This is long, but should be worth your read.
Well, we braved the elements and went to a camera store that
stocked something other than JUST Nikon and Canon. Saw the E-1
and the Minolta A1 up close and personal. Interesting. Very
interesting.
I hadn't seen the E-1 in person yet and had actually pretty well
dismissed it as any form of possibility. I decided that
Nikon/Fuji was the way to go when I go with the "system camera".
Uh huh.
First of all, the Minolta A1. Decent camera, and I had only two
negatives about the whole thing. The grip is actually on the
small side. The camera is compact and the grip had to shrink a
little to keep from looking out of place. It was comfortable to
hold and my wrists were happy. However, EVERY single time I put
my right hand on the camera my thumb would bump at least two
buttons. Fortunately, in normal shooting modes, none of the
inadvertant button presses did anything--whew! The back display
is awesome. Good job Minolta. The auto-focus is spot-on. Did
an excellent job and didn't hunt at all. It has a whole field
of autofocus sensepoints similar to the Canon EOS-3. It
autotracked correctly and I couldn't find any faults with it.
And the manual focus override is tops.
The grid/scale overlay was as good, if not better, than I
expected. On the back display it was perfect. I also really
liked the real-time histogram. Makes "zone system" metering
easy. The ability to store and retrieve custom settings (the
entire cameras settings) is great. It takes about a second to
go from color to B&W for example. I liked the fact that
configuration settings which would be classified as
"photographer preference" items are buried in menues, (no more
than two layers deep, though), but nearly everything else is
press a button and rotate a command dial. Very slick and the
best I've seen yet. Minolta did an awesome job with this
aspect. You can setup the camera to be a camera and not a
computer. Makes "battlefield conditions" very easy.
The second problem I had with the Minolta A1 is the
electronic-viewfinder (EVF). The image was big enough for me,
but it was rather coarse looking and too jittery. The Olympus
C5060 is smooth as silk (rear display) in comparison. It did
not instill confidence that the picture was sharp or whatever.
It nearly made me nervous the way it jittered. The frame rate
is too slow. It also looked a bit washed out, but cranking down
the brightness settings helped that some.
All else was well with the world, though. I have to hand it to
Minolta for putting together such a high-quality digicam. The
lens is excellent and the anti-shake feature rocked. It was
very easy to get sharp, perfectly exposed and focused pictures
nearly every time. However, the jittery viewfinder caused me to
miss opportunities.
Still, as a "bridge-camera" I find that the Minolta A1 is a
winner and exceeded nearly every expectation. The one killer
feature was the manual-focus override. Good job, Minolta.
Since the price is dropping way down on it, this camera very
well may find its way into my camera bag.
Now onto the E-1.
I was absolutely floored! This camera felt right. The
ergonomics are nearly perfect. The viewfinder is EXCELLENT!
The grip is EXCELLENT! I wore my glasses for this test and the
viewfinder is definitely high-point. I could see the entire
screen AND the digital display without moving my eye position.
The focus screen felt big! Huh? I can't believe it either.
The viewfinder magnification is similar to other DSLRs but the
focus screen looked up close and personal instead of some
distant postage stamp. Can I say it? It was love at first
sight. The only DSLR that comes close is the Nikon D1X. You
can actually MANUAL FOCUS on this focus screen!
I have no idea how they did it, and others may not see what I'm
referring to, but the viewfinder had a distinct OM look/feel to
it. The image didn't even look small. The D100/S2 and Canon
digitals have focus screens which may be similar sized, but look
smaller and more distant to me.
The shutter-release was oh, so good. Every control was placed
exactly where I wanted it. It felt solid and instilled
confidence. The camera felt rearing to go. Quick? you betcha.
It might not be a D2H or 1D, but no slouch either. If I was a
full-time sports photographer, I wouldn't pick the Olympus, but
for a no-excuses pro-level camera that is designed to do all
things well, it's just fine.
Most important for me is the ergonomics of a camera. This
includes the viewfinder, lens controls, grip, menu system. This
camera is THE MOST COMFORTABLE DSLR I've handled yet. I felt
that the camera was not standing in the way of me. I didn't
have to manhandle the camera to get what I wanted.
Wow!
If I wanted the best imager and lens choice on the market, I'd
go Canon. If I wanted the best flash system, I'd go Nikon. But
if I want the best DSLR for the way I "SEE" and "WORK", I've got
to give the Olympus serious consideration. If cameras were
cars, the Canon and Nikon would be mammoth SUVs whereas the
Olympus handled like a sportscar.
This is the first digital camera that has me excited about
digital photography! I REALLY wanted to take it home with me
on-the-spot. It reminds me of why I selected an Olympus OM-2S
back in January of 1986.
What it lacks in "specifications" it makes up for in ergonomics
and "oneness". You know, those very reasons why Leicas have
been around all these years. It's the "intangibles".
Oh, and the lens produced a distinct Zuiko "look" in the
pictures. Lovely Bokeh. A subtlety, I'm sure, but something
that jumped right out at me.
Well done, Olympus! Now, about that Zuiko adaptor...
AG-Schnozz
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