WasOM3user
Mu-43 Veteran
I am completely new to micro 4/3 and have discovered this forum and have started to use some of the info from it already so many thanks to all the contributors.
What brought me to the forum?….well it’s a bit of long (well actually very long) story so please excuse the “war and peace” that follows:
Having been a long time 35mm SLR user (30 years) a few years ago I came to the conclusion that it was about time I changed to digital. I went to look at all the cameras around at the time and many months and miles later gave up as nothing seem to suit either my budget or quality of build and just bought myself a reasonable compact camera (big mistake) and I found myself doing less and less photography as I got frustrated with what it would and would not do…..
Last week I decided I would try again. So off to the Digital Splash show in Preston (UK) I go. Went round the stands trying Digital SLR’s (both APS/C and FF) to see what was available and what would suit me.
With no brand preference I thought I would work back to a possible body by starting with the lenses as previously I had found that a good lens with basic body gave better pictures than a highly featured body with a poor lens. Went round the various stands Nikon, Canon, Sony, what a shock…. even worse than last time I looked!!!
I have been told that something like 85% of DLSR owners never use/buy another lens other than the kit zooms. WHY??.... the current ranges are truly horrible to the touch/feel and definitely not what you would expect from a (supposedly) precision piece of equipment.
Now I also know I don’t have the largest hands in the world but holding a FF Canon left me petrified as I was in danger of dropping it as I couldn’t get the end of my fingers round the grip. The APS/C versions were better (just), The Sony’s were about the same round the grip although the bodies felt smaller and the Nikon APS/C grip size was OK but didn’t like any of the kit zoom lenses for any of them so almost back to square one. That left the option of Body only + other lenses to suit me so wandering round looking at lenses getting more and more disheartened thinking I might have to give up photography!!
Following a coffee break to reassess the situation I found myself talking to the staff on the Sigma stand and expressing the view that I could not believe that with all the advances over the past 30 years that lenses for the APS/C format were so much bigger than those I was using for film 30 years ago and to compound the problem slower as well. To their credit one of the staff thought about it for quite a bit and then agreed (turns out he’s a product manager at Sigma). He said it was more obvious to me having skipped quite a number of generations of cameras but he said that after manual exposure each generation of lenses/cameras tended to get a bit bigger i.e. Auto Exposure a bit bigger than manual, AF a bit bigger than AE, IS a bit bigger than AF etc. and working within the industry this gradual change was not really noticed but put a new kit zoom against my 50mm f1.8 or even my trusty Tamron 90mmSP f2.4 and they are noticeably larger, slower and wobble’ier(if there is such a word). He then plonked another lens in my hand that was smaller than any of them including my standard 50mm - “what this?” I asked - he just smiled at me and said “we will be making more lenses like that - just go and say “EM-5” to that man in the black polo neck shirt with his back to us and then come and talk to me again later”.
So somewhat bemused I approached said gentleman, excused myself, and explained I had been advised to say “EM-5” to him. He also smiled (at this point I am wondering what on earth I have gotten myself into) but reached down and picked something up and then placed a camera in my hands.
Suddenly my memory jumps back in time to when I was 19 and the day my father placed his treasured Leica M2/50mm f/2.8 ELMAR into my hands and said “would I like to try some photography?”
Now the camera was about the same age as me but still looked the same as when he bought it new but felt “right” and I was hooked from that day forward.
The new Olympus OM-D/E-M5/45mm f1.8 brought back the same grin across my face as that day and also the day I had saved enough to buy my own Olympus OM1n a few years later rather than his OM1 (MD) he bought for us both to use rather than risk the Leica (yes you can probably work out my age from the model changes).
In those days most SLR’s were huge and all my family do not have big hands and the Olympus felt right to us like the Leica but without breaking the bank. We were later joined by my sister also OM1n (so she could use our array of lenses we had bought by then).
You've guessed it… I’m hooked again and despite being more than I wanted to pay I immediately paid up for one as they offered the 45mm f1.8 portrait lens for free with the kit version of the camera which (given my 90mm Tamron almost lived on my later OM3) seemed the perfect option and that was before they told me there was an adaptor for all my original OM lenses.
Of course I went back to the Sigma stand and thanked them for their help with my camera quest and told them what I had bought – again just a smile and the words “I thought you might”. Given that he was less likely to sell me a lens because of his suggestion I can only commend them for being as helpful and honest as they were - however he did say there are likely to more Sigma lenses for micro 4/3 so you never know I may up with a Sigma lens one day.
Now as an existing Olympus OM1 and OM3 user I was more likely to feel at home than most with the new OM-D size/shape but a young university student witnessed my grin at the camera in my hands and tried one as well. Shortly afterwards he’s got the same grin and states it was so much nicer to use than anything he’s used before so it’s not just old OM users like me who like it!!
I received the camera midweek (they had sold out at the show) and have registered for the free lens so fingers crossed. Having now tried the camera with the kit zoom lens I think the zoom might be a slight mistake on Olympus’s part as it does not suit the basic camera – I think prime lenses are the way to go (or perhaps add the battery/holder grip as I did the MD1 for large lenses on the OM1n). Also having quickly gone through all the menus my initial thought was “HELP” as this is a whole new ballgame from the OM3.
My search for help brought me to this forum which has already helped with turning on the “Super Control Panel” so I have easy access to most menu options and also that my 90mm Tamron f2.4 Macro lens may provide a really nice fast sports telephoto lens that would have cost me a small fortune to get on any other range of cameras as well as being a good macro lens.
