Which SLR?

[SuPrBuGmAn]

The E330 is only around 6 months old too. Imagine if you had asked this question a year ago

Panasonic and Leica both have 4/3rds cameras with LiveView as well, but I don't know of any housings available for them. They are both more expensive as well.

You can get the E330 bundled with either the 14-45mm or the 18-180mm lense, price will differ. Olympus has a great, fast 50mm macro and a light 35mm macro. The 14-54 and 11-22(wide angle) both focus pretty close.

The 14-45mm lense fits the standard port on the 10bar/Fantasea housings. If you go with another brand of housing, I'd skip either bundled lense and just buy the camera body and a better lense seperately. The 14-54 is a great all purpose lense and the 11-22 is fantastic.

 

[RonFrank]

Wow, there is a lot to learn!

I had no idea about the screen issue, I've been using an olympus 5060 for so long, I can't really imagine not having a screen to aim with.
So, there's only the Oly 330 that has a live screen?
What lens do these cameras usually come with? I realize that i wil have to get a 50-60 mm macro and a decent wideangle, but can the lens that actually comes with the camera be at all useful (i.e. can I wat to get the other ones and still take photos)?

I feel like I'm asking really stupid questions now, but ...:shakehead

Well some feel that there are not stupid questions, but opinions vary!

DSLR's don't COME with a lens. The manufacture may provide some packages that do include lenses, but that is often NOT the lens you want. Kit lenses tend to be very low end, and slow. For lens choices, READ MY OTHER POSTS... I listed two, and since I'm not an OLY user, I did that homework for you! I did not include a macro lens choice, but that is not hard to figure out.

Oly made the the 330 to appeal to those that are used to an LCD live preview. I would suggest trying the view with a several DLSR's. Don't limit yourself to the OLY 330 as the SLR view is rather dim. In fact one must ask why bother making an SLR where the viewfinder is challanged (dark, small)?

The Live view seems to work well. But using the finder the view is poor. The sensor in the 330 is not much bigger than sensor in a PnS camera. One must determine if this is a camera that is worth the expense especially with lenses running at $700 for the 11~22mm.

I may be more inclined to go with something like the Canon G7 that has a fixed lens, a sensor not all that much smaller than the Oly 330, and costs less with the lens.

The 330 is certainly wothy of consideration, but the more I read about it, the more I think there are MUCH better camera's out there. Lens cost alone are a bit disturbing. I can get the very nice Tokina 12-24mm F4 for under$500 in several flavors (like Canon,Nikon) but with the Oly on top of an inflated body cost, there is no option for a wide angle alternative, just throw down 1600+ bucks. Add in the tiny sensor, and hmmm, is live preview THAT important?

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

The optical viewfinder on the E330 is supposed to be brighter than the viewfinder on the E500, which I had no problem using

Sigma is supposed to be releasing their entire catalogue for 4/3rds in 2007, which will give the option of the Sigma 10-20 for a price cheaper than the 11-22. This is still a relatively new lense mount, lenses don't materialize out of vapor instantly There are currently 30 lenses available in 4/3rds mount.

The 11-22 is fast, built tough, and its weatherproof - You won't find that in Tokina's lense, any of them. You pay for quality.

 

[RonFrank]

The 11-22 is fast, built tough, and its weatherproof - You won't find that in Tokina's lense, any of them. You pay for quality.

I would beg to differ. Do you own these lenses, have you shot them? I've owned a number of Tokina Lenses dating back to the early 80's. But let's compare apples to apples.

The Tokina 12-24mm focuses at 11.8 inches. It weights 1.2 lbs, and the Oly weights 15.6 lbs. granted the OLY is using a MUCH smaller sensor, so one would consider that. However the sensor size IMO is a huge factor, and smaller is NOT better.

So the OLY is slightly flaster, but based on the sensor, one has to ask why it's not a LOT smaller?

IMO the Oly is an inferior design, and my opinion is backed by a LOT of people.The sensor size alone is an issue.

 

[RonFrank]

The 11-22 is fast, built tough, and its weatherproof - You won't find that in Tokina's lense, any of them. You pay for quality.

I would beg to differ. Do you own these lenses, have you shot them? I've owned a number of Tokina Lenses dating back to the early 80's. But let's compare apples to apples.

The Tokina 12-24mm focuses at 11.8 inches. It weights 1.2 lbs, and the Oly weights 15.6 lbs. granted the OLY is using a MUCH smaller sensor, so one would consider that. However the sensor size IMO is a huge factor, and smaller is NOT better.

But the real question is does one want a lens that can do 18~36mm F4 for $500, or does one want to pay $700 for a 22~44mm lens? Hmm

IMO the Oly is an inferior design, and my opinion the Tokina is backed by a LOT of customers.The sensor size alone is an issue.

If you want live preview OLY is it But poor ISO noise, small sensor, cost compared to the competition, and limited lens choices IMO make this a less than great choice. Oly also tanked once on their SLR commitment, they may do so again if they can't make bucks on their DSLR. Sorry, but IMO Oly is a poor SLR choice.

 

[Warren_L]

Wow, there is a lot to learn!

I had no idea about the screen issue, I've been using an olympus 5060 for so long, I can't really imagine not having a screen to aim with.
So, there's only the Oly 330 that has a live screen?
What lens do these cameras usually come with? I realize that i wil have to get a 50-60 mm macro and a decent wideangle, but can the lens that actually comes with the camera be at all useful (i.e. can I wat to get the other ones and still take photos)?

I feel like I'm asking really stupid questions now, but ...:shakehead

I suppose having a live screen is personal preference. If you're coming from a P&S system, chances are you're used to using one and you might think that not having one is going to be a problem. For me, I would not use a live screen even if I had one simply because it does not give me a good idea of whether my shot is in focus or not. And I've not found the viewfinder to be more difficult nor less convenient than a live view. Plus having the live screen on full time probably draws a fair bit of battery power. Having it on for post view is good, though.

 

[Fastmarc]

And I've not found the viewfinder to be more difficult nor less convenient than a live view. Plus having the live screen on full time probably draws a fair bit of battery power. Having it on for post view is good, though.

So looking through it with a housing on is not a problem?

 

[Warren_L]

So far, no. At least with the two housings I have. Ikelite and Aquatica.

 

[Wolverine]

I think you would have to consider the long term aspects of your purchase as well as the use above the water. Personally, I started with Nikon film cameras and basically continued on with the DLSR with Nikon, partly due to the lens and partly because I was familiar with Nikon. If you are starting fresh, it will be useful to consider what you want to do with your camera and what kind of lens you want. Both Canon and Nikon offer the greatest variety of lenses, and I suspect going ahead, will continue to do so more than the rest of the makes. If I were starting afresh, I would pick from either of these. Both offer the enthusiast models (D80 and 400XTI) as well as the semi pro models (D200 and 30D). I would consider these to start off with. Good luck!

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I would beg to differ. Do you own these lenses, have you shot them? I've owned a number of Tokina Lenses dating back to the early 80's. But let's compare apples to apples.

I don't own the Tokina, am I incorrect in the fact that its slower and not weathersealed? I DO own the 11-22, it IS weathersealed.

The Tokina 12-24mm focuses at 11.8 inches. It weights 1.2 lbs, and the Oly weights 15.6 lbs. granted the OLY is using a MUCH smaller sensor, so one would consider that. However the sensor size IMO is a huge factor, and smaller is NOT better.

Lets do a full comparison here, without your incorrect weight on the Oly lense.
Tokina focuses at 11.8" Olympus focuses at 11.02"
Tokina has a max aperture of F4 Olympus has a max aperture of F2.8@11 &F3.5@22.
Tokina has a weight of 570g Olympus has a weight of 485g(much less than your claimed 15lbs-which obviously should have read as ounces).
Tokina does, in fact, cover a wider range by 10 degrees angle of view

As far as UW photography is concerned, this has little bearing, but for those who enjoy telephoto shooting of wildlife and such - a 200mm Olympus lense has the equivelant of a 400mm 35mm lense. So while its harder to get the uberwide angles, not impossible if you have the $$, its much easier to get the longer reach.

But the real question is does one want a lens that can do 18~36mm F4 for $500, or does one want to pay $700 for a 22~44mm lens? Hmm

Would I pay the extra $200 for a better build, faster, weathersealed lense? Yes, I'm rough on my gear and it gets exposed to the elements. Don't need all that? Sigma will have their 10-20 on the market next year.

IMO the Oly is an inferior design, and my opinion the Tokina is backed by a LOT of customers.The sensor size alone is an issue.

If you want live preview OLY is it But poor ISO noise, small sensor, cost compared to the competition, and limited lens choices IMO make this a less than great choice. Oly also tanked once on their SLR commitment, they may do so again if they can't make bucks on their DSLR. Sorry, but IMO Oly is a poor SLR choice.

The small 4/3rd sensors seems to output images equivelant to competitor images in low ISO shots. DPR will back that in side-by-side comparison. Canon has better incamera noise reduction, its not a working of the CMOS sensor itself. I find you'll get better results with noise reduction software like Noiseware or NoiseNinja anyway. The lense choice isn't as limited as you make it out to be. There are already 30 available lenses with very few gaps. Oly quit the OM market, the do have adapters for the lenses for 4/3rds mount but you lose some control from the camera(AF and aperture control which has to be set manually as the lense was designed). 4/3rds isn't just an Olympus market anymore. Panasonic/Leica are now involved and Sigma is showing full support. The mount isn't going away anytime soon.

Olympus is on par with other dSLR brands IMO and if LiveView is usefull to you, it should be the top of your list.