Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

[OM] Re: Digital Dilemma

Subject: [OM] Re: Digital Dilemma
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 15:16:52 -0700
Wayne S wrote:

>E-1 perspective: You should really consider what lenses you want with
>the digital camera system, even if cost is a factor. Other than
>telephoto and macro lenses, I have not had much desire to put OM lenses
>on the E-1. Since you have to manually stop down the lens, it may not
>meter quite as well as lenses with auto-diaphragm.
>
This makes no sense to me at all. With auto aperture, metering is done 
wide open and an assumption is made about the accuracy of the stop down 
mechanism. In stop down mode, metering is done at shooting aperture, an 
inherently more accurate means of metering. Less convenient, of course, 
and not from a practical standpoint with correctly operating lens and 
body any less accurate, but nonetheless theoretically more reliably 
accurate. Which is why the OMs in Auto mode (not spot) show you the 
exposure they estimate they will use, then make a final calculation with 
mirror up and lens stopped down before actually making the exposure. 
This is done even in OTF mode to determine if the exposure is faster 
than 1/60 and thus cannot be monitered and adjusted during exposure.

>(I don't think digicams do OTS :-)
>
But they do calculate the actual exposure after the lens is stopped 
down, just like the auto OMs.

>With the E-1 and OM lenses, exposure varies with aperture, the more you stop 
>it down the more under-exposed it becomes.
>
Is that true? I can't imagine it is so. It is certainly not the way OM 
lenses work on Can*n DSLR bodies. In Auto AE mode, when the lens is 
stopped down to shooting aperture, the body sees the change in 
brightness and adjusts the shutter speed accordingly. In Manual mode, if 
you meter wide open and set the shutter speed based on that aperture, 
then close down the aperture and shoot without changing the shutter 
speed, of course it will be underexposed, but that is operator error, 
not camera error. You must meter at the shooting aperture, which works 
fine. It is just how legions of SLRs operated for decades in the past. 
You focused wide open and metered stopped down. Less convenient than 
auto aperture, absolutely. Incapable of accurate metering, absolutely not.

>The OM lenses really work best on the OM bodies
>
Of course. However, they also work rather well on DSLRs.

>and that is where mine
>stay. Unless the OM lens has some particularly good quality you really
>like, you should consider the new lens system you will be buying into.
>
Indeed. On the other hand, building up a stable of lenses equivalent to 
what I have in OM mount is quite costly, in the case of Can*n, and not 
yet possible in the case of the 4/3 system. And I do have a few with 
particular qualities I especially like.

All this disagreement on details aside, I agree with your starting 
point. One should consider what lenses are and will be available for any 
DSLR system they buy into. Although not one of the biggest factors in my 
decision to go for now with a 300D, lens selection was certainly a factor.

Moose



==============================================
List usage info:     http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies:        olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz