[shankar.balan]

I couldnt agree more with you.
And I love playing with light effects at different times of the day to achieve the right mood.
sometimes the subject can just be a wine glass half full of a nice red, placed right next to an ashtray with a lit cigar in it with the smoke curling upwards - captured around twilight one can achieve some lovely sepia effects like an old 1950's film!
But quality equipment does make a difference and I will, one day, invest in the right stuff for my particular needs.

[quote=Samurai;2176737] Photography is not about just capturing an image, you have to capture the mood.

/quote]

[Samurai]

The NEX cameras from Sony have lots of high tech features, including support for SDXC cards. Understandable, coming from an electronic giant. But they fall short in image quality department in comparison to Olympus, who is a veteran camera/optics maker.

There is already a minor update to E-PL1, it called the E-PL1s. It also gets a new lens. But it appears as if this is a Japan only release. Is 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II better than the original 14-42mm lens, only time can tell. But no SDXC support yet.

Olympus PEN Lite E-PL1s updates ISO & gets new, lightweight lens - SlashGear

Now, there is some good news on the lens front. There is a micro Zuiko 9-18mm lens which claws its way back to the high standards of 4/3 Zuiko lenses. It answers the wide angle quandary I had. It covers from 18mm to 36mm effective FL. Might sound quite limited for a walk-around lens, but it suits me very well. But the price of $549 (Amazon) gives me the shivers, it is more expensive than the PL1 body+kit combo.

Originally Posted by Photozone.de

The Olympus M.Zuiko 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED is an engineering masterpiece. It is the most compact and light-weight ultra wide angle lens that we've reviewed to date. It is easy to use despite its small size and rather unusual retractable design. Olympus managed to keep the build quality on high level which is a big step forward from the M.Zuiko 14-42mm kit zoom lens. The AF is basically silent and very fast and as such also very usable for videos.

Source:Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED - Review / Test Report

Originally Posted by DPreview.com

The M Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4-5.6 is on the whole a fine performer, consistently delivering detailed results across a wide range of shooting conditions. Central sharpness in particular is very high, even wide open, and resistance to flare is impressive. It's not perfect - the extreme corners of the frame are somewhat soft, especially wide open, and lateral chromatic aberration is rather high, with pronounced red/cyan fringing towards the corners of the frame - but this seems a small price to pay for an ultra-wideangle zoom that slips easily into a small jacket pocket.

In summary, then, the M Zuiko Digital 9-18mm F4-5.6 is an impressive little lens that packs a lot of capability into a body that's sufficiently small you can carry it around with you all the time, and therefore actually use it. It's a great match for the rangefinder-style Micro Four Thirds bodies in particular, giving ultra-wide capability with unparalleled portability. It's a lens which, we suspect, will be especially attractive for landscape and travel work. Overall, it's a fine addition to the Micro Four Thirds system.

There is also 14-150mm super zoom lens, with very good reviews. Both this and 9-18mm have excellent AF performance.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by Samurai

1. That basically explains a noob photographer. As one gets better at composition, it is possible to turn an ordinary sight into extra-ordinary sight. I have seen Rudra do it. I too have had partial success in capturing the right mood sometimes. Photography is not about just capturing an image, you have to capture the mood.

2. I agree. That is why this camera intrigues me. The output is so good despite the crappy lens it has got. It makes sense to get it just for the body. Later, as better m4/3 lenses come along, it can only get better.

1. Actually I would say that Photography is like Painting. You have to capture a sight in a way which evokes emotions out of the viewer in your way.

2. Depends on how steadfast Oly holds on to the market. Their decision to withdraw from DSLR (Oly 620 is the last) was a nail in the coffin.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by alpha1

1. Actually I would say that Photography is like Painting. You have to capture a sight in a way which evokes emotions out of the viewer in your way.

Well, that's semantics. We both mean the same things.

Originally Posted by alpha1

2. Depends on how steadfast Oly holds on to the market. Their decision to withdraw from DSLR (Oly 620 is the last) was a nail in the coffin.

Not really. As an Olympus dSLR user, I can say they have finally found their footing. I have E-500 and E-3. Yet, when E-5 came out, I was not even looking forward to it. I was content with what E-3 could do, and I had realised that the true strength of Olympus lies in micro 4/3, the compact camera format they were supposed to deliver in the first place while retaining dSLR image quality.

While 4/3 did nothing to dent the market of traditional stalwarts like Canon & Nikon, the micro 4/3 products are poaching buyers from both high end P&S and low end dSLR market, from across brands. If Olympus doesn't make another regular dSLR, most of us won't care. They have finally found their niche.

