bradley_smith

<p>I think the problem is that people want a camera with an optical viewfinder, easy to hold, with a hotshoe and PC connection but that must also fit in your pocket with a 14-300mm f/1.7 lens attached. Panasonic's have failed to provide this ;-)<br>

I've been gradually going smaller. Even the G2 was too big to fit in a pocket. I now have the GF3 with 14mm on me at all times and that makes it (for me) the best camera in the world. yes I miss the viewfinder and flash options afforded by the G2 but I don't miss lugging a camera bag around or - more often - not having the camera with me because I can't be bothered to carry it around. If I want to put a bigger lens on it and carry a bag with me I still have the option of course. Given enough cash then have two camera systems, or three etc.</p>

<p>Decent evolution of the GF3 (which is a fine camera) by the look of it..</p>

<p>Christopher, at no point did the reviewer say the 14-42mm was the 'worst lens ever'. He commented that it had the worst build quality of any Panasonic lens. In reality what this actually means it that it's a really good lens and well built but has a plastic mount. As kit lenses go it's absolutely fine (I use one on a G2). I'm actually quite impressed by the Panasonic G system. The viewfinder's not as nice as the one on my T90 but I'm happy with the results and it's nice to use. I even use my Canon FD lenses and 300TL flash with it.</p>

<p>Philip, I'd love a copy of that Word doc if possible!</p>

<p>Regards - Brad</p>

<p>The Ceicio7 look ok but doesn't have a ring to open and close the aperture. I think this is an essential feature of any micro 4/3rds adapter but others may disagree.</p>

<p>I have 2 FD adapters that I use on a G2. I paid nearly £30 for one of them from amazon.co.uk. It arrived in a couple of days and works great. The other I got from a Chinese supplier on eBay called 'litooc'. it cost about £16 and took a few weeks to arrive but the quality is easily as good as the Amazon one.<br /> There's no need to spend a fortune on these. There's nothing to them really, they're just an aluminium tube with a moving ring so you can stop the aperture down. No electronics or glass in there at all.<br /> I can confirm that the 50mm makes and excellent portrait lens.</p>

<p>EDIT:<br /> There is a sample image archive over at the micro four thirds forum with examples of many adapted lenses:<br /> http://www.mu-43.com/f81/<br /> The 50mm f/1.8 image was taken by me using the cheapy Chinese adapter.</p>

<p>Finally you might like to join up over at - http://www.lumixlifestyle.co.uk/forum/ where there are all manner of discussions regarding lenses, adapters and everything else Lumix.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>I use a G2 with 28mm, 50mm and 70-210mm Canon Fd lenses. Works great. The magnified view is essential when I use the 70-210mm because at 210mm @ F4 the DOF is tiny. I believe I can focus just as accurately as I can when the lens is mounted on my T90. The touch-screen LCD is extremely useful also, more than just a gimmick.</p>

<p>I recently returned to the T90 after a brief foray into DSLR territory. What a truly wonderful camera it is. I picked up a 50mm f/1.8 and a 28mm f/2.8 for £35 to go with it, both immaculate. After using consumer class DLRs for a number of years I'd forgotten how wonderful a large, pentaprism based viewfinder is. My only issue is the grid focus screen that it came with. I'll need to pick up a split/prism one from somewhere.</p>

<p>Anyway, enjoy your T90 JDM.</p>

<p>No, it doesn't slide across. I got them to send a replacement and I see now that the slider is actually a toggle system. The first camera had clearly jammed the slider. Anyway, all is well now. I need to fire a roll through it just to be sure though.</p>

<p>Thanks for you help Kayam.</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Different problem to usual i.e. no EEE errors. I'll try and give as much info as I can:</p>

<p>50mm Breech lock lens attach set to f/11.<br>

Camera set to Av.<br>

LCD shwoing the M symbol and this does disappear if I set the lens to A.<br>

Pressing the DOF Preview lever has no effect. I can feel it moving in (only seems to move about halfway along but from what I can tell that should be enough to activate the aperture switch in the lens) but the apeterure does no stop down and I do not get the aperture stop-down symbol on the LCD display.<br>

Switching the lens to A if I press the DOF preview lever I get the expected EEE displayed.<br>

Am I doing something wrong? Is the camera faulty?</p>

<p>Cheers - Brad</p>

I used to have the Canon 28-135mm IS. Quite a nice lens but IS only compensates for my movement, not my subjects. This fact is evident in a large number of my shots sdaly. Faster lenses deal with both movements obviosuly. I'd take faster glass given the choice. IS/VR is a cheaper alternative to fast glass but not a replacement.

 

Your assumptions seem logical but we'd really need someone to try it out to know for sure!

