e620 shutter noise (1 Viewer)

Hi

I'm about to buy a new camera and have a question so I hope someone can help. I've currently got an FZ30 (and a Raynox 250 macro) and have been happy with it. The birds I tend to photograph are usually whatever I see while I'm out walking rather than from a hide, so portability is a main requirement. Also a flip/swivel screen and macro capability as bugs and flowers are my main focus.

I had decided on e620 with the olympus 70-300mm lens as this seems to tick all the boxes for me and yesterday I got to hold an e520 with the same zoom lens thanks to a kind woman I met whilst out. It felt good in my hands, and the reviews from people who use theirs for similar things as I do seem very favourable.

However, when we'd parted company I realised I'd not asked her about the shutter noise. Whilst in the hide, it sounded really loud, whereas my FZ30 is really quiet. After doing a bit of research it seems that because of the way they're built, bridge cameras will be quiet and DSLRs will have an audible shutter clunk.

Does anyone know if the e620 is quieter than the e520? And has anyone with an e620 had problems with the shutter noise scaring off birds? I guess most of the time I'm looking at smaller birds like reed buntings, finches and stonechats etc and obviously I try and get as close as possible. Do they react to the noise? Or did it just sound so loud because I was sitting next to her and I'm not used to the shutter noise and so shouldn't worry about it?

Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions.

Hi Penfold. I haven't used the E-520 or E-620 but I own an E-510 and E-30. They are not the quietest of DSLRs but they will all be a lot louder than bridge cameras due to the noise of the mirror moving out of the way when a shot is taken. In the future, I think Olympus will be moving entirely to mirrorless cameras, which should be a lot quieter.

I haven't noticed a problem with the shutter noise scaring birds but I am aware that it can be very annoying to other non-photographer occupants of a hide. I think I would become extremely irritated by the barrage of shutter noise every time a bird did something exciting!

Apart from the noise the E-620 and 70-300 lens combination should do what you want very well. Bear in mind, though, that there is no scope to move to a longer lens if you wish to do so in the future.

The alternative is to take a look at the micro-four thirds cameras from Olympus and others. They don't have mirrors, so should be quieter, but I would want the optional electronic viewfinder as I don't like working entirely from the rear lcd. The image quality from these is very good now and there is more development in lenses taking place than for the regular 4/3 cameras.

I will be interested to hear how other Olympus users reply to your questions.

Ron

Hi No Spring Chicken

Thanks for your reply. I did investigate some m4/3 cameras when looking originally. Some I discounted because they didn't seem to have a 'proper' grip. I'm not sure what it's called but one that you can wrap your fingers round! I don't have big hands but I want something I can grab on to. Some because of the price of the body or they didn't have a flip screen. And as you say - I like using the EVF unless it's a tricky low/round the corner bug shot. So really only the G1 and G2 would work for me in this range. But I mainly discounted them because the equivalent 75-300mm lens costs a good bit more than the 4/3 one and really puts it outside my budget.

But I hadn't considered the noise until now. It's a minefield!

I did wonder how birders cope with people taking photos in hides. But as I say, I'm not in them very often. And no-one said anything when the person with the e520 was taking lots. I see now that there are some like the newer Nikons that are supposed to be quieter. But I really wanted the extra reach (140mm-600m) the 4/3 conversion gives you (apologies if some of the terminology isn't quite right here!).

Maybe I just need to wait a bit and see what the m4/3 range brings and investigate further. It looks as though March/April is a good time for lots of new releases. Or maybe stick with a bridge and just get a better one. But I was switching to a DSLR because of the better image quality and quicker focussing. The two things that are feeling like they need improving upon with my trusty FZ30!

penfold33 said:

Hi No Spring Chicken

Thanks for your reply. I did investigate some m4/3 cameras when looking originally. Some I discounted because they didn't seem to have a 'proper' grip. I'm not sure what it's called but one that you can wrap your fingers round! I don't have big hands but I want something I can grab on to. Some because of the price of the body or they didn't have a flip screen. And as you say - I like using the EVF unless it's a tricky low/round the corner bug shot. So really only the G1 and G2 would work for me in this range. But I mainly discounted them because the equivalent 75-300mm lens costs a good bit more than the 4/3 one and really puts it outside my budget.

