Norm in Fujino]

I realize that the composition of members here tends to be weighted pretty heavily toward the Canikon side, which is fine, but just against the chance someone might be interested in slumming a bit ;) I did a writeup of my experience at the Olympus E-3 rollout (http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=18384) in Tokyo yesterday that you might find of light interest. Please remember that the contents were written for the Olympus faithful, so the photos I took were for the specific purpose of testing certain features on the camera, not for presenting a general account of image quality under all conditions.

[BBPhoto]

I just gave it a once over. It's a good read. The shots looked better than I expected. ISO 800 is surprisingly clean and 1600 isn't too shabby either. Thanks!

[Rhys]

There's very little to choose between the main companies now in terms of image quality.

I love the Olympuses, personally, because they're so small. If the only example I could find of an Olympus hadn't been broken then I might well have gone Olympus myself. I went Canon purely because I liked the IQ.

[Glasstream15]

Oly has always had very good lenses and my first 3 digicams were Olys. But for my first, and still current, DSLR I went Canon. More accessories, more lens choices, more body choices and the XT felt better in my hands than the E500. Amateur to advanced amateur photographers will find a lot to like in the E3 and any of the Olympus DSLRs. Lenses a bit high priced, but definitely worth the money. Not as large a selection of third party lenses as Canikon but still good. No one will go wrong with an E3 or even the 410/510.

But professionals?? Almost certainly will go Canikon. At a certain point, IQ will require the larger sensors available from Canon and now from Nikon. The Olympus cameras have the mechanical and engineering and optical quality to match anything on the market today and in the immediate future. But there are just a few pro features, like that FF sensor, that Oly has to catch up with. And there are some lenses in the Canikon lines that Oly doesn't have equivalents. And most pros and companies already have lots of equipment in stock. Most is Canon, but some Nikon. And to switch to Oly is really not likely to happen.

All that said, The Olys are excellent cameras, and I sorta wish they had the E410/510s available when I bought my Canon. I am not saying I would have bought the Oly, but I would have thought a little harder. It just still seems like it's that tiny bit smaller than the Canon, and I really don't want it smaller.

Besides, I already had a Canon K2 with 28-90 kit lens and Canon 75-300 tele.

[swpars]

The Olympus is a very nice package - and the Zuiko Digital lens lineup is pretty good (and the lenses are quite compact and fast).

However, for high ISO shots - the Canon 40D and Nikon D300 (which hit a similar price point) have superior performance to the E-3. I think the ISO 1600 performance is pretty comparable to what my D40 will pull.

[Norm in Fujino]

However, for high ISO shots - the Canon 40D and Nikon D300 (which hit a similar price point) have superior performance to the E-3. I think the ISO 1600 performance is pretty comparable to what my D40 will pull.

I'd guess you're right--guess since we haven't seen real results from an E-3 in capable hands, yet. But in principle, yes, if a major proportion of your photography is done at ISO1600, then it's obviously better to go with the largest sensor'd brick you can lug around. But I hate ISO1600 in any brand or flavor, and use it only under duress. I've gotten some good results even with the E-1 at 1600, but it's never a first choice.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/Peregrinor/concerts/070422_Takahashi/P4221027_NWw1.jpg