I am just wondering... how did you guys jump onto the Olympus bandwagon? Everyone else has chosen either Nikon or Canon as the brand they would hop onto and you guys in Mytikas happen to want to be "different"?

Just to hear from everyone of you on how you guys got started in the first place.

For me, I was a Nikon user for years (film days) and was contemplating for years whether to move to digital, and which camera to buy... until I stumbled into a photo exhibition showcasing the Zuiko Digital lenses. That was it. I was so dumbfounded, and sold all my Nikon lenses and cameras, and waited until the first price drop of the E-300 when the E-500 and E-330 were released.

I love the Olympus, irregardless what the tag says (amateur kit), for the photographs and final images speaks the loudest. Now I can only hope for the best with the coming release of the E-1 successor and the result of the collaboration between Panasonic and Leica. (Hopefully Leica and Zuiko can spark off a new partnership to develop lenses that brings the system to another high).

Though the accessories and lens choices are "limited" in the Olympus camp, but what they have, they make them good. In the "middle class", you have a range from 8mm, 7-14,11-22, 14-54, 50Macro, 50-200 to cover almost all the focal lengths needed for serious amateur photography... add a TC and ET, what else can you ask for? OK, maybe a better selection of high power flash units for those demanding photographer who love GPMG shooting....

(I still appeal for the HLD for the E-330... need longer battery life... Live View does drain the batt faster!)

So what's your story?

Well said.

Now my turn. I went into DSLR after some of my friends did.

They faced lots of issues and invested huge amount of money into their gears.

I often heard about dust issues. They also keep upgrading lenses and ultimately to those best glasses. Most of them complain that their good glasses are heavy and huge. Very incovenience to lug around.

I like macros but when I learned that bigger sensor requires smaller aperture to get enough DOF, really scares me off.

This lead me to Olympus 4/3 system. With a sensor size just nice that contributes to lighter and smaller lenses. Also, with its telecentric and digital specific design, I don't need super high-end lenses to get 'corner' sharpness.

No dust issues - what a great relieve. I've seen my friends visiting the service centre 2-3 times a year for cleaning services.

Finally, great colours. I like those punchy colours straight out from the camera. Only recently, most other competitors tweak their entry level to have better colours. Prior to this, most delivers very 'natural' image which is not that pleasing to me.

All this contributes to lower TCO - saving me time and money, for this, otherwise expensive hobby that tends to eat into your time and wallet!

Switch to Olympus today and enjoy digital photography with lower cost and better quality with less effort. eg. A group shot with f4.0 with flash has enough/equivalent DOF vs bigger format that may require f5.6. This in turn sucks more battery power for an extra stop of flash power.

(Do I talk like a salesperson? :p )

i felt the sswf feature is a must in a DSLR and the size n shape of E300 that got my attention.

As for me I started off as a Minolta Digital P&S which was gift from my relative. I even touch my Uncle Minolta SLR when I was young.
Photography did not came to my mind that time until when I started to go on tour which make me going to have a camera in order to take pictures as memory.

Things started to speculate when I was decided to buy a camera on my own as I find out that the P&S consume a lot of power and slow too. I started off to buy a Proconsumer range which is A2 from Minolta that come thru my mind. After intersive searching and research, in the end I chose E-300 as my very 1st Camera and once it started off as a DSLR. :sweat:

From there onwards, I am deeply poisoned. the more impt part is I never regrad from buying this camera cos it still give me the result that I want.

:023:

As a travel guy, there were too too many places that went pass without a shot. Even resorted to buying postcards eventually, leaving the camera behind.

A trip to vietnem with ecc35, he juz bought this cool digital camera that caught much attention, naming the C5050Z. There was one accasion when I climbed up a peak on Cat Ba island with his camera, fantastic view, but I can't operate the bloody camera!

Pass that, knew I was going for the trip of my life, decided about the camera thingy and having high taste, no P&S suits. Even higher taste, the E-1 came into picture as rugged, weather proof and Oly's dare to throw something unconventional on the market. Of course, the results from C5050Z does all that physcological thing.

So poison after poison, my investment currently stands at about 6K.. all ecc35 fault lah!

kimlau wrote (View Post): › As a travel guy, there were too too many places that went pass without a shot. Even resorted to buying postcards eventually, leaving the camera behind. A trip to vietnem with ecc35, he juz bought this cool digital camera that caught much attention, naming the C5050Z. There was one accasion when I climbed up a peak on Cat Ba island with his camera, fantastic view, but I can't operate the bloody camera! Pass that, knew I was going for the trip of my life, decided about the camera thingy and having high taste, no P&S suits. Even higher taste, the E-1 came into picture as rugged, weather proof and Oly's dare to throw something unconventional on the market. Of course, the results from C5050Z does all that physcological thing. So poison after poison, my investment currently stands at about 6K.. all ecc35 fault lah!

wooooh. almost the same path....

5050z -->E300-->E-1

Luv the robust feel & weather seals

"... I walk a different path ... " (Quote Captain Nemo, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)

Well, it all started with browsing at the old MPH book shop at Stamford Road. There was Modern Photography & Popular Photography and both had adverstisments on their back. Most memorable being the OM3/4 spot metering abilities that left an indelible mark of mytique (read blank) in my head with whatever it actually did.

And so it was, I got into a camera shop hoping for an OM3 (couldn't tell the diff bet the OM4 then) but walked out with a Nikon FE2, thanks to the salesman (which served me well till NS). But the indelible has a way of swaying your heart once you get a job & salary. Hence an OM4Ti, IS3000 (my sis), a subsequent OM4Ti (backup to the first) plus an OM1.

I was subconsciously a Zuikoholic & marriage was the cold turkey. But wife wanted & supported shooting our wedding outdoors with a DSLR and that was when the E1 turned up and I've been faithful to both since :-) That's why you'll never see my E1 on B&S :-)

Well, admittedly I had a fling with Contax G & A Rolleiflex too, but my wife forgave me for that :-)

Cheers,

i was a seriously hard-core Nikon user. i loved Nikon because spec-wise, it was pretty much 'the best' in my opinion. started out with the D70 and accumulated the 18-70 which then got replaced with a 28-70. Added a few more lenses, sigma n nikon lenses: 15-30, 70-200, 300 and i can't remember what other lenses. Stuck to Nikon with 2 D2h bodies... and then 2 S3Pro's... ok, i'm really "CRAZY"... haha...

Then my younger bro hammer_400 got his E-300. He was raving about it so much that I had to find out what it was all about. Initially I couldn't stand the noise levels... coming from the Fuji S3Pro, shooting at ISO 1600 barely gives you any grain! 12mp (interpolated) gave me GIGANTIC images as well. I decided to just test it out... and man... i was blown away with the image sharpness and the colors! Colors were AMAZING... take that frm a Fuji user...wah... it was amazing.

Enough said - I sold off all my lenses, the 2 bodies and bought 1 E-1... slowly getting the lenses. hehehe... FL-50, 11-22, 14-54... waiting for 50-200

Partertr, 7-14, 14-54, 50-200 = perfect combo!

WOW all the big masters...Blu was using a prosumer oly 8080 for about 2 years. Having a passion for panorama, the 8080 was starting to show the lack in speed, an SLR was the next step. Blu tested the nikon and canon and was happy with the speed but the passion to get them was just not there. Something just did not feel right.

Then the offer of the twin lens was offered on the E-500, that and the review by Mr Andrzei on http://www.wrotniak.net gave blu the kick jump on to the Oly bandwagon. Now just after 1 month of the E-500, Blu have purchased the Sigma 55-200 on top of the 2 standard lens.

Next on the wish list is the 14~54...and hopefully upgrade to a unit with live view.

µ[mju:]1 µ[mju:]2 Camedia C4000 E-500 E-???

I think Olympus chose me!

I was using Nikons previously, first meddling with dad's old nikon (can't remember the model), then with the F55. First digicam was a Sony (now for the life of me, WHY did I buy that), then the Coolpix 4100.

I was introduced to the E-300 by a good friend (who happens to be a Canon user!). He went: "Hey, here's a 8mp DSLR with an underwater housing option!", pointing to a half page ad in the papers.

"Well, ok looks interesting, looks vaguely like a Leica...", alright maybe I wasn't that interested. The very next day I was at a house-warming party and I was mentioning to the host (a Pentax user, with years more experience than me in photography) about the E-300, and he said it was worth a look, as Olympus made brilliant SLRs previously (the OMs).

"Well, okayyy.. It wouldn't hurt to take a look I suppose." So immediately after the party I headed down to MS Color, looked for Florence (Canon friend introduced me to her previously), looked at the E-300, and ok... IT DID HURT TO TAKE A LOOK!

Fortunately, as time went by the hurt got lesser, or rather the senses got more and more numb, as all sorts of fiscal activity damaged my financial well-being, just recalling (please indulge me) in order of purchase: FL-36, HLD-3, 50mm, 18-180mm, 11-22mm, E-1 with SHLD-2 Kit, 50-200mm (to come), 35mm (also to come), 14-54mm (also to come via 2nd-hand)...

Now, am I talking too much already? Probably, but again, please indulge me. Pictures from the E-300 and E-1 seem to speak to you; I am not going to say whether it is the colours or other blah-blah. It is something that cannot be quantified; it draws you to look at them, it sends a message to you. What about high ISO noise? Well, what about it, the ISO noise from the E-1 look like film grains and it gives a photo a real world charm to it. I'll be taking a closer look at the E-300's high ISO output a closer look soon enough!

Dare to be different? We do!

E-330...shot from waist high..

Why I chose Olympus?

Too lazy to learn and change Brands... Har Har Har.

Seriously... My first DigiStillCamera was used for underwater photography.

Went to old friend's shop (John 3:16) with intent to buy Sony. 4 hours later (wait for all his 'important' customers to finish), helped him close shop and bought an Olympus C3040.

After that... wah... love the cam to death... it took great pics for a 3.5Mega pix even better than some of the later 5 Mega pix. I came to appreciate the fact that's its not about pixels but the color and aperture on a small camera (F1.8 ... now where got).

Camera lasted 99-03 until 'cancer' got the better of it. Sent it to the service and when they opened it... the years of salt spray had corroded its internal PCB. Beyond repair.