The story of my E-500
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microcosm
Senior Member
I guess I am much more fortunate than you guys. My story is pretty incredible in a way, and thank God for the blessings.
When I was little and I had a neighbour who carries big bags to work everyday. He was a photojournalist. He once took a picture of me, went into his room to develop it and showed me a picture of me hours later...and I thought it was some magic! And the world became black and white. Wow! That was in the late 70s.
The camera system was based on the famous Nikon F2AS. One of the spare F2AS became MY camera soon after. He let me hold on to one with a 35mm lens and told me to shoot pictures and show him. And since he developed his own images, and film rolls were for free (from the papers he worked for), I got into this without cost, so to speak.
Then came the teenage years, I was in art school, shooting events over weekends, and my Nikon collection grew... I owned FM2 with motordrive, F801s, F4s, a lot of primes, and was very much a Nikon shooter. Then came my assistant work with a famous still/product photographer, and the Hasselblad world opened its doors to me. Suddenly I am sucked into the world of medium format. I then owned Bronica ETRSi, Mamiya 645 and had access to the master's Hassy collection. (Still hoping to own a digital back for the Mamiya 645, for I really love the 645 format).
Here comes the relevant one... Olympus. I was shopping for Digital, and knew that digital is the future, but I did not want to simply blow my hard earned money, so I got a prosumer to test. At that time, pro cameras were only offering meagre resolution, so I knew it was not time. So I bought a prosumer to get a feel about digital photography and learnt how Photoshop worked in the new workflow. That was in 1997.
It was in Japan when I chanced upon an exhibition. The show was amazing. We walked into an empty gallery and everyone was waiting for the show to happen, but all were wondering what happened to the images since this was a photo exhibition! Then came the photographer grinning. He did his welcome speech and told us he wanted his show to be different. Behind him came the sponsors... a few large format printers. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some CF cards, and said that he will now print out the images live.
And wow!! Those colours, those richness! I was totally blown away. Only when the last image was hung, the biggest sponsor's poster came out. Olympus E-1 with Zuiko Digital lenses. The Oly rep then talked about why Olympus re-designed the system and how in digital, the way light goes through lenses and falling onto sensor should be handled differently from film photography. I was mesmerised. I looked at all the images again... no Photoshop?? Wow... wow... wow... this is it... a digital camera system that behaves closer to film camera system. But I had all my Nikon... arrgghh... and obviously, looking at the legacy and innovations of Olympus through the years, these folks knew what they were talking about.
Took me 2 years to finally decide to painfully give up all my Nikon lens collection together with the bodies. All of it. I looked and looked at Nikon DSLR images and made comparisons over time, and heard from the professionals about the work flow, and realised that Nikon's directions were not for me.
What happened to Canon? I believe in legacy of companies and therefore while I look up to companies like Leica and Zeiss for having a real legacy in optics and camera making, Canon was very very far away... therefore I wrote them off at an early stage, seeing how their digital processing engines were making photos very weird.
And seeing the E-300 (I loved it!!) I thought that it was some serious innovation and clever design! But of course, I was not that pleased later when I owned one and decided that the viewfinder is a little too dark. But the E-1... oh my... even today with the release of the E-410, I still cannot put down the E-1 when I am shooting. It is really one of a kind. The ergonomics, the way it handles and feels in my hands. The way it captures and renders images on the sensors. This is one beautiful camera body. And for those who are wondering about "what about 5MP sensor?"... well, a good 5MP image is more than enough for magazine covers, so my editors are not really whining about it. And designers hate me because they cannot just crop out the image like they wish they could. So what I shoot, they accepted and worked with it. Which tuned out to be a blessing. I really don't like designers who try to be a little too clever.
Did I mention the mirror slap sound? The E-1 has to be the most polite professional DSLR camera on earth. You have to hear it to understand what I am saying. LOL.
Now I wait patiently for the new pro body. She is going to prove to be a real darling. It is only then my tired and overworked E-1 can be finally rested in the comfort of her own dry cab.
When I was little and I had a neighbour who carries big bags to work everyday. He was a photojournalist. He once took a picture of me, went into his room to develop it and showed me a picture of me hours later...and I thought it was some magic! And the world became black and white. Wow! That was in the late 70s.
