DIStance

This is the ninth and last installment of my description of how I get the best out of my camera, the Olympus e-510. So far I have written about

1. RAW vs. JPEG ,
2. Focusing,
3. ISO,
4. Keeping safe
5. Keeping steady and
6. Working with the shortcomings.
7. Tricks
8. Upgrade paths - lenses

I wrote a lot of stuff about the e-510 as you can see; but I have to repeat that even when you combine all this stuff, you don't get a comprehensive review. My goal was to share my experience, rather than provide the ultimate source of information about the camera. Luckily, there are many places online where you can find more information about the e-510. Here are some of my favorite places.

Reviews

Dpreview.com - a very technical and detailed review. More of a lab test than a field test. Lots of samples. A delight to read for geeky techie nerdy people.

Wrotniak.net - Andrzej Wrotniak's review is perhaps even more detailed, and full of useful little details coming from months of careful use rather than a sterile lab test.

Forums

Olympus SLR Talk - a forum with lots of traffic on dpreview.com. Prone to armchair photographer type discussions (full frame vs. 4/3; high ISO noise levels and other troll bait material). Not very friendly to picture posts, but very active. You questions generally get answered, but be prepared for potential rudeness and trolly answers as well. My nickname is sobaka there (Russian for dog).

fourthirdsphoto.com - actually several forums - or one forum subdivided into topics. The technical discussion is the most active part (it is funny that on a photography forum the "Technical discussion" section should get 5 times more traffic than the "Photography techniques" section). Also has a very useful buy/sell forum. A finer selection of posters than on dpreview, trolls are scarce, and moderation is well done to keep things calm and respectful. My nickname is tovstiadi (=my last name)

Buying and selling

B&H and Adorama - the two mammoth photo retailers in the US. Great service, fast shipping, the best selection, good return policies - not necessarily at the lowest prices, but a clear choice for a serious photographer who'd rather have peace of mind and knowledgeable sales people than save a few dollars and have high risks. I bought most of my stuff at B&H.

JR.com - not a wide selection like B&H or Adorama, but they do an occasional sale on lenses, so worth checking. Very reputable. Bought my 50mm macro here.

Buydig - a division of Beach Camera. Seems like these people are about low prices; but unfortunately that might mean less liberal return policies, people trying to sell you accessories, etc. I am basing this on other people's opinions and bizrate reviews - haven't bought anything from them myself; but at the same time I have heard many very positive comments about them.

Cameta - the best place to buy a refurbished Olympus DSLR. Great prices and good service. If you go with a deal that promises an extra battery - be warned that you will get a clone, not a genuine Olympus BLM-1. Bought a new e-3 from them.

fourthirdsphoto.com - the best buy and sell forum. As of 2008, sellers have to be paying subscribers to list gear for sale. I have sold a camera and bought a lens there without a problem.

General Information

Olympus E-System - I like the Asian site best; I find the European version poorly designed, and the American site is never updated on time and has way too much Flash for my liking.

Matching simulation - This site allows you to take any Four Thirds body and see what it would look like with any Four Thirds lens.

This is the eighth installment of my description of how I get the best out of my camera, the Olympus e-510. So far I have written about

1. RAW vs. JPEG ,
2. Focusing,
3. ISO,
4. Keeping safe
5. Keeping steady and
6. Working with the shortcomings.
7. Tricks

There are two things left to talk about - one is upgrade paths and another one is available online resources about the camera. Let's deal with upgrade paths today.

I want to share my experiences beyond the e-510 dual lens kit. I am only going to talk about the options I have tried myself. There are many more options available.

Lenses

The kit lenses are light, sharp, well corrected for aberrations, flare, and barrel distortion. If e-510 is your first SLR and you don't have any other Four Thirds mount lenses, it is best to buy the e-510 as a dual lens kit - it is great value for money and takes the guesswork out of the equation - you can just trust the choices made for you by Olympus engineers.

