Olympus 4/3 system and lenses - the future...?

[theMusicMan]

Hey All

Here's one to ponder.

OK, as I now find myself becoming more and more addicted to Digital SLR's - though I am very grateful to my lovely wife for purchasing the e-400 for a birthday present for me as my very first DSLR, I am wondering if I should consider upgrading to the fantastic e-510 - or if I should move to another camera make altogether?

The serious limitation for me at the moment is the severely limited number of lenses available for the e-series Olympus cameras presently. The only ones I see are by Zuiko/Olympus themselves, and though they are good, these are ridiculously expensive.

Do you, as experienced togs, think that third party lens manufacturers will soon start making their lenses available for the Olympus e-series DSLR's? I see a fantastic range of lenses by tamron, sigma et al for Canon and Nikon etc, but none at all for the Olympus range. I appreciate that Olympus are late to the DSLR market having been very good at and stuck to the Compact SLR niche for many years, but now that they have released an excellent DSLR in the e-510, and given I have existing Olympus lenses, what do you think I should consider?

Do you consider that any third party lens manufacturers will soon start to manufacture and release lenses for the e-series Olympus range...? If so, how long?

Thoughts appreciated.... thanks.

 

[Slapo]

I'm pretty sure Sigma and Leica make some lenses for the 4/3 system.

Moreover, there's something brewing:
http://www.4-3system.com/modules/news/index.php?storytopic=3

and this could be useful too:
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/lens.html

 

[Messiah Khan]

I have no doubt Olympus make great cameras (Infact I know they do), but I feel if I was to buy a camera again I would go with Nikon(as I did) or Canon. My dad uses a Oly E400(I think) and he has a hard time trying to find cheaper lens and accessories. Nikon and Canon have a huge range of accessories, and third party companies make even more for them. This in turn also drives down the second hand prices for these two systems.

So if it was me in your position, I would most likely jump ship before investing a lot of money in glass etc. The thought of moving to Canon has even crossed my mind before, but I feel Nikon has a sufficiently diverse and well supported system, that my skill level can't justify going across.

 

[silkstone]

Wide-angle has always been the Achilles heel of the 4/3 system, with the Zuiko lenses being very expensive. The good news is that the Oly sensor cleaning system seems to work much better than some others.

There's a huge choice of lenses and accessories for Canon and Nikon, but that doesn't necessarily matter if you can get the ones for the Oly that you actually need.

The biggest concern is whether 4/3 will stay the course, and that's impossible to say right now. Some people are even predicting the demise of APS-C if full-frame sensors become cheap enough.

 

[apodo]

My problem with the four-thirds system is the greater depth of field that you get from having a smaller sensor, though for others that may be an advantage of it.

But I agree with Silkstone, not being able to buy loads of accessories and lenses you do not want is not something to worry about so long as you are able to get those you do want.

Michael.

 

[chuckles]

I once bought into the Olympus 35mm system after leaving Nikon (true... and it was a while ago). How did they treat their user base? After the OM4 they stopped production and development of the OM system. Would I return?

OM stuff is still working (not that I have any) and good quality but it doesn't pay to destroy a loyal base of followers. Market forces eh?