On 3/25/2017 10:48 AM, Ken Norton wrote:
ContraMoose wrote:
Gotta disagree, dood. The E-3 and 5 just weren't good enough beyond the
faithful.
I think that is what I said, albeit rather clumsily.
It didn't translate in here.
Had Olympus put a decent sensor in the E-3,
I have wondered if some of Brian's trouble with highlights might lay at the door of limited DR on his E-3. I looked at
some E-3 samples, against others (5D?), and they just didn't measure up.
it would have clobbered the universe.
Was the world ready to believe that the smaller sensor size was up to their (imagined) needs? There's a gap out in the
marketplace and blogosphere between legend, imagined truths and the nuts and bolts of making photos.
But
you can't play in the pro photography realm with a sensor that just
isn't competitive. The E-3 is excellent at many things, but going
head-to-head with a 5D series camera isn't one of them. But the lenses
that Olympus did create were absolutely wonderful, dollar-for-dollar,
against the competition. But we were saddled with substandard cameras.
Hmm. History did repeat itself.
Is this true? I don't think the OM-(T(i)) was substandard, when it came out. At a modest price in time, it finally cured
the aperture vibration yips. Remember, it had the only really capable TTL-OTF flash. OTOH, looking back, I think the
lenses, overall, were generally not best in class, being slightly compromised in favor of the compact model. Some are
certainly up there.
In any case, spending to create the superb 4/3 pro lenses shows a serious
schizophrenia in Oly at the time.
My opinion is that 4/3 was already terminal, in the marketplace, but for the
shouting and hand wringing, before µ4/3 debuted. Fortunately, they made the
move before it was too late for them in the camera business.
Actually, I think it was too late. They really only had about a year
jump on Fuji and Sony. Sure, O/P had multiple cameras before that
time, but they were "toy" cameras, not professional or enthusiast
cameras.
As above, as much perception as hard fact reality. Those who looked only at actual performance would find them fully pro
for many uses. Ctein was a super early convert who makes his living from photography and sold lots of prints from his
E-P1. I have two of his 17x22" (image area 15x20) prints from the E-P1. The first is a spectacularly sharp and detailed
shot of the SF Bay Bridge and moon, several years old. The second is a brand new IR image, taken with the E-P1 after
conversion to dedicated IR camera.
But I do agree that the buying public wasn't ready to believe.
It pains me to say this, but there really isn't a m4/3 camera
that has more than a passing interest for me.
Wait until they are obsolete, then you will love them. ;-)
When I do go mirrorless, it's either Sony or Fuji or heaven-forbid, Canon.
(when they
eventually get it together).
I am curious why. Not about Sony, I have an A7 for FFFun.
I don't get the Fuji thing. When folks were posting all over the place about the superiority of the Fujis with 16 MP
sensors, I looked closely, and I couldn't find it. Compared to the 16 MP µ4/3 sensors at the time, there didn't seem to
my, possibly inferior, eye, any superior non-measurable rendering superiority. No DR or noise advantage.
I took DPR studio Raw shots and stacked them in layers in PS, so I could flip instantly back and forth.There were
differences in fine detail, but really subtle; nothing that would ever show in a web sized image or print of even
enormous size. My conclusion was that each very slightly bested the other on particular parts of the test frame, with
Oly maybe having a v. slight overall edge.
As to the new generation, remember the format difference. Nominal height resolution is 6000 for 24 MP Fuji, vs. 5184 for
29 MP Oly. A 16% increase in linear resolution is below the visible threshold when not pixel peeping.
Then, Fujis are "just" god competent cameras. Oly has spectacular IBIS, an amazing HR mode and wonderfully powerful and
useful focus bracketing. One may simply do many photographic things with them that can't be done with any other brand.
They have allowed me to do thing that I've wanted, but couldn't do since I was a
kid in a B&W darkroom.
Yet I have three Four-Thirds bodies that aren't going anywhere. In
fact, I'll take advantage of the abandoned system like I did with the
OM system and acquire a couple more lenses for it. I really want a
14-54 Mk2 and the PanaLeica 14-150. But I'm spending all my money on
school right now.
I don't know how it will play out, but with the E-M1 II, they've taken
another big step forward, bringing overall speed and AF into full
competitiveness with all but the monster pro DSLRs.
AF performance and speed is a constant moving target. Where it is
right now is excellent for all but the rarest of applications. If I'm
a NFL Super Bowl game from down at the line, I'd be renting the best
Canon bodies and lenses from LensRentals.
Yup, of course. But how many of us are doing that, or anything even nearly comparable? Ctein's test is close up and
personal Roller Derby (really?). But it will be months before those results are in.
The point is that they have joined the top tier, and are now faster than all
but the mega size/$ cameras.
The people I think may have lost their minds are the µMF/FF+ makers. Depends
a lot on whether their sales projections are realistic or not, I suppose.
Lots of sound and fury on the fora and blogs, but what kind of sales will
that turn out to be?
I think you are referring to the new breed of mirrorless medium
formats? I'm actually a little surprised at one brand that is missing
from the list. It's been my understanding that a certain "much loved
brand" here on the list had this in development since 2007.
I sure hope Oly doesn't jump into an already overcrowded segment now, late.
Sizeable Moose
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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