The camera system was based on the famous Nikon F2AS. One of the spare F2AS became MY camera soon after. He let me hold on to one with a 35mm lens and told me to shoot pictures and show him. And since he developed his own images, and film rolls were for free (from the papers he worked for), I got into this without cost, so to speak.
Then came the teenage years, I was in art school, shooting events over weekends, and my Nikon collection grew... I owned FM2 with motordrive, F801s, F4s, a lot of primes, and was very much a Nikon shooter. Then came my assistant work with a famous still/product photographer, and the Hasselblad world opened its doors to me. Suddenly I am sucked into the world of medium format. I then owned Bronica ETRSi, Mamiya 645 and had access to the master's Hassy collection. (Still hoping to own a digital back for the Mamiya 645, for I really love the 645 format).
Here comes the relevant one... Olympus. I was shopping for Digital, and knew that digital is the future, but I did not want to simply blow my hard earned money, so I got a prosumer to test. At that time, pro cameras were only offering meagre resolution, so I knew it was not time. So I bought a prosumer to get a feel about digital photography and learnt how Photoshop worked in the new workflow. That was in 1997.
It was in Japan when I chanced upon an exhibition. The show was amazing. We walked into an empty gallery and everyone was waiting for the show to happen, but all were wondering what happened to the images since this was a photo exhibition! Then came the photographer grinning. He did his welcome speech and told us he wanted his show to be different. Behind him came the sponsors... a few large format printers. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some CF cards, and said that he will now print out the images live.
And wow!! Those colours, those richness! I was totally blown away. Only when the last image was hung, the biggest sponsor's poster came out. Olympus E-1 with Zuiko Digital lenses. The Oly rep then talked about why Olympus re-designed the system and how in digital, the way light goes through lenses and falling onto sensor should be handled differently from film photography. I was mesmerised. I looked at all the images again... no Photoshop?? Wow... wow... wow... this is it... a digital camera system that behaves closer to film camera system. But I had all my Nikon... arrgghh... and obviously, looking at the legacy and innovations of Olympus through the years, these folks knew what they were talking about.
Took me 2 years to finally decide to painfully give up all my Nikon lens collection together with the bodies. All of it. I looked and looked at Nikon DSLR images and made comparisons over time, and heard from the professionals about the work flow, and realised that Nikon's directions were not for me.
What happened to Canon? I believe in legacy of companies and therefore while I look up to companies like Leica and Zeiss for having a real legacy in optics and camera making, Canon was very very far away... therefore I wrote them off at an early stage, seeing how their digital processing engines were making photos very weird.
And seeing the E-300 (I loved it!!) I thought that it was some serious innovation and clever design! But of course, I was not that pleased later when I owned one and decided that the viewfinder is a little too dark. But the E-1... oh my... even today with the release of the E-410, I still cannot put down the E-1 when I am shooting. It is really one of a kind. The ergonomics, the way it handles and feels in my hands. The way it captures and renders images on the sensors. This is one beautiful camera body. And for those who are wondering about "what about 5MP sensor?"... well, a good 5MP image is more than enough for magazine covers, so my editors are not really whining about it. And designers hate me because they cannot just crop out the image like they wish they could. So what I shoot, they accepted and worked with it. Which tuned out to be a blessing. I really don't like designers who try to be a little too clever.
Did I mention the mirror slap sound? The E-1 has to be the most polite professional DSLR camera on earth. You have to hear it to understand what I am saying. LOL.
Now I wait patiently for the new pro body. She is going to prove to be a real darling. It is only then my tired and overworked E-1 can be finally rested in the comfort of her own dry cab.
phew!!! all these stories.........make me read reviews at DPreviews all over again....yes i truly agree that olympus have the best colours....it makes me wanna switch but reviews aint enough brudders.....i need to rent one and try for myself and compare....any one can lend me yours??
microcosm
Senior Member
OK, I will put you in my will. But you will have to wait ok? Or if you can't... then see you at one of our kopi sessions. Cheers. :bsmilie:
so when the kopi session will be???:think:
microcosm
Senior Member
e 1
There is one on th e 19th May at f-stop cafe at Boat Quay. Attendance is pretty full now, but still feel free to come by and hang out with the guys. 7:00pm.
