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Sigma DP1 vs Oly E420 vs GRD II

jonoslack

Active member
Hi there
I thought it was worth posting this here, as so many of us are preoccupied with small cameras (and the DP1 doesn't have a small sensor).
I thought the E420 announcement was interesting, here is a comparison of sizes and weights:

Olympus 420: 125 X 53 X 91 380 gm
Sigma DP1: 113 X 50 X 59 250 gm
Ricoh GX100: 112 X 25 X 58 260 gm
Ricoh GRD 1: 107 x 25 x 58 200 gm
Leica D-Lux3: 106 x 26 x 56 220 gm

The Olympus will be slightly bigger with the 50mm f2.8 pancake lens (but less than 10mm).

Of course, it has the advantage that at other times one can put on the excellent Olympus 14-42 zoom.

Food for thought - here are a couple of links:

http://fourthirds-user.com/2008/03/the_new_olympus_e420_dslr_and_25mm_pancake_lens_examined.php

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0803/08030501olympuse420.asp

Sorry if this is the wrong place, but I thought it would be of interest to those looking for a pocket camera with an optical viewfinder, I think the Olympus certainly qualifies.
 

Terry

New member
Jono,
I don't know the Oly lens line up. Do any of the good long zooms have stabailization in the lens?

I know there is a Panny one for the L10 that also works for the contrast detection AF. So maybe this would work on thr E420. Just looking at coverage longer than the M8 can get.

Sorry I just saw another E420 thread and will post this over there.
 

Brian Mosley

New member
Hi Terry,

the (two varients of) Leica 14-50mm and Leica 14-150mm lenses both offer OIS... and you can use legacy lenses, like the Leica R 135mm f2.8 in manual focusing mode - which gives a fast, compact prime lens option. Live View will make legacy lens focusing possible (and you can add a KatzEye split prism focusing screen)

Hope that helps

Kind Regards

Brian
 
7

7ian7

Guest
Wow. The 420 + 50mm (equiv) pancake lens
is compelling. It's cheap and small enough for
serious consideration even with no plan to fully
commit to the Olympus lens line-up. Nice post.
 

nostatic

New member
can you get the Leica lenses by themselves though? I haven't seen them offered (but I also haven't looked *that* hard). I'm back into "hunt" mode for a larger sensor camera, having dabbled in Pentax land with the K10d and liking it but not being thrilled by it. I got better pics from my DLux3. I pondered 4/3 before...hmm...
 
P

PeterLeyssens

Guest
Olympus 420: 125 X 53 X 91 380 gm
Sigma DP1: 113 X 50 X 59 250 gm
Ricoh GX100: 112 X 25 X 58 260 gm
Ricoh GRD 1: 107 x 25 x 58 200 gm
Leica D-Lux3: 106 x 26 x 56 220 gm

The Olympus will be slightly bigger with the 50mm f2.8 pancake lens (but less than 10mm).
Hi Jono & all,

In the meantime you already know that I'm interested in most of these cameras (though my personal preference would be E510 and the DP1 leaves me cold). But, I noticed I forgot to introduce myself ! My name is as my nick suggests. About 20 years ago, I bought my first camera, an OM-1. I stuck with Olympus for about 10 years, until I joined a photography course and got interested in other ways of working. I bought a Minolta TC-1 and some Leica thread mount stuff, but I'm slowly selling my stock to provide funds for the move to digital.

I noticed that dragging around an SLR or even an M8 is quite a hassle because of the size, particularly the lens that sticks out. The small sensor cameras definitely have an edge here. Also, for the flexibility (e.g. 24mm lens on GX-100), they're very cheap. On the other hand, if you wad out piles of cash, any SLR or RF is much more flexible because of the interchangeable lenses. But the one digital RF on the market (M8) is so expensive that I'd be scared to use it, so that one is out. As for the choice between small sensor or SLR: the best is to have both ! The small one for every day photography, and for bigger jobs, an SLR gives more flexibility. I'm still in the market for a cheaper RF, though, if that should come out.

With this E420 and the pancake lens, Olympus is effectively reopening the OM market segment and improving it. The complete package is about the size of an OM-4T with the 40mm pancake lens (a bit less long but a bit taller). The other lenses seem really big, but it's okay to carry one or two in a coat pocket, like we did in the OM days. That the two lenses I'd pick would be an 11-22mm or a 40-150mm. Gettting the range from 21-300mm on OM would've taken a lot more lenses and a lot more weight than this FourThirds setup, so Olympus has actually delivered on their promise: smaller cameras. Quite impressive !

I'll still probably just go for the GX-100 for now and save up for a decent E510 in the next few months. But I'm excited !


Peter.
 

Lili

New member
All this talk has me really excited.
Right now the E410, old skool but still very capable and tiny, has gotten really cheap.
I bet it will work great with that 25/2.8 pancake.
Mayhap not so well with live view, but you have tiny DSLR with a fast lens.
PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
^_^
 
M

Mitch Alland

Guest
The E420 does look interesting — of course if I got it I'd have to destroy it's files to get the effect I want <g>. Rather than the 25mm lens that gives an EFL of 50mm I would have preferred an EFL of 40-42mm, as I have really started to like the 40mm EFL of the Ricoh tele-converter of the GRD/GRD2. And I'd want 21 and 28mm EFL lenses, but I gather there are no small 4/3 lenses if these EFLs, are there?

