Olympus Evolt Series

[edolyne]

It's tough sometimes deciding which to use. While I like the Sony, I'm going to look into selling that system completely.
I really like the E-1, even though it's older with only 5MP it's still a very good camera. There's alot of features that they took out when they built the 410/510 models. It's weatherproofed and I can use my $10.00 battery I bought from C.C. See there was no reason for me to pray for a drought. My wife even knew about me buying it.

Glad to see that I am not the only person about to ditch my sony system. The camera is great but the service end of things leaves much to be desired so I am making the switch to Olympus, their system seems quite robust and some of the best service in the industry.

 

[oogieboogieman]

Circuit City was calling me today. Stopped by 70-300 was $249.00. FL36R was $134.00. They still had some 420's and 520's left and a couple of the kit lenses. The flash is calling my name!!! I told DW and she's not hearing it though. Looks like I might be getting in trouble again. This camera stuff is turning into a BIG BLACK HOLE!!!

 

[Pugrpooh]

Well, I went back to Circuit City the other day and the 70-300 was $279. They announced further markdowns today so I went back and it was $239. I bought it! The cheapest I could find online was $324 so I thought it was a pretty good deal. They had the 520 with the 14-42 lens for $439 I think.

Now I've been looking out back in vain for birds, deer, whatever to photograph and nothing's coming by! I'll find something to take pics of.

I also bought the Oly stylus 850 sw off of ebay the other day. We're going on a cruise in March where we'll be swimming with dolphins, stingrays, snorkeling and climbing a waterfall and I wanted a camera where I could take pictures in all those places. DD6 has also been wanting her own camera, so I thought this would be a good choice for her since I don't have to worry about her dropping it or anything. And it's PINK! So she's happy about that.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Good deals! I called the 4 CC stores around me and none of them had the 70-300, just the 40-150 for around $170 (I'm not sure if that's the one in the kit, which would make it not such a good deal, or the one that's normally $399, an f/3.5- 4 something, which would be). For that price, I was going to buy the 70-300 as I'd like to have it for nature shots, but really what I think I might do is save up for a faster zoom lens as I've been shooting my son's indoor baseball practices and will do the games this summer, so I'd probably be better off in the long run with a faster zoom as the indoor sports shots have been really difficult to get. I have, however, read lots of reviews on the 70-300 and people seem to love it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm going to put my Trip Report here for safe keeping:

First Year, First Trip with DSLR

This was good, too, about the pancake lens:

Tell me about pancakes

If anyone knows of anything else we should save, please post links here.

 

[ElizK]

This was good, too, about the pancake lens:

Tell me about pancakes

If anyone knows of anything else we should save, please post links here.

Hey, that was my thread! Very good info there. (thank you!) And it was one of your posts that made me ask the question! We're keeping it in the (Oly) family, eh?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I know.

(I thought it would be good to include here.)

Forgot to say welcome to edolyne!

And to oogieboogieman

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DH is on his way home with the flash for the Oly from Circuit City. The one he saw yesterday was $137 so I told him not to buy it. Today he went to another location and found it for $80ish. He is not in trouble. Today.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Go easy on him, jsg, he's obsessed and he can't help himself!

My DH has been good, but some of my friends are feeling the same way with me. Like I'm nuts or something. (Maybe I am!)

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Go easy on him, jsg, he's obsessed and he can't help himself!

My DH has been good, but some of my friends are feeling the same way with me. Like I'm nuts or something. (Maybe I am!)

Obsessed and can't help himself? Is THAT what he told you?

I don't mind that he bought the flash for the Oly. I am still irked that we bought so much crap for the Sony and now he doesn't even plan to KEEP the Sony. As long as we can get what we paid back out of it I won't be that upset. This camera stuff does get out of hand very rapidly, though!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Obsessed and can't help himself? Is THAT what he told you?

No, it's just what I KNOW!

Honestly, he's probably better off just sticking with one system, it's confusing enough with just one brand, let alone two and/or two types of cameras within one brand. It's hard when you first get into this, you're not really sure what you're doing. It takes a while to get your head on straight, then you might have to change things around a bit, etc. Right, guys?

Let me know if you're thinking of selling the 410.

(How was that obm?? )

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

If he sells the 410 he will need the money to pay his divorce lawyer.

 

[Pugrpooh]

I posted this picture over on the picture of the day thread, but I thought I would put down here my first impressions of the 70-300 lens. It's BIG! I kept reading reviews of how small and light it is, but I guess if you haven't had DSLR experience before (I had my Sony H5 with a pretty good zoom) then it's pretty big when you compare it with the ultrazooms.

I thought I had pretty steady hands until I held this one. Especially when it's at 300, the subject you're trying to focus on is really shaky. Definitely need something to rest it on. I guess this is why some people say it takes getting used to.

Now I'm back to looking for a camera bag because I know this won't fit into either of mine along with the other things I have.

 

[oogieboogieman]

I posted this picture over on the picture of the day thread, but I thought I would put down here my first impressions of the 70-300 lens. It's BIG! I kept reading reviews of how small and light it is, but I guess if you haven't had DSLR experience before (I had my Sony H5 with a pretty good zoom) then it's pretty big when you compare it with the ultrazooms.

I thought I had pretty steady hands until I held this one. Especially when it's at 300, the subject you're trying to focus on is really shaky. Definitely need something to rest it on. I guess this is why some people say it takes getting used to.

Now I'm back to looking for a camera bag because I know this won't fit into either of mine along with the other things I have.

The lens does take time to get used to. The only thing that I dislike about the lens is it needs a focus limiter. It will zoom all the way from one end to the other sometimes. On the www.wrotniak.com they have som helpful tips with this lens.

FWIW, I am planning to keep the 410. My DS will get to use it. Keeping it in the family.

Be sure to let me know if you find a great price on a nice camera bag.

 

[JoeDif]

Does anyone have experience with the Oly OM series lens. I'm looking into the 50mm f/1.4 or 1.8 lens. I know I'll need a 4/3 adapter and they will only focus manually.

 

[oogieboogieman]

Does anyone have experience with the Oly OM series lens. I'm looking into the 50mm f/1.4 or 1.8 lens. I know I'll need a 4/3 adapter and they will only focus manually.

Check out the www.wrotniak.com website. There's articles that were done using alot of different OM lenses on the 4/3rds cameras.

 

[Pugrpooh]

The lens does take time to get used to. The only thing that I dislike about the lens is it needs a focus limiter. It will zoom all the way from one end to the other sometimes. On the www.wrotniak.com they have som helpful tips with this lens.

Thanks for the link! I just read his article and saw how much sharper his pics were at f 8.0 rather than 5.6. I just checked my moon shots and they were taken at 5.6. I'll have to look outside and see if the clouds have moved in - if not, I'll try it again at f 8.0 if the moon's up.

 

[oogieboogieman]

Does anyone have experience with the Oly OM series lens. I'm looking into the 50mm f/1.4 or 1.8 lens. I know I'll need a 4/3 adapter and they will only focus manually.

Last year when I got my 410 I started looking at additional lenses. I read how you could purchase an adapter to use the old OM lenses and I was/am very interested. I was looking for a cheaper alternative on some good glass. Besides having to manually focus and adjusting the aperture I can't see too many other issues. Well there was one I didn't see and that was for me it's difficult to get a good focus manually. The eyes aren't what they used to be!!! I barely passed my DOT eyesight test this past week for work. I don't need glasses yet.

I wonder if you can manually focus in "liveview" mode on the Oly's? I would like a faster prime lens and the 50mm 1.8 has some good results.

Keep us posted if you decide to go the route of the OM lenses.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Nice shot, Pug!

I don't know anything about OM lenses, but am interested to hear experiences of those who have them.

 

[oogieboogieman]

Does anyone have experience with the Oly OM series lens. I'm looking into the 50mm f/1.4 or 1.8 lens. I know I'll need a 4/3 adapter and they will only focus manually.

Okay, took me a while to find. Try this one for OM to 4/3rd's www.biofos.com/cornucop/omz_e1.html