Once you have used your kit lenses long enough you may start seeing their shortcomings, as well as your usage patterns. Some people would find that they prefer the wide angle capacities of the 14-42 lens; others may prefer the longer reach of the 40-150. Some may be disappointed with the f5.6 slow speed of both lenses at full zoom; others may find not having weather seals limiting. In either case, most will look for more lenses to increase the range of the choices available.

Whatever the choices made, there are two things that are for certain about the lenses beyond the kit lenses:
1. They are going to be more expensive
2. They are going to be heavier (with the exception of the 35mm f3.5 macro and the new 25mm f2.8 pancake)

Olympus currently divides their Zuiko Digital lens lineup into three distinct product ranges - Standard, Pro, and Top Pro (also described as Standard, High Grade and Super High Grade in some markets). The kit lenses belong to the Standard range. Like other lenses in the range, they are not very bright (f3.5 or dimmer - the 25mm pancake being the only exception) and lacking weather seals. On the other hand, they are relatively light and cheap.

I sold my kit lenses, for several reasons. I still think they are wonderful value for money for what they cost; it is just that I wanted a bit more and was willing to pay for it. So I gradually added four lenses from the Pro / High Grade range.

Zuiko Digital 50mm f2 macro
This is a killer lens. Here's what I like about it:

- small and relatively light for a weathersealed metal lens that is build to last.
- ridiculously sharp. There is a reason why the usually hair splitting folks at photomagazine.de reviews described this lens as "optically flawless". Even wide open, it is great.
- bright. Currently, there are no lenses in the Zuiko lineup brighter than f2. The 50mm Macro is the only f2 lens that doesn't come with a four digit price tag (there are three brighter lenses by other manufacturers in the Four Thirds standard: Sigma 28mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f1.4 and Leica/Panasonic 25mm f1.4).
- great for portraits. The focal length gives a good working distance for waist length shots and close ups - coupled with super sharpness and the ability to blur backgrounds, provides a great combination for portraits, in a studio or outdoors.
- great macro ability. Even though it doesn't provide a long working distance at maximum magnification, this is an excellent macro lens. It is also superb for product shots and studio work in general.
- weathersealed. There is a rubber gasket on the lens mount; the lens itself is sealed - which means not only the ability to shoot in bad weather, but also that the dust doesn't enter the lens, extending its useful life.
- unobtrusive. Easy for street photography and candids.
- great for low light photography - night streets, dimly lit interiors, concerts with spotlights, etc.

And the shortcoming:
- slow focusing and hunting. Given that the lens has to travel through a huge focusing range, if it starts hunting, it takes a while to scan the entire range. This can be irritating, but it easily controllable with the right technique. Prefocusing manually and using a high contrast area to acquire AF usually eliminates hunting in 99% of the cases.
All in all, a great lens - especially for its size, weight, and price. Very versatile and capable of producing superb results.

Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f2.8-3.5
My second acquisition. Many of my shots with the kit lenses were at 14mm, and very often I wished for being able to go wider. Good points about this lens:

- very wide. Going from 14mm to 11mm you gain a huge deal - the viewing angle changes from 75 to 89 degrees; the real life difference is far more profound that these numbers may suggest. Having this super wide ability is great for architecture shots, especially in cities with narrow streets. Good for indoor shots, too.
- bright. f2.8-3.5 is a very decent range - especially for a lens in its price range.
- great optical quality. Wide open there is a bit of chromatic aberration - but that is very easy to correct in Adobe Camera Raw under "Lens correction" (I usually dial in -25 on the Cyan fringe correction). There is a tiny bit of barrel / pincushion (depending on the focal length); but it is negligible and never a problem in real life shots. It took me a year to notice any at all - and that was in a shot with strong straight lines that had far and near objects in it. Not as sharp as the 50mm macro - but sharp enough. Excellent sharpness not only in the center of the frame, but in the corners as well, even wide open, even at 11mm.
- weathersealed. Shoot in the rain, never worry about dust / water getting inside the lens.
- quick focus. Very quick and reliable (fairly easy to achieve at these focal lengths). Also, the focusing is internal - so the front element doesn't rotate and mess up your polarizing filter position.
- sturdy built. Even though the front barrel extends during zooming, there is no wobbling or shaking.
- nice wide zoom ring with a lots of travel between 11 and 22 mm - easy to set to exactly the focal length you need.

