Change of system?

[Ivor]

Has anyone ever sold their kit and completely changed camera system?

I am an Olympus 4/3 user and have an old E-510 DSLR body, which has been great, and I have a few lenses for it.

I have taken pictures that I have been really chuffed with. I don't want to be a professional photographer and not interested in selling my pictures or entering competitions. Photography for me is a hobby.

I like that the body is smaller than many other makes. This is due to the smaller sensor size. Having in-body image stabilisation, the Zuiko lenses are lighter. The slightly smaller than APS-C sensor not only makes the whole system more compact but the 2x crop factor is great for getting pictures of birds and beasties.

But with any camera there are compromises and it is an older model and I am occasionally coming up against its limitations. It could do with more focus points, it doesn't focus as quickly as newer camera (I believe this is a disadvantage of the system) and noise control at higher ISOs is better with newer cameras and other systems.

So, what would you sell me? Should I upgrade to another Olympus or, now that Olympus are backing out of the DSLR market, sell up and go down the Canikon route?



Ivor

[bnk1953]

I've switched. I had a Minolta which was bought out by Sony. It was getting long in the tooth. I went to National Camera Exchange in the Twin Cities and while I looked and tried out different cameras they took my old camera and lens to check it out. I hand held and took photos with both Nikon and Canon with the help of a salesman (who really knew his stuff). I ran through the paces on both the canon and nikon including all the dials, buttons, etc. After about an hour and a half with the very patient salesman, I ended up choosing the nikon. During that time a quote was given to the salesman who told me how much they would give me for the old camera kit. As it was - the trading in of the old camera and lens was about the same savings that I would have received if I had gone through Amazon, etc. I know that I don't have the old one anymore - but it would have only collected dust in the corner.....and I have a reputable salesperson and staff to go back to ask questions and get insights - plus supporting the LOCAL economy.
~bruce.

[Ivor]

Okay, 111 reads and only one reply. That sort of suggests that most people stick or are stuck with the system that they originally chose. I am guessing that most people start with a basic camera and build up from there and there is a level of enforced brand loyalty.


So, what should I do?
Nikon
Canon
Sony

or should I stick with the system I have and save up for an Olympus E-5?

[Ivor]

Bruce,

I thoroughly agree. I am all for supporting the local economy, and I do. At work one of my procedures is to use local suppliers whenever possible to help support the local economy. I also get all my green groceries in a corner shop and hardware from the hardware shop just down the road. I also buy as much as I can from the local market and use the big supermarkets as little as possible.


My first film SLRs were bought in small, local shops starting some 25 years ago and the service was fantastic. That was in the days before I could research all the good and bad points of a camera online and had to rely on a salesman. By bike, my guitar and most of the stuff in my house were bought in local stores.

But there are no camera shops anywhere near where I live. Now for me to buy in a shop it would mean driving 3/4 hour to a huge shopping mall and paying 20% more for a camera than I would online. Plus I would have to pay for the fuel to get there and chuck a huge lump of carbon into the air while I did it. So, if I change system or buy a new camera, I am likely to buy online.

Ivor

[Preeb]

Originally Posted by Ivor

Okay, 111 reads and only one reply. That sort of suggests that most people stick or are stuck with the system that they originally chose. I am guessing that most people start with a basic camera and build up from there and there is a level of enforced brand loyalty.


So, what should I do?
Nikon
Canon
Sony

or should I stick with the system I have and save up for an Olympus E-5?

I can't really help you make a decision. When I went to a DSLR, I went with Canon because it has perhaps the widest variety of lenses available from any maker. I've not had any reason to regret that decision. I personally prefer a larger body because it gives more to hold on to for a steadier stance, more room for control distribution while keeping a nice 3" LCD screen for reviewing and menu navigation.

[Codebreaker]

The only time I switched was when I went from Film (Olympus) to Digital (Canon) and I've stayed with Canon ever since just upgrading the body occassionally.

But at the risk of deviating slightly, I've never been convinced of the usefullness of the 4/3 system, and I don't really understand why this standard was adopted. Ok a slightly open standard allowing other vendors to produce lenses etc but then there are plenty of third party lenses for Canon, Nikon etc anyway.

Its always struck me that the 4/3 system has more downsides than up. Smaller sensor resulting in perhaps higher noise levels and a format that doesn't really suit screens or many printer papers, particularly the more common 6 x 4 format.

You also get more problems controlling DOF because the magnification factor is higher.

Just a thought or two to perhaps help in your decision.

Colin

[Edmund]

Have you seen this: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/sto...entifier=S_NEX

Eddie

[Codebreaker]

I know that Chuck, who posts here, has switched to an 'EVIL' format so he could give some first hand experience on this system - if he's listening in.

Now I confess up front to not having actually used one of these but I do have a compact LCD view only camera and it really is hard to use in bright light. So much so that I've changed the term Point and Shoot to Point and Hope. I wonder if these 'EVIL' cameras have the same problem.

Give me an optical viewfinder any day.

Colin

[jemx99]

I went to a Pentax dslr after using compact fuji's after switching from film. Pentax are compact(ish) but still aps-c, they are reasonably priced - but the beauty with this system is I can use old pentax lens (I have a couple almost 30 years old) without any problems - these are easily available on ebay etc. Pentax have the shake reduction in the camera body too.

[Ellen]

You might want to read this by Scott Bourne about Trey Ratcliff's article about what a future camera maybe. Ratcliff said he'll not buy a new DSLR but I just heard him in an interview give himself an out to buy the D800