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D3 with Olympus Zuiko ED 50-200mm plus EC20

DonQuijote

By DonQuijote
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DonQuijote

DonQuijote

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Hi, I am considering buying the new Olympus ED 50-200mm (f2.8- f3.5) instead of the Leica 14-150mm OIS (f3.5-5.6) as the Olympus has the longer reach and is the faster lens. I may have the OIS and the all in one solution but having the faster lens compensate me. At 200mm fully extended with max aperature of f 3.5 I could use the Oly lens with the EC20 giving me 400mm (800mm in 35mm terms) of reach, which should be great for nature shots and if I lose 2 f-stop I will still only be at f 5.6 (losing 2 f-stops down from f2.8). Richard Pavek publishe some helpful info - have a look : The EC20: Olympus SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Any thoughts, advice or input will be appreciated. My key requirements includes animal shots, macro, possibly pics of the moon. At some point I considered Digi-scoping with my Dlux-2 instead I could use my D3 with this lens??? Thanks in advance, Michael :rolleyes:

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DonQuijote

DonQuijote

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Thanks for the swift response. I hope the Oly option is the best possible option at the current play of technology (and a little bit future proof). I use a Manfrotto 190MF3 tripod and a Manfrotto 468MGRC2 hydrostatic ball head which seem to be adequate for most of my needs. Thanks again for the input. Regards, Michael

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DonQuijote

DonQuijote

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Hi, I am considering buying the new Olympus ED 50-200mm (f2.8- f3.5) instead of the Leica 14-150mm OIS (f3.5-5.6) as the Olympus has the longer reach and is the faster lens. I may have the OIS and the all in one solution but having the faster lens compensate me. At 200mm fully extended with max aperature of f 3.5 I could use the Oly lens with the EC20 giving me 400mm (800mm in 35mm terms) of reach, which should be great for nature shots and if I lose 2 f-stops I will still only be at f 5.6 (losing 2 f-stops down from f3.5). Richard Pavek publishe some helpful info - have a look : The EC20: Olympus SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Any thoughts, advice or input will be appreciated. My key requirements includes animal shots, macro, possibly pics of the moon. At some point I considered Digi-scoping with my Dlux-2 instead I could use my D3 with this lens??? Thanks in advance, Michael :rolleyes:

 

Sorry I just had to correct the max aperature above - it is f3.5 at 200mm not f2.8 (100mm)

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ptomsu

ptomsu

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Hi, I am considering buying the new Olympus ED 50-200mm (f2.8- f3.5) instead of the Leica 14-150mm OIS (f3.5-5.6) as the Olympus has the longer reach and is the faster lens. I may have the OIS and the all in one solution but having the faster lens compensate me. At 200mm fully extended with max aperature of f 3.5 I could use the Oly lens with the EC20 giving me 400mm (800mm in 35mm terms) of reach, which should be great for nature shots and if I lose 2 f-stop I will still only be at f 5.6 (losing 2 f-stops down from f2.8). Richard Pavek publishe some helpful info - have a look : The EC20: Olympus SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Any thoughts, advice or input will be appreciated. My key requirements includes animal shots, macro, possibly pics of the moon. At some point I considered Digi-scoping with my Dlux-2 instead I could use my D3 with this lens??? Thanks in advance, Michael :rolleyes:

 

I hope you are looking for the SWD version of the 50-200.

 

If so I would not hesitate a second! I had the old version of this and wa more than happy.

 

But end of the day you should look to upgrade to an E-3, this beast clearly outperforms the D3 in every aspect and since I own this camera I have not touched my D3 a ingle time :-)))

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goodbokeh

goodbokeh

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I would advise purchasing the 50-200mm now and waiting until next fall, or later, on purchasing an E3. Prices will be lower, improved firmware and hopefully improved outsourced Chinese QC in place. Maybe even the weak memory card door sensor plunger will be redesigned or defective examples better detected. By next fall the new Photokina Leica/Lumix 4/3rds offerings will be known and compared to the E3 feature set.

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ptomsu

ptomsu

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I would advise purchasing the 50-200mm now and waiting until next fall, or later, on purchasing an E3. Prices will be lower, improved firmware and hopefully improved outsourced Chinese QC in place. Maybe even the weak memory card door sensor plunger will be redesigned or defective examples better detected. By next fall the new Photokina Leica/Lumix 4/3rds offerings will be known and compared to the E3 feature set.

 

Well, you always can wait and do nothing :-)

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telyt

telyt

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The admittedly few photos I've seen with the Zuiko ED 50-200mm lens at the long end showed some rather harsh bokeh, you might want to find a few more sample images before you buy if this is important to you.

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goodbokeh

goodbokeh

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are you basing that notion on the single experience over at dp ?