There is one on th e 19th May at f-stop cafe at Boat Quay. Attendance is pretty full now, but still feel free to come by and hang out with the guys. 7:00pm.
nightpiper
Senior Member
what a pity... the old Nikkors still can pull a few good ones out of the E1. i was a Nikon user too & also realised that in the digital realm, it is not the road for me to tread. :sweat:
microcosm
Senior Member
Don't remind me. (grabs chest due to sudden stabbing pain)...
But interestingly, when I was selling off the Nikkors, the prices that I was getting (they were sold to a collector) could have converted me to a couple of Leica R primes. But of course, I decided that convenience is prime importance to me (in a way). Shooting on a dedicated system has its plus points. It boils down to every individual's style of shooting I guess.
Great to see you putting those old Nikkors to good use. With Leica releasing the R adapters for 4/3, I am very tempted to get the legendary 85mm f1.4... but of course, I won't. Not at the moment at least, until I am sure the new EP-1 has a bright viewfinder equal or brighter than the E-1. Or else focusing will be a nightmare.
Interesting you mentioned about the S3 Pro. I was so tempted to buy that body when it was released. But I felt that the Olympus System is truly a SYSTEM. Especially when you have a marriage of the pro body and High Grade lenses and up. (Weatherproofing, weight, picture quality and price). And to know that I am able to cover any shooting situation with a couple of lenses, all in a kit bag not weighing over 5kg is comforting.
SleepingIdol
Member
wrx_sti_22b
Senior Member
Wow... nice thread... :thumbsup: I enjoyed reading this thread... nice to read other ppl's story, without seeing / reading all the quarrels & arguements...:sweatsm:
wrx_sti_22b
Senior Member
I tell you... i heard from friends... actually personally heard it from friends... the salesman in those shops recommending Olympus FE series of compact cameras as an affordable high performance good buy... :dunno:
My first DSLR was a Pentax DS. I wanted something relatively small and light, and at that time of release, there was no competition (that was before the era of the Oly E500, Nikon D40 and Canon 350D). But after several months of usage, I found the jpeg quality to be very poor in terms of sharpness, up to the point I thought the camera had focusing issues.
The Canon 350D was released then. A friend bought it and I borrowed it for testing. Was very impressed. Focusing was fast and good. High ISO at 1600 was absolutely brilliant. Jpeg sharpness was stunning. And now, I have access to IS and USM enabled lenses. Nikon did not offer anything small and light at that time. So, I went for the 350D. And now, I have a small collection of Canon lenses. Dust was never a big deal.
However, if I am starting from scratch now, I will aim for the Oly E510. It has in-camera stabilization. And from early preview shots taken with the E410, the high ISO shots look pretty good if NR is taken off. Looks like the new Panasonic NMOS sensor is making big improvements. Live preview is not important to me. Lenses that I will get include the 12-60 f/2.8-4 (finally with SWD, Oly's equivalent to ultrasonic motors), 70-300 f/4-5.6 and 100 f/2.8 macro (still waiting for Oly to announce). All these lenses are on the roadmap, but not released yet.
G'day to all from downunder,
This interesting thread has lead me to making a post.
I was a photographer in the RAAF, upon discharge I started a wedding photography business which was really in demand and gave me more than a decent income. My wife suffered from asthma which lead me to migrate interstate looking for a more suitable climate, I then ventured into another business, that was 29 years ago and I never picked up another camera until just recently. The camera I was using back in those days was a Leica M2 with 35/50/90 Leica lenses, still have this camera and lenses in my safe.
My Grand-daughter recently married and my Son who had only just bought an E500 suggested I use it to take some shots. I did not know one thing about the camera, just stuck it on auto and took around sixty shots, well, the shots taken were nothing short of sensational, really gave me a shock. I transferred the Jpg images to my computer and used Photoshop to edit and crop, I spent around an hour all up. After sending the finished photo's to my G/D, she and almost everyone in the photo's described the photo's as awesome, awesome is not a word used in my younger days. This experience has sparked a renewed interest in photography.
My Son initially bought the camera to take with him on his trip to Germany ..but.. it was to big so he decided to leave it at home and bought a small 12Mp P/S. Upon his return he said he was going to sell the E500 because it was far beyond his expertise and he preferred to carry a small P/S instead, naturally I took it off his hands for the price he paid.
