am i really about to return my first camera to the store?

Keith said:
The M8 is guilty of this in perfect metering conditions too IMO.

Considering digital's tendency to lose highlights I find it a little mystifying?
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My working hypothesis:

The only thing that pixel-peeping web-troll droolies know how to talk about is noise. The more photons you dump onto a sensor - the closer you get to the pixel's full-well capacity - the higher the apparent SNR. If the camera optimizes for correct exposure - even as good a camera as the D700 - there is going to be elevated noise (vs. signal) in the shadows, and the forum trolls will be out in full force. Blown highlights do not concern these people, but their opinions can influence sales.

It's not a big deal though. I just set the default exposure compensation to -1/3.
 
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sonofdanang said:
If this is due to security reasons, try the Nikon D5000. A colleague uses one where he has to be very quiet. It's quieter (it has a "silent" or "quiet" mode) than any of the rangefinders I've ever used and yes, it's stripped down, but the imaging pipeline is really very good.
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Second that. It's really quiet (as long as you use a usm or manual focus lens), and no APS-C camera on the market has much better IQ. As good, yes. But not substantially better.
 
Like Brian, I too had to set up the E-P2 menus and options to my liking -- probably took about a week to really get them organized. But now that I have, it's one of the best cameras I've ever owned. As well, I have no problem working quickly with it -- I've already shot a variety of things with it as well as illustrated two magazine stories with it -- so for me it's great. As well, I think it's relatively quiet -- at least to my ears, it is. The only thing that I don't really like is trying to manual focus with the Olympus and Panasonic lenses, which really isn't a big deal because the AF works just fine for me (that 7-14/4 Panasonic is one of the quietest AF lenses I've ever used).

I think something like the E-P2 can be a P&S when you want it to, and it can be a more 'serious' camera when you want it to as well (just my personal experience from having lived with it for a few weeks).

So if the EP1 isn't working out for you, maybe give the E-P2 a try with that nice electronic viewfinder. Just a thought.....
 
I have not even tried that. I will go back and check the setup. I use it an Aperture-preferred automatic, manual focus. Manually selected ISO. If the Camera had a "Nikon FE Simulation Mode", It would duplicate my settings with one button.

I tried it out with Nikki and her cousin Diving into the Pool today. No problem getting them in mid-air, or the split-second of hitting the water. About the same latency as the Canon F1 and other SLR's.
 
Um, good question. When I transfer the RAW photos using the Olympus software, it recognizes (or seems to!) all the various settings, and I have to say that I hardly have to do anything with the images after I download them. Can't always say the same about the images from my D700.

So I don't know if that's a 'yes' or not?
 
emraphoto said:
is it just me or are the manufacturers missing the boat these days? i have had an EP-1 with 17mm and optical finder for a little under a week and i just can't understand why it is so difficult to build a compact camera with a decent sized sensor that behaves like a bloody camera?

how difficult would it have been to make manual focus (with distance or dof indicators) part of the whole package? firmware?

i like the art filters. cool idea... however one can't simply tape over the little flashing light at the bottom because a little (bright) line grows across the screen when writing to the card. can't tape that up. two lights? really?

shutter priority is "on" yet the bloody camera still waits (i presume to figure aperture) before the shutter releases.

ae mode today, under consistent artificial lighting and the exposures were all over the map.

you can set it up to shut the screen off but if you are using art filters and the camera goes to sleep... screen back on as soon as you touch the shutter.

hey all manufacturers! the christmas lights you add to your cameras are getting out of hand. do we really need a ssw light?

i am frustrated really. i wanted so bad for the little oly to work out but i find i just want to stomp on the bloody thing. it brings a new meaning to the "using a computer to shoot" mantra the film folks like to toss about.

seriously, all i read in the reviews is the 'serious amateur' thing but i am not seeing it. this camera is so out of touch (my opinion folks) with what a serious shooter needs their camera to do i can't stomach it.

anyhow, so it goes. i'll pack the bugger up, return it and buy some more film.
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Hi John,
Had digital Nikons for years, in fact my first was a AP/Kodak/Nikon hybrid in 1996 and although the newspaper paid for it I know it 'cost the earth'.
I was asked a few days if I would do an HCB and travel the world with just one camera.... an M9." No I wouldn't" I replied and having had one for a short while and with good reason. Lets hope Nikon or SOMEONE comes up with an M mount digital camera at Photokina...I just can't stagger around with all this weight for much longer.
Very best regards
Peter:eek:
 
Mablo said:
If Apple would introduce a camera:

a) you couldn't install a new battery
b) it would use a memory card that you can only buy from Apple store
c) it would use some stupid proprietary Apple computers-only image format
d) you could download your photos only with an Apple computer
etc.
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Bravo! I were going to compile this list.
That's why I don't engage with Apple.

