Anybody use the E-510? (1 Viewer)

NoSpringChicken · Jan 19, 2008

I have recently become interested in the Olympus E-510 camera. It gets some extremely good reviews, including a DP Review 'Highly Recommended' and is slightly smaller and lighter than most of its competitors. The Olympus cameras I have owned in the past have been very good.

The prices seem to be coming down at the moment and, with the kit 14-42 lens and the new ED 70-300 zoom, it is available for around £700 in the UK, which is just about in my price range.

I wondered if anyone here has used the camera and has any opinions on it, including whether the 70-300 zoom is suitable as a low cost birding lens. Does it really equate to a 600mm on a 35mm camera?

Any input and especially sample photos would be most welcome.

Ron

John Cantelo · Jan 19, 2008

Please someone who knows more than me about cameras (not hard) follow up in this as I'm somewhat tempted by the E-510 myself! Better still, the price in the UK has apparently just fallen. Everything I've read confirms that the 300mm lens on the 510 equates to a 600 on a 35mm camera so I'm sure it must be so. The tiny compromise in terms of the quality of the image & relative lack of choice of lenses would seem to be more than made up for by the more portable set up. My only real caveat is whether I should wait for the next upgrade. Manufacturers always seem to listen to criticism and tackle the obvious complaints with the first upgrade particularly with entirely new models like this one. For me the lack of a hinged rear screen (one thing I've found very useful, albeit only occasionally, on my Panasonic FZ30) is one such change I'd like to see. It seems such an obvious upgrade when they replace it with a E-510 MkII in a few months time that I'm tempted to hang on! Then again I could hang on for ever as each new camera is a tad better than the last one,
John

NoSpringChicken · Jan 21, 2008

I guess the lack of response answers my questions. Olympus cameras are not used by bird photographers. That's a shame.

Ron

Tat2dGuy · Jan 21, 2008

NoSpringChicken said:
I guess the lack of response answers my questions. Olympus cameras are not used by bird photographers. That's a shame.

Ron

Well, I do not own the E510, I own an e500 and consider that a great camera. I have had my hands on the e510 a few times and I would surely upgrade to it, however I'm saving up to get the e3 instead.

The 70-300 zoom lens is a very sharp nice lens even at full zoom. I definetly say its worth the cost as a mid range zoom lens.

iveljay · Jan 21, 2008

E-1 & 500 plus assorted lenses including the manual 500 mm cat and 2x converter. Good test of a tripod!!!!!
Trouble is that I usually buy when things are about to be replaced. So still a little way to go before the price is right for me.
The speed at which this happens in digital means that that does not take very long unlike the days of film when OM's lasted for ever.

paulthomas · Jan 21, 2008

NoSpringChicken said:
I guess the lack of response answers my questions. Olympus cameras are not used by bird photographers.

I use Olympus :t: I use an E-510 (also have an E-500 as a back-up body) with the 300/f2.8 and a teleconverter (I have both the EC-14 and EC-20). As a walk around lens I use the 50-200 with the EC-14, which also makes a good combination for photographing dragonflies and butterflies.

To answer your specific question about the 70-300, yes it gives you the same angle of view as 600mm lens on 35mm camera or about the same as a 400mm lens on an APS-C sized camera (e.g., Canon 400D, Nikon D40X). Combined with the E-510 this will give you an excellent starter kit. No other system can currently offer that much image-stabilised reach at that price. And the quality is good too. The build quality of the E-510 is excellent. I've not handled the 70-300 but feedback from owners on other forums is very positive. Last piece of advice: please bear in mind that most birds are very small and you'll need to be within 10-12 feet of a sparrow-sized bird to get it a decent size in the frame. Hope this helps.

NoSpringChicken · Jan 22, 2008

Thanks for the replies, especially to Paul for explaining how the ED 30-70 compares to other lenses. It sounds as if Olympus cameras are at least on a par with the other more popular brands.

I won't be in a position to buy one for a couple of months so that gives me plenty of time to do a lot more research and, hopefully, prices might have dropped even further by then.

Ron

StrikingSlug · Jan 31, 2008

NoSpringChicken said:
Thanks for the replies, especially to Paul for explaining how the ED 30-70 compares to other lenses. It sounds as if Olympus cameras are at least on a par with the other more popular brands.

I won't be in a position to buy one for a couple of months so that gives me plenty of time to do a lot more research and, hopefully, prices might have dropped even further by then.

Ron

Ron,
My wife nearly bought one of the kits in America on holiday last summer, but unfortunately bottled out at the last moment (it was the end of the holiday when we saw it, otherwise it was a sure bet). I have been looking closely at it too, and reckon that possibly the best combination is a body and the 18-180 lens (36-360mm equivalent) as a single package. You get a better telephoto performance than the kit, but only have to carry one lens. Rather annoyingly you can pick this up on Amazon.com for around $900 which is a lot cheaper than you can get it over here. If I did get one I would then add the 2X converter to get a really capable long-distance lens. The camera gets very good reviews, with the fact that it has internal Image Stabilsation being a major plus for me. Canon and Nikon both require lenses with separate IS, which makes them more expensive if you want that feature.

It is also worth noting that the Olympus Zuiko lenses are specifically designed for digital cameras, something that is not the case for many other brands.

I've just got to keep saving the pennies....|>|

Richard

NoSpringChicken · Jan 31, 2008

Richard,
Thanks for your post. I keep looking at the specs and am still considering buying one some time. I hadn't considered the 18-180 lens, so I will have a look at it on the Olympus site. Am I right in thinking that the teleconverters only allow manual focusing or have I read that incorrectly?

I had also considered the Sigma 135-400 lens as a possibility as they do this with a four thirds mount and it should be a useful birding lens on the Olympus. According to the Sigma site, on the four thirds cameras this is the same as their 800mm lens on a 35mm camera. I am still having trouble getting my head round how this compares to the same lens on a Canon 400D, for example. The main problem seems to be that all these lenses have small maximum apertures and might give slow shutter speeds.

My nephew has conveniently just ordered the E-410 twin lens kit from Amazon for about £360 so I should be able to get my hands on that to see how I get on with the small viewfinder etc.

Ron

StrikingSlug · Jan 31, 2008

Ron,
We also had a look at the E-410, which was nice but is smaller than the 510 (it is more like an OM-10 if you can remember that far back!).

I was not aware that the Olympus TC affected auto-focus, but I may be wrong. The wording on Amazon certainly doesn't mention it.

I like the idea of the 18-180 because I take photos of things other than birds (decent sunsets etc) and this would seem to give great versatility without having to change the lens regularly, thus helping with dust reduction. For the same reason I am less bothered by the slow shutter speeds, as taking shots of flowing water often work best at exposures greater than 0.5secs. I know I will need a tripod, but I often use one even on my current camera (a brilliant little Canon A710IS).

My biggest problem is telling the wife that I want the same camera that she does! And no, I don't think sharing would be an option ....

Richard

NoSpringChicken · Jan 31, 2008

StrikingSlug said:
I was not aware that the Olympus TC affected auto-focus, but I may be wrong. The wording on Amazon certainly doesn't mention it.

This is taken from the owners manual for the standard 14-42 lens:
'Can be used with the optional EC-14 teleconverter in manual focusing (MF) mode.'

I hope I am misinterpreting what it means.

