MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => Photography Equipment => Cameras / Lenses => Topic started by: marcopolo on October 16, 2009, 18:44
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A friend of mine wants to get into microstock and is looking at an olympus E-410 or E-510 to start. He has a collection of old olympus compatible lenses from his film days when he used an OM-2 and an OM-10. He asked if I knew if they were compatible with these Olympus digital cameras, I told him I didn't know and have a feeling they are not. Being unemployed at the moment he wants to not spend too much money and feels he cannot really afford a Nikon or Canon plus all new lenses. Anyone know if these old lenses would be compatible with Olympus digital cameras?
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A friend of mine wants to get into microstock and is looking at an olympus E-410 or E-510 to start. He has a collection of old olympus compatible lenses from his film days when he used an OM-2 and an OM-10. He asked if I knew if they were compatible with these Olympus digital cameras, I told him I didn't know and have a feeling they are not. Being unemployed at the moment he wants to not spend too much money and feels he cannot really afford a Nikon or Canon plus all new lenses. Anyone know if these old lenses would be compatible with Olympus digital cameras?
Presumably if he's looking to buy one of these cameras he'll get a kit lens with it? The standard 2 lens Olympus kit comes with a 14-42 and a 40-150 lens both lenses are good enough for doing stock work - and significantly better than some of the other kit lenses going round. Its actually one of the reasons why the Oly kit would be suited to stock. I wouldn't suggest getting an Oly body only though. You can get an adapter that will allow him to use the old OM lenses, but this means that they become manual focus only. Sharpness isn't always ideal, but some lenses perform pretty well, especially some of the longer ones that benefit from the 2x crop.
A good source of info for him is the Oly forum on dpreview: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1022 (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1022)
There's also a little bit of info on my website, but nothing dealing with the OM lenses.
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Sounds like a good idea. Nothing wrong with the image quality from the E-410/510, and as Holgs mentioned, the kit lenses are second to none.
Manual focus of old OM lenses with the relatively small viewfinder can be a bit tricky sometimes, but for studio shots using live view, it's very easy. Most of the OM lenses need to be stopped down to f/4.0 or even f/5.6 to perform well on a 4/3 camera, but then, some of them are very sharp indeed. Most of the macro lenses perform extremely well, and anything from 50mm and up are pretty sharp. My favourites are 50mm f/2.0 macro (rare and expensive, and the f/3.5 version perform well also), 100mm f/2.8 (the tiniest 200mm equivalent you can imagine, tack sharp from f/5.6) and any of the 200mm lenses (f/4.0 or f/5.0).
I would absolutely prefer the E-510 due to in-body IS (which works with the OM lenses if the camera firmware has been upgraded, and longer battery life.
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I used to have an Oly E-510 and used an OM mount 50mm F3.5 macro with great results. The nice thing about the E-510 (and 410 too I imagine) was using live view when using the OM lenses as you can zoom in 7x or 10x in live view to get your focus exact before taking the shot (use a tripod). I found that feature very beneficial when using the OM lenses.
I'll also echo that the kit lenses are excellent quality and very suitable for stock.
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I am using E-510 whole the time...
But E-3 or E-30 is my next step ...
Here is some compare with Nikon D-300...
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_E-3/outdoor_results.shtml (http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_E-3/outdoor_results.shtml)
Take a look down on images...
Message for Nikon: "resistance is futile..." ;D
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I use the E-510 for almost 2 years now, love the small size and the image quality. I mainly shoot RAW at 100 ISO. Works well with old OM Lenses as well with an adapter
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I am using E-510 whole the time...
But E-3 or E-30 is my next step ...
Here is some compare with Nikon D-300...
[url]http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_E-3/outdoor_results.shtml[/url] ([url]http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_E-3/outdoor_results.shtml[/url])
Take a look down on images...
Message for Nikon: "resistance is futile..." ;D
Hardly a fair test - comparing a Nikon lens that's almost twice the price, covers half the zoom range and isn't splash-proof. What they really should have compared it to is the 14-35mm f2 ;) Lets not mention that by f/8 most Oly lenses start to loose a little sharpness...