Uh, you would upload photos from camera to Apple-driven site and process them online with Apple software, then order prints.
 
btgc said:
Bravo! I were going to compile this list.
That's why I don't engage with Apple.

Uh, you would upload photos from camera to Apple-driven site and process them online with Apple software, then order prints.
Click to expand...

If you don't "engage" with apple because of that list, then perhaps you need to do some better research, since that list has no relation to the truth.
 
parsec1 said:
I was asked a few days if I would do an HCB and travel the world with just one camera.... an M9.
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It's all wild speculation of course but I seriously doubt if an M9 is what HCB would pick for his travels today. Note that this was a time when everybody was using 8X10 on wooden tripods and medium format was called "miniature format" :D

I reckon he'd probably pick the latest innovative digital compact. Maybe even an ep-1, who knows...
 
dfoo said:
If you don't "engage" with apple because of that list, then perhaps you need to do some better research, since that list has no relation to the truth.
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Besides list which maybe is pure BS there's another factor - Apple is too round and too friendly. My problem is that in childhood grandma read me fairytales and I learned to stay away from houses with biscuit roof and sugar windows. So I don't believe also Monetary Fund and such.
 
Frontman said:
As was mentioned earlier, the shutter sound is quite loud for such a small camera, but that's common in Japanese cameras; there are perverts here (in Japan) who like to hold their cameras under the skirts of high school girls on escalators and trains, the loud shutter discourages this practice. Even my Japanese cell phone has an absurdly loud shutter which can be heard across the room.
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Olympus' sales outside Japan is 60% of their total sales, does the remaining 40% seriously influence their camera design so much? Amazing.

BTW the Leica X1 shutter sounds like a watch: tick-tick-tick :) Shame about the price...Off topic: I never quite understood why a digital camera even needs a shutter. Why cant they just turn the sensor or the recording chip on and off for a split second?
 
Spyro said:
Why cant they just turn the sensor or the recording chip on and off for a split second?
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probably because of latency?
instead of switching on/off, they could (and probably do) leave sensor working but make a readings from it working as shutter. Say, if fastest speed takes one reading, then as speeds would get longer software would have to sum up several readings to cover whole exposure time.

I think manual of some P&S mentioned "electronic shutter for fast speeds and mechanical shutter for slower speeds". Thus they don't have to make precision mechanics for fast speeds. Then I don't understand yet why they ever need mechanical chutter?
 
parsec1 said:
Hi John,
Had digital Nikons for years, in fact my first was a AP/Kodak/Nikon hybrid in 1996 and although the newspaper paid for it I know it 'cost the earth'.
I was asked a few days if I would do an HCB and travel the world with just one camera.... an M9." No I wouldn't" I replied and having had one for a short while and with good reason. Lets hope Nikon or SOMEONE comes up with an M mount digital camera at Photokina...I just can't stagger around with all this weight for much longer.
Very best regards
Peter:eek:
Click to expand...

I never thought I would say this but I find myself in similar circumstances (sadly not travelling the globe with an M9).

A couple of 1D series canons around my neck for a day is actually starting to take a toll. I also often wonder if I am only carrying them out of a need for some sort of legitimacy. To look like I belong there (wherever there is). A serious bloke. I remember jumping aboard the back of a jeep full of photojournalists with the classic 16-35 and 70-200 setups around their sunburnt necks with 1 g10 and the "that it"? comments. Pretty sure I was officially branded a punter on that trip.

I suspect your reason for not flying the Leica flag exclusively is not dissimilar from my own.
 
For those who actually find my rambling of any interest I have migrated to a Samsung? EX-1 and have a thread in the P&S section on it.
 
so i was thinking... to be fair, a work around exists for what was the killer issue for me.

a 15mm vc with adapter would have been the answer. scale focus my brain out, minus any latency in shutter response. use the 17mm when af is needed and the 15mm when manual is the key (i like the 35'ish mm perspective). the finder would remain the same for both.
 
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