PhotoShop is light years away from a darkroom and the camera really does produce truely nice pictures, the next time I use it, I will be using it in manual mode. Since I now own that camera all I needed was a good flashlight. I found the [OEM flashlights grossly overpriced] so I opted for a Vivitar 285HV (<$100) or around 20% of the price of the top Olympus flash, it will more than satisfy my needs.
I really cannot understand why anyone would be envious of someone with a Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony or whatever. If you cannot produce good quality photographs with the E500, I very much doubt you will be able to by simply buying an expensive pro so called camera. I note from other forums I have visited, a lot of people buy a top of the line Canon and immediately consider themselves pro photographers, simply because they can produce a decent picture .... be assured it is not quite that simple.
Going back to an earlier statement, I have not had a camera in my hands for 29 years, never used a digital camera before, used the E500 with kit lens 17-45mm in auto with the built in flash and every shot taken was a winner .... to me it is a quality piece of equipment.
On the 18th of this month my wife and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniverary and because of the decision to move interstate, my wifes asthma no longer exists, I am now the one with all the problems. I had spinal surgery that didn't go as planned and these days I get to spend a lot of time lying on my back and a couple of years back, I had a triple by-pass. This is a complete reversal of our younger days, strange how old age can completely turn things around.
Anyway that's my story, hope some of my comments will help people appreciate the camera they have. I must admit, I would dearly like to own the 12-60mm lens, however, it is completely beyond my reach.
Comments within this thread lead me to believe I may be able to use my Leica bayonet lenses with the E500, is this a possibilty ?
This interesting thread has lead me to making a post.
I was a photographer in the RAAF, upon discharge I started a wedding photography business which was really in demand and gave me more than a decent income. My wife suffered from asthma which lead me to migrate interstate looking for a more suitable climate, I then ventured into another business, that was 29 years ago and I never picked up another camera until just recently. The camera I was using back in those days was a Leica M2 with 35/50/90 Leica lenses, still have this camera and lenses in my safe.
My Grand-daughter recently married and my Son who had only just bought an E500 suggested I use it to take some shots. I did not know one thing about the camera, just stuck it on auto and took around sixty shots, well, the shots taken were nothing short of sensational, really gave me a shock. I transferred the Jpg images to my computer and used Photoshop to edit and crop, I spent around an hour all up. After sending the finished photo's to my G/D, she and almost everyone in the photo's described the photo's as awesome, awesome is not a word used in my younger days. This experience has sparked a renewed interest in photography.
My Son initially bought the camera to take with him on his trip to Germany ..but.. it was to big so he decided to leave it at home and bought a small 12Mp P/S. Upon his return he said he was going to sell the E500 because it was far beyond his expertise and he preferred to carry a small P/S instead, naturally I took it off his hands for the price he paid.
PhotoShop is light years away from a darkroom and the camera really does produce truely nice pictures, the next time I use it, I will be using it in manual mode. Since I now own that camera all I needed was a good flashlight. I found the [OEM flashlights grossly overpriced] so I opted for a Vivitar 285HV (<$100) or around 20% of the price of the top Olympus flash, it will more than satisfy my needs.
I really cannot understand why anyone would be envious of someone with a Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony or whatever. If you cannot produce good quality photographs with the E500, I very much doubt you will be able to by simply buying an expensive pro so called camera. I note from other forums I have visited, a lot of people buy a top of the line Canon and immediately consider themselves pro photographers, simply because they can produce a decent picture .... be assured it is not quite that simple.
Going back to an earlier statement, I have not had a camera in my hands for 29 years, never used a digital camera before, used the E500 with kit lens 17-45mm in auto with the built in flash and every shot taken was a winner .... to me it is a quality piece of equipment.
On the 18th of this month my wife and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniverary and because of the decision to move interstate, my wifes asthma no longer exists, I am now the one with all the problems. I had spinal surgery that didn't go as planned and these days I get to spend a lot of time lying on my back and a couple of years back, I had a triple by-pass. This is a complete reversal of our younger days, strange how old age can completely turn things around.
Anyway that's my story, hope some of my comments will help people appreciate the camera they have. I must admit, I would dearly like to own the 12-60mm lens, however, it is completely beyond my reach.
Comments within this thread lead me to believe I may be able to use my Leica bayonet lenses with the E500, is this a possibilty ?
Last edited:
microcosm
Senior Member
A great story that you have shared... thank you... like you, it was the E-System that rekindled my passion towards (D)SLRs again... I was shooting medium format after my "fling" with Nikon SLRs in the film days.
Lucky you, having your own Leica lens, and yes, you can get an adaptor and use the 4/3 cameras (in your case, the E-500). They are available easily in good camera stores in Australia (I think) or else, try the always trustworthy Ebay.
Happy shooting, waiting to see you post some of your works.
Thank you for those kind words and the confirming I can buy an adaptor to fit the Leica lenses to the E500.
I happened to stumble across an Olympus artical about problems with the 12-60mm lens, if any member has this lens it will be in your interest to see what they have to say:
http://www.olympus.com.au/content/view/174/51
Cheers from downunder.
I happened to stumble across an Olympus artical about problems with the 12-60mm lens, if any member has this lens it will be in your interest to see what they have to say:
http://www.olympus.com.au/content/view/174/51
Cheers from downunder.
dorts
Senior Member
Haha. That problem was resolved a long long time ago. ;p
Hi Blinky88,
First, I'd like to say welcome to ClubSnap and to the Oly community. I feel really honoured by you, diging out this more than one year old thread. Especially honoured by the fact that your first post is posted as a response in this thread.
Thank you for sharing your story. Very interesting read. I am happy that all went well for your wife, less happy about your health. I can just say that interpreting your condition there is another argument for the Olympus system, that is the weight. I suppose you are not happy about having to carry heavy lenses and cameras. OK, the E-4xx is even smaller and lighter, but the E-500 is not bad at all.
As for the question regarding the Leica lenses, yes they can be used on any 4/3 camera. There is just one 'BUT'. That is the E-500 (and the other consumer level) cameras view finder. Some people find manual focus a bit difficult through the VF. If your eye sight is good enough and you don't expect to use the lenses for action than it should work out fine. I never really had problems with my camera and my manual lenses, I have OM, PK, M42 and Nikkor lenses, all work fine. If you are not sure, one single adapter costs about US$20, so it is not a big deal if you can't use your manual lenses. I always buy adapters via eBay and so far I only have positive experiences from every one of my sellers. You can also buy chipped adapters. These are more expensive, but will let you get focus confirmation beep and LED indication, just like any AF lens, except that your hands work as AF motor. These are functionally very reliable, but not always mechanically very well build.
BTW, my story with the E-500 has come to an end in February 2008. I sold the camera to a work mate together with my 14-45 kit zoom. He is still a happy user of the camera and the lens, and we are still in speaking terms.
Personally I moved on to the E-3. The other major upgrade I have done is that I bought a 14-54 in June 2007, which I am also very happy with. I am about to buy the 50-200 SWD, but can not make up my mind. I don't know if Olympus will continue to support the lens or not. The fact that there is no new firmware to enable contrast focusing worries me a bit. All new cameras have that feature and some lenses got an update. If I am going to invest such amount in one single lens, I have to know if it is supported for the next generation camera body as well. I am not a pro, and even if my photography as hobby is more than well pay off through my images, I can not spend that amount on a lens unless I know I have full use on the next E-X body as well.
Anyway, I wish you good luck with the E-500, it is really a nice camera until you need to use ISO above 400.
I dont know the flash you bought, but I think you should find out if it has high trigger voltage or not. While not clearly documented by Olympus, the general concensus is that only flashes with low trigger voltage should be used. Some people say they use high voltage flashes, but that information is from the Internet, so take it with a grain of salt. According to me, its better to be safe than sorry, so I dont think it is advisable to use those flashes.
The lens you have is the cheapest and the worse kit zoom Olympus ever made. I have one such lens as well, but while the image may be OK, the AF motor is really painfully slow. Of course, generally any AF is faster than manual focus, regardless what some people say. If you ever consider to buy a new lens, the 14-42 is a very good light weight alternative. It is both higher quality and a bit wider, which is good, but also a bit shorter which is not good. If your budget allows and you are not bothered by the weight than the 14-54 is the best short zoom lens for the camera. The 12-60 is just too large, heavy and expensive. It is also slower aperture wise and the focus speed advantages (if there are any) are not noticeable on the E-500. Remember, the SWD lenses are mainly made for the E-3.
