Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/03/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Gary, I share some of your experience, with an L1 though - kind of thrill is back - but I also undestand the resistance of others who haven't sinned, yet ;-) Enjoy your gear and keep giving us so nice photographs to see. Phil...x Gary Todoroff wrote: > >> >> >> The trend for DSLR cameras clearly goes to bigger sensors, not >> because of the backward compatibility to older lenses, but because >> they deliver better quality than smaller ones - period. > > > Yep, just like the trend in computers is to bigger cases! And bigger > memory boards. And bigger cable connectors. Good grief, what is thing > with SIZE?! Sensors are cramming more and better pixels into the same > size, just as bytes are stuffed into ever smaller memory chips every > year. What is so magical about a 35mm digital frame size? Absolutely > NOTHING! > > FourThirds is the revolution, and I joined it almost a year ago. The > Olympus E-Volt 330 camera should be called the Re-Volt One, it is that > significant in the history of photography. Panasonic is trying (along > with Leica?) but their 4/3 body is too chunky and clunky. Plus it does > not have the tilt-screen live view LCD. The 330 is smaller and handles > more closely to an M. I did not say LIKE an M, just better than the > Panasonic body that makes even a Leica M5 seem downright tiny. If you > were raised on M's like I was, then the E-330 is like a new friend in > a tradition of phototgraphic creativity that has leaped so far over > Canon and Nikon that most people don't even seem to realize it yet. > > I hope Leica can sincerely join FourThirds in their old tradition of > excellence. But they need to think WAY outside the M or R box, > literally and figuratively. The 25mm 1.4 may be a step in that > direction. However, the lens does seem very large for a prime lens, > and I was hoping for something for the E-330 more the size of my old > chrome M Summilux 50. I hope there will be a way to try the new Leica > lens next month. > > In the meantime, I'll keep shooting my Leica/Olympus kit - two > E-330's, Leica 70-180/2.8 Vario-Elmarit, 2x APO extender, > 14-54/2.8-3.5 Zuiko and 7-14/4 Zuiko. In 35mm terms, that's an almost > continuous lens range of 14mm-720mm, all in one little LowePro 200 > bag.( http://www.northcoastphotos.com/Lympa_2006_11_01.htm ) > > After thousands of miles cross-country and thousands of feet altitude > for journalistic, commercial. landscape and aerial photography, that > setup has been the most amazing sidekick of any camera kit I've ever > used. My photos from the E-330 have been published on covers and > calendars; newspaper front pages; numerous websites; Coast Guard > public relations; aerial photos for hotels, water treatment plants and > engineering studies; and a year long contract to document a > multi-million dollar theater interior restoration. Not bad for a > little upstart camera. > > The sad fact to report is that almost two years ago, I showed a Leica > rep the little pre-cursor to the E-330, the brilliantly engineered > Olympus C-8080 8-megapixel with a lens that would easily do justice to > Leica optics. He looked down his nose and said. "That is not an M." > Well I should hope not! And the E-330 is not a slide rule or a > mechanical adding machine or a black and white TV or a two lane > highway or any one of a thousand other things that were current in > 1954. The most amazing photographic future is here - right now. My > biggest concern is how to stay creatively ahead of so many > photographers who will discover the E-330 and see their own boost in > artistic creativity. So far I've got the drop on them by a few months > time and, obviously, a truck load of passion about a camera that I > believe will be as historically significant as the M3 was over 50 > years ago. > > I've said a lot more about the Olympus E-330 at and how I've used it > with adapted Leica R lenses at: > http://northcoastphotos.com/Lympa.htm > > Best regards, > Gary Todoroff > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >