I have had my Olympus E-510 for over a year now, and I can say it has served me well. From time to time people ask me why I chose to go with Olympus for my DSLR purchase. There were a couple of factors at work. The kit I purchased (E-510 with two lenses) was very competitively priced compared to what Canon and Nikon had to offer. To get comparable equipment from the other two would have cost me a few hundred dollars more. Sensor resolution (10MP) was the same as the other two manufacturers. And then there was the big deciding factor – image stabilization. Olympus was the first with IS for their DSLR cameras. You had to buy the 510 to get it, but it was there. Even better, it is in-camera. That means the lenses don’t cost extra if you want IS (or VR) in them. That really helped frame my opinion up front. But this wasn’t (to me) a small purchase.
Wolf Camera, in conjunction with Olympus, had a special deal going where you could “borrow” a camera (E-400 or E-510) for a weekend to take some pictures and see what you thought. I jumped at that chance. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, they were out of the 510s. I took the 400 home for the weekend and really enjoyed shooting with it. I must admit, I was intimidated by making the jump from my P&S (Canon Powershot G5) to a full on DSLR. But I had a good weekend of shooting, and decided what the heck.
I then started doing my research online. I found the 510 for an even better price from B&H Photo/ Video. Fortunately for me, the manager at Wolf decided to match the prices I found at B&H when I was ready to walk out the door. That willingness to eat the margin a bit also meant I will buy from them in the future – mostly prints and stuff I think.
Now that I have had this camera for roughly a year, I naturally have my list of likes and dislikes about it.
Likes:
- Lightweight (in my camera/ laptop backpack, this hardly adds any weight)
- Great image quality (never had an issue with the image quality)
- Sensor cleaning (the sensor cleaning system seems to work well, don’t see any problems in my images)
- Kit lenses are good quality (I wouldn’t know what ‘great’ glass is, but these do everything I ask)
- Live view (even if I never use it)
Dislikes:
- Limited EV bracketing (3 shots, in one stop increments)
- Unique Olympus USB connector (cables are more expensive and harder to find)
- No tilt/ swivel LCD (was useful on my G5)
- Requirement of Oly xD card for pano mode (I can take panos manually and stitch in something else though)
- “Live capture” software has additional $$ cost
- FL-36 (seriously, why did they even build/ sell this?)
All in all, I can’t say I made a very poor decision in buying this Olympus. It continues to serve me well. That said, Olympus as a whole doesn’t seem to be very innovative at the moment. This worries me. I don’t have a huge investment in Olympus glass and gear, but it would be nice if they had an upgrade path that looked enticing. Compared to what I am seeing from Canon and Nikon, Olympus has a lot of catch up to do. I am not ready to upgrade just yet, so this isn’t of immediate concern. Who knows, maybe they do have something impressive in the works. They need to. The E-3 is outdated now, and the E-30 is not even close to being an evolution.
DIY Reflector-Diffuser
The Finn Bounce
Why I want an Olympus E-30 DSLR
In the DSLR world, most people think that there are just two brands – Canon and Nikon. They find it quite easy to forget about the other players in the market – Sony, Pentax, Olympus and others. I have never really understood why it is so easy to dismiss these other manufacturers. In fact, the Zuiko lenses from Olympus have long been regarded as some of the finest glass around.
I don’t know that I would say I take offense to this dismissiveness, but I guess I do. Back when I started shopping for a DSLR to move up from my Canon G5 point and shoot (a VERY capable camera I might add), I looked at Canon and Nikon. And then I participated in a test drive event Olympus sponsored. I took home an E-500 for a weekend and was hooked. Shortly thereafter, I bought an E-510 kit that included 2 lenses. Since then, I have created some stunning images that get rave reviews. I even put them up for sale, that’s how confident I am of the work. I have done headshots, portraits, landscapes, product photos, all with my E-510. None of my clients have complained in the least.
Why then is it time to upgrade? More importantly, why do I want an Olympus E-30? Well, it’s time. As noted before, I am looking to ramp up how much I shoot. In that respect, having a second body is always a good idea. Once I start my schedule of team photos, there is no way I can be out of commission if something goes wrong with my only camera. So this is indeed a primary driver.
My photography is continuing to evolve though, and this is really why I am looking to upgrade my camera. I love taking HDR pictures. Sadly, Olympus elected to not update the 510 firmware to allow for the kind of EV bracketing that is ideal for HDR captures. The E-30 is well suited to this, allowing a 5 frame, 1 sec burst that will be perfect for HDR. Overall, the upgrade in frames per second from 3 on the 510 to 5 on the E-30 should help with taking pictures of my daughter, as well as the various sports I take pics of during the summer (baseball, softball) here in Colorado.
The increased megapixels will be nice, but not necessary. The ability to interact with the Olympus Radio system for flashes would be nice too, but I already make do with Cactus triggers (and manufacturer flashes in general are way too expensive). Simply put, I am taking my photography far more seriously, and I want a camera that can keep up. Sure, I could switch systems to Canon or Nikon, but right now I don’t see the point. I think the Olympus E-30 will work just fine for me.