Micro 4/3 Go or no go

ronyzmbow

New Member
I am using Olympus DSLR for a long time. Today I use E-1 with 14-54 lens plus 40-150 mk. 2 and 35 Macro. Used to own also E-520.
I feel the need for higher megapixel sensor but love my E-1 and also invested in my past lenses ans a flash. Recently started to read about the Micro 4-3 and have a line of questions-

1.How good are the 4-3 lenses on a Micro 4-3 camera? Will I feel difference in focusing speed?
2. I can get a PEN E-PL1 for a very good price and a PEN E-PL2 for about 20% more. Is there a big difference between the two? Is there a difference in IQ?
3. Kit lens 14-42 old and new version - is the new one a big improvement over the old?
3. How important is the feature of being able to change the aspect ratio in a camera?

Anyway something that bothers me a lot is the prices of the new Micro 4-3 lenses - why are they so high?

Or should I just stay with the regular Olympus 4-3 and look for a secondhand E-620?

Decisions, decisions...
 
I haven't used an Oly DSLR, but I assume they focus very quickly as most quality DSLRs do. The newest m43 cameras (the EP3, EPL3, EPM1, and Panasonic GH2, G3, GF3, and GX1) also focus very very quickly. You probably won't feel any real difference in single shot focussing speed - they might even be a bit faster, depending on the lens used. But they're not in DSLR territory when it comes to burst mode shooting, or at least AF during burst mode shooting, so if that matters to you, you're likely to see some degradation. The lenses are getting very good in the m43 line - I don't know that they're quite AS good as their DSLR lenses, but there are now a variety of primes and zooms to fit nearly any taste or budget. In terms of the EPL1 and EPL2, the reason you can get them for a very good price is that they're now, suddenly, a bit dated. Their IQ is very good, basically the same as the new Olympus models, not quite as much resolution or low light sensitivity as the newest Panasonic models. But in terms of auto-focus speed, the EPL1 is MUCH slower than the new cameras and the EPL2 is somewhere in between the EPL1 and the new cameras - it was the first Olympus m43 camera to get a little bit faster and start to compete on that field with the Panasonic cameras of last year (amazing we're talking such a short time ago, but that's how fast the advances in mirrorless cameras are coming!), but its still not on part with the newest cameras, which finally make single shot AF speed a non-issue relative to basically any other cameras out there.

The new kit lenses are supposed to be faster to focus, but it depends on the body being used. None of the kit lenses are wonderful, but they're all pretty competent, kind of like most kit lenses for most cameras. As to being able to change the aspect ratio, you can do that on any of the cameras, but with the Panasonic GH2, you can do it without losing resolution because its actually a larger sensor so that it can change aspect ratios at full resolution. I do it on the other cameras without any problems, but its essentially a "pre-crop" of your image. Whether the ability to change aspect ratios is totally a matter of whether you WANT to be able to or not.

-Ray
 
Welcome to the forum!

(1) 4/3 lenses AF slowly on most m4/3 camera bodies. I've tried a variety of Oly 4/3 lenses (including the 14-54 mk1, and 40-150) on the EP2 and GH2. None of them AF with a speed that I found acceptable to me. I have seen on Youtube some Panasonic 4/3 lenses AF at decent speeds though. I believe the Panasonic-Leica 25mm is one of them.

(2)(3)(3b) Ray took care of those already.

I think the prices will eventually go down as the system matures further. The system is perhaps 3 years old. As with most new things, there is a premium to pay when new.

A second hand E620 is pretty inexpensive nowadays. But I believe the E1 is/was supposed to have been a higher grade camera than the E620. Perhaps more of an E3/5 equivalent?
 
Back
Top