But I hadn't considered the noise until now. It's a minefield!

I did wonder how birders cope with people taking photos in hides. But as I say, I'm not in them very often. And no-one said anything when the person with the e520 was taking lots. I see now that there are some like the newer Nikons that are supposed to be quieter. But I really wanted the extra reach (140mm-600m) the 4/3 conversion gives you (apologies if some of the terminology isn't quite right here!).

Maybe I just need to wait a bit and see what the m4/3 range brings and investigate further. It looks as though March/April is a good time for lots of new releases. Or maybe stick with a bridge and just get a better one. But I was switching to a DSLR because of the better image quality and quicker focussing. The two things that are feeling like they need improving upon with my trusty FZ30!

Click to expand...

I dont understand the bit about the cost of the lens. I just bought a m4/3 100-300 mm lens from Panasonic for £458.46 from Amazon.co.uk. I have chosen the GH2 even though that is an expensive body, because it looked to me like the difference of that body to the rest did make a difference for bird shooting.

Niels

Hi Niels

Sorry - I meant compared to the Olympus m4/3 75-100mm which is currently retailing at £650. The 4/3 70-300mm is about £280 at the moment.

I did look at the panasonic, but the olympus lenses appear to get much better reviews for macro (I mean close-up work rather than true macro) - closer focussing distance, better background blurring etc. And the Panasonic is still £170 more expensive.

And I know I'm chasing the grail here - a tiny, light weight package that can do it all (who isn't!), but as the G2 is only a little bit lighter and smaller than the e620 and a similar price, it was the e620 & 70-300mm lens combination that (for me) seemed to give me a shot at both distance and close ups in one lens at a price I could afford.

Cheers

Jane

Hi Niels

I've just been having a look on Flikr and the GH1 & 100-300mm looks like a great combination for wildlife and birds. Though the G2 and lens would still be a bit over my budget (I was hoping to keep it under £750 or so).

I've just been having a look at your gallery (great photos) and saw your Pink Tipped Satyr. Were your recent shots taken with the GH1 and panasonic lens? How do you find the panasonic lens for smaller things like butterflies/dragonflies etc?

I've also been following with interest the post started by Questionable Carrot on the fact that the m4/3 system seems to be the one that manufacturers are concentrating on. Whilst I can't see me needing anything bigger than a 300mm lens, it's something else to consider.

Thanks

Jane

penfold33 said:

I did investigate some m4/3 cameras when looking originally. Some I discounted because they didn't seem to have a 'proper' grip. I'm not sure what it's called but one that you can wrap your fingers round! I don't have big hands but I want something I can grab on to.

Click to expand...

They are a bit small, aren't they? Can you get a battery grip for an E-Px body?

Some because of the price of the body or they didn't have a flip screen. And as you say - I like using the EVF unless it's a tricky low/round the corner bug shot. So really only the G1 and G2 would work for me in this range. But I mainly discounted them because the equivalent 75-300mm lens costs a good bit more than the 4/3 one and really puts it outside my budget.

Click to expand...

The VF-2 EVF can flip up. Actually, a point about EVFs that I'd forgotten about is battery consumption. In my Canon S3 days, I was forever turning it off to save the batteries. With the E-520 I found I could get 1300 shots out of a charge, and leave it on all day. That's with a manual focus lens, and no flash shots.

But I hadn't considered the noise until now.

Click to expand...

A great advantage of compacts is their quietness. It's not just the lack of the mirror, it's also the much smaller shutter. I'd be interested to hear a Micro 4/3 shutter.

penfold33 said:

Hi Niels

I've just been having a look on Flikr and the GH1 & 100-300mm looks like a great combination for wildlife and birds. Though the G2 and lens would still be a bit over my budget (I was hoping to keep it under £750 or so).

