Olympus E-400 comments?

[jmaynard]

Anyone actually handled an Olympus E-400? I was poking around the net and found a couple of reviews, and it looks nice - in particular, it looks like Olympus finally recaptured the ergonomic magic of the OM-1 - but it's not imported into North America. I'm seriously considering getting one from the UK, but I have a fundamental rule: Never buy a camera before playing with it in the store.

I'm a long-time Olympus fan, and I've got a fairly large OM-series collection, but their other DSLRs just don't have the same magic feel. The Nikon and Canon DSLRs don't, either.

[Woogie]

A few things I've noticed about its specs:

Focal length multiplier (crop): 2x. This means that if you want a wide angle, you're going to have to shell out some serious cash to get a decent wide angle lens. 18mm on the short end is going to be 36mm in the viewfinder.

Sensor size: The sensor is smaller than the competitors' 'equivalents". Having ten million pixels on a smaller sensor is going to most likely produce a lot more noise than the bigger sensors on the nikons and canons. Having a smaller sensor also means having a more difficult time creating a thin depth of field which is most often ideal for portrait work.

3 point auto focus: having only three AF points isn't going to be very useful. My guess is that you'll have a hard time composing quick candid shots. Canon's 20/30D offer 9 focus points.

That's all that I've noticed after a quick glance over the specs sheet for that camera.

Comfort is definitely important. However, i'd definitely sacrafice comfort for performance if it means I can get the shot that I want and I don't have to spend a lot of time in post processing.

[jmaynard]

Originally Posted by Woogie

Focal length multiplier (crop): 2x. This means that if you want a wide angle, you're going to have to shell out some serious cash to get a decent wide angle lens. 18mm on the short end is going to be 36mm in the viewfinder.

One thing I'd definitely get is the 11-22 zoom, which seems to be going for about $700. 22mm is about as wide as I ever shoot on a 35. They make a 7-14, but that's about $1800.

Sensor size: The sensor is smaller than the competitors' 'equivalents". Having ten million pixels on a smaller sensor is going to most likely produce a lot more noise than the bigger sensors on the nikons and canons.

This doesn't seem to be borne out in the reviews I've seen.

Having a smaller sensor also means having a more difficult time creating a thin depth of field which is most often ideal for portrait work.

OTOH, I've seen some comments that the 55/1.2 OM Zuiko makes a good portrait lens on the 4/3 system...yes, 110mm is a bit long for that, but f/1.2 helps a lot.

Comfort is definitely important. However, i'd definitely sacrafice comfort for performance if it means I can get the shot that I want and I don't have to spend a lot of time in post processing.

I'm just the opposite. To me, a camera that does not feel good in the hand is one with which you won't do your best work.

There's a rumor they're planning to introduce an E-420 at PMA next month. I can wait that long.