Should I switch brands, or upgrade?
I have an Olympus E-510 now and I've been pretty happy with it, some minor things annoy me but overall, it takes pretty good photos. I have the two kit lenses and I bought a nice 11-22mm and a 35mm macro over last winter.
My girlfriend and I are starting to do more Weddings and portraits and I currently have an opprotunity to possibly upgrade. I started thinking it would be nice to have a second body, since I have 4 lenses. I could leave one of the smaller lenses on one and the telephoto on the other to avoid that whole dillema where something pops up and you have the wrong lens on. Another idea was to just get another high quality lens that covers a larger focal length.
Then came last weekend when I stopped by the local electronics store. I eyeballed up the Canon 40D and it seems like a nice piece of gear. Its alot better built than my plastic E-510 and cheaper than buying just an E-3 body. I'm not one that thinks that its the gear that make the photographer, but better gear sure doesn't hurt. If I switch brands, I want to do it before I get ever more invested in the 4/3rds system.
Anyways, what would you do?
My girlfriend and I are starting to do more Weddings and portraits and I currently have an opprotunity to possibly upgrade. I started thinking it would be nice to have a second body, since I have 4 lenses. I could leave one of the smaller lenses on one and the telephoto on the other to avoid that whole dillema where something pops up and you have the wrong lens on. Another idea was to just get another high quality lens that covers a larger focal length.
Then came last weekend when I stopped by the local electronics store. I eyeballed up the Canon 40D and it seems like a nice piece of gear. Its alot better built than my plastic E-510 and cheaper than buying just an E-3 body. I'm not one that thinks that its the gear that make the photographer, but better gear sure doesn't hurt. If I switch brands, I want to do it before I get ever more invested in the 4/3rds system.
Anyways, what would you do?
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Olympus E3 w HLD4, E520, E510 11-22mm, 50-200mm,35mm macro, 14-42mm, 40-150, FL50R & FL36R
http://rokklym.smugmug.com/
We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life,to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment no matter what.
- George Santayana, "The philosophy of travel"
Olympus E3 w HLD4, E520, E510 11-22mm, 50-200mm,35mm macro, 14-42mm, 40-150, FL50R & FL36R
http://rokklym.smugmug.com/
We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life,to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment no matter what.
- George Santayana, "The philosophy of travel"
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Olympus E3 w HLD4, E520, E510 11-22mm, 50-200mm,35mm macro, 14-42mm, 40-150, FL50R & FL36R
http://rokklym.smugmug.com/
We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life,to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment no matter what.
- George Santayana, "The philosophy of travel"
I've been shooting with the E-3 for about seven months now. Given the price similarity with the 40D, I really think you should take a look at it. The performance at higher isos is significantly improved and it's weather sealed. I shot an outdoor wedding a couple of weeks ago in a downpour without a worry. That was pretty nice! Other photographers would have had to pack it in, in fact, my second shooter had to retreat to an overhang with his long zoom.
If it was me, I would invest in some more nice glass. That will do wonders. The 40D does feel nice, thats true, however, don't mistake big for nice. The 40D is a fantastic camera, My brother has one and I have spent some time playing with it. Yet, the lenses from Oly are amazing. I use the 14-45mm 2.8-3.5 and the 50-200mm 2.8-3.5 lenses as my primary lenses. They are simply fabulous. If it was me I would do one of the following things:
Sell your kit lens and zoom and buy one of the higher quality standard zooms like the 14-54 or the 12-60. And get the higher quality telezoom (50-200mm). Lenses make the biggest difference in my opinion.
The other thing I would consider is go hold one of those E-3's. Those suckers are amazing. The features are simply astounding. So, if you want a "fancier" body, get the E-3. If you have the cash get the better standard zoom, and if you have even more cash, get the nicer telezoom. Those will do wonders.
Just FYI, I use the E-510 and a backup E-500 with the 14-54, and the 50-200 as my primary setup in my studio. Works great. Dont sell out on us!
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If you are doing more weddings and you are getting paid, another camera body is mandatory for backup.
Before you switch systems, make sure you actually like using the camera. The quality of the pictures don't mean much if you are playing around with menus, etc and miss the shots because it's hard to make changes while actually working.
If you switch systems now, go ahead and sell what you have now. I know it would seem like you have a backup, but if you have a canon and it goes, you can't use the bread and butter canon lens on the olympus. If anything, you would at least need to duplicate the lenses for each system.
One thing i have been considering also as I mentioned before was the second body. That would be for a backup, to use as big zoom, and one other benefit would be that I would also have an SLR for the girlfriend to use. All these ideas started when I first saw the E-520. The bodies are relatively cheap an upgrade over my current one.
One thing that was mentioned earlier was the E-3's weather sealing, which sounds like its actually able to take quite a bit of abuse. If any of you have seen my website, www.lonewolfexpeditions.com you know that I do quite a bit of motorcycle travel and things are going to get dusty at some point. Its probably a good idea to get something with good weather sealing.
One thing I'm curious about with the E-3. I've read the viewfinder is pretty good. Does it also display the info on the right? Unfortunately, I'm a lefty and thats how I shoot ( can't get away from that left eye dominance ) so having the info on the right actually is kind of a pain for me. I picked up a few cameras last weekend and the ones with it in the center sure seemed more natural.
That 12-60 lens is one that I have been thinking about. I've always wondered if it came out at the same time as I ordered my lenses of if I just missed it? I sure wish I would have gotten that lens over my 11-22. I love the quality of the 11-22, wonderful glass and such a nice beefy lens but with the things I do, it comes up a little short on zoom. Maybe I could sell it or trade it towards a 12-60?
Thanks for all the info, I'm not totally jumping ship yet, but I need to make the most out of what I have. It is kind of nice being the odd ball out there, when everone else is shooting Canon and Nikon.
Olympus E3 w HLD4, E520, E510 11-22mm, 50-200mm,35mm macro, 14-42mm, 40-150, FL50R & FL36R
http://rokklym.smugmug.com/
We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life,to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment no matter what.
- George Santayana, "The philosophy of travel"