 

One DP experience yes, but there were many posts in that thread, from other E3 owners, lamenting that the door sensor plunger was weak and poorly designed. How many more sensor plungers have broken is anybodies guess. My advice remains to let Olympus work out the E3 Chinese bugs until at least Photokina. The E3 will be lower priced then also.

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goodbokeh

goodbokeh

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The admittedly few photos I've seen with the Zuiko ED 50-200mm lens at the long end showed some rather harsh bokeh, you might want to find a few more sample images before you buy if this is important to you.

 

I understand the new SWD version of that lens has slightly improved bokeh. Unlike the outsourced E3 the 80-200mm will continue to be made in the Olympus Tatsuno Plant in Japan, where very high quality of assembly is assured.

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Riley

Riley

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One DP experience yes, but there were many posts in that thread, from other E3 owners, lamenting that the door sensor plunger was weak and poorly designed. How many more sensor plungers have broken is anybodies guess. My advice remains to let Olympus work out the E3 Chinese bugs until at least Photokina. The E3 will be lower priced then also.

 

lamenting and having a broken part are really 2 different things, theres a broad spectrum of bs on dp thats probably better left over there. Any more of them break and Im sure we will hear about it.

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DonQuijote

DonQuijote

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Thanks for everyone's input. I think I will as planned proceed with the Olympus ED 50-200mm SWD lens :) and possibly in 2008 acquire the EC14 Teleconverter giving me a reach of 280mm (560mm 35mm) which should be ok for my nature shots.I will stay away from the EC20 for the time being - due to the loss of speed and some internet postings around sharpness issues. If I should decide to get into birding in the future I might give one of the new Leica Televids with my Dlux2 a try - up to 1000mm of reach :D

:eek: Ah, yes - re Oly E3 - no thank you - at least not while it is made in China. First there will be always be another camera that will be faster and there will be one that will leave the E3 behind a race one cannot win. I am not into sports photography so speed of exposure is not a major criteria. I would not mind the extra AFpoints and faster focusing but to be honest a major reason for the D3 was the handling - more tactile, aperature ring, built & lens quality and the different look - not another plastic-looking ( even if the E3 is alloy inside) run of the mill computer box. The pixels and other stats will keep changing - who needs a Porsche 911 Turbo with Nitrox to drive to the dairy. So not for my needs - you may have different needs. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. regards, Michael

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mym6is12

mym6is12

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Ah, yes - re Oly E3 - no thank you .... not another plastic-looking ( even if the E3 is alloy inside) run of the mill computer box.

 

I can assure you the E-3 is not plastic. It's a tank of a camera with outer shell of very solid magnesium alloy.

The viewfinder was for me it's biggest selling point followed by body IS.

 

If you are passing a camera shop, do not ask to look at one as you may find yourself liking it.

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DonQuijote

DonQuijote

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Sorry, Donald - I did not mean to offend. I am sure it is a nice camera. When I will upgrade (in 2-5 years) the Olympus E-4 or 5 will no doubt be a good option (given that I will have a SWD lens), unless Leica will surprise us (I am not fond of the Pana LC10 and would prefer the Oly E-3). And yes, I will stay away from temptation. Thanks, Michael

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vikasmg

vikasmg

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Ah, yes - re Oly E3 - no thank you - at least not while it is made in China. ......a major reason for the D3 was the handling - more tactile, aperature ring, built & lens quality and the different look - not another plastic-looking ( even if the E3 is alloy inside) run of the mill computer box.

 

I went to the dealer to get my wife a D3 but compared it with a few other cameras. I guess it's a subjective thing like much else, but I think the D3 looks really good. No argument from me on that front. I also like the shutter speed dial in it's (previously) conventional location. However in almost every other way the E-3 is a winner. Better picture quality, WAY better viewfinder - after the D-3 it is a revalation. Faster and more accurate focusing, better balance and grip, rock solid construction, etc. Even if you use few of it's many features (and my wife and I prefer keeping to the basics and focusing on our pictures) is is clearly the superior camera.

 

If only the quality of industrial design on the body and lenses was as good as Leica! I'm an architect and I'm happy to pay a premium for good design but the gap between the E-3 and Digilux 3 is simply to large.

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rsolomon

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Michael:

im considering this lens as well, i was wondering how is this lens working on your D3 ?, is it sharp ? does it focus fast ? im looking photgrapgh gynmanstics ...... low light / action shots

 

any advice if it would work ?

 

thanks

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ptomsu

ptomsu

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Anyone here experience with a Leica 1,4/25 on the E-3 and AF under low light at fully open aperture?

 

I found out it works very unreliable - at least without AF light (camera flash), which is a real NONO if you want to do available light photography without of course any flash :-((

 

Inputs and feedback welcome!

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