Actually on that link it looks like the Nikon is out of focus... or are the photos from this lens usually that bad??
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@holgs Did you try to get sponsored by Olympus for your venture, might be worth a try?
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I actually preferred the E500 over the 510. The noise control was better on the 500 and the JPEGS on the 500 were far better than what I could get with the 510. While RAW on the 510 is great, I found the JPEGS even at the highest quality setting completely useless for stock; even at ISO 100.
I had the E510 for only 4 months and then went to Sony DSLR's. I love my A700 :)
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Here is some compare with Nikon D-300...
[url]http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_E-3/outdoor_results.shtml[/url] ([url]http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_E-3/outdoor_results.shtml[/url])
Take a look down on images...
Message for Nikon: "resistance is futile..." ;D
This comparison is worthless, Nikon picture is totally out of focus.This is a good comparison website called comparometer.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM (http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM)
Here is the results
D300 100iso E30 100iso
(http://e26dzg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pjO1f-jGnbiOIY0mTd6aNZL9XDf8YVnt5tLjT04F8kZXpyOiKa4qumpe-AOq--G33O3aSgeINC5fXo0iCmzx_-AEfiHGKFkYW/D300-100iso.jpg) (http://e26dzg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p7nCQh6AoCtkJa-yw5KsEB7GC_3HImG8T89ORz9gEdMqoADsnegroFn5uEeKQ7OSLwZbOBKR27diLcydCW76CAF1vuBDxkxK6/E30-100iso.jpg)
To give a small chance here is the D300 800iso vs E30 400iso
D300 800iso E30 400iso
(http://e26dzg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pwqRMQqoNlqSasd9pQMsoN9r2jYXXoOVCOtmNNah8WJZVYjXn_HCpWN-SJGj0yJ5B_mBtkcBSlYns3H7KDitbT6KNWv8FdE9n/D300-800iso.jpg) (http://e26dzg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p3x3eRFXNfY9gpsqJb-_FmB3UztZxRu9rbEX0O7WGd5WEx19q-tyYZFi9kCDe_yIriWMit38eXdMUfnYm6wy8eEwfRyOv9eez/E30-400iso.jpg)
Olympus never achieved the Nikon quality yet. And Nikon didnt't achieved Canon quality with the latest cameras. The 5D MarkII achieve the same level of noise control and sharpeness than the Nikon D3 and that with 70% more resolution, as example. Olympus can be good for stock, but only in expert hands
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@holgs Did you try to get sponsored by Olympus for your venture, might be worth a try?
Yeah I wish... I think I'm in a very small minority (maybe a minority of 1??) who only uses Olympus cameras and who does this full time.
In some ways the output from Olympus is much better suited to people who want a JPG that is going to look good if printed straight out of the camera. That said, I think when you get used to a post processing workflow with the Olympus cameras that's geared to stock you can get some pretty good results.
EDIT:
@ the comparometer - I must say that's about my least favourite camera review website - if you look at the parameters they use and the scope there is for error, the results there are pretty meaningless. Change 1 setting on each camera and the results will be completely different. I personally rely more on the DPReview tests - even though they have their shortcomings.
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Olympus E30 on Dpreview
E30 800iso Canon 50D 800iso
(http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusE30/samples/ISO/PC150056_NFStd_ISO800_crop.jpg) (http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS50D/Samples/ISO/50D_NR-STD_ISO800_0680_crop.jpg)
E30 1600iso Canon 50D 1600iso
(http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusE30/samples/ISO/PC150058_NFStd_ISO1600_crop.jpg) (http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS50D/Samples/ISO/50D_NR-STD_ISO1600_0683_crop.jpg)
The 800iso is a little to blur already. You can't even downsize an image like the 1600iso. Not even to use as web or as a small element in a design
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I never use 800 or 1600 for stock.....
