Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/12/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Didier, I have an Olympus E3. I am predisposed to like Olympus as a long time OM user. I find the autofocus fast but inaccurate. Certainly worse hit rate than the first DSLR I had, a 3.3 megapixel Canon D30. Using it in the same place (where I walk my dogs) on the same subject (flying kites and buzzards) the autofocus hit rate with the E3 is not as good as I had with the old D30, never mind more recent cameras. I actually get better hit rate on the E3 with these subjects using manual focus. The autofocus results are at their worst with the longest lenses near infinity, ie 150mm f2 with either teleconvertor and the 50 to 200 zoom. A top professional who is a friend of mine had similar problems, and that was doing a shoot for Olympus with kit supplied by them. I also have an E510 which seems to have more accurate AF but find the viewfinder very small and dim, certainly mine is nowhere near the M8, there must be a big improvement from E510 to E420. I had been hoping for a smaller lighter camera for wildlife shots when out with my dogs. So far the Olympus has not been as good as I wanted for this. The E3 has an OK viewfinder but inconsistent autofocus near infinity. The E510 has OK autofocus but a poor viewfinder. OTOH I do like the lenses. My frustration is that where the Oly is good it is not appreciably smaller than other DSL/lens combos, where it is smaller it is not good enough, not because of optical limitations (the 150mm is fantastic even with teleconvertors when in focus) but because the autofocus can't cope. Frank --- On Mon, 8/12/08, Didier Ludwig <leica@screengang.com> wrote: > From: Didier Ludwig <leica@screengang.com> > Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Micro 4/3 > To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org> > Date: Monday, 8 December, 2008, 10:40 AM > Frank > > I've checked the G1 in a local store recently. It's > true the finder is bigger and brighter (or lets say more > illimunated) than of any Oly E-something, but personally I > guess I'd have a long time to get used to that pixel > viewer, though the pixels are significantly smaller than in > all other EVF's I've seen. Then I also noticed a > small time lag, and also noticed strong AF troubles when > heading it into a dark corner. And as, said, the size is > about the same of a E-420 or 520 while I expected such a > camera to be smaller. But this is just a beginning and the > system has nevertheless an interesting potential. > > I'm still not shure if such a body is really > interesting for old manual focus lenses, but that's up > to each one's taste. For many, the ability ofusing their > old glass is the main feature a new body must have. > Personally I prefer AF on dslr cameras, and manual focus on > rangefinders. > > The micro 4/3 advantage is compactness together with a > sensor bigger than almost all other compacts, but in terms > of picture quality (and also manual focusing ability) it > likely can't rival the middle and upperclass dslrs with > aps-c or bigger, or a M8. > > Btw, the E-420 viewfinder is small, but definitely not dim. > I just looked through it and compared the brightness with a > M6 (with MP upgraded finder) and the R-D1. The R-D1 wins > this comparison hands down, but to my own surprise, the M6 > is clearly dimmer than the Olympus' finder, which is as > sharp, but brighter. I also can't share your opinion > about the Olympus autofocus, mine (a E-420) is astonishingly > fast and accurate, and from what I've heard from users > the E-3 is quite better. I've shot a junior sport event > with the 420, yesterday, and of course I had a lot of > unsharp pics, but less than with a rangefinder, and not more > than with another DSLR except the high end pro Canons and > Nikons with their advanced AF features. > > Didier > > > > > At 12:03 07.12.2008, Frank Dernie wrote: > >I had a play with a Panasonic G1 at Photokina. I was > particularly > >interested by the viewfinder since I find the Olympus > 4/3 optical > >viewfinders give an awfully small and dim view. Th E3 > is the biggest > >and brightest 4/3 finder so far but the autofocus is > poor and the > >screen not good enough for consistent manual focus > results (though, > >with long lenses, I get a better hit ratio with manual > than auto focus). > >The G1 viewfinder was much better than I was expecting, > both big and > >bright. The only problem I had was that the little > press and turn > >adjustment wheel on the front grip was almost > impossible not to press > >accidentally whilst holding up to the eye. About 1/3 of > the people at > >the booth, myself included, were looking puzzled as the > camera beeped > >warnings and they tried to guess what pressing the dial > did. > >I have no idea about picture quality, and the sensor > has almost the > >same pixel density as would be found on a 50 megapixel > full frame > >sensor, so noise is unlikely to be a strong point. > >The viewfinder is by far the best I have tried on a 4/3 > camera. > >Frank > > > > >On 6 Dec, 2008, at 23:24, Didier Ludwig wrote: > > > >>There's one micro 4/3 model out, the Panasonic > Lumix G1, which has > >>received mixed reviews so far. It's literally > as big as the smallest > >>dslr models on the market, but with no optical > viewfinder. An > >>interesting Micro 4/3 camera could be, IMO, a very > small body > >>without EVF, but hotshoe for accessory finders, and > fast, compact > >>primes. That would fill the gap between the APS-C > dslr and the usual > >>1/1.8" sensor compacts, and also fill the > pocket of many LUGgers, > >>likely. > >>But I'm not shure how much sense it makes to > use bigger, heavier, > >>older lenses with limited functionality on a > digital system which is > >>intended for compactness and digital conveniences > like contrast > >>autofocus and others. > >>But as an alternative to a M8, just for using Leica > glass with > >>(expensive) adapters, but no rangefinder coupling - > hmm, don't know. > >>Didier > > > > >>>Does anyone have any information about the > progress of the micro 4/3 > >>>cameras? I have plenty of Leica lenses but > can't afford a new M8. > >>>Larry Z > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more > information