New Olympus models

tdp

tdp

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Tom Dauben
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Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade my camera within the next year, i've had my eye on the market for a while and have seen a couple of things i like.

The reason for the upgrade is that the Olympus E500 i have now is a great camera, but the ISO range is somewhat limited if i want large prints at high ISO values. I've been looking at things like the D300 and a secondhand 5D mk1, or a 40D. With the launch of the E620 and the E30 into the Olympus range with claims of reduced noise levels i'm now considering these too...

Has anyone had a chance to play with either the E620 or the E30 to see just how good the noise levels are? Ive got some Olly lenses accessories so if they're acceptable then i'm tempted not to cause myself problems by switching brand. Of course if there is a significant difference then i may look at the others i've mentioned. I'd be interested to hear what others think.

Cheers,
Tom.
 
I can tell you that ISO 800 on my E-420 is as good as ISO 320 was on my E-500 and by all accounts the latest E-30 is even better and I suppose that will go for the E-620 (which I'm very interested in) which has the same sensor as the E-30.
 
Thanks Paul, it seems a shame to change system entirely when i've now got 3 Olly lenses... if the new cameras are a marked improvement over the E500 standard then i'm interested...

I've just noticed that the E30 is in Amateur Photographer at present so will be taking a look at that!

The problem is i'm looking at various genres of photography, motorsport, landscape, wildlife etc. and i want something that can do them all well... Ideally i'd like a camera which is a decent jump forward from the E500 which is why i was looking at a second hand 5D mk1... Still not convinced which way to go, it'll be interesting to hear what people think of the E30 and E620. I've considered the E3 but i seem to recall hearing that newer models had better noise levels, is that correct?? :thinking:
 
I've got an E-3 as an upgrade to my E510. It's pretty good for noise, not as good as the APS-C cameras, but to my mind, the quality of the glass makes up for it.

If the E620 had been out when I got mine I may have gone for that. The E30 looks pretty cool too. There are a few comparisons between the E30 and the E3 kicking around. The general consensus seems to be that the E3 has better noise performance. I also find the weatherproofing pretty good.

If you've invested in lenses I would go for one of these models, they're both pretty well specced. You'll really appreciate the image stabilisation too over your E500.

Have a look over at www.dpreview.com, there are plenty of E30 samples over there.

It looks to me like the E620 could deliver what 4thirds promised, small cameras, packed with features.
 
Just reading the news on the E620 in AP... it sounds interesting, but presumably i'll never get as good image quality with a 4/3 camera as i could with a system that could one day grow to have a full frame camera...(ie. buy a 40D and then maybe a 1Dmkiii when i can afford it)?
 
If you could not get image quality as good as other systems then I doubt there would be any professional photographers using 4/3 format. It all depends on what it is you want to photograph. The 4/3 sensor does produce more noise than larger sensors so low light is more difficult to get right but not impossible. The auto modes, P/A/S on my E3 are not as auto as they should be and almost always underexpose in low light. Using manual mode (or exposure compensation if speed is an essence) equals more time in taking the pic (especially as I am useless at choosing the right starting settings :)) but means I don't have to do heaps of PP increasing the levels and amplifying any noise present.
In good light however the image quality is certainly not worse than other formats.
Take a peek at http://www.flickr.com/cameras/olympus/e3/ for examples of image quality possible.
 
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