Ideal Combination: E510 and Leica 1.4 / 25mm Summilux?

[jeroen_smits]

I own a Contax G2 system and have some old OM lenses and OM2n + T20 flash.

Digital: have a Minolta film scanner and one of those Pentax underwater point

and shoot cameras (great for kids). Just scanned photo.net for useful

information on digital slrs. I probably don't want to hold my breath for a

digital back for the G-system. Philip Greenspun's rating of Canon Rebel Xi

(D400) with Sigma 1.4 30mm almost had me sold. But having read some recent

postings I am thinking the following. Now that Leica is coming out with an

overpriced but fast standard lens for the 4-3 system and olympus with a 2.0

zoom it seems a good idea to get the Olympus 510 when it comes out to have a

set-up similar to the Canon/Sigma combination (that is what I am looking for--

not a big fan of flash photography. My old Zuikos can be telelenses with that

adapter combined with the body IS in the E510. Don't need much more and always

appreciated the Olympus feel and philosophy. I guess what I am asking is can

the Summilux make up for the fourthirds deficiencies over the APC-sized Canon

sensor?

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

 

Jeroen

[howard_slavitt2]

I'd get the xti. I did, as a backup for my Canon 5D. I love using the xti with a Canon 24mm f2.8 prime. Compact, very lightweight, excellent images. BTW, you can use all of your old Zuikos very effectively on the Canon xti as telephotos on it as well, by purchasing an oly to EOS focus confirmation adapter from a guy going by the name of happypagehk on ebay (or a name close to that). You won't be able to focus ANY manual lenses very well on any crop sensor digital slr, so you need to find a system/solution that will let you use the camera's focus confirmation capabilities, assuming the camera (like the xti) offers that feature.

[tommyinca]

My 2 cents guess is that an E510 plus a Leica 25/1.4 likely is not going to be much cheaper then a 5D body. The 5D properly could do better in easy of focus, sensor noise and quality department too. Plus you could easily attach an OM40/2, OM28/2 or an OM21/2 to it and it stay the same focus length FOV and DOF as an OM body.

[roland_haid]

I believe that the Olympus E510 is superior to all Canon digital SLR below the Canon 5D. I have read some comments from an enthusiastic engineer on the four/third system which suggested that this will be the future (Not Canons CMOS). The E510 with an Olympus E F2.8 zoom is a nice combination, even in low light. The Xi Rebel does not come close. I agree however that the Leica 1.4/25 might proof expensive. A Zuiko 1.4/50 attached to a E510 should be a winner at low light.

[jeroen_smits]

Thanks for your answers, which unfortunately all make good sense. Of course if you talk about money it will get frighteningly close to the D5 and then the whole picture changes. But between the XTi and the E510 with that Summilux it is also probably true that the Olympus is a better body (will also be about 200USD more). Would also love to see someone do a thorough square-off between the Summilux and the Sigma. Luckily I don't need it right away and have months of fun research ahead of me to make up my mind. But the awkward four-thrids thing just seems to make a whole lot more sense with all these new bodies and new lenses.

[harjtt]

Here's a couple of galleries showing what the Leica 1.4 25mm Summilux can do with either the Oly E1 and a DMCL1.

 

!. Olympus E1 + Leica 1.4 25mm Summilux

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tengsama/tags/summilux/

 

2. DMCL1 + Leica 1.4 25mm Summilux (All low light shots with and without flash)

 

http://elitephoto9.zenfolio.com/p765162782/?photo=h36045324#754515047

 

Initial impressions of the Summilux to my eyes from those galleries is that its a fine lens - sharp wide open at f1.4 and the bokeh looks very nice indeed. Pricewise, we're looking at $1000USD or ?750.00GBP for the lens and possibly $700-800 for the E510.

 

Cheers

 

Harj