Thread: Olympus E-PL3 Vs ?

I have not looked at the specs for the camera that you have mentioned, but my first question would be

"Are either of the lenses offered macro capable?"

What ever camera you get you will need a macro lens. By that I mean a lens that is capable of focusing at very short lengths.

The Olympus has 2 lens's, the one that the shop guy said was ok for macro was the 14-40, which equated to 28-80 on this camera, we had a bit of a play with it in the shop and it was focusing right down to way closer than what I needed. A dedicated macro lens is available for it, but I won't be buying right now, I think it was about $700.

I didn't go into too much detail looking at the Nikons at JB HiFi as I was short on time by then.
If I was to go the D3100, I would have a bit of cash left over, and could look at a lens that would suit my needs, if the lens that comes with it doesn't suit what I want to do.

I am just wondering if going to an SLR would be better than going the compact Olympus, even though it has interchangeable lens's, and seems to have the features that I need

Just checked out the D3100 on JBhifi website, it seems to come with a Nikkor 18-55 lens,
Specs say it can focus down to 280mm at all zoom ranges.
Without actually trying it out, I would think that is probably close enough for what I need to do.

The Olympus was focusing down a lot closer than that, it may have been about 100mm.

A proper macro lens for a Nikon, Canon etc could be quite expensive. If the lens offered with the Olympus gets you close enough and is sharp enough then it is probably your best bet.


If you want to check out Nikon prices and other brands too ,you could try here.

Techrific Australia

I have bought 2 DSLR s from them as well as lenses and other electronics and have been very pleased.

Originally Posted by Ironwood

The Olympus has 2 lens's, the one that the shop guy said was ok for macro was the 14-40, which equated to 28-80 on this camera, we had a bit of a play with it in the shop and it was focusing right down to way closer than what I needed. A dedicated macro lens is available for it, but I won't be buying right now, I think it was about $700.

That lens is a beautiful general purpose lens but it's macro capability is limited. I guess it depends how macro you want to go but the max mag it can produce is X0.16 of the object size whereas a decent macro lens will get to X1.0 of the image without any attachments. I can't see what the minimum aperture is but for macro work it's nice to be able to get F/32.

Originally Posted by BobL

That lens is a beautiful general purpose lens but it's macro capability is limited. I guess it depends how macro you want to go but the max mag it can produce is X0.16 of the object size whereas a decent macro lens will get to X1.0 of the image without any attachments. I can't see what the minimum aperture is but for macro work it's nice to be able to get F/32.

I just had a quick look and couldn't find the min aperture for that lens, I will have another look tomorrow, got to get some sleep now, work in 5 hrs.

Bear in mind that when you buy a changeable lens camera, you are buying into a system, not just a camera. You will often keep lenses and flashes etc while upgrading/replacing a body. For that reason it is worth spending time looking at what accessories are available for a potential purchase, both from the manufacturer and from third parties. I still have (and use) the 50mm prime lens that came with the first SLR I ever bought (still have the camera too, even though I never use film anymore) but I now use it on a modern digital body. If I was forced to give up all but one lens, I think I would go with my Sigma 70-300 macro. I doubt it's the absolute sharpest out there, but it's not too bad. Macro at 300mm gives 0.5 which would do a pen fine.

When I was still doing 35mm film photography I was using Olympus gear and they make excellent cameras.

When I (finally) went in to digital photography I was tempted by the Olympus range of digital cameras, but in the end decided on a Canon SLR ( single lens reflex), and I have not had cause to regret that choice.

The digital SLR market is heavily weighted to 2 main brands, Canon and Nikon.

The camera you are looking at, although it has interchangeable lenses, has limitations on the number of lenses and other accessories available for it, particularly in the aftermarket area.

As you are intending to use this camera in a "studio/still life" situation on a tripod, I would recommend you go for a "proper SLR in one of the main brands, Canon or Nikon.

You will find that you will have more options open to you as far as "manual" photograhpy is concerned and a wider choice of bothe lenses and other accessories.

Thanks for the advice Guys, I am leaning towards the Nikon SLR. As you say, open to a world of lens's.
I had a couple of Nikon SLRs back in the 35mm days and some nice lens's, one of them was a 35 -135 Nikkor Macro (I loved that lens) They got stolen on one of my trips abroad. I ended up buying a fully manual Ricoh SLR and some lens's in HongKong to get me through, but they fell well short of what I was used to at the time. I still have that Ricoh and the lens's which are Pentax K mount I think.
But I will probably go back to Nikon if I go the SLR route.
Will have to count my penny's on the weekend and see what I can afford.

When deciding on an SLR try and find a model with what Canon call Live View.

Canon Live View Mode - EOS Digital SLR Cameras - Canon Europe

I use this feature on my Canon SLR all the time for my pen photography, being able to see what you are photographing on the rear screen, particulalry with the grid lines is a real bonus.

I don't know which Nikon model has that feature, others may be able to tell you that.

The lens I use most frequently is a 60mm Canon Macro, just the right length for pen photography, equates to 90mm on a 35mm camera. I used to have a Vivitar Seris 1 90mm Macro lens on my Olympus cameras and rue the day I ever sold that lens.

Edit:
This link shows which Nikon models have Live View

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_preview

Well I ended up buying a Nikon D3100 with the 2 kit lens's, I was prepared to buy it from one of the online shops to get the best price, ended up getting the local JB HiFi shop to match their price, the camera kit was $15 more than the cheapest online shop, but they undercut them on 2 uv filters and a Sandisk 16 gb sd card, so it worked out about the same ( taking the postage costs involved into account of course)

I tried it out this afternoon, I posted some pics in a thread I have running in the pen turning forum, if anyone wants to comment on them , feel free. I need all the help I can get.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f69/ne...ml#post1532291

It's too late for Ironwood's decision, but for the future

I don't think this is quite correct

Originally Posted by Big Shed

The camera you are looking at, although it has interchangeable lenses, has limitations on the number of lenses and other accessories available for it, particularly in the aftermarket area.

As you are intending to use this camera in a "studio/still life" situation on a tripod, I would recommend you go for a "proper SLR in one of the main brands, Canon or Nikon.

You will find that you will have more options open to you as far as "manual" photograhpy is concerned and a wider choice of bothe lenses and other accessories.

as far as I can tell, the Cannon PEN conforms to the 4/3 "stanard" and via the appropriate adaptor can use almost any SLR lens ever made -- the range of preloved pre-digital pre-auto focus lens out is huge

I believe this is the major selling point of the 4/3 system

Ian, Canon PEN?

Ironwood was enquiring about the Olympus EP-L camera.