London Camera Exchange (1 Viewer)

I bought a second-hand Olympus E-620 from LCE. A couple of weeks later the screen failed. I returned it to LCE and they offered a refund or to wait while Olympus had a look at it. I opted for the latter. Sadly, it was not an economic repair. So, now I have my refund - including postage; disappointed? Yes and no. Obviously, I would like to still have the camera but LCE could not have been more helpful. Also, I nearly paid more on Ebay for a camera with no warranty. Might have been in the same place without support.

Now, do I stick with 4/3rds or flog the E-400 and buy a Canon with a bigger sensor?

Andy

No easy answers here.

Screen failure seems to be very rare on all makes. I have had 2 E-620 pretty much since they came out with no problem.

The E-400 is not the most obvious modern birding camera as it has no IS, however, that never got in the way of things a few years ago.

A lot depends on what lenses you already have and your budget, as I can see you will possibly get a number of genuinely well meaning suggestions from users of other makes that could end up being a bit expensive if you need to restock with lenses.

For wildlife I use a number of 4/3 and m4/3 bodies and lenses because their use to me is intuitive and therefore fast to use (and I already have them). I do use APSC sensor cameras in Fuji and Nikon but not really for wildlife. My choice - plenty would disagree.

To be honest most of the used E-620s for sale currently seem to be priced far far higher than is reasonable considering that they are older technology and you could buy a brand new starter Nikon or Canon slr for less.

"To be honest most of the used E-620s for sale currently seem to be priced far far higher than is reasonable considering that they are older technology and you could buy a brand new starter Nikon or Canon slr for less."

Problem is that I like the 4/3rds; with my 600mm equivalent zoom on it is a, relatively, small easy to carry package. That was why I went that route. However, at the time I thought Olympus would further develop the format; now it feels like a dead end - just like Olympus ! That said, in decent light (not Scotland in January) my photography is limited by my ability - not the equipment.

Maybe I would be better paying for photography classes rather than hankering after technology.

Unfortunately I think that there are a fair number of people like you, hence the high prices. One possible alternative is to look out for an E-520/510 - slightly older technology than the E-620, but with bigger battery, better grip and image stabilisation. Otherwise you sometimes have folks selling E-620s on Amazon, though dealer prices are a bit silly. For instance there is a used E-520 on Wex for £110, however, it sounds badly used and probably best avoided. Don't buy an E-500 by mistake.

The trouble with some classes is that everyone is using more modern kit leaving you feeling even more frustrated.