I want this

A thread for lusting after cameras and other equipment.

Because I really want an Olympus E-P1

http://digital-lifestyles.info/copy_images/olympus-e-p1-compact-lg.jpg

I saw some test shots online yesterday and not only does it look awesome it apparently takes great pictures too, with pretty decent hi-ISO performance.

Dyao just mentioned on another thread their intention to get one of these. They look ace. Any idea of pricing yet?

Imagine an old 55/1.2 Zuiko on this, using Live View to manually focus, shooting video. Cor!

hope this creates a market compact cameras with sensors as big as their DSLRs. also in black, please. i like the idea of this but no way am i getting into another lens system.

(it's £599 w/o lens in the uk, michael)

"market for", duh

I was imagining the same re: zuiko and wondering where my thrifty 50 zuiko is and how you focus on an LCD screen.

$799 US with the zoon am $899 with the fixed focus 17mm f2.8 with the viewfinder as shown.

With Live View on my 40D you can zoom in (5x or 10x) to achieve sharp focus, a la:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pernfors88/3586365885/"; title="Dinner in the garden by JerryBones, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/3586365885_71b6278124.jpg"; width="500" height="375" alt="Dinner in the garden" /></a>

(late '70s Zeiss 135mm f/3.5, £36 on eBay)

Isn't there an EVF like the new Panasonic? I know you can buy a rangefinder-style optical viewfinder attachment, which doesn't seem terribly useful.

Arse! I knew I'd do that...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/3586365885_71b6278124.jpg

i need a digi, 2 bring to africa

recs plz

I think I'm going to get one of these, have been wanting something like this for a long time.

definitely, this finally fills all of the gaps left by the epsom RD-1 and sigma/ricoh jobbies.

Yeah I've been following the E-P1 with bated breath - in fact I think I mentioned the M43rds in the "What camera do you own thread..."

The thing has fulfilled all my expectations so far, except for one thing: AF speed. I've read that it's not as fast as the Panasonic G1 (the other M43 camera on the market right now), which focuses as fast as most entry level DSLRs on the market. This could be a problem for me since I intend to use this mainly for street photography.

One of the really exciting things about this camera is that due to its flange-back distance being shorter than virtually any other system on the market right now (20mm), you can use it with pretty much every lens ever made for 35mm systems and up, provided you have the right adapter, which I'm sure is a trivial for all those talented machinists working in China. The downside (or upside if you mainly hang out on the tele side of things) is that the EFL of these lenses will be doubled, so that great Zuiko 24mm becomes a pedestrian 48mm on a M43 camera. However I've read that the elimination of the mirror box makes the designing and implementation of wide angles and ultra wide angles much much easier, so I expect Olympus will fill in the gap soon. Also DOF is effectively doubled in comparison to full frame due to the smaller sensor, i.e. that 17mm 2.8 upthread is equivalent to a 34mm 5.6 in full frame terms (but you can still shoot it at 2.8 speeds). I've never had much use for hairthin DOF, so it doesn't bother me - in fact, for street photographer greater DOF is a bonus...

Isn't there an EVF like the new Panasonic? I know you can buy a rangefinder-style optical viewfinder attachment, which doesn't seem terribly useful.

― Michael Jones, Thursday, June 18, 2009 5:06 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

No EVF, as Olympus stated their goal was to make this thing as small and compact as possible - the 17mm (34mm EFL) lens comes with an OVF attachment. Rumors point to Olympus releasing a more full-featured M43 camera this December, I'm guessing with flash, EVF, and an articulating LCD screen.

