Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/03/01

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Was: The Elusive Digilux 3 compared to the L1 and Oly 330E
From: rsphotoimages at comcast.net (Bob Shaw)
Date: Thu Mar 1 07:40:42 2007
References: <200702261554.l1QFqshN041875@server1.waverley.reid.org> <D5E1768F-8A8E-400D-BC36-6910FD55BFA2@netvigator.com> <D7C860A4-4D96-4B11-96F1-E2168F84180B@ncable.net.au>

Saw this in person yesterday; the two-lens Oly 500 kit is now available 
at Costco (in the US, anyway) for around $ 700.00.  Tempting.

Bob in Seattle


On Feb 28, 2007, at 20:33, Alastair Firkin wrote:

Nothing like first hand experience. One question: is the Oly lens 
smaller than the Leica?

On 27/02/2007, at 21:38, Howard Cummer wrote:

> Alaistair Didier,
>
> I offer the following comments based on my experience with my Oly 330E 
> and L 1 and the OLy 14 - 54 and Leica 14 - 50 Elmarit. Sorry for the 
> delay in commenting but I only get the digest.
>
>> Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:11:46 +0100
>> From: Didier Ludwig <leica@screengang.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Leica] The Elusive Digilux  3 compared to the L1 and Oly
>>      330E
>> To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
>>
>> Alastair
>>
>> I have followed several discussions about that on a german oly forum. 
>> Yes the O.I.S. works with the Vario Elmarit on a Oly e-330 body - but 
>> in the "stabilize: always" mode only.
>
> True.
>
>
>> Oly users reported it is very power consuming and the accus went down 
>> in less than the half of the usual time when they used the Leica 
>> lens.
>
> This is not my experience. I haven't noticed battery consumption 
> variations when using the Oly lenses verses the Leica zoom on the 
> 330E. That may be because I wasn't looking for it but in any event I 
> always carry a spare battery. Battery consumption in my experience is 
> about the same for each camera body irrespective of lens used. 
> Obviously your mileage can vary!
>
>> Others also reported the O.I.S. significantly lowers the picture 
>> quality in terms of sharpness and contrast.
>
> Good grief! Not my experience at all. Both lenses with OIS on provide 
> outstanding images - with my taste leaning towards the colour and 
> contrast drawn by the Elmarit.
>
>> One user wrote he had to fix the Elmarit's aperture ring as it did 
>> not work in manual mode on the oly e-330.
>
> The Oly 330E body does not recognize the input of the movement of the 
> Elmarit's aperture ring. The Oly needs to be set to Shutter Priority 
> and the control wheel behind the program dial spun to reduce the 
> shutter speed until the aperture of the Elmarit reaches f22. Then move 
> the programming priority to Program "P" and the Oly will work in that 
> program and control the aperture of the Elmarit. Move the control dial 
> to Aperture priority with the Elmarit aperture set to f22 by the wheel 
> and Aperture priority will control the lens aperture. If a user wants 
> to change the aperture of the Elmarit he or she has to use the control 
> wheel. Nothing to fix!
>
>>
>> Optical quality seems to be almost equal; the Zuiko may be a tad 
>> better, as users reported the Vario Elmarit vignets slightly more @ 
>> wide angle/wide open.
>
> The vignetting of the Elmarit depends, I think, on the positioning of 
> the shade which tends to twist around if not securely set. If properly 
> set, white line on shade to white dot on lens barrel I don't see any 
> difference in image quality between the two lenses. If you don't need 
> IS obviously the Oly 14 - 54 lens is cheaper and gives you 4mm more 
> length at the telephoto end.
>
>>
>> On the plus side, the Vario Elmarit on L1/D-3  is said to be faster 
>> in autofocus mode than the Zuiko (both used on a e-330).
>
> Can't comment on this as I haven't made the comparison. Focusing on 
> the Oly or the L 1 is not in the same league as Canon or Nikon 
> professional bodies but not bad. Low light focusing is pretty 
> marginal. Time then to switch to the M8! :-)
>
>>
>> The users recommended the Zuiko 14-54 for Oly bodies, and the Leica 
>> 14-50 for the L1/Digilux-3 bodies, but not a cross-over combination.
>
> For me, I like using the Elmarit on my Oly 330E to the extent that I 
> have sold my Oly 14 - 54. Didn't seem like I needed to duplicate the 
> lens focal lengths with two lenses. Just my several cents worth!
>
>>
>> Didier
>>
> Cheers
> Howard (in Hong Kong)
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information


_______________________________________________
Leica Users Group.
See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information


In reply to: Message from cummer at netvigator.com (Howard Cummer) ([Leica] The Elusive Digilux 3 compared to the L1 and Oly 330E)
Message from firkin at ncable.net.au (Alastair Firkin) ([Leica] The Elusive Digilux 3 compared to the L1 and Oly 330E)