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Many does. Even sometimes without downsizing and this at Istock. I had a couple of downsized 800iso pics of butterflies in my portfolio. Just downsize make a path and put the downsized butterflies together on white, that make a XL :)
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Many does. Even sometimes without downsizing and this at Istock. I had a couple of downsized 800iso pics of butterflies in my portfolio. Just downsize make a path and put the downsized butterflies together on white, that make a XL :)
ISO 800 on an E-510 - not downsized, and accepted on all the sites... the Dreamstime version zooms if you have any doubts about it being "Unusable". Yes there is some grain, but nothing that would really show up in print. The E30 isn't as noisy as the E510 - as long as you expose properly - no different to other cameras really.
(http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/4361051/2/istockphoto_4361051-tarsier-tarsius-syrichta.jpg)
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-tarsier-tarsius-syrichta-image3285108 (http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-tarsier-tarsius-syrichta-image3285108)
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Nice shot. It's probably not straight from camera, but it doesn't look like a lot of photoshop except curves though
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Very nice pic Holgs - very clean, even zoomed there's barely any noise. I use E-510 and E-30 too, but I don't think I've ever tried at 800 ISO, at least, not for stock!
It is an ideally lit subject though - noise is worst in dark areas, and there aren't many dark bits there.
Did you apply any noise reduction or sharpening?
I like the Olys though. I just wish they would do a full frame model...
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Honestly I never put my DSLR on ISO more than 200...
I am not paparazzo, who trying to catch someone's moment of life in a dark place...
I am controller of light when I shoot for microstock...
E-510 is good enough for microstock, even more than that...
Only difference between Oly's dslr sensors and CMOS on Nikon and Canon is size, because of that they have less noise on higher ISO...
I am sure that new generation of four-third sensors will delete that difference...
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Very nice pic Holgs - very clean, even zoomed there's barely any noise. I use E-510 and E-30 too, but I don't think I've ever tried at 800 ISO, at least, not for stock!
It is an ideally lit subject though - noise is worst in dark areas, and there aren't many dark bits there.
Did you apply any noise reduction or sharpening?
I like the Olys though. I just wish they would do a full frame model...
haha thanks!
I guess the thing about noise is that it pops up when the light is bad - personally I try to time most of my shots when the light is good anyway. Generally if you make sure you expose to the right, rather than underexpose which is what the camera will want to do in lower light, you should get pretty acceptable results.
The shot is from about 2 years ago, but I think my post processing workflow then was basically to convert in lightroom with sharpening pretty low or off and apply a second layer for selective noise reduction in post processing - on that photo it would have been applied to the leaves in the background. Basically the image looks pretty sharp because its taken with the 35mm macro, which is about as sharp a less you'll find - even wide open at f3.5. Also I'm pretty sure DT applies some level of sharpening to their previews which in my view makes them look a little bit oversharpened.
I've found with the E30 if you start your processing with sharpening and the Noise Filter turned off and expose properly, you'll get pretty clean results. The sky and areas with no contrast will have some level of grainyness that is easy enough to apply a small NR layer to, but its not enough to get rejections for excessive noise even if you don't. I shoot at ISO 100 about 90% of the time, so high ISO performance isn't really that much of an issue for me - if it was I'd probably be looking at FF - but as it is I can generally still get around any low light problems.
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Hello Mr. Holgs :D Im another full time Olympus user. I had extensively used bunch of bodies and lenses, currently using E-410 and E-3 + 14-54, 50-200 SWD and 12-60 SWD as main lenses. However most of my portfolio was made with E-300 + kit lens 14-45 (old one).
To the first question - no, you cant use Om lenses directly on modern Olympus DSLR, you need adapter, but it costs something like $20. Its very good idea to buy double zoom kit, as it often costs just few $$ more then body only. E-410 is smaller and so has abit worse handling then E-510 and E-510 has stabilised sensor. The difference in image quality is none. I would recommend biofos.com and wrotniak.net for extensive info about settings, lenses available etc.