Ron

Derry · Jan 31, 2008

might want to check out www.fourthirdsphoto.com go to the forum button,,

there have been several discussions there on the 70-300 and they all seem to love the lens,, some really good photos posted with it,,

certainly would be a good combination on the 510 for size and weight,,

TC will work fine on the 70-300,,

as for the 2X factor on Oly lens, take a 200mm lens on an Oly and it will be a four power lens but the FOV you receive will be equivlant to a 35mm 400mm lens that would be 8X power,, hope that helps,,

Derry

NoSpringChicken · Jan 31, 2008

Derry said:
might want to check out www.fourthirdsphoto.com go to the forum button,,

there have been several discussions there on the 70-300 and they all seem to love the lens,, some really good photos posted with it,,

certainly would be a good combination on the 510 for size and weight,,

TC will work fine on the 70-300,,

Thanks for the link. I hadn't found that site. Plenty to read on there.

Ron

Derry · Jan 31, 2008

the best 4/3 site I have run across so far,,

Derry

P H · Jan 31, 2008

I owned the E-410 twin ED lens kit, and believe me for kit lenses they kick ass and perform better than other kit lenses. I reluctantly sold to fund a scope. The noise issues have been dealt with and picture quality is as good as any other. The main differance between the E410 and E510 mainly the IS and the grip and a few tweeks in the menus. Also Olympus have the best dust reduction and very effective in camera IS.

http://fourthirds-user.com/

http://e-group.uk.net/

PH

ssemone · Feb 1, 2008

I'm using the E-510 and love it so far. I just got it a week ago and with the latest firmware that just came out image stabilization works even on old (non-ZD lenses). Today was my first day out with it using a Sigma 600mm reflex lenses. Indeed the lenses suffer from a lack of contrast, doughnut bokeh, and a very narrow DOF, but overall for $150 (used on ebay) and $30 for an adapter I am pretty happy. With the 2x crop factor of the 4/3 lens this equates to 1200mm. Yikes!

Here are some examples (from a Bogen monopod). These have had a bit of PP work, but nothing over the top (just what I could do in iPhoto). These are from about 20 or 30 feet away and are not cropped. One is a Carolina Wren and the other a Brown Thrasher.

Cheers,

Sean

Guidenet · Mar 1, 2008

One thing. A 300mm lens on a 4/3 mount is still a 300mm lens. It's not the equivalent of a 600mm lens. Same goes with a Nikon D300 and the APS sensor. A 300mm lens does not become a 450mm lens.

What happens is that a 300mm lens on a Olympus is the exact same magnification as a 300mm lens on a 35mm. The viewing agle is reduced to what you'd see with a 600mm lens on 35. What this means is that if you can imagine the image at the focal plane, it's the same magnification regardless of the sensor size. The little 4/3 sensor is half the size of the 35mm so it only sees half the image of the 35mm camera. You don't gain magnification with a smaller sensor. You're just cropping the same image more.

just my 2cents worth.

RAH · Mar 1, 2008

There is a very large thread on this subject:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=97134

Ron, suffice it to say that if you had a 300mm lens on a 1.5x "crop-factor" camera, and the same lens on a 2 "crop-factor" camera, the object you took a picture of would fill more of the frame on the 2-factor camera. If they both produced the same size images (i.e. they both had the same number of pixels - say 8MP), then the 1.5-factor camera's image, after you cropped it to get the object to fill the frame in the same way, would result in less pixels - lower resolution. Whether that is magnification or not is up to you, after reading that thread.

sanjaykool · Mar 28, 2008

Photos with E510 +70-300 and then added with EC 20

Here are quick testing shots I took.
with E510 +70-300

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24802938@N04/2363330219/

Then with EC -20 2 X converter added.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24802938@N04/2363325417/in/photostream/

NoSpringChicken · Apr 7, 2008

After a great deal of indecision and soul searching, I finally took the plunge and my new Olympus E-510/14-42 plus ED 70-300 lens arrived this morning.

The battery is now charging and I am starting to wade through the owners' manual. Only time will tell whether it was a good choice or not but on first inspection it appears to be a solid well made camera which doesn't weigh too much.

Fingers crossed!

Edit. My next mission is to find a good case which will accept the camera with the 70-300 and lens hood in place. Any suggestions?

Ron

Anybody use the E-510? (1 Viewer)

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