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Re: [OM] E-620 is here - more impressions - warning: a lot of em - long

Subject: Re: [OM] E-620 is here - more impressions - warning: a lot of em - long post!
From: Joel Wilcox <jfwilcox@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 22:56:41 -0500
On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 11:06 PM, Jim Couch
<zuikoholic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Speed & handling -
> 'super control panel"
> - it works fine, but... I sure would like to turn the damn thing off!
> Most of the time when I change a setting it is with the camera to my eye
> and I use the viewfinder information to make the change, it is very
> irritating to have the SCP come on, especially when setting exposure
> compensation! So far my workaround is to just keep the screen turned
> toward the camera body, but it makes it hard to chimp when needed. It
> would nice to be able to turn off, and set the timeout on the SCP just
> like the Review screen - perhaps in a firmware upgrade this will be added?

I guess that could be done by allowing the SCP to be triggered only
with the OK button and not by any of the other function buttons.  This
doesn't seem like a huge thing for Olympus to do.  I fear the almost
universal praise for the SCP might end up trumping a firmware update
of that kind though.  Complaints about the menu system (bothers some
people but not me, I'm used to it) seems to be in inverse relationship
to praise for the SCP, and the SCP garners a lot of forgiveness for
the menu system, actually.

>
> So far my impression is that the autofocus in low light is not as fast
> or 'hunt'-free as my D200 was (comparing with similar lenses as best I
> can) In good light the autofocus seems to be fine. I still have a lot of
> tuning/learning to do with the autofocus so do not take this at face
> value. I did expect better low light autofocus performance with the 25mm
> f/2.8 pancake.

Whether in bright or low light, Olympus cameras love some sort of line
to grab onto.

> Lenses -
> Currently I have the two kit lenses, the 9-18, and the 25 f/2.8. I have
> to admit to having a real bias against lenses with plastic mounts, but
> the build quality on the two kit lenses is actually quite good. it
> remains to be seen how these hold up long term, but for their weight and
> cost they are quite nice lenses, no looseness, and amazingly sharp! the
> 9-18 and 25 have metal lens mounts and better build quality as one would
> expect given the price. Overall I am very impressed and pleased with the
> Olympus lenses, but then again I always did like Zuikos! One thing that
> did surprise me is hos flimsy all the hoods seem to be, it is probably
> really a non-issue, but in comparison to the Tokina ATX hoods they are a
> bit disappointing.

I have mixed feelings about the hoods.  The hoods I have for my Zuikos
would not seem to match the E lenses very well.  The E-systems hoods,
while chinzy, are light and flexible and rather quick to deal with.  I
put them on and take them off a lot and my only worry is about wearing
out the "snaps" on the bayonet mount.  I'm still very impressed with
the kit lenses.

> Image Quality -
> To soon to really tell, but so far no disappointments here. I usually
> shoot RAW and will need to find a new RAW processor (as I formerly used
> Nikon's Capture NX) so there will be an increased learning curve here.

I assume you followed the recent thread about RAW converters?
Whatever you think of Master 2, at least compare RAW conversion by it
against the LHC (Latest Hot Converter) to make sure it gets the colors
"right."  If you judge simply by workflow or aesthetic judgments about
software development, you won't select Master, certainly, or probably
Studio2, but that might not get you everything Olympus designed into
the camera.

> Metering seems fine, but different from the Nik*ns. The ESP meter seems
> to be giving me a bit different results than Nik*n's matrix metering.
> the problem with any matrix metering is that while it works great most
> of the time, when it doesn't it is hard to tell what it is doing and
> override accordingly. It will take some learning here to get a handle on
> what Olympus is doing. Spot and average metering seem to be very
> consistent and I suspect I will be using those a lot until i get a
> handle on the Olympus ESP.

I now have experience with four Olympus DSLRs.  Other than ESP, I use
spot occasionally and the Highlight spot whenever it is a good choice
to the situation (snow and clouds involved to a significant degree).
ESP works for me similarly to CWA on OM-4 or 2S.  It actually seems to
work a little better IMO. For spot metering to work better for me, I
feel as though I need multi-spot.  ESP with some negative exposure
comp seems to retain highlights better for me without as much
reshooting.  ESP also works well for me in conjunction with the AEL
button.  I try to grab onto the seen in a way that I know ESP will
work well, press the AEL button to hold the reading, and then
recompose, focus, and shoot.  I set the camera to retain the AEL for
multiple shots (i.e., memo), which is not the default.   I tend to set
the Contrast to -1 normally and exp comp to -.3 for general shooting.
In review mode, I am usually not too far from the Highlight screen.
But there are lots of ways to skin the cat.

> The viewfinder is nothing fantastic, but better than I had been led to
> believe. The finder is smaller and appears to be not as bright as my
> D200 was, but only marginally so. It does work well with glasses and i
> find it easy to see the whole finder as well as the information at the
> bottom. The finder information is great and has pretty much all the info
> I need. I miss the grid lines of the D200, but it is not a big deal. I
> am actually more satisfied with the finder than I expected to be.

I went for the E-3 about a year ago because I wanted the best VF I
could get.  I like it a lot, but I also enjoy the VF on the other
cameras just fine.  This seems to vary from one person to another.

> I have not used the internal flash a lot, and probably won't. Never like
> the D200 flash either. Personally i wish they would leave off these
> internal flashes. If I need/want a flash I will use a proper one. I will
> probably pick up one of the Olympus flashes and a cord for when I need
> flash. I also ordered one of the Wein safsync units so i can use the
> camera with my studio lights.

Olympus took a huge amount of criticism for leaving the flash off the
E-1.  They probably displease fewer people by including an onboard
flash.

> More to follow as I get more time with the rig. I will be out climbing
> this weekend, which will be my first real chance to use the camera under
> the circumstances I really purchased it for, after that I suspect I will
> have more comments I am sure.

Seems like you're enjoying it.  Look forward to hearing more.

Joel W.
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