Mark Farnik
EF5
Hey gang,
I'm in a bit of a camera conundrum at the moment. Let me explain...
I'm a photography student, currently working on my B.A. degree at the Art Institute of Colorado, as well as a part time professional photographer, and recently I've realized that if I want to be competitive in the industry, I've got to keep up with the technology, and the time is drawing near for me to upgrade from my trusty but technologically outdated Nikon D200 to a better camera. I've consulted my professors, and they told me that in the photography industry, either you keep up or you get left behind, and there's no in between. It's still a great camera, and it works perfectly fine, but now I just need something better.
But what to upgrade to? There is where my problem lies...
I've shot with Nikon cameras since 2005 - my first DSLR was a 6.1 megapixel D70s, which I recieved as a 16th birthday present in December of 2005. I shot with that camera for a year and a half, and was planning on using it longer, but I got a once in a lifetime deal on my 10.2 megapixel D200 from an ex-professional photographer who was a friend of mine, so I upgraded to that D200 in May of 2007 and relegated the D70s to backup camera status.
I've been extremely pleased overall with my Nikons, and when the thought first crossed my mind, my original thought that since I have so much invested in Nikon lenses and equipment already, that I would just step up to the full frame, 12.1 megapixel D700 body.
But then the $3k pricetag hit me full force, and I choked.
I'll have $60k in student loans by the time I finish my B.A. degree, so the prospect of getting even deeper into debt is not exactly appealing to me.
I went into my local Mike's Camera the other day, and explained my dilemma to the store manager, who has over three decades of photographics experience, and he strongly suggested that I consider the Olympus E-3, and gave me a half hour informative lecture (not a sales pitch, which was refreshing) about the camera and it's various technical aspects and features which make it superior in many regards to similar Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras.
I'd never really considered Olympus cameras before, so I went home and did some research, and I discovered that the E-3 is a truly remarkable camera. It has gotten rave reviews from the photography community, and has picked up a number of awards of excellence in the professional DSLR category from respected magazines such as Popular Photography and PC Magazine.
It has some extremely distinguishing features, namely a completely sealed body, so it is totally weather and dust proof; built in vibration reduction, which eliminates the need for costly VR lenses, as with Nikon and Canon; and a 2.5 LiveView LCD, which besides the LiveView capability being an extremely handy feature in and of itself, the LCD can be rotated to face inwards when not in use, thus protecting the LCD from scratches or accidental breakage. Also, Olympus's Zuiko line of lenses are among the most highly rated in the industry for lens quality, and because of Olympus's unique 4/3 sensor, they are much smaller and lighter than any other manufacturer's lenses, especially their large prime lenses. The difference in size and heft between an Olympus Zuiko 300 mm prime and a comparable Nikkor or Canon 300 mm prime is like night and day!
While the E-3 only has a 10.1 megapixel sensor (the same as my D200) the store manager at Mike's showed me two 16 by 20 inch prints, one made with the E-3 and the other made with the D700. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't really tell the difference - I was amazed at how the Olympus matched the Nikon for sharpness and clarity, even though the Nikon is packing two more megapixels and a full frame sensor!
Through my research, I can get the E-3 body for around $1300, and paired with the 12-60 mm and 50-200 mm Zuiko lenses, plus some necessary accessories (batteries, etc) I'd be looking at right around $2400 for the whole shebang. Which considering the level of technology packed into the camera body and the quality of the lenses, is quite a bargain.
While I've had very postive experiences with my Nikons', I'm not diehard loyal to the brand, and I am willing to experiment, especially with a camera with as much good press and as many great features as the Olympus E-3.
The Art Institute of Colorado uses Olympus cameras as their primary student kit cameras, and they have a couple of E-3's in their equipment storeroom for student checkout, so I'm going to check one out sometime in the next couple of weeks and take it on a test drive, er, shoot, to see if it lives up to the hype.
So here's my options:
Option A - I sell off my D70s body and kit lens, a couple of my reduntant lenses and my D200 body, which would net me about $1500 all together,for the D700 body, and take out a loan for the remaining $1500.
Option B: I can sell off my D70s body and kit lens, then bundle my D200, my other five Nikon lenses, my Nikon Speedlight flash and my assortment of Nikon accessories together and sell it as a complete package, all of which would net me about $2500 and then purchase the E-3 kit outright and maybe even have some pocket change to spare.
I'm not looking to make the upgrade this instant, but I've tentatively set a goal of upgrading within the next two to four months. I'm hoping to take advantage of what are certain to be extremely wallet friendly holiday specials this year. Economists are predicting record low holiday sales season thanks to the current economic crisis, so retailers are going to be slashing prices on everything in order to keep from going in the red, especially 'luxury' items like TV's, high end camera's, etc., so there will be some absolutely killer deals to be had come Black Friday, as well as the remainder of the holiday season... and I fully intend on taking advantage of them.
So if anyone has any suggestions in regards to my dilemma, or, even better, if anyone has any real world experience with the E-3 or Olympus DSLRs in general, I'd love to hear what you have to say.
Thanks in advance for any and all input!
I'm in a bit of a camera conundrum at the moment. Let me explain...
I'm a photography student, currently working on my B.A. degree at the Art Institute of Colorado, as well as a part time professional photographer, and recently I've realized that if I want to be competitive in the industry, I've got to keep up with the technology, and the time is drawing near for me to upgrade from my trusty but technologically outdated Nikon D200 to a better camera. I've consulted my professors, and they told me that in the photography industry, either you keep up or you get left behind, and there's no in between. It's still a great camera, and it works perfectly fine, but now I just need something better.
But what to upgrade to? There is where my problem lies...
I've shot with Nikon cameras since 2005 - my first DSLR was a 6.1 megapixel D70s, which I recieved as a 16th birthday present in December of 2005. I shot with that camera for a year and a half, and was planning on using it longer, but I got a once in a lifetime deal on my 10.2 megapixel D200 from an ex-professional photographer who was a friend of mine, so I upgraded to that D200 in May of 2007 and relegated the D70s to backup camera status.
I've been extremely pleased overall with my Nikons, and when the thought first crossed my mind, my original thought that since I have so much invested in Nikon lenses and equipment already, that I would just step up to the full frame, 12.1 megapixel D700 body.
But then the $3k pricetag hit me full force, and I choked.
I'll have $60k in student loans by the time I finish my B.A. degree, so the prospect of getting even deeper into debt is not exactly appealing to me.
I went into my local Mike's Camera the other day, and explained my dilemma to the store manager, who has over three decades of photographics experience, and he strongly suggested that I consider the Olympus E-3, and gave me a half hour informative lecture (not a sales pitch, which was refreshing) about the camera and it's various technical aspects and features which make it superior in many regards to similar Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras.
I'd never really considered Olympus cameras before, so I went home and did some research, and I discovered that the E-3 is a truly remarkable camera. It has gotten rave reviews from the photography community, and has picked up a number of awards of excellence in the professional DSLR category from respected magazines such as Popular Photography and PC Magazine.
It has some extremely distinguishing features, namely a completely sealed body, so it is totally weather and dust proof; built in vibration reduction, which eliminates the need for costly VR lenses, as with Nikon and Canon; and a 2.5 LiveView LCD, which besides the LiveView capability being an extremely handy feature in and of itself, the LCD can be rotated to face inwards when not in use, thus protecting the LCD from scratches or accidental breakage. Also, Olympus's Zuiko line of lenses are among the most highly rated in the industry for lens quality, and because of Olympus's unique 4/3 sensor, they are much smaller and lighter than any other manufacturer's lenses, especially their large prime lenses. The difference in size and heft between an Olympus Zuiko 300 mm prime and a comparable Nikkor or Canon 300 mm prime is like night and day!
While the E-3 only has a 10.1 megapixel sensor (the same as my D200) the store manager at Mike's showed me two 16 by 20 inch prints, one made with the E-3 and the other made with the D700. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't really tell the difference - I was amazed at how the Olympus matched the Nikon for sharpness and clarity, even though the Nikon is packing two more megapixels and a full frame sensor!
Through my research, I can get the E-3 body for around $1300, and paired with the 12-60 mm and 50-200 mm Zuiko lenses, plus some necessary accessories (batteries, etc) I'd be looking at right around $2400 for the whole shebang. Which considering the level of technology packed into the camera body and the quality of the lenses, is quite a bargain.
While I've had very postive experiences with my Nikons', I'm not diehard loyal to the brand, and I am willing to experiment, especially with a camera with as much good press and as many great features as the Olympus E-3.
The Art Institute of Colorado uses Olympus cameras as their primary student kit cameras, and they have a couple of E-3's in their equipment storeroom for student checkout, so I'm going to check one out sometime in the next couple of weeks and take it on a test drive, er, shoot, to see if it lives up to the hype.
So here's my options:
Option A - I sell off my D70s body and kit lens, a couple of my reduntant lenses and my D200 body, which would net me about $1500 all together,for the D700 body, and take out a loan for the remaining $1500.
Option B: I can sell off my D70s body and kit lens, then bundle my D200, my other five Nikon lenses, my Nikon Speedlight flash and my assortment of Nikon accessories together and sell it as a complete package, all of which would net me about $2500 and then purchase the E-3 kit outright and maybe even have some pocket change to spare.
I'm not looking to make the upgrade this instant, but I've tentatively set a goal of upgrading within the next two to four months. I'm hoping to take advantage of what are certain to be extremely wallet friendly holiday specials this year. Economists are predicting record low holiday sales season thanks to the current economic crisis, so retailers are going to be slashing prices on everything in order to keep from going in the red, especially 'luxury' items like TV's, high end camera's, etc., so there will be some absolutely killer deals to be had come Black Friday, as well as the remainder of the holiday season... and I fully intend on taking advantage of them.
So if anyone has any suggestions in regards to my dilemma, or, even better, if anyone has any real world experience with the E-3 or Olympus DSLRs in general, I'd love to hear what you have to say.
Thanks in advance for any and all input!
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