I've just been having a look at your gallery (great photos) and saw your Pink Tipped Satyr. Were your recent shots taken with the GH1 and panasonic lens? How do you find the panasonic lens for smaller things like butterflies/dragonflies etc?

I've also been following with interest the post started by Questionable Carrot on the fact that the m4/3 system seems to be the one that manufacturers are concentrating on. Whilst I can't see me needing anything bigger than a 300mm lens, it's something else to consider.

Thanks

Jane

Click to expand...

Jane, I have ordered but not received my new gear yet. Therefore most recent shots including the pink tipped satyr was shot with my Pana FZ18 superzoom. This is able to produce great images in good light (base iso = 100), but from 400 iso and up it is of questionable quality. As most days in my recent trip to Costa Rica suffered from low light (inside the rainforest, light is often low even when there is sun above, and much worse if it is cloudy), I got frustrated and is therefore upgrading. But weight is important to me, so the micro4/3 cameras was the natural choice.

This review linked to by ammadoux in this thread shows a photo of a memory card that shows that the 100-300 is able to focus on an area covering about 2.5-3 inches across.

Niels

Hi Niels

It does look like the Panny and m4/3 could be an alternative for me if the price drops just a little (or I save up more!). Thanks for that.

And thanks for your comments pshute - I'll investigate!

pshute said:

The VF-2 EVF can flip up. Actually, a point about EVFs that I'd forgotten about is battery consumption. In my Canon S3 days, I was forever turning it off to save the batteries. With the E-520 I found I could get 1300 shots out of a charge, and leave it on all day. That's with a manual focus lens, and no flash shots.

Click to expand...

Thinking more about this, part of the reason for the better battery life I get with the SLR is better power management. It goes to sleep after a while, and I just have to half press the shutter and it's back on in a second or so in the same state as it was.

The Canon S3 could be configured to sleep too, but it retracted the lens when it did. I found it was better to just turn it off.

Other than that, SLRs have the advantage that you can still watch birds through them while they're off. At least you can with a manual focus lens, some of the fully electronic ones wouldn't let you focus without power. A Micro 4/3 camera with EVF will have to be on all the time if you're waiting for a bird to appear.

I have the E620..yes it does have a mirror slapping noise..just like all other Olympus bodies..(have used the 510/e3/e5)..It hasn't really bothered the birds so much as the user. The chats do fly off at the slightest noise. Mirror-flap noise wise it seems louder than the E510 (do not have the 520) probably because the bulk of the E-620 being so small that damping the noise would probably increase he bulk. The E3/E5 is less noisy.(but huge in size in comparison)
The earlier(earliest) E1 /e300 are known for their whisper-soft-angel-knicker sounds.
where the Micro-fourthirds are concerned..i've used the E-P1 to get some bird shots with the 40-150 fourthird lens attached - quite impressive - but the disadvantage with it is the shutter lag and you might miss the bird altogether unless it is stationary..and the smaller the bird the more fidgety they are. For bugs and macros(close-ups) the Micro-fourthirds is very handy and easy to use.
As an aside..the the E620 is very versatile if you have some of the newer lenses by OLY..eg the 14-54 Mk2 (alternate 12-60SWD..costly) ..the 14-54 mk2 is optimised for both phase-detect as well as contrast detect focussing which the E-620 is capable of using ..for macro focusing it has a useful digital zoom in the display-also available with the pens (the Electronic viewfinder VF-2 usable for the E-P2/E-PL1/E-PL2 also gives you this magnified view for detail focusing )
For long reach the 70-300mm is usable for good daylight birding. the best but costlier option for tele use would be the 50-200 SWD...There's of course no end to costs..I've limited myself to the 50-200 and i find it more than ample..with the EC14 (1.4x converter..things can go a bit further upto 280mm ..which is helpful).

Regards.