[Samurai]

The Sony NEX just got launched in India.

http://www.sony.co.in/pressrelease/a...epressreleases

E-mount Camera (NEX) : Interchangeable Lens Camera : Sony India

The NEX-5 and NEX-3 are priced at 35K and 30K respectively.

That means NEX-3 and PL1 have the same MRP.

[alpha1]

On thing I demand from micro4/3.
Please improve the contrast based autofocus abilities to match DSLR (at least low end body + lens combo).

[Samurai]

There is something EVIL lurking in the air....

Yup, just bought the Olympus PEN E-PL1 today afternoon at Foto Circle. Jayesh matched the JJMehta price, so I got it for 26K. Also got a tiny Tamrac Aero Zoom 20 Photo Zoom pack for Rs.800 to carry it.

Let the pics do the talk.







Now why did I bother with a EVIL camera when I had a very good dSLR with excellent lenses?

This is why: Both the cameras have the same size sensor, yet...







Next, I'll have to get the 9-18mm M.Zuiko lens to replace the average quality kit lens.

[amitk26]

Rumor of Nikon mirror-less camera are floating for quite some time. Nikon has filed a series of patents related to mirrorless camera. We should expect some announcement in upcoming CE Show at Las Vegas starting tommorow


The worst part about micro 4/3 ( from my personal point of view) s that it has inflated the prices of used manual focus lenses to insane level.

Canon is also responsible for this insanity as DSLR film makers using Canon are the other set of people fueling this demand.

Congratulations Samurai

What is the internal dimentions of this case ? I have two small unused pouches lying around which are too big for modern P&S and useless for DSLR .
Probably evil takeoff will allow me to trade them

[HellwratH]

Originally Posted by Samurai

There is something EVIL lurking in the air....

Congratulations!!! That's a nice camera . I got a Panasonic G1 with a 20mm f1.7 lens recently. The deal was too good, so I settled for an older body. I'll admit, my canon has had less use after I have acquired this camera. It's just way too convenient and the sharpness of the lens and high ISO capabilities (better than my 350D) are making me take it along every time I go out. The photographs that I got from it are the non-auto image thread. I have the nikon AI to M4/3rds adapter and have bought some old nikon AI MF lenses. The sharpness of these lenses blew me away and it gives me good telephoto for cheap . The lenses that I got are: Nikon 55mm f2.8 macro, Nikon 105 f2.5, Nikon E Series 75-150 (my fav) and the Kiron 80-200 f/4.5.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Samurai

There is something EVIL lurking in the air....

Congrats Samurai! I guess now the EPL1 is going to see more OTR action How much is ti for the 9-18 M.Zuiko lens?

[mav2000]

Awesome camera Samurai. In other news Olympus has just launched the EPL-2 and should be in India as well around Feb. I was planning to hit the buy button but held off for this. The changes seem to be worth it.

Samurai, can you take some time and post your views on the EPL 1 as well.

Hellwrath - where did you get the G1 and that lens from?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by mav2000

Awesome camera Samurai. In other news Olympus has just launched the EPL-2 and should be in India as well around Feb. I was planning to hit the buy button but held off for this. The changes seem to be worth it.

AAAGGGRRRHHHH! ....

Did they have to launch it exactly a day after I buy the E-PL1?

I knew they will bring out an upgrade in few months. But next day is too much.

Anyway, I just finished reading the differences. Not a major upgrade, other than higher resolution LCD, there is nothing that makes much difference to me. So... calming down.

In fact, I see no reason to upgrade to PL2 someday.

[mav2000]

From most of what I saw, it seems that its not much of an upgrade for EPL 1 users, except for the lens. But surely a wait for people who were planning to by the EPL 1.

[HellwratH]

Originally Posted by mav2000

Hellwrath - where did you get the G1 and that lens from?

mav2000,

I got it here in Northern Virginia off craigslist. A guy had this camera and wanted to sell it for cheap as the menu was in Japanese. I did some research and found out that the menu language can be changed by hacking the firmware, so I went ahead and bought it.

[Sn1p3r]

Thanks Samurai for indicating this thread.

I am now also thinking about the micro43 cameras. Due to CES11 my wife says there are some good bargains. We are upgrading from P&S and mostly use the preloaded settings {last holiday we clicked 650 photos out of which 15 were short films, I also had 30 mins on my handycam}. Mostly indoor portraits and then picturesque mountains/beaches.

Which one is the best?

Kindly suggest.