To the "horrible noisy Olympus" and other stuff like that - APS-C sensor isnt so much larger as many ppl think and up to iso800 there is hardly any difference - thats with basic settings. If you turn sharpening and contrast to off or low, the Oly will produce images much sharper then eg Canon 40D, but also noise will show. However this noise could be easily cleaned up to iso400 almost to no noise (I have NeatImage for that), while still resulting in very sharp images.
Comparing Oly to APS-C is very difficult - first its very likely Canon has some in-RAW noise reduction and second it depends alot on image settings (sharpening, contrast). On Nikon or Canon simply do not exist lenses comparable to ZD 14-54, 12-60 or 50-200 and SHG line has also no direct competitor. Olympus kit lenses are amongst the best kit lenses available on DSLR. On the other hand the dynamic range and noise level are abit worse with Olympus sensor.
Olys power isn in sensor but lenses have impressive quality unmatched by C/N. Half of lenses produced by Olympus have no direct competitor, all high-grade and super-high-grade lenses are very resistant to water (they survive heavy rain or short dive without problem) and even kit lenses have excellent optics. The power however is mainly in zooms, while primes are abit problem on Oly.
I would recommend Oly to ppl who prefer superb quality zooms (travellers like Holgs or me), the ratio price-weight-optics-sealing is unmatched by any other manufacturer. If you prefer super-high resolution, high iso (sport, theatre etc.) and primes, then do not choose Olympus.
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One thing not to forget is that the Olympus Dust Removal System is still the best and can easily save you many, many annoying retouching hours in front of your computer. I would say for Microstock it is one of the best DSLR-Systems you can get, great output (especially colors), easy to carry, very good price-value relation.
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We can start an Olympus Club here:)
I bought my first one in 1991 (the OM101) and got after the C2500L,E-10, then the E-501. The difference in image quality between each model was huge so I am waiting maybe next year or in 2011 to get a new E-xx.
I have the Zuiko 50 mm macro 2.0 which gives superb results. I heard the 70-300 ED has a very good quality for the price ($341 on Amazon...) but I just have the 40-150mm
I did some infidelities recently since I have also a Canon G9 and a Canon camcorder HF200 :)
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I use the e-510 which I got while circut city was going bankrupt. It has been great, as mentioned earlier the lens kit is a good deal.
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Yep!
Olympus dust removal system is the best on the market...
I can't wait new generation of 4:3 sensors, that will be revolution...
One more thing...
Our thumbnails are bigger than other because of 4:3 standard.... ;) ;D 8)
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Yep!
Olympus dust removal system is the best on the market...
I can't wait new generation of 4:3 sensors, that will be revolution...
One more thing...
Our thumbnails are bigger than other because of 4:3 standard.... ;) ;D 8)
Shhh!!! Now you're giving away secrets that are actually useful! ;)
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Don't worry, they are still infected with Canon and Nikon brand... ;)
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What I like about Canon/Nikon users - they talk about "small" sensor and "high noise" etc. while most of them have just basic entry-level plastic crap with very crappy Canon 18-55 or little better Nikkor 18-55 or another cheap and usually highly overpriced average quality lens. My friend with Canon 40D nearly got heart attack when he saw pics from my E-410 + 14-54 and they were sharper then from his 4x more expensive setup :D
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Olympus is one step away from a new sensor that will be in range of those at the top...
But Oly have excellent optic even in kit offer...
Most of Canon/Nikon believers are blowing the myth about their brand, but only the top offer is worth of that...
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Friend of mine asked the same question. so I gave my opinion, and he came back from the store with an Olympus Pen.
The photos he takes is amazing. He is a learner. Man this thing is so fantastic.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusEP1/ (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusEP1/)
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Friend of mine asked the same question. so I gave my opinion, and he came back from the store with an Olympus Pen.
The photos he takes is amazing. He is a learner. Man this thing is so fantastic.
[url]http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusEP1/[/url] ([url]http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusEP1/[/url])
I'm jealous of your friend....