Olympus E-400 - any lurkers around?

[Paul Shields]

I just snagged one of these at a good price (in the UK - probably exorbitant for a US buyer ), and was wondering if anyone else has been using one. Currently I use an E-1 with a few nice Zuiko lenses, and am keen to get a bit more resolution and hopefully better performance (AF especially). I also like the idea of a small carry around camera when wanting to be a bit less conspicuous - though I just went for the body only so can't take advantage of the tiny kit lenses. I'm still keen to see what appears this year with regards to an E-1 replacement, but have decided that a modern speedy 10mp camera will do for now, and will look at just picking up lenses (35-100mm and PanaLeica 25mm top of list) for this year.

I'll post more on what I think of it as I get used to it, but in the meantime - let's see some Oly thoughts to this section .

[JDArt]

ebay?

[Paul Shields]

Yes, or as I call it 'MyBay' .

[Raist3d]

Wow man, you are just like Ben Hernman

So what you think? How do you find the AF? Are you using the special lenses for it? (the small ones created for it?).

- Raist

[Mr. Pickles]

Originally Posted by Raist3d

Wow man, you are just like Ben Hernman

Ben is a jerk. Pauls a goof

You need to tell us about the E-400, since the US can't have it yet...forever....whenever...never...

Supposedly the new "smaller' lenses are now available overseas (UK?). Warehouseexpress dot Com was listing the little 14-42mm and 40-150mm separately for £169 and £189 respectively. Might be very limited in numbers. Be interesting to know about them too, for walking around work.

[Paul Shields]

I don't know Ben, but I'll take the goof accolade - thank you . I've not had a chance to play with it yet, but plan on doing some stuff over the weekend. I'll post my impressions then, and how it compares to the E-1.

The smaller lenses are a good match for this camera, but I wasn't keen on duplicating my current lens lineup so gave them a miss. As for US availability - I'm sure you've read the rumour mill about it (or something like it) coming out soon in the US. I'm sure Oly won't neglect such a large market for long.

[dc2]

Paul I picked up one of these in a shop yesterday just out of curiosity.
personally I found it a bit to small and fiddly for my hands but am sure the usual high standard images will there.
any idea how many shots you are supposed to get with that little battery that is in it ?
And how dose it compare in size with the E-1?

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by dc2

Paul I picked up one of these in a shop yesterday just out of curiosity.
personally I found it a bit to small and fiddly for my hands but am sure the usual high standard images will there.
any idea how many shots you are supposed to get with that little battery that is in it ?
And how dose it compare in size with the E-1?

Yes, it is small. Normally I would avoid such a small camera (I recall playing with the Canon 350D and not feeling very comfortable with it's handling). In this case, I quite like how Olympus have gone about it. Having a less protruding grip makes it feel more like the SLRs of old (e.g. something like the OM series). I've not measured battery life, but have read reports of around 350 images which seems reasonable. I'll post some pictures of it next to the E-1. Oh, hang on - I'd need another DSLR to do that. Maybe a pic of it next to an OM4ti would be interesting .

[dc2]

I'll post some pictures of it next to the E-1. Oh, hang on - I'd need another DSLR to do that. Maybe a pic of it next to an OM4ti would be interesting .
Should have kept the 5d

[Mr. Pickles]

Olympus has spent a lot of time in trying to make their DSLRs (the E-500 and E-400 now) smaller...on purpose.

They want them to be similar to their OM camera bodies of old. Thus the smaller or less protruding grip Paul mentioned. Compared to the E-1, the E-400 is tiny, and doesn't fit alot of hands, very similar to the Canon 350D and 400D. But the E-400 is suppose to "feel" better than those others.

If you look at the forth coming (?) shots from Paul of the E-500 with the OM4, you'll see. If you compare the 350D or 400D with an old Canon AE-1, you'll see they are a lot different. Height is about the same but that bulge for the hand is the big difference.

While it may be nicer to have a big ole handgrip, a lot of the old standard (popular) film bodies didn't have one. Getting back to that is what Olympus is leaning towards, and Leica is staying in that "boxed" mode.

No reason to spend thousands more on a 5D, just to get a better fit with equal or worse images

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by dc2

Should have kept the 5d

The 5D had some great qualities, but they didn't outweigh what I liked about the 4:3rds system, so I'm not too unhappy about letting it go . The image quality differences really weren't that great compared to an E-1, and this was shooting with the 135L, 85L and 100mm macro. They are brilliant at shallow DoF, but after a while I really started to rebel against such shots, and also felt that the Canon was applying some excessive in-camera processing that masked some limitations in the format (just my opinion ).

I quite like the compactness of the Oly. Here's a link from someone which demonstrates the difference in size between the two systems (not my shot, so just posting the link): http://www.pbase.com/alfredg/image/70497875. I'll still pick the E-1 for a lot of tasks just because I love it's colour rendition and handling, but the E-400 is perhaps the first true representation of what the 4:3rds system is all about.

[dc2]

Mr Pickles I would agree for me the E-400 felt better than the 350d and 400d mainly due to not having the grip on such small cameras.
Paul thanks for the pic .
My personal preference is something the size of a 30D.

[Benjamin0615]

Paul have you jammed an OM 50mm on it yet? I think that would fit right in your shirt pocket.

[Mr. Pickles]

Paul (and I) don't get paid enough for our Moderator duties to afford shirts with pockets in them