Why Olympus?

[NaturalWoman]

Originally Posted by lraudy

What can I do to get SOME income? Also I have no studion equipment and I have heard that you can use certain lamps or work lights from the home improvement stores to help you. Has anyone tried making your own box lights or umbrellas for the lights? Please help?

since money is an issue and it is for me, i bought some background paper from the art store, in difference colors, and i shoot near a window or use natural lighting where that may be. if you check my flickr stream, the picture up there now of the needle and thread was done that way taken yesterday. paper cost 79 cents and the lighting was free.

Flickr: Valerie Morrison - Four-Thirds Photographer's Photostream



oh don't know how hard or easy it is to do, but maybe try stock photography. i've actually sold a few pieces to family and my employer. try posting some of your artwork on local bulletin boards. if you can make an inexpensive, but clean, website that would be helpful, then make sure the link to that is attached to every email you send out.

[fuloflyfe]

From Minolta and Pentax 35 mm (mid 80's into the 90's) I headed into medium format with a simple but useful Mamiya 645. By 1999 it became clear I needed to try the "new" digital medium. I borrowed a friend's Camedia and was hooked. I've shot Canon, Nikon, and Olympus DSLR's and although I did like the Canon, I have bilateral carpal tunnel and found some of the lenses too heavy to carry around during a 4 hour shoot, or even a 2 hour portrait session. The 4/3 system admittedly has shortcomings, but its smaller and hence more lightweight lenses (in my experience - I am not an expert) gives me freedom from misery from neck to fingertips. Bottom line I am pain free, and an added bonus: debt free too. I am pleased with the results of my E-30 and Zuiko lenses.
I catch a lot of attitude from others in the field who do not shoot with Olympus. Frankly speaking, I appreciate the lack of fat ego expressed by Olympus users as opposed to other brands. No names mentioned. It's not about the brand, in my opinion, but the artist.
Kerri
Kerri Hamilton Photography

[ravncat]

I'll bite

I chose Oly over the following - Sigma, Panasonic, Ricoh and Leica. My Nikon reigns supreme - until it one day dies to the leaf aptus back I'd like . My use of digital cameras goes back about 12 years, when my uncle gave me a Kodak dc25 - a little tiny no zoom - digital camera with 640x480 interpolated resolution.

I eventually upgraded to a higher megapixel kodak dc290 - craving something with a bit more manual control. - this led to a nikon coolpix 5000 - and then a nikon d70. As I finally arrived in SLR land, an aspiration from earlier that seemed financially impossible - I began the slow acquisition of technique, gear and knowledge.

I realized, I liked those small cameras and wanted something designed for a photographer - but really small and with a large sensor. Nothing existed. I wanted something that could go everywhere, that I would expose to more risks than my larger gear. Something I could take up mountains and in a kayak.

I made do with a panasonic lumix dmc lx2. A great camera in good light, but prone to all sorts of issues (oversharpening, too much noise reduction, slower glass than I was used to, shutter lag) and all of the problems with compacts.

Then the sigma Dp-1 came, and I read some reviews, and played with it in the store, and decided - while the sensor was great, the focus and shutter lag were still issues - it was still kindof large for what it was. I waited. I talked with a friend about having a billion dollars and making something small and rangefinder like. Unfortunately neither of us had alot of money.

Then the Ep-1 showed up, along with rumors of the panasonic answer - the Gf-1. I debated for quite awhile as to which to get. The main differences were slight - better AF, Better kit lens, pop up flash, better screen vs better colors, dual control dials, sensor stabilization.

Well, I waited for the rumors of the ep-2 and for my finances to be in alignment - and got an Ep-1. I chose the olympus over the panasonic because of the dual dials and the sensor stabilization. I found the screen was enough to work with, better colors is a bit meaningless when you start making spectral color profiles. I also thought the ep-1 was eaking out a bit better image quality from raw than the gf-1.

I realized i could just get the panasonic 20mm 1.7 and cross off that advantage. Sensor stabilization was a big one when I realized that I'd be mounting my nikkors on the ep-1 and now have a stabilized 85 1.8, which is a really nice long telephoto with good light gathering on the ep-1. So that was it.


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What do you love about your Oly? What else would you like to see in terms of lenses and features?
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I love it's style. I love it's weight, but still finding it a bit large. In terms of features, I'd like to see a stronger construction, the pen really is a weak camera. A small drop and a huge dent - luckily the battery casing still closes. I'd read about that - but didn't realize just how weak it would be.

Lenswise, I want to see 1 more lens. I want to see a 10mm f2.8 or faster. (but even 10mm f4 would be ok). 12mm might be ok - but 14mm is not wide enough for me

I currently have the 20mm 1.7 and the kit 14-42 and a nikon mount adapter. I'd like to get the 7-14mm but it's a bit big, and the 9-18 is about right, but still large. I'd also like to pick up the panaleica 45 macro.... So for what I want there's very little missing.

It goes everywhere with me, unless my Nikon is with me - My Oly is great, but I have much better glass for the other system