Also exciting is the news that Panasonic has a 20mm 1.7 pancake in the pipeline. Anyway I hope to get one of these babies soon, but I think demand is going to be pretty high for these so I don't know how soon I can find one...

i need a digi, 2 bring to africa

-- i want to marry a pizza (gbx), Thursday, June 18, 2009 5:18 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

What are your requirements? Pardon my ingrained prejudices but I think ruggedness might be a key component; in that case the cheapest weathersealed DSLR you can buy is a Pentax entry-level, however it'll only be weathersealed if you use one of the more expensive lenses with it. On the digicam side, Olympus makes some which are waterproof and dustproof, however I've heard image quality from these is only so so.

durability is def a thing, for sure---is pentax the go-to brand for that?

think you need to tell us how much $$$ you want to spend and how big a camera you're prepared to drag around - pocket, small bag or native luggage bearers?

bidding starts at $500. i love the look/feel/size of old rangefinders, so i guess that's the size we're looking for? I mean, the cam at the top of the thread looks perfect, honestly

wait what about this:
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-LX3K-Digital-Stabilized-Black/dp/B001CCLBSA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1245284406&sr=1-1

guess we're looking for a small digital that doesn't swap out lenses

canon g10 is usually reckoned a solid choice for people who want a fully featured camera (ie, full manual controls) that you can easily carry around, esp. if you're looking for something without interchangeable lenses. i'll try to think if there's anything else...

thanks!

Also DOF is effectively doubled in comparison to full frame due to the smaller sensor, i.e. that 17mm 2.8 upthread is equivalent to a 34mm 5.6 in full frame terms (but you can still shoot it at 2.8 speeds). I've never had much use for hairthin DOF, so it doesn't bother me - in fact, for street photographer greater DOF is a bonus...

This is my only fear (well, and the AF I suppose, but I'm going to mounting some ace old glass on it anyway, so that's less of a factor). I'm rubbish at using wide angles, so that bit doesn't bother me, but I can't work out hand-holding speeds from the lens, and am a huge fan of hairthin DOF.

Still, if this takes off -- and given that pretty much every photographer I know has went "oh yeah" when they've seen it, I think it will -- hopefully it'll start a trend and we'll get a FF one eventually. M8 doesn't count :)

In the realm of true dreamytime want-this, there's obviously the 5D2 and various bits of L-glass, a Mamiya 645AF with a digi back, Leica M8.2, a top-end Nikon Coolscan and loads of TIME, etc, etc, but in the sort-of-real-world, I quite fancy this for the 40D:

http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/images/products/large/Hahnel%20HC-40D%20remote.jpg

I think the xxD models are the only Canons that don't sport some sort of IR receiver, so my dinky little RC-1 controller (which was free with an Ixus film compact 10 years ago) has languished in a drawer since the 300D died. Clever of Hahnel to spot the gap in the market and stick IR capability on one of their battery grips (which are cheaper than Canon's anyway).

Interesting - what would you use an IR receiver for? I have one on my E-520, but haven't thought about how to make use of it...

As for me, although I'm an Oly shooter for now I've always suspected that my sensibilities with regards to lenses have always been entwined with Pentax. The problem is that they make a bevy of small pancake primes, yet have no small and lightweight body to pair with them. Even the new, small-ish K-7 weighs in at close to 2 pounds.

I guess my dream DSLR setup would be a body that's under 1 lb, and a selection from the following:

http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/artikelen/39/pentax-15mm.jpg

http://www.microglobe.co.uk/catalog/images/pentax_21mm_f3.2_lens.jpg

http://www.bid4optics.com/shop/images/smc%20DA%2040%20mm.jpg

That 40mm lens! It's barely there.

IR-receiver - remote control of the camera for self-portraits/group shots, etc. Self-timer is only any good if you've already focused the lens, whereas the remote triggers AF.

(I'd post a picture of Ava remote-shooting herself with the 300D as an illustration but this is not the parenting board and I need to rein that in a bit...)

Actually, much better than blowing 90 quid on a IR-capable battery grip...this for 17 quid.

Update - like anyone cares: I decided to go for a slightly more expensive Hama version of the above wireless remote (50p more P&P but slashed from £40 cos they obviously weren't selling any with Johnny No Brand just a click away for £17).

The no-name product had good reviews but just seemed a bit...dodgy (one positive review said that they hadn't actually figured out how to autofocus with it yet and another that the battery was actually too big for its compartment). Doesn't inspire confidence. But then again the Hama listing had completely the wrong product photo so who knows what I'm actually getting...