I must say that I'm much more attracted by the idea of the E4120 than by the DP1, and wonder whether this is partly because I feel Olympus has always made better lenses that in the pass.

—Mitch/Bangkok
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
 
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7ian7

Guest
Oly has always been such a sensible manufacturer, that I think I must have a block against diving in, save for a Stylus at some point in the early 90s.

BTW, seems like there's plenty of noise at 400 and beyond on their other sensors, and no, not a big selection of primes yet.
 

Lili

New member
I quite agree with both Mitch and Ian, givine the choice of the DP-1 and an E-410/420 with the 25, I would go Oly all the way :)
 
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PeterLeyssens

Guest
About the DP1: I fully agree: it'll be more expensive, with most probably a weaker lens that's not exchangeable. And it's not very pocketable because it's 5cm deep. Of course, that's only where the lens sticks out of the body that's fairly much a brick otherwise, but you can't take that lens off ;)

Peter.
 

Maggie O

Active member
Now I want to see Olympus make a Digital XA, same great lens, same form factor, same VF, but it can be autofocus. That would be a camera worth owning and possibly a GR-D killer.
 

Brian Mosley

New member
The E420 does look interesting — of course if I got it I'd have to destroy it's files to get the effect I want <g>. Rather than the 25mm lens that gives an EFL of 50mm I would have preferred an EFL of 40-42mm, as I have really started to like the 40mm EFL of the Ricoh tele-converter of the GRD/GRD2. And I'd want 21 and 28mm EFL lenses, but I gather there are no small 4/3 lenses if these EFLs, are there?

I must say that I'm much more attracted by the idea of the E4120 than by the DP1, and wonder whether this is partly because I feel Olympus has always made better lenses that in the pass.

—Mitch/Bangkok
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
Hi Mitch,

you could use the 14-42mm f3.5-f5.6 lens for an EFL of 28-84mm and plenty of dof... plus shooting at ISO 3200 would perhaps give you a head start on getting your signature style (which is fantastic. by the way!)

Kind Regards

Brian
 

jonoslack

Active member
Hi Mitch,

you could use the 14-42mm f3.5-f5.6 lens for an EFL of 28-84mm and plenty of dof... plus shooting at ISO 3200 would perhaps give you a head start on getting your signature style (which is fantastic. by the way!)

Kind Regards

Brian
Mitch
It's also worth mentioning that this zoom lens of which Brian talks weighs . . . 190 gm and focuses down to 25cm - it's also very sharp, and I second his opinion, crank up the ISO and you'll be where you want to be!
for your other pocket there is a 40-150 (80-300) which only weighs 220 gms

The pancake lens weighs 95 gm

all small enough to go on your belt without trouble!
 

clay stewart

New member
Holy cow, I read that part about the new E410 this morning, before work, but didn't see the part about the new 25 mm lens. That is so cool. After what, about eight years of affordable DSLR's, someone finally comes out with a lens that really makes sense, for street photography. I know Pentax had a couple pancakes, but they were still sort of odd ball focal lengths. This has got to be the package I've been waiting for. Now, if they can just add a 14 2.8 to go along with it. Good going Olympus! Anyone hear of a release date for the lens?
 
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Hi Mitch,

you could use the 14-42mm f3.5-f5.6 lens for an EFL of 28-84mm and plenty of dof... plus shooting at ISO 3200 would perhaps give you a head start on getting your signature style (which is fantastic. by the way!)

Kind Regards

Brian
Yeah I was surprised how well the 14-42 performs, don't see much difference compared to my Zuiko primes. I've been using the 28/3.5 Zuiko with an adapter and split prism focus screen with my 410 but the new pancake looks like the ticket.

tm
 

Lili

New member
Holy cow, I read that part about the new E410 this morning, before work, but didn't see the part about the new 25 mm lens. That is so cool. After what, about eight years of affordable DSLR's, someone finally comes out with a lens that really makes sense, for street photography. I know Pentax had a couple pancakes, but they were still sort of odd ball focal lengths. This has got to be the package I've been waiting for. Now, if they can just add a 14 2.8 to go along with it. Good going Olympus! Anyone hear of a release date for the lens?
Per DPReview; May
 
H

Hypnohare

Guest
Great Post Jono!

Suddenly my day got quite a bit more interesting! I've always liked my old Olympus film camera and I really look forward to checking this new camera out along with the cool pancake lens.

I really hope this gets Nikon and Canon to start developing compact cameras for the advanced photographers and not just compacts for the entry level consumers. Frankly they (Nikon and Canon) could do a lot better than the P5100 and G9! Just my opinion.
 
A

asabet

Guest
While there have been a number of posts on a number of sites to the effect that the E-420/ 25 pancake combo eliminates the need for the DP1, I don't see it that way. I can understand that someone with the already somewhat compact E-420 might want their compact camera to really compact, eg GRD. The GRD is truly a "go everywhere," fit in any pocket-type camera. OTOH, some will find the DP1 small enough to go everywhere and the E-420 a good size for travelling light on days when deliberate work is planned. Still others will enjoy carrying both a DP1 to cover the 28mm FOV and E-420/25 for the 50mm FOV. That's nearly as compact as carrying the E-420/25 and the separate 14-42 zoom and comes with two distinct bonuses. 1) You get to use two different "films" - Foveon X3/Sigma and Panasonic/Oly; and 2) No lens switching required. Although there is overlap between these two cameras, there are plenty of differences; and to me, both cameras make sense as photographic tools.
 
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