Olympus' new E-5 DSLR

[dkCambridgeshire]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091415olympuse5.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/OlympusE5/

http://fourthirdsphoto.com/the-e-5.php?page=1

 

Thus Olympus continues to support and develop their DSLR 'E' series.

 

RRP body only is £1500 and should be available in October.

 

dunk

[ziggurat]

It's heavy.

 

Johnny

[rosuna]

It is an updated version of the E-3.

 

I guess this is the last 4/3 reflex camera.

[stevelap]

A useful polishing of the E-3, but seemingly not too much development effort (or Yen) expended on it. Reading between the lines of Oly's statements though, it seems as though the mirror's days are numbered and that the next iteration of the 'E' will be mirrorless.

[Bob Ross]

It is an updated version of the E-3.

 

I guess this is the last 4/3 reflex camera.

If I get one I'll have to paint it so I can tell it apart from my E-3.

It may be the last flagship reflex model and several of the lower models are being discontinued, but there may be more consumer level reflex models like the E-6xx as the newest bells & whistles are developed.

Bob

[mooky]

It's an interesting big beast for a 'field camera' designed to hold up in heavier use. But it would seem it's major competition would be from the new Nikon 7000 with it's bigger sensor and somewhat similar features. It also seems to be as well built as the E-5. I've not really an interest in either one other than to see how a 'heavy-duty' smaller sensor camera (which format) survives in the market.

[newtoleica]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I used 4:3 for a year or so and had an E3 briefly. Absolutely nothing to say in it's favour. All the disadvantages of a bigger DSLR with none of the advantages.noisy shadows, poor WB, unreliable AF and to top it all several bits fell off in the first week........

[regedit]

a born dead camera.

[jaapv]

What on earth has this to do with Leica?. it does not even compete with any of their cameras.

[dkCambridgeshire]

What on earth has this to do with Leica?. it does not even compete with any of their cameras.

 

TTBOMK I did not post this in the Digital Forum ... I thought I posted it in Barnack's Bar so maybe it has been moved.

 

Reason I posted it was to show that 4/3 (as distinct from Micro 4/3) is still 'alive' ... just

 

dunk

[mjh]

Some people have been using their R glass on an E-3 and I suppose they might be interested in the new E-5. While Leica has abandoned FourThirds, some of their customers have not.

[jaapv]

Some people have been using their R glass on an E-3 and I suppose they might be interested in the new E-5. While Leica has abandoned FourThirds, some of their customers have not.

In that case we better start devoting threads to every new canon Eos body that comes to the market.

[earleygallery]

Some people have been using their R glass on an E-3 and I suppose they might be interested in the new E-5. While Leica has abandoned FourThirds, some of their customers have not.

 

But with the 2x crop factor a Canon (or Leitax adaptable) body makes much more sense.

[mjh]

In that case we better start devoting threads to every new canon Eos body that comes to the market.

Nobody doubts that each year will bring new EOS bodies (two so far and 2010 isn’t yet over); with FourThirds this has been far from clear.

[jaapv]

That's true.

[dkCambridgeshire]

What on earth has this to do with Leica?. it does not even compete with any of their cameras.

 

Leica did specifically market their own 18628 R to 4/3 adaptor for use with the Digilux 3 but it will work with any 4/3 body. The E-5 does appear to be the best 4/3 camera to date and thus probably provides one of the best vehicles for using R lenses.

 

dunk

[Paolo.Battista]

I use regularly Digilux 3 and an E-3 to shot with Leica D and Leica R lenses.

 

I tried to adapt the R lenses to my Nikon's bodies, but I found that the 4/3 sensors I own are better as far as the reproduction of the finest tonalities (that can obtained with Lux and Cron lenses) are regarded. So I converted back the R lenses to their original R mount.

 

Yes, the performance at the highest ISO settings from Canon and Nikon is better than from Olympus, but the E3 can be used up to 800 ISO without so many problems, and for my work this is fine. There is a 2x crop factor, but I found that in most situations I shot I like this too, since I'm not doing that much landscape work. For landscapes, the D Vario-Elmarit is quite good as a choice in this case.

 

So would I buy an E-5? I don't know this until I will be able to test it. It's a modest upgrade to E-3 in many ways, and the 12 MP sensor implementations I tried so far are not satisfactory to me, since it seems that the increased pixel density has brought some problems in resolving the finest color tonalities. For sure, the new Leica camera system that could be revealed at Photokina could be the best choice when (and if) it will become available.

 

But for now, I will continue to amuse myself shooting with E-3, Digilux 3 and Leica lenses.... (and Digilux 2 too...:D).