Now standard lens- I wonder….. 20mm f1.7 or 25mm f1.4……….
What brought me to the forum?….well it’s a bit of long (well actually very long) story so please excuse the “war and peace” that follows:
Having been a long time 35mm SLR user (30 years) a few years ago I came to the conclusion that it was about time I changed to digital. I went to look at all the cameras around at the time and many months and miles later gave up as nothing seem to suit either my budget or quality of build and just bought myself a reasonable compact camera (big mistake) and I found myself doing less and less photography as I got frustrated with what it would and would not do…..
Last week I decided I would try again. So off to the Digital Splash show in Preston (UK) I go. Went round the stands trying Digital SLR’s (both APS/C and FF) to see what was available and what would suit me.
With no brand preference I thought I would work back to a possible body by starting with the lenses as previously I had found that a good lens with basic body gave better pictures than a highly featured body with a poor lens. Went round the various stands Nikon, Canon, Sony, what a shock…. even worse than last time I looked!!!
I have been told that something like 85% of DLSR owners never use/buy another lens other than the kit zooms. WHY??.... the current ranges are truly horrible to the touch/feel and definitely not what you would expect from a (supposedly) precision piece of equipment.
Now I also know I don’t have the largest hands in the world but holding a FF Canon left me petrified as I was in danger of dropping it as I couldn’t get the end of my fingers round the grip. The APS/C versions were better (just), The Sony’s were about the same round the grip although the bodies felt smaller and the Nikon APS/C grip size was OK but didn’t like any of the kit zoom lenses for any of them so almost back to square one. That left the option of Body only + other lenses to suit me so wandering round looking at lenses getting more and more disheartened thinking I might have to give up photography!!
Following a coffee break to reassess the situation I found myself talking to the staff on the Sigma stand and expressing the view that I could not believe that with all the advances over the past 30 years that lenses for the APS/C format were so much bigger than those I was using for film 30 years ago and to compound the problem slower as well. To their credit one of the staff thought about it for quite a bit and then agreed (turns out he’s a product manager at Sigma). He said it was more obvious to me having skipped quite a number of generations of cameras but he said that after manual exposure each generation of lenses/cameras tended to get a bit bigger i.e. Auto Exposure a bit bigger than manual, AF a bit bigger than AE, IS a bit bigger than AF etc. and working within the industry this gradual change was not really noticed but put a new kit zoom against my 50mm f1.8 or even my trusty Tamron 90mmSP f2.4 and they are noticeably larger, slower and wobble’ier(if there is such a word). He then plonked another lens in my hand that was smaller than any of them including my standard 50mm - “what this?” I asked - he just smiled at me and said “we will be making more lenses like that - just go and say “EM-5” to that man in the black polo neck shirt with his back to us and then come and talk to me again later”.
So somewhat bemused I approached said gentleman, excused myself, and explained I had been advised to say “EM-5” to him. He also smiled (at this point I am wondering what on earth I have gotten myself into) but reached down and picked something up and then placed a camera in my hands.
Suddenly my memory jumps back in time to when I was 19 and the day my father placed his treasured Leica M2/50mm f/2.8 ELMAR into my hands and said “would I like to try some photography?”
Now the camera was about the same age as me but still looked the same as when he bought it new but felt “right” and I was hooked from that day forward.
The new Olympus OM-D/E-M5/45mm f1.8 brought back the same grin across my face as that day and also the day I had saved enough to buy my own Olympus OM1n a few years later rather than his OM1 (MD) he bought for us both to use rather than risk the Leica (yes you can probably work out my age from the model changes).
In those days most SLR’s were huge and all my family do not have big hands and the Olympus felt right to us like the Leica but without breaking the bank. We were later joined by my sister also OM1n (so she could use our array of lenses we had bought by then).
You've guessed it… I’m hooked again and despite being more than I wanted to pay I immediately paid up for one as they offered the 45mm f1.8 portrait lens for free with the kit version of the camera which (given my 90mm Tamron almost lived on my later OM3) seemed the perfect option and that was before they told me there was an adaptor for all my original OM lenses.
Of course I went back to the Sigma stand and thanked them for their help with my camera quest and told them what I had bought – again just a smile and the words “I thought you might”. Given that he was less likely to sell me a lens because of his suggestion I can only commend them for being as helpful and honest as they were - however he did say there are likely to more Sigma lenses for micro 4/3 so you never know I may up with a Sigma lens one day.
Now as an existing Olympus OM1 and OM3 user I was more likely to feel at home than most with the new OM-D size/shape but a young university student witnessed my grin at the camera in my hands and tried one as well. Shortly afterwards he’s got the same grin and states it was so much nicer to use than anything he’s used before so it’s not just old OM users like me who like it!!
I received the camera midweek (they had sold out at the show) and have registered for the free lens so fingers crossed. Having now tried the camera with the kit zoom lens I think the zoom might be a slight mistake on Olympus’s part as it does not suit the basic camera – I think prime lenses are the way to go (or perhaps add the battery/holder grip as I did the MD1 for large lenses on the OM1n). Also having quickly gone through all the menus my initial thought was “HELP” as this is a whole new ballgame from the OM3.
My search for help brought me to this forum which has already helped with turning on the “Super Control Panel” so I have easy access to most menu options and also that my 90mm Tamron f2.4 Macro lens may provide a really nice fast sports telephoto lens that would have cost me a small fortune to get on any other range of cameras as well as being a good macro lens.
Now standard lens- I wonder….. 20mm f1.7 or 25mm f1.4……….
I see what you did there... :smile:
