Old OM10 User (1 Viewer)

Hi there
I am new to this forum.
I have always been interested in birds and bird photography and now that I am reaching a significant birthday (60 ouch!) my wife and kids are looking to buy me something special.
I have an Om10 which I have used for many years with a three lenses
my standard olympus 50mm 1.8
a wideangle 24mm 2.8 sigma
and 70 to 210 5.6 cheapo tokino.

I now have a simple sony digital for general holiday snaps etc.
I am thinking of getting a digital SLR and have been told by Olympus that I could use my existing lenses with any E series Body with an MFI mount.

Is this a good option for me or am I kidding myself.
Would I be better starting again with a new set of lenses or even a different camara manufacturer.
I know I will really need at least a 400mm lense for bird photograpy but it seems a shame to discard my existing lenses when going digital.
If sticking with an E series boby is a reasonable option which should I be considering.
I have been looking at the E420, 430,520 and 530 but I cant really decide which features etc are necessary and which are frills.

I would be very grateful of any advice
Many Thanks
Dave

Hi Dave, I've been in a similar dilemma for the last 2-3 months. I used to have an OM1 (well still have it but don't use it now), and recently bought an E420, which I soon returned and swapped for an E510 which has IS (image stabilisation).

I was never intending to get into SLR bird photography seriously, but would like the option of dabbling, with the possibility of getting more serious later.

From what I've learned so far, Olympus cameras are as good, if not better than most of the competition (comparing like for like in terms of price), and their Zuiko lenses have an exellent reputation for image quality, it's just that as a company they are only recently getting back into the mainstream with SLRs after 'dropping out' of the running for a few years, so consequently they have some ground to make up in terms of their lens range compared to Canon and Nikon.

The new cameras have a four thirds mount, which can be made compatible with your old camera body with an adapter, but you won't be able to get automatic metering and autofocus using your old lenses. Sigma, and to a lesser extent leica (panasonic) are supporting the relatively new 4/3 mount with some of their lenses, but waiting for a fully comprehensive range could take a few years to become competetive with Canon and Nikon.

My main dilemma at the moment is the possibility of getting a good 400mm lens to work with the E-system cameras. Olympus do make some excellent quality longer lenses if your budget runs to several thousand pounds, but at the moment their affordable longer lenses seem limited to the 70-300 zoom (under £300) and the 50-200 zoom (around £750).

There is a separate thread for the 70-300 zoom here on BF, and many users are reporting good results with it in good light, though it is not a fast lens and will struggle to focus in low light. I bought it initially, then returned it after a week, as I was disappointed with the results, but now feel that i might have been too hasty and not learned to get the best out of it. DSLRs are temperamental and you need to learn how to use them more so than compacts, which sharpen and 'process' images 'in camera' before you download them to the computer, so they are more forgiving to beginners.

It seems that adding a teleconverter is an option if you need more reach, but again that's a minimum of £300 for the 1.4x. Canon already offer the excellent 100-400 zoom which is well respected, so I like you have some thinking to do. Choices...choices...

If you do go down the 70-300 Oly route, you could probably get a kit with another shorter zoom plus the longer zoom for £600 or less, but you will be limited if you want to shoot faster subjects/birds in flight etc. The Canon 100-400 route will be closer to £1500, depending on the body you get. I'm not sure about Nikon at all, but I've learned that choosing a camera and then finding a good lens to use with it is a bit 'back to front'. Better to find the lens you want then find the camera to use with it, so don't just look into camera manufacturers, but concentrate on the lenses instead. eg. Sigma offer the 50-500 zoom, which is available for most camera mounts, but it's one of very few long telephotos that will fit the 4/3 mount

Good luck with whatever you choose,

Steve

ps. do a google and type in '4/3 photo'. This website should answer lots of your questions about the 4/3 system, especially the olympus gear

Hi steve
Thanks for your thoughts.
It really is a minefield isnt it, does the image stabilisation really work.
What sort of movement does it stabilise.

