I have just bought an Olympus E620 with two kit lenses 14-42 and 40 - 150mm to replace an E510 that I liked.
I haven't had time to really play with it but the few images I have taken haven't fared well at FT (I think sharpness is the issue even with the 50mm f.2 lens, probably user error though.)
I have the opportunity to buy a second hand Canon 50D with an 17-85mm IS lens from a trusted source for about the same money I would get for my nearly new olympus and the two kit lenses.
I would get decent money for the 50mm f2 prime that I have for the Oly allowing me the option to buy a similar lens for the Canon (i'm guessing).
The question is from an image quality pov is this a wise move?
Anyone who isn't as clueless as me have an opinion?
If you're not getting sharp images from the E620 and 50mm, there isn't any camera available that will help the situation, and many will make it much worse. To get an equivalent quality macro on the 50D you'd be looking at the 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS which is a big step up in price and weight, and on APS-C the IQ difference would be minimal.
Things to keep in mind with the Olympus:
- Shoot at f6.3 or below (around f4-5 is usually optimum - don't be afraid to go down to f2 on the 50!)
- Keep ISO at 100 for minimum noise, not 200 which is the Olympus default now
- Shoot RAW and process in Lightroom 3 (not older versions of ACR)
- with the 50mm, give it some time to focus
If you want a noticeable improvement in IQ from what you have, you'd really need to go with a full-frame system. That said if you're results are not sharp now, they're probably going to get less sharp with the bigger system because the "user error" component will just get magnified.