Another advice regarding the E-500 is to only use the centre AF point and use the camera in S-AF mode also. Also, if you ever want really very high technical quality images than you should shoot in raw, use Olympus Master 2 to convert to JPEG (or TIFF) and then you can edit in Photoshop. There is quite a bit of difference, and if you think the camera creates great JPEG images, through raw (ORF) you will get even better results.
Anyway, once again good luck, welcome to CS and don't forget to post some images.
First, I'd like to say welcome to ClubSnap and to the Oly community. I feel really honoured by you, diging out this more than one year old thread. Especially honoured by the fact that your first post is posted as a response in this thread.
Thank you for sharing your story. Very interesting read. I am happy that all went well for your wife, less happy about your health. I can just say that interpreting your condition there is another argument for the Olympus system, that is the weight. I suppose you are not happy about having to carry heavy lenses and cameras. OK, the E-4xx is even smaller and lighter, but the E-500 is not bad at all.
As for the question regarding the Leica lenses, yes they can be used on any 4/3 camera. There is just one 'BUT'. That is the E-500 (and the other consumer level) cameras view finder. Some people find manual focus a bit difficult through the VF. If your eye sight is good enough and you don't expect to use the lenses for action than it should work out fine. I never really had problems with my camera and my manual lenses, I have OM, PK, M42 and Nikkor lenses, all work fine. If you are not sure, one single adapter costs about US$20, so it is not a big deal if you can't use your manual lenses. I always buy adapters via eBay and so far I only have positive experiences from every one of my sellers. You can also buy chipped adapters. These are more expensive, but will let you get focus confirmation beep and LED indication, just like any AF lens, except that your hands work as AF motor. These are functionally very reliable, but not always mechanically very well build.
BTW, my story with the E-500 has come to an end in February 2008. I sold the camera to a work mate together with my 14-45 kit zoom. He is still a happy user of the camera and the lens, and we are still in speaking terms.
Personally I moved on to the E-3. The other major upgrade I have done is that I bought a 14-54 in June 2007, which I am also very happy with. I am about to buy the 50-200 SWD, but can not make up my mind. I don't know if Olympus will continue to support the lens or not. The fact that there is no new firmware to enable contrast focusing worries me a bit. All new cameras have that feature and some lenses got an update. If I am going to invest such amount in one single lens, I have to know if it is supported for the next generation camera body as well. I am not a pro, and even if my photography as hobby is more than well pay off through my images, I can not spend that amount on a lens unless I know I have full use on the next E-X body as well.Anyway, I wish you good luck with the E-500, it is really a nice camera until you need to use ISO above 400.
I dont know the flash you bought, but I think you should find out if it has high trigger voltage or not. While not clearly documented by Olympus, the general concensus is that only flashes with low trigger voltage should be used. Some people say they use high voltage flashes, but that information is from the Internet, so take it with a grain of salt. According to me, its better to be safe than sorry, so I dont think it is advisable to use those flashes.
The lens you have is the cheapest and the worse kit zoom Olympus ever made. I have one such lens as well, but while the image may be OK, the AF motor is really painfully slow. Of course, generally any AF is faster than manual focus, regardless what some people say. If you ever consider to buy a new lens, the 14-42 is a very good light weight alternative. It is both higher quality and a bit wider, which is good, but also a bit shorter which is not good. If your budget allows and you are not bothered by the weight than the 14-54 is the best short zoom lens for the camera. The 12-60 is just too large, heavy and expensive. It is also slower aperture wise and the focus speed advantages (if there are any) are not noticeable on the E-500. Remember, the SWD lenses are mainly made for the E-3.
Another advice regarding the E-500 is to only use the centre AF point and use the camera in S-AF mode also. Also, if you ever want really very high technical quality images than you should shoot in raw, use Olympus Master 2 to convert to JPEG (or TIFF) and then you can edit in Photoshop. There is quite a bit of difference, and if you think the camera creates great JPEG images, through raw (ORF) you will get even better results.
Anyway, once again good luck, welcome to CS and don't forget to post some images.
Oi.....I thought u have E3? U still using the E1??!!
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