Went to the Olympus E-P1 launch last night - it's really great (I only got to play with one for about a minute), the contrast-AF is faster than I've ever encountered on a compact (but I haven't tried the Panansonic G1) and the thing handles lovely.

Here's top old geezer David Bailey at the launch (rather brilliantly, I failed to take a decent picture of him actually holding one - he was presented with model 001 by a 007 lookalike!):
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3661344698_420faebb2e.jpg

And here's an E-P1 with off-shoe flash and nice leather case round the neck of an Olympus pro:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3330/3661349840_e2ff0283f2.jpg

Looks lovely! Amazon has yet to e-mail me a an estimated shipping date. I've heard it's available at select shops in the UK already. Lucky!

Yes, whether Jessops just had the stock the Olympus team had brought with them that evening, I don't know, but they shifted quite a few (they may have been pre-orders being collected, I guess).

Oh drool, that camera looks sooooo lovely. :-)

Took delivery on my E-P1 today - found a good deal for the body only. Unfortunately, I don't have any lenses yet! The thing is staring at me, begging to be used.

Should clarify: I've ordered a bunch of old c-mount cine lenses which should arrive here within a week, along with an adapter. The adapter shipped from Taiwan last week and ought to arrive here in a week or so. Til then, stuck looking lovingly at the camera

First impressions: Although I handled one at B&H a week ago, it still seems bigger than it does online. Doesn't seem *that* much smaller than my E-520 - although maybe the fact that it's built in shiny silver influences my judgment. It's actually a little smaller than my old Oly OM-G. Fit and finish are superb.

Perhaps what's throwing me off is that it looks like a compact - my brayne is going "Hmm, this looks pretty big for a compact" when it should be going "Hey, this is tiny for an SLR!"

I want this.

Not to push you over the edge, stet, but have a look at what a kindly old Japanese gent is doing with his:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoshinori_kikuchi/sets/72157619142449147/

The one thing that this system lacks, and I daresay it's a problem which has plagued digital interchangeable lens systems ever since they were first realized, is a wide array of quality ultrawides (which get turned to pedestrian wides). I have half a mind to get a Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 for mine. Unfortunately, with wide angles on digital, you tend to get a lot of smeary corners, due to the fact that the microlens sites on the edge of the sensor have 'depth', and thus light rays which are not perpendicular to them don't enter them evenly, and then you end up with CA and smears and all that. Modern lenses have to be designed to be as 'telecentric' as possible.

Anyhow, this:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/3706510388_9c0210e814.jpg

The ultra-wide issue is worse with 4/3rds, I guess, due to the 2x crop factor. That Japanese guy is doing amazing things but a quick skim suggested that there are more gorgeous shots of hardware (taken with his Nikon) in his photostream than actual photos taken with the kit depicted.

Also, I think this is supposed to represent an end to the glass chase for Stet, not a new start! Still, PHWOAR eh, Stet?

PHWOAR is right! I'm not over bothered by the wides, I can't shoot wide for tofu, and 4/3 does give you extra reach on longs, at the expense of a bit of d-o-f.

TOP has delayed their e-p1 review, grr.

TOP?

The Online Photographer.

That review is up. It's pretty good: only complaints are the AF performance and the low-res screen. Am not bothered about the screen -- it's miles better than the one I have now anyway. The AF could be a pain, but am more likely to have manual lenses on it anyway, right? Hmm.

Just saw the review as well - figure I'll add my comments to the mix, despite having only had a fully functioning lens attached to it since this morning, so take them with grain of salt. I think the screen is pretty good - viewing angles are excellent and it's nice and bright. I have youthful eyes so have no problem with using the screen - you can definitely use it to ballpark focus without zooming in. Haven't used a 460k dot screen so don't know if a higher res screen would be better for nailing focus in this regard.