These are the advantages. A few words of caution.
- good value for money, but definitely not cheap. You'd better make sure children are fed and the bills are paid before you buy this lens, especially if this is your hobby and the lens won't pay for itself.
- using the lens takes some skill. For the first couple of weeks I couldn't get a decent composition with this lens in the 11-14mm range. You have to get used to this lens, and develop an ability for "wide angle vision". This is not a mystification. This is like the difference between running and skiing - running is naturally easy when you know how to walk; but alpine skiing you have to relearn your movements - the logic is different and can't be learned by walking.
- You also have to be far more careful about blown highlights - the lens gets in so much that you are likely to have a great dynamic range in the scene (which in my opinion limits the usefulness of polarizing filters - they will likely exaggerate this even further). Finally, you have to learn to include some close elements into your composition to anchor the wide vistas that are captured and give a sense of scale to the shots.

Zuiko Digital 50-200mm f2.8-3.5
I was impressed when I got my 50mm macro; impressed and intimidated with the 11-22mm. But when the 50-200 arrived, I was simply shocked. Let me explain why.

- First thing you notice, is the weight. Yes it is heavy; but given its huge range and brightness, it is actually light for what it gives you.
- Second thing you notice is size, or rather length. The lens is long by itself. Extending it and adding the hood roughly doubles the length. Again, hardly avoidable given the range; but it can be limiting when you are trying to be inconspicuous. This is a minor disadvantage of course; and it can turn to an advantage when you show up with this lens at an event and everyone immediately thinks you are a pro and gives you media level access.
- once you start using this lens, you notice the third and most important thing - its superb optical quality. It is very sharp - mine is at least as sharp as my 50mm macro (=as sharp as it gets). It renders color and contrast better than any Olympus lens I have used. It provides excellent background blur. Some people like to bitch about its blur, but they are mostly of the armchair photographer type. It has virtually no distortion or aberration.
- the range is wonderful for event photography - concerts, presentations, sports. This is also a very bright lens - perfect for low light situations. It stays at f2.8 in the 50-100mm range; the drop to f3.5 occurs slowly after that; most of it is in the 150-200mm range. This also means that shooting in aperture priority (which I do all the time), you have to make sure you zoom to the 50-100mm range and dial in f2.8 first; if you start at f3.5 at 200mm and then roll back to 50mm, the camera will keep the lens at f3.5; this can be a problem in low light when you are trying to do everything you can to bring the shutter speed to an acceptably fast level.
- like all the lenses in the Pro / High Grade range, weathersealed and built to last

Other than size, weight, and the lack of a permanent aperture, there are several things to put on the negative side:

- focusing - same as with the 50mm macro, we are dealing with a big focusing range and a relatively slow focusing motor; if the lens starts hunting, it takes it a while to travel through the full range and back. Again easily eliminated or greatly reduced by prefocusing or using high contrast areas to acquire focus.
- vignetting - there is slight light fall off in the corners of the frame wide open at all focal lengths. But is not bad; unnoticeable in many situations, and always easily correctable in post processing.
- not cheap - again, make sure the children have shoes before you buy it. Good value for money for a very versatile lens.
- when shooting sports, there are two shortcomings that you don't notice in other situations. First, there is no focus delimiter - it would be useful to have a switch to restrict the range to just 3m-infinity. Second, zooming in and out it takes some physical force to extend the barrel and retract it. If you have to do it for several hours on end, it can be quite tiring. No deal breaker - the Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 has a focus limit, and has very easy zooming action - but it costs twice as much.