I haven't used the 14-54mm but some folks on the DPReview forums (do a search) say the 14-45mm is sometimes sharper than the 14-54: Slower and not as well built though. personally I'm sticking with the kit lens and saving my money for the 14-35mm f/2.0 when it comes out.

I have an E-300. It's noisy past ISO 400 because all the camera is doing is underexposing at iso 400 and then compensating. I shoot raw so instead of pushing the ISO (should I need to) I just underexpose and fix it later. Up to iso 400 though, if you expose well then A4 prints are excellent. If all you care about is high ISO / low noise then buy a Canon. Hope this helps.

I went from a film Canon EOS to 4/3rds.

 

I now have an E-300 with the kit lens, a 55-200 Sigma and an OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 which I'm using with the Free OM adapter that Olympus sent me.

 

The E-300 is fantastic now it's had a couple of firmware updates adding things like mirror lock. It's built great and has the all-important anti-dust system.

 

Panasonic are commited to producing a 4/3rds DSLR next year too so there's plenty of support for the standard emerging now.

 

Go for it I say.

Hi Ron,

 

The problem with most of the reviews is that they shot JPEGs on default settings. The E-300 doesn't do this will it must be said. However, shoot RAW and process using RawShooter and the results are fantastic.

 

As regards lenses, the current range might be limited but at least you know that every single lens was designed for the 4/3rds sensor. Also, just how many lenses do people actually buy? Plus Olympus will GIVE you, for free, a 4/3 -> OM adapter to allow you to use manual Olympus Zuiko lenses. Plus, if you decide you want to spend some big money on serious lenses then Olympus will provide you with the fastest standard zoom ever made (35mm equiv 28mm-70mm f/2.0). No one else will do that. If you want to go the other way and buy cheaper 3rd party lenses then Sigma have a few available and because they are part of the 4/3rds consortium the lenses are engineered from specifications (Sigma have to use reverse engineering techniques to make Canon compatible lenses for example).

 

All in all I'd say it's a great digital system with some unique features e.g. automatic dust removal. The latest firmware adds features that were missing initially such as support for very fast compact flash cards and mirror lock up as well.

 

Olympus don't have any kind of image stabilization at the moment though. IS is an alternative to a monopod though, not an alternative to a fast lens!

 

Good luck choosing.

Whether you think something looks nice or ugly is down personal taste. I think the D70 looks ugly because of that red bit on it but it wouldn't have stopped me buying it though were I considering it though.

I think it's a great camera. Does what I need it to and delivers the results.<div></div>

Slightly off-topic but back in the 80s if you wanted the top-end Macintosh computer of the day, at one point it was cheaper to fly to New York on _Concorde_ for the weekend and buy one there than it was to pay the RRP in the UK.

It's pretty simple. The 10D is better than the 300D in every respect ergo it is a better camera. The 300D cannot possibly "suit you better" than a 10D but it may "suit you well enough".

Hi,

I have an SCA 3101 adapter coupled with a Metz 40MZ1 flashgun on my

Canon EOS 1. I have the instructions for the flashgun but none for

the adapter. Metz Germany have been very helpful but cannot provide

instructions for me. They referred me to the UK distributor

(Hasselblad) who have failed to respond at all. Can anyone help? I

just need to know what the 3 switches on there do. I've figured out

one *must* be 1st or 2nd curtain synch but what about the other two?

 

Cheers

Brad

I don't mean to be rude but how the hell would a macro lens improve the manual controls, handling or build quality of a camera body?

 

Also, I'm not aware of the currency symbol /- : What does it mean? (please excuse my ignorance).

Yakim, not a 50mm Mk II surely? You must mean a Mark 1?

Hmmmm, seems I shall have to make my attempts at humor more obvious. I thought the <troll> tags around my "better camera" comment would make it obvious I was just mucking about.

Daniel Taylor said...

 

"There's no comparing my film scans with my 10D images in terms of noise."

 

Is a digital image, for viewing on a monitor your end goal? If so then yes, by all means compare a digital camera image with one scanned from film but be sure you have a decent scanner otherwise it's not a fair comparison.

 

however, if you're after a print as your end result then you ought to compare the best digital print you can get from the digital camera with the best cibachrome print you can get from your Provia or Velvia and see which you like the best.

 

Brad

Peak imaging (http://www.peak-imaging.co.uk) will do up to 30 x 24 inches. However, they list the maximum print size for your camera's resolution as 10 x 8 inches at 300 points per inch (the standard 'acceptible' resolution of a printed image). You'd have to make your image bigger in software before sending it to them I think and then of course you're just making up image info that isn't really there.

 

<Troll mode on - Preparing to be flamed>

I think if you wanted images larger than A4 you should perhaps have bought a better camera. ;-)

<Troll mode off>