Magnifying while using manual focus lens is a pain - you have to press a button to zoom in, and then press it again to zoom out. You specify the area of the screen to zoom in on using a green square on the screen. You move the green square using the four-way d-pad. Unfortunately, the functions that the 4-way d-pad used to control - ISO, AF, WB, and drive mode - are no longer accessible. That means you have to switch to another mode in order to change any of those functions. Out of these four, ISO's probably the only one that warrants frequent changing - so maybe assigning ISO control to the Fn button can sidestep this issue. The camera's interface is extremely customizable, so I'm sure I'll eventually find a configuration that works for me.

It's definitely not as convenient as using a rangefinder or a split screen focusing screen if you're trying to nail focus using a manual lens. People who routinely scale/zone focus shouldn't have too much of a problem. NB Some adapters will allow you focus slightly past infinity, so the focus scale will be off a by a little bit.

All of the above is moot though if you're just gonna HF the lens at f/8 with high ISO. Which is what I'll probably end up doing most of the time!

AF seemed kinda quick when I played with the Pen but then I s'pose I was expecting traditional compact contrast-AF performance and it's loads better than that. But if it's in place of yr SLR phase-AF, well...I couldn't be doing with it really. Not for the sort of pictures I take (though I do take a good proportion with a manual focus lens). Panasonic G1 seemed to get rave notices for its AF, so perhaps the system can be improved.

The danger with these 920k LCD screens on the newer Sony/Nikon/Canon DSLRs, it seems to me, is that you run the battery down by just endlessly gazing at videos and images you've shot. Having played with a 500D, it's very moreish.

Perhaps I should just buy an M6. Buy the time I'm frustrated with film again and sell it either the E-P1's focus will seem brilliant, or the E-P2 will be out. :)

I want one of these: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/gh1.shtml

My cine lenses came in. 5 of em, all 25mm (50mm equivalent FOV), f1.9. You can get f1.4's and f0.95's but they're a bit more expensive. Have already dinged the bottom of the camera. Somehow I am less distraught over this than when it happened to my MBP.

Some Japanese company has come out with a black leatherette covering for it. Doesn't look quite right to me. Also the thought of scraping off icky bits of adhesive in a couple of years is not so appealing.

http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/E-P1/leatherette/Type1/E-P1_Leatherette.jpg

Alright dudes, time to buy a bag. Which color would you choose:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4103Vk-t45L._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41sTG1Yzp7L._SS400_.jpg

The top one, I think.

Yeah that's what I was leaning towards initially but the second color is growing on me. Gametime decision, I think.

Here's a pic of the set up so far. I have a Voigtlander 12mm coming next week which will be my main lens I think. Thinking about picking up a cheap Russkie 50mm. (I sold all my Oly gear to finance this, in case you guys think I'm a rich bastard). Each of these cine lenses cost about $25.

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae232/daggerlee/Photo2.jpg

Dante Stella weighs in.

He makes some good points but a lot of struck me as 'I am a pro photographer, how do you expect me to use this' elitism. Kinda like dudes who still stick by the mantra that "if it has a built-in flash, it ain't a professional camera.' What really me go WTF was the whole "if you can afford this you might as well buy a Epson R-D1 or M8 - they're only 50% and 150% more expensive than the EP-1."

Sadly, his point that legacy lenses may not ever be ideal on a digital sensor may be correct, from what I understand about sensors and how they work. Ah well!

DPReview gives the E-P1 a highly recommended with a few reservations. I got my 12mm in the mail today, for an equivalent of 24mm on the camera. Going to NYC this weekend, will give it a thorough working out.

As so many of the other threads have disappeared into the mists of time and this is a good record of our various product lustings, I thought newsy stuff could go here.

So...two new Nikon bodies - D3000 and D300S.

The former is a 10.1MP entry-level model, basically the D60 with a bigger (but no higher-res) LCD and improved AF. The latter is the D300 with added 720p video recording and a faster continuous frame-rate (better than the prosumer Canons, dammit).

Which means: now is the time to go out and buy a D60.

your thoughts?

iphone 5

?

u want an iphone 5

my iphone 4 does take better pictures than my current finepix

could you elaborate though? would you recommend the will.i.am camera accessory?

I was just being facetious - the x100 is a fine camera, go ahead and dip yr toe in the water

X100 sounds great.

Autofocus on all the X cameras has improved dramatically with the last firmware update.

Alas, there isn't good (any) third party support for underwater cases, so the X-E1 (which really seems like the perfect digicam) was out of contention for me.

Colleague of mine sold his X100 as he just couldn't live w/the user interface.

I tried an EOS M again the other day. Autofocus seems comically slow, even in bright light, and it's a pain to use the manual features. Gah, so close to what I want, which is basically a 5D sensor w/1D2 focus, in my pocket. (I'd also like Galaxy Camera-style connectivity, but that can wait)

sony rx1 mayne

I have an X100 which I use mainly for street shooting and I absolutely love it. Having said that, Stet's colleague is sadly otm about the interface; the menu system has improved a bit via firmware updates but it's still a pain in the arse.

However, the physical dials for shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation make the actual work of making a picture very easy and you can create wonderful images in a vast range of shooting conditions. If a 35mm-equivalent lens suits the kind of images you want to shoot then I'd say you should absolutely go for an X100, especially if you can get one relatively cheaply.

If they're hitting $600 that's definitely low enough to make me overlook some shitty interface. Has anyone used the x1?

The X-Pro1? A friend of mine has one and I've played with it a bit. I really liked it - if I had the money I'd definitely consider buying one. The 50mm-equivalent lens is stunning.

X-E1 is basically the X-Pro1 without the hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder (just an electronic one), and $400 less expensive. You still have to really want the Fuji sensor to get one over something like the Sony Nex-6 or Olympus EM-5 at that ~1k price point.

But they really did address the autofocus issues (which were the camera's biggest fault):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuSmD71lu5I

The X100 menus are no worse than anyone else's IMO and the XPro-1 is better than anyone. The Q menu on that one is fantastic and the best implementation of that kind of system.

Aside from formatting cards, once I have a camera set up I never really use the menus anyway.

$700 off the Nikon D600+24-85 package - basically makes the package the same as the body only.

bought an x100 :-(

craigslist seller called me just now about a lens i emailed him about.

he's been talking about lenses for 15 minutes straight. like, i don't think i'm going to be able to get this lens until i hear the story of ever lens he's ever owned since 1980. its 8:46 PM on a saturday.

not the same class of eq as a bunch of stuff you all are using, but today i ordered a Canon EOS 60D with an EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens. pretty excited!

sweet what ar eyou gonna shoot mayne

i'm actually probably going to use it mainly for HD video. i didn't really want to invest in a huge camcorder and i wanted to have the functionality of a decent camera as well. i don't know what i plan on filming. really, really cool stuff is the tentative plan!

maybe i'll just film people while i tell them that i'm trying to correct the focus on a still shot. just lots and lots of videos of people staring blankly as i try to focus

it's a metaphor for my liiiife

I want to order a D600, but that would be dumb.

X100S specs rumored - 16MP, super-fast AF, digital split-image focusing (ie digital rangefinder)

I'm wary, I wound up selling the XPro-1 because the files were less detailed than my X100, no one has been able to convert the RAW files from Fuji's X-Trans sensor (that would be in the 100S) very well.

I'm a bit dubious on the digital split-image focusing. It works in rangefinder optics because there are two hyperfocal/fixed focused optics and a mechanically linked mirror/prism calibrated to superimpose already focused images in the viewfinder when the primary lens is set to that focal distance. But on the digital sensor, only the plane in focus is in focus, so there's no focused image to superimpose on the optical viewfinder of the XPro and X100.

Anyway, "focus peaking", as on the Sony NEX lineup, the Panasonic GH3, Pentax K DSLRS, and Magic Lantern firmware for some Canon DSLRs (as well as a undocumented hack on OM-Ds) works great, IMO better than old-school split-image focusing, and it would work nicely on both the pure digital viewfinder of the X-E1 and the hybrid digital/optical viewfinders of the XPro and X100. That would be a neat upgrade for Fuji, as would a better filter to address X-Trans sensor chroma smearing.

Looks like the X100S has peaking. Not brutally important for the fixed-lens body but since they're probably using this as a test-bed for the XPro-2/XE-2, I guess they're serious about catering to people with M-mount lenses who can't afford a digital M.

