Olympus micro 4/3rds... (1 Viewer)

Not buying the zoom so I don't need an EVF!

iveljay said:

Not buying the zoom so I don't need an EVF!

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The trouble is that the optical viewfinder ruins the sleek lines of a very smart-looking camera and the LCD screen may be difficult to use in bright light for instance.

If Olympus (the masters of miniaturising full-frame cameras) could incorporate an EVF into the camera body as it stands then it would suit everyone. I used to have an Olympus RC compact camera 30+ years ago, which actually incorporated a coupled-rangefinder viewfinder into the body (left hand side as you look from the back) - if they could make a small EVF and place it there, perhaps by making the LCD a touch smaller, etc., then they'd have a camera that would be genuinely useful as well as a 'looker'

I think the concept behind micro-4/3 is an upgrade camera for those who have only shot with a P&S in the past and can't deal with a bulky, rather ugly dSLR. For those folks, using the LCD comes naturally. And now that I have a camera with LiveView, I find myself using the LCD more too when shooting from a tripod to compose and check white balance. Remember the LCD will show 100% while the viewfinder on most dSLRs now are 90-95% that gets really dim at small lens apertures. It really just boils down to breaking with old habits and adjusting to the new technology.

cheers,
Rick

I think that many people who own a DSLR want a smaller camera that maintains the image quality which compact digital cameras just haven't delivered with the very small sensors + large pixel count. These people will provide a significant number of potential customers for the EP1.

The mini-EVF will be the new technology and will hopefully allow stop-down lenses (very old technology!) to be used at the same brightness as open aperture - you'll have the choice of 'bright' or 'actual' or something like that.

As has been mentioned before, the current LCD screens are not good in bright sunlight and they're not very useable for people with eyesight problems + using a camera at arm's length is not the best way to get the sharpest images, even with image stabilisation.

Adey Baker said:

Ah, I see. They sell loads of these because people will want to be seen with one and then they'll sell them the one that they really want with an EVF later! Promote that marketing man

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the target market are those using compacts. Now come on how many people do you see using the viewfinder with a compact? if the viewfinder is as good as Canon's in a compact then forget it.

Now what I want is a Compact without exchangeable lenses with a decent sensor and a decent zoom. I'd settle for the sensor from a Canon xxxd or a Nikon d60 with a lens range of 18-55 (28-85 equiv). That'll do me nicely.

So if Canon or Nikon want to stick one in a compact count me in. I suspect tho that it may be panasonic who do it first. Or maybe Sigma will learn how to make a compact! Although the price of a DP1 is becoming temping.

Have compacts really improved? We have bells and whistles, better screens but I've seen nothing that makes me go wow compared to my Canon A620.

what does surprise me about the EP1 is it screens are not as good as those on many panasonics.

Adey Baker said:

As has been mentioned before, the current LCD screens are not good in bright sunlight and they're not very useable for people with eyesight problems + using a camera at arm's length is not the best way to get the sharpest images, even with image stabilisation.

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My wife wanted a camera with a turn and twist screen to replace an old Canon A95 in part for that reason. In the end, she settled for the Canon G9 and has not complained since, even though that one does not have a flip screen. We live in the eastern caribbean, which means that the sun is quite strong.

Both she and I are wearing multifocus glasses, which takes care of most of the eyesight problem (except in strong rain where most of the cameras would not be suitable anyway).

Niels

njlarsen said:

...In the end, she settled for the Canon G9 and has not complained since, even though that one does not have a flip screen. We live in the eastern caribbean, which means that the sun is quite strong...

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Canon ought to have put the same screen on the 40D, as in live-view mode it's not very good in bright light - certainly, trying to compose an image carefully is difficult, though you can make out the main outlines of the subject and make sure they're near the middle of the screen, I suppose!

Interestingly, in this week's 'Amateur Photographer' magazine there's an 'exclusive interview' with Akira Watanabe of Olympus who explained that '...this first model does not have a viewfinder as the company wanted to concentrate on its design first...' I'm not sure whether he means concentrate on the design of the camera or the viewfinder, but what he doesn't say is 'we didn't put a viewfinder on it because we don't think it needs one.'

In a wave of nostalgia got my original Olympus PEN out of 1965. Guestimate focussing, no hot shoe, small viewfinder, indirect metering, BUT f1.9 lens and still working, (and they sold in thousands)
Will my new one be around and still useable in 44 years? - somehow I think not.