What don't I like about the E20? Very little. About the only limitation that I have run across is the 1/640 maximum shutter speed. I was doing outdoor portraits in very bright conditions and I wanted to use as large an aperture as possible in order to blur the background. The 1/640 shutter wasn't fast enough but luckily I planned ahead and I had my handy Hoya ND8 (3 stop neutral density) filter with me. Problem solved.
Sadly, my Canon Pro90 no longer serves my purposes, primarily because my purposes have changed. I have decided to try my hand at a little "for-profit" photography and see if I can make a go of it. I'm not quitting my day job just yet so if I can't make any money, I haven't lost much. But you never know unless you try, right? Anyway I am going to be doing outdoor portraits, weddings, team photos, etc. and the Pro90 has two primary shortcomings that prevent it from being up to the task. First, it simply doesn't have enough resolution to print an excellent 8x10. I have printed them with it before and they are what I would consider good quality, but they are not of the quality that I would feel comfortable trying to sell other people. Second, and most importantly, the Pro90 is next to impossible to use with studio lighting. The problem is that in order to use studio lights the camera must be in Manual mode so that you can set the shutter and aperture based on meter readings. When you put the Pro90 in Manual mode, the LCD screen becomes almost completely dark in order to "show" you what the image is going to look like based on available light. This is great if all you are going to be using is available light, but otherwise it simply makes the camera impossible to use because you can't see to frame your subject. I hate to let go of the Pro90 because it has been an excellent camera. I know I am going to miss that 10x Image Stabilized zoom, but I'll just have to deal with it...
So, I had to buy a new camera. I considered the interchangeable lens digital SLRs but once I bought the body and lenses, I would have easily spent well over $3000 and I really didn't want to do that. Plus you have the problem of dust getting on the sensor when you swap lenses and I really didn't want to deal with that either. The E20 has all of the features of the interchangeable lens SLRs without the cost of lenses and dust problems.
Here is what I got from B&H Photo (a HIGHLY reputable outfit and one that I recommend without reservation):
- Olympus E20N digital camera
- Olympus FL40 external flash
- Olympus FL-CB05 shoe mount cable
- Olympus MCON-35 macro lens
- Olympus RM-CB01 wired remote shutter release
- Stroboframe Quick Flip 350 flash bracket
- Stofen Omnibounce for FL40
I just got the camera yesterday (7/3/02) but here are my first thoughts about the whole setup:
- Wow, this thing is big. I remember thinking the same thing when I went from my Nikon 950 to my Canon Pro90 so I'm sure I'll get used to the size of the E20 but right now it feels huge and heavy -- especially with the FL40 sitting on top.
- The TTL viewfinder is excellent. The EVF on the Pro90 was a nice step up from the rangefinders on my other cameras, but the real honest to goodness TTL finder is by far the best. I can actually manually focus with it!
- I love having the zoom ring actually move the lens elements instead of having buttons or a "fly by wire" ring that controls electronic motors. You can zoom from wide to tele as fast as you can turn the ring, and it also allows for very precise control of the zoom position.
- The MCON-35 is quite a hunk of glass. When I first pulled it out of the box I was amazed at how heavy it was. This is an excellent quality lens with absolutely no distortion at the edges at all.
- The shutter lag is MUCH better than my Pro90. If you half press to set the autofocus and exposure, there is NO shutter lag -- NONE.
- The FL40 and the camera's internal flash can be used together with excellent results. If you do this, the camera fires the internal flash at about 1/2 the power of the FL40. You can bounce the FL40 and the internal flash acts as a fill flash to fill in the shadows. Very effective.
- The menus are very well laid out, with the most commonly used items at the top. This makes it very quick and easy to change the options. One small thing that I really like -- if you have the LCD on the back off and press the menu button, then either format your memory card or erase the pictures from it, it exits the menu and automatically turns the LCD off when it's done. The designers knew that you were only entering the menu system to do that one thing, so they don't make you exit the menu manually. Very nice.
- The burst mode is nice to have. Since the burst on the Pro90 was pretty much non-existent, this is a fun feature to play with, even if it is only for 4 frames.
- The write times are a little long (about 8-10 seconds per picture) but you can take another shot immediately unless the buffer is full. I don't see this ever being a problem for me since I very rarely have the need to take several shots in quick succession.
- Just like the Pro90/420EX combo, the camera doesn't trigger the AF assist light on the FL40 -- WHY?!?!?!?!?! At least Canon had an excuse -- the 420EX wasn't designed for digital cameras and therefore all of the features didn't work. But the FL40 was designed by Olympus SPECIFICALLY for use on the C2500L digital. I am assuming the AF assist on the flash works if you are using the 2500 so why not on the E20??? This REALLY chaps me...
That's about it for now. I will try to update this page as I get more familiar with the camera and its operation. I'm sure I will find a pet peeve or two, and I will report them as well. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at twalker@jam.rr.com
