Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/07/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]thanks Larry, most informative. Frank On 5 Jul, 2007, at 16:21, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote: > > On Jul 5, 2007, at 10:36 AM, Frank wrote: > >>> >>>> Hi Nathan, >>>> how is the viewfinder? I have never tried one but have heard >>>> reports that the Olympus 4/3 viewfinders are small and dim. Since >>>> the viewfinder is a most important part of a camera for usability >>>> for me this has put me off so far. I am not expecting an M or >>>> Olympus OM1 quality viewfinder but how does it compare with the >>>> Canon? >>> >>> you cannot compare a consumer-level camera's viewfinder with the >>> one in a high-end camera, because it's one of the most expensive >>> camera part if you want it bright and clear (aka OM1) made out of >>> high quality glass instead a cheaper set of mirrors. > > Curiously, I have the the OM-1, the Olympus Pen F, and an Olympus > E-500. The question about viewfinders prompted my to put them side > by side and compare viewfinder visibility, brightness and focusing > ease. Without a doubt the winner is the OM-1. The view is bright, > big, and easy to focus. It suffers a bit from short eye relief but > I guess that's a tradeoff for high magnification. The Olympus Pen F > is pretty good. A bit dimmer but it focuses well. Bringing up the > rear is the E-500. It is adequately bright but relatively hard to > focus. I guess it was intended primarily as an aiming aid because > of the autofocus provisions built into the camera. Clouding the > issue a bit is that the two mechanical cameras focused at the f2.0 > opening of their prime lenses while the E-500 used the f3.5 opening > of the zoom lens. > > I have the Olympus to 4/3 adapter. When I mount a film Olympus lens > on the E-500, I get a bright but hard to focus finder image. I have > been successful in taking pictures with this combination but > usually at infinity or if the lens is set to the hyperfocal > distance. It is also a pain to have to manually stop down to taking > aperture to make the exposure. The image quality of the old and new > combination is quite good. I know the E-500 is not the E-410. The > latter has the advantage that it is possible to focus using the LCD > screen. This may make all the difference. I wouldn't know. > > Now if Olympus would only make a DSLR the size and shape of the > Olympus Pen F, it might be the best of both worlds. > > Larry Z > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information