Used M8s go for ~$2300, M9s for ~$4500, both less than the fast M lenses (even used). Sell a lens, buy a body, if you must have the Leica cache.

Devil's advocate: There are some great Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses for well under a grand - the Zeiss 50/2 is every bit the equal of a Summicron, etc., and if I'm someone who primarily shoots a film M - and may only own one or two lenses - but wants a digital body, better to drop $1k on a Fuji XE-1 or Sony NEX-16.
(I don't know why anyone would drop $2k+ on a M8/M8.2 - serious concerns about future serviceability, technology equivalent to a circa-2004 DSLR, etc..)

I don't have the lens adapter urges - I'd rather Sony/Fuji/Olympus/etc. focus on making great native lenses for their AF bodies. But I get why others might.

yo check it out nyc people:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/pho/3535631744.html

craigslist seller called me just now about a lens i emailed him about.

he's been talking about lenses for 15 minutes straight. like, i don't think i'm going to be able to get this lens until i hear the story of ever lens he's ever owned since 1980. its 8:46 PM on a saturday.

this guy and i met over breakfast the next day and he brought soooo much gear and wanted to show it all off and tell me all about it and at first it was a little annoying but I eventually relaxed and just let him rip and it ended up being a pretty great experience. i bought a nikkor 28mm-105mm off him that I'm really loving.

then last week he sends me a three paragraph, perfectly punctuated email saying he's got a Nikon F100 he wants to unload. He bought it from a guy only because he wanted the lens it came with, and guy wouldn't sell them separately. Since he's not interested in film at all and I'm now his "film guy" he says he'll give it to me for $100.

so yesterday we met up again for breakfast (he apologizes twice for being tired because he was "up till 2am looking at gear on eBay" lololol) and he tells me he actually has TWO F100's but one is having some auto-focus issues so he'll give them both to me for $135. so I took his offer.

I've only shot 2 rolls on it but I love the feel of it, such a great camera. I feel like once I get good w/ a flash on it I prob won't fuck with anything else for a while.

and, if I can get the autofocus figured out/repaired on the other, i can probably sell it for way more than $35. Or I can just hang on to it for parts 5-10 years down the road.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lomography/the-lomography-smartphone-film-scanner

gimmicky but I kinda want one

I considered it as my girlfriend gave me a Lomokino for christmas, but will see how I get on just doing normal scans.

I liked that the people at lomo were probably like "okay, how can we make lomography more like instagram... gary, lock the doors. nobody leaves this room until we have a schematic."

http://cameraquest.com/voigt_5015_nokton_classic.htm

Pricing "not announced" uh huh

lomo are introducing some aerochrome-esque film btw. i sorta think of their film as just weird rebadged bait or people who don't know you can just buy film in regular camera stores but i will play around w/some purple-making film.

anyone ever made redscale film by flipping it backwards?

i think i'm gonna pick up the new richo gr d with the aps-c sensor

:)

*ricoh

:)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peak-design/the-everyday-messenger-a-bag-for-cameras-and-essen

I was looking for a bag and then I found a bag, and heaven knows I'm miserable now.

oh that does look nice

This looks pretty interesting: https://light.co

Yeah, I was looking at that the other day. Don't doubt the tech, or that something like this is probably the future, but do you think the gallery pics are up to much? They look like superior iPhone snaps. And the chess piece macro shot has got some major artefacts on it, probably a result of all that image combination.

Yeah it seems like whenever some company tries something new (Foveon, Lytro for example) in digital photography, the results don't live up to the hype. Nothing really beats one big-ass sensor (yet).

Quite a markdown!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1134592-REG/hasselblad_1100182_lunar_camera_brown.html

I've got that Peak Design bag now and blimey it's nice.

https://www.keh.com/226529/fuji-medium-format-gw670iii-90-f3-5-67

only then I'd have to buy a scanner and expensive film and processing and yada yada yada

I don't even want to know how much film has gone up since the last time I bought any (2011ish)