Dave

Hi steve
Thanks for your thoughts.
It really is a minefield isnt it, does the image stabilisation really work.
What sort of movement does it stabilise.

Click to expand...

As far as I understand it, The IS gives you maybe a couple of extra F-stops to work with, which is certainly useful if you want to shoot birds in flight. My camera is the E510, which has 2 settings for IS, and I believe that you can set it for horizontal or vertical movement, (or both-I'm getting mixed up now, as I've read that the new E520 has an improved system with 3 settings). I basically bought it as I knew it would be an improvement compared to a camera with no IS, but I have nothing to compare it with as a beginner. You still get blurred shots if you can't get enough light, but any improvement is worth having IMHO.

If you do look at the 4/3 site, there are some users, especially in America (oly seems popular over there) using Olympus cameras for wildlife. with good results. You'll probably also find some user reviews of the benefits of IS. With Olympus cameras, every lens you use effectively has IS, whereas with most others you have to buy a lens with it built in.

Steve

Hi Steve
Thanks for that I will have a look at the 4/3 site

Dave

lancashiredave said:

Hi there
I am new to this forum.
I have always been interested in birds and bird photography and now that I am reaching a significant birthday (60 ouch!) my wife and kids are looking to buy me something special.
I have an Om10 which I have used for many years with a three lenses
my standard olympus 50mm 1.8
a wideangle 24mm 2.8 sigma
and 70 to 210 5.6 cheapo tokino.

I now have a simple sony digital for general holiday snaps etc.
I am thinking of getting a digital SLR and have been told by Olympus that I could use my existing lenses with any E series Body with an MFI mount.

Is this a good option for me or am I kidding myself.
Would I be better starting again with a new set of lenses or even a different camara manufacturer.
I know I will really need at least a 400mm lense for bird photograpy but it seems a shame to discard my existing lenses when going digital.
If sticking with an E series boby is a reasonable option which should I be considering.
I have been looking at the E420, 430,520 and 530 but I cant really decide which features etc are necessary and which are frills.

I would be very grateful of any advice
Many Thanks
Dave

Click to expand...

From another ex OM 10 user, my very first camera in the eighties. Progressed to the Nikon FA and lastly the Canon T90, all of which now live in a big silver camera case and never see the light of day (so very sad). still that's life. I opted for the Olympus E-510 which came complete with to zoom lenses for £360 I have since purchased the 70-300 which is effectively (2x crop factor) a 600mm at the top end. The set-up is still fairly new to me but my first thoughts are its an excellent set-up for the outlay. Either the E-510 or the new E-520 are well worth looking into.

Mick.

Thanks Mick
My kids have decided to look at the 510 as there are some good deals at the moment with the introduction of the 520

Many Thanks
Dave

Dave, here is a link to the 4/3 site,, tons of data to read,,

http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/

I have an E3 and love it,, been a Nikon fan for 50 years, yes I am older than you are,, last Nikon SLR was an F5,, great camera,,

as for the E series I would certainly recommend you buy one with the kit lens,, Oly has some good glass in their kits,, I had an E500 (the daughter now has) and the glass really surprised me,, very good,,

trying to hook the old Oly glass up to a new camera is not the way to go,, can lead to unhappiness real fast,, all manual focus as well as settings,, you can tell the camera what the MM is but that is it,, I have an OM 1.8 from the past and seldom use it,, do have the Oly 4/3 to OM mount which is needed for any of the old lens,,

as for the 510 or the 520, depends on the $$ available,, the 510 does tend to blow the highlights but that is manageable and with the 520 out should be a good buy,, there are always a variety of cameras and gear on the 4/3 site I posted above,, I have bought from others there and never a problem,,

if the 510 is your favorite there is one for sale on the site now,,

http://forum.fourthirdsphoto.com/showthread.php?t=38722

noticed you are international,, that could present some shipping issues,, perhaps,,

as for the IS I find it certainly helps,, would say it is in the two to three f stops depending on how steady you are,, of course now days the higher ISO is available to also assist,,

if I can assit you more, send a PM and I'll do my best to support you,,

Derry