I think most of the bitching you hear about this lens is rubbish; this is a superb lens - provided you understand its range of use and are able to work with the shortcomings. Final word - yes, the tripod collar looks geeky and cool (I dragged mine around for at least a month to show off), but it is better to leave it behind when not using the tripod.


Zuiko Digital 8mm f3.5 fisheye

I don't have this lens; I rented it for a week trying to decide if it is worth buying. Here are some thoughts about it.

- build like a hand grenade. I could say like a tank, but its more similar in size and weight to a grenade. It feels like one solid chunk of steel. The steel hood adds to the impression of quality; and the huge front lens element, taking the entire front of the lens, makes it look even more impressive. Since there is no moving lens barrel like you would have on zooms and all focusing is internal, there are no external moving parts, no wobbling or creaking. The only thing that moves is a wide manual focus ring - it has lots of travel, and is by a good margin the best focusing ring of all the five lenses described here. In general, this lens feels even more indestructible than its siblings in the same range.
- very sharp with good color and contrast. For a lens of its kind, it displays rather low chromatic aberrations; but in high contrast areas they can be quite pronounced, and difficult to correct entirely in ACR. The images from the 11-22 just need a simple slider correction; the fisheye shots may require more sophisticated processing (such as selecting the cyan and desaturating it in problem areas).
- I have heard people on forums say this is a specialty lens. Well, never believe people on forums. This is the ultimate wide angle lens. Someone said a fisheye is the closest lens to the human eye perspective - I tend to agree. When people say it is a specialty lens, that probably means that it takes some skill to use it and get good results. After a year with the 11-22, I almost had no learning curve with it; but I am sure that it would be almost impossible to start using it right away without previous wide angle experience and get good results. The most amazing experience with this lens is when you shoot a building in portrait orientation and try to include a lot of sky in the shot - and realize that the building BEHIND your back is in the frame, too.
- because of its short focal length the lens focuses very fast; for the same reason it is also a lot more forgiving to focusing mistakes. That also means that shallow depth of field is next to impossible with this lens - but this is hardly a disadvantage given the range of applications for which it was designed and in which it excels.

Zuiko Digital 14-54 f2.8-3.5

Some people on forums will tell you two things about this lens

- the new kit lens (14-42 ED) focuses just as fast, is as sharp or sharper, and given its weight and price is a better alternative than the 14-54.
- if you like wide angle photography and want to buy a better lens to replace the kit lens, better upgrade to the 11-22 and skip the 14-54 altogether.

They will try to tell you that the 14-54 is not much of an upgrade from the kit lenses. I used to believe it - because I had no experience with the lens myself. Now that I have tried it, I strongly disagree with this opinion. If I was allowed to keep only one lens from the ones I have, it would be the 14-54. If I had space only for one lens in my bag, this would be the one. And here's why.

- excellent range - from wide angle to medium telephoto. The only lens that is better than this is the new 12-60 - but at more than two times the price. I used to get by just fine with the 11-22 and 50-200 and a big gap in the middle. I would zoom with the feet and get what I needed. But there were many cases when this gap was limiting. Shooting a view of the Kremlin standing on a bridge, zooming with the feet meant falling into a river. Shooting friends doing yoga meant having to squeeze yourself into a corner of the room to get a decent shot with the 50-200 without being too close to the subjects. Shooting basketball it meant missing a lot of shots - or cropping them because you can't move around - you stay put in the media space assigned to you.
- the lens is plenty sharp - not as sharp as the 50mm macro or the 50-200, but excellent overall, and certainly not worse than the kit lenses.
- it focuses fast and it doesn't hunt much.
- it is bright - a different league than the kit lens, half a stop brighter at the wide end and 1.5 stops brighter at the long end.
- excellent built and weatherproofness. It is very compact and light for its range and aperture.
- as stupid as that sounds, it looks good. That is the last thing that matter about a lens; but this lens looks proportional and well put together. No Jonathan Ive stuff, but definitely not ugly.