Changes in my photography life - so to speak....

[Liz]

First try with the 50mm/f2 this afternoon. I haven't time to upload images, but wanted to share my initial impression.

I did get some nice sharp images with fine color (indoors available light). However, unless it's my copy, this lens is very slow - and continuously hunts. Also, I might add that I've gotten smoother bokeh with the 20mm/f1.7. I'm not sure it's worth the $450 price for me personally. But it was only my first try. It doesn't compare to the Canon 50mm/f1.4 which is $100 less.

We'll see.

Liz

[Photo-John]

I did get some nice sharp images with fine color (indoors available light). However, unless it's my copy, this lens is very slow - and continuously hunts. Also, I might add that I've gotten smoother bokeh with the 20mm/f1.7. I'm not sure it's worth the $450 price for me personally. But it was only my first try. It doesn't compare to the Canon 50mm/f1.4 which is $100 less.

I'm not surprised that it's slower and I'm not surprised that the bokeh isn't quite as nice. Remember - the closer you get to your subject, the more out of focus the background will be.

Are you using it with the E-P1? Because the AF with the E-620 will be a world of difference. There are Four Thirds lenses that focus horribly on the Pen cameras but do just fine with an Olympus DSLR. The 50mm may be one of those.

[BlueRob]

Congrats Liz! As you may know by now I´m in a similar position, funny thing is that I also choose the XSi....I gave it a LOT of thought and research and it definitely seemed the right way to go according to my needs, its a small, light, featured packed camera for the money.
My Oly will need to go also...what pushed me to make the change was at the beginning the lack of IS which lead me to the E-520 or E-620, but then I realized that I really wanted a bigger viewfinder and also realized that I needed a good glass also....doing the math it was logic to change away my 4/3 system and look into something more appealing acording to my needs and taste...and there it was the XSi.

Upload some shots with the new puppy....I want to see and drool...I´ll have to wait until March to get my camera delivered It´s going to be a hard long time to wait.

[Liz]

I'm not surprised that it's slower and I'm not surprised that the bokeh isn't quite as nice. Remember - the closer you get to your subject, the more out of focus the background will be.

Are you using it with the E-P1? Because the AF with the E-620 will be a world of difference. There are Four Thirds lenses that focus horribly on the Pen cameras but do just fine with an Olympus DSLR. The 50mm may be one of those.

Yes, I'm using the E-P1. I did get close to the subjects, moved the subject further away fom the background. I tried just about everything. The biggest problem was the focusing, and hunting. The lens really had a problem and there was a lot of available light as it was a bright day outside.

I thought the slow focus wouldn't bother me so much, but it's constant.

The only lens I have now that works well in low light is the 20mm/f1.7 and I do a LOT of indoor and low light shots. I'm not sure the E-620 is the right choice for as much indoor shooting that I like to do from what I read on the Oly forum. I need to have at least one camera and a couple of lenses that will give me good results indoors along with good bokeh which is why I was looking for another camera ......back to square one!

Thanks for your input John.

Liz

[Photo-John]

The biggest problem was the focusing, and hunting. The lens really had a problem and there was a lot of available light as it was a bright day outside.

Seriously - that's partly the lens and partly the E-P1's contrast detect AF system. That lens will focus very differently on an E-620. I had the same experience with the Olympus 40-150mm Four Thirds lens. The auto focus was horrendous on the Pen cameras whereas with the E-620 it's fine. Not awesome - but fine. However, bokeh and depth-of-field will be exactly the same with both cameras.

[Sushigaijin]

Bummer that it's not working well on the m4/3, because it truly is my favorite 4/3 lens. I haven't had excessive focusing problems on either my e510 or my e3. It won't win any races, but it focuses fast enough. I usually shoot with center/large AF configuration with the 50 because it is slower than my SWD lenses, which I shoot with center/small.

The lens is truly sharp. I think the bokeh suffers a bit from being so sharp - I have nicest results at f/2-f/2.5. It IS sharp wide open, you won't need to stop down to get a nice sharp photo. By the time you get down to f/4.5, this could be the sharpest lens on any system, at any price. it's sharp.

I think a revision (mkII) wouldn't be a bad idea. Round aperture blades, a SWD system and a focus limiter (macro or standard) would all be welcome additions. At the same time they could improve the CDAF, it appears :cryin: .

Olympus seems to be on the brink of releasing some new gear, but that's just interweb conjecture. I'd love a 28/2 prime, and a 90/2.8 macro...In any case, you should really get an E620 in hand. It's SMALL.

[Liz]

Seriously - that's partly the lens and partly the E-P1's contrast detect AF system. That lens will focus very differently on an E-620. I had the same experience with the Olympus 40-150mm Four Thirds lens. The auto focus was horrendous on the Pen cameras whereas with the E-620 it's fine. Not awesome - but fine. However, bokeh and depth-of-field will be exactly the same with both cameras.

John,

I think the bokeh and dof are deal breakers for me - the very reason I began looking into the XSi. I am very impressed with the E-620 and almost switched over. However, I love the Canon 50mm/f1.4 - it was my favorite lens (even more so than some of the "L" lenses I owned). I was always so pleased with how easily I could get smooth bokeh on a portrait, flower, etc without much work with this lens.

I just want to say how much I appreciate all of your input - and am most grateful to everyone else who commented and encouraged me.

Also - I've pre-ordered the E-PL1 and look forward to using that as my every day camera. I do love the E-P1 I and the M4/3 system and have 3 lenses now so I will continue with this system at any rate. I wanted to avoid 2 systems, but after all of these years, Canon fits like a glove. I just have to watch the weight. So far I haven't been tempted to get any heavy lenses. :-)

Thanks!
Liz

[Liz]

Bummer that it's not working well on the m4/3, because it truly is my favorite 4/3 lens. I haven't had excessive focusing problems on either my e510 or my e3. It won't win any races, but it focuses fast enough. I usually shoot with center/large AF configuration with the 50 because it is slower than my SWD lenses, which I shoot with center/small.

The lens is truly sharp. I think the bokeh suffers a bit from being so sharp - I have nicest results at f/2-f/2.5. It IS sharp wide open, you won't need to stop down to get a nice sharp photo. By the time you get down to f/4.5, this could be the sharpest lens on any system, at any price. it's sharp.

I think a revision (mkII) wouldn't be a bad idea. Round aperture blades, a SWD system and a focus limiter (macro or standard) would all be welcome additions. At the same time they could improve the CDAF, it appears :cryin: .

Olympus seems to be on the brink of releasing some new gear, but that's just interweb conjecture. I'd love a 28/2 prime, and a 90/2.8 macro...In any case, you should really get an E620 in hand. It's SMALL.

Erik,

Thank you so much for your input and all the information you provided. As I said in my last post (to John), the dof and bokeh is the deal breaker for me.

I am going to purchase the XSi with the 18-55IS lens and then probably the 50mm/f1.4 (although I was looking at the 60mm/f2.8, I will probably stick with the 50). The XSi is actually 6 oz. lighter than the E-620 and the lenses I'm getting are also relatively light weight. I've used Canon all my photography life, so the learning curve won't be hard.

I also pre-ordered the E-PL1 to replace my LX3 as my every day camera - and I already have the 14-42, Panasonic 20mm/f1.7 and Oly 40-150 lens and adaptor. So I can still enjoy the beautiful IQ on that camera!

Thanks again....

Liz

[Liz]

Congrats Liz! As you may know by now I´m in a similar position, funny thing is that I also choose the XSi....I gave it a LOT of thought and research and it definitely seemed the right way to go according to my needs, its a small, light, featured packed camera for the money.
My Oly will need to go also...what pushed me to make the change was at the beginning the lack of IS which lead me to the E-520 or E-620, but then I realized that I really wanted a bigger viewfinder and also realized that I needed a good glass also....doing the math it was logic to change away my 4/3 system and look into something more appealing acording to my needs and taste...and there it was the XSi.

Upload some shots with the new puppy....I want to see and drool...I´ll have to wait until March to get my camera delivered It´s going to be a hard long time to wait.

BlueRob,

Thank you! I'm sorry I did not get back to your post as I wanted to reply. After reading some great input, suggestions and information from different people here, I was leaning more toward going for the E-620 for a while and had to wrestle with the decision once again. The two are both great cameras; however, for the dof and bokeh - and my years with Canon, I decided to go back to my original plan to purchase the XSi. I'm going to get the 50mm/f1.4 along with the kit lens because it's only $65 more than the body and it looks like a decent lens (plus it's IS).

I'm selling the E-P1 and LX3 and purchasing the E-PL1 for my carry-with-me every day camera. It's very close to the E-P1 so I will benefit because I already have 3 lenses. I will sell the 14-42 (the E-PL1 comes with a more compact version of this lens - no body only sales yet), and I will probably sell the 40-150 also - which leaves me with the 20mm/f1.7.

Thanks for your nice comments - and Congratulations to you too!

Liz

[JETA]

Liz,

I watched you over the last few years buy equipment and change what you shoot with. What I know is you investigate and make really good decisions because of it. It's something I admire about you because I tend to make decisions too quickly a lot of the time.

I look forward to seeing what you do with your new system!

[Liz]

Liz,

I watched you over the last few years buy equipment and change what you shoot with. What I know is you investigate and make really good decisions because of it. It's something I admire about you because I tend to make decisions too quickly a lot of the time.

I look forward to seeing what you do with your new system!

Thanks JETA,

You are always encouraging! Well, I've been back & forth, In and out - and all around between the E-620 and back to the Canon. Here is what I'm doing. I'm selling the E-P1 and LX3 and probably going to purchase the Canon XSi (although I've looked at the Ti since the price dropped a bit and the LCD is much nicer). I'm going to replace my LX3 with the new E-PL1 as my every day carry-around camera (price is pretty good too). So I think I will have the best of both worlds.

Liz

[Photo-John]

Liz-
We had some technical problems the first day at PMA and I ended up giving my 7D to Poker for video and using an E-PL1 review camera that Olympus gave me for review that day. I was very, very happy with the EPL1. I actually think the IS in the E-PL1 worked better for me than my Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS lens.

[Jay C]

I got my Xsi a few months ago and couldn't be happier with it. The kit lens works good with the IS. I don't know nearly as much as these guys, but I'm really enjoying the camera.

[Liz]

Liz-
We had some technical problems the first day at PMA and I ended up giving my 7D to Poker for video and using an E-PL1 review camera that Olympus gave me for review that day. I was very, very happy with the EPL1. I actually think the IS in the E-PL1 worked better for me than my Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS lens.

That's excellent news! The E-PL1 is in stock in a few stores (some stores like B&H were in-stock and are already out-of-stock). However, only the blue and gold/champagne colors are available so far. It's hard not to compromise as I prefer black, but I'm tempted after reading your post!

Thanks for the information.....

Liz

[Liz]

I got my Xsi a few months ago and couldn't be happier with it. The kit lens works good with the IS. I don't know nearly as much as these guys, but I'm really enjoying the camera.

Thank you for your input and sharing your experience. I think the 18-55IS lens is one of the best kit lenses Canon has made. It has good reviews and the images look quite sharp with good color rendition.

Enjoy your camera - and post some pics when you get a chance.

Liz