Gilbo
Storage is cool
Henry's held a Digital Photography Expo in Ottawa last weekend, which I went to.
Gitzo's Sweet New Tripods (actually 1-2 years old):
I saw Gitzo's GT1540T & GT1550T ultra-compact, carbon fibre tripods. I had to resist the urge to buy them very vigorously... The former folds down to 39.0cm & the latter to a ridiculously compact 35.5 cm. The latter is a 5-section tripod though, has an integrated ball-head and only holds 2.0kg. Enough for me, most of the time, but I'm not sure I could put a leveling base & ball head with a panning base on it, which would make it unsuitable for my use.
The D3:
I also got to play with a D3. That was marvelous. The grip, ergonomics and control layout were all superb. The viewfinder... well the viewfinder was just gorgeous. It was like looking through a window. The Canon guys wouldn't let me touch the 1Ds MkIII... bastards, so I can't compare them. It kills the 5D obviously.
The E3:
The Olympus guys were drowning their E-3's ("Do you want to play with the dry one or the wet one...?" was their line when I asked to hold it.). The viewfinder was also shockingly large & bright. Better than my K10D, better than the D40, & D300 as well. Quite impressive for a 4/3 mirror box.
The autofocus speed was also remarkable. I'm not sure the AF is as advanced as Canon or Nikon; the light was good and everyone is solid in good light these days, not to mention that I was unable to create any stressful situations (i.e. tracking a moving subject with the sun behind them, etc.). Instead I think the lighter weight of their zooms and a very good SWD (USM, HSM, blah, blah....) implementation is what is giving them the edge here. One thing I could test, and certainly noticed was how quickly the lense responded once the camera locked. It was like lightning. I don't think it's physically possible to do that with the bigger, heavier full frame glass, and I think that's where their advantage lies.
Nikon's new 400mm f/2.8 was nearby and the Olympus guys were eating it up, getting people to try the E-3 with a 90-250mm f/2.8 (180-500mm 35mm equivalent to people) and then telling them to go over and look at Nikon's new glass with a big grin on their faces... I have to admit, it really shows the advantage of the 4/3 system in that respect.
The E-410:
Some of the zooms for the Olympus system are so compact it's incredible; they're smaller than many primes! I'm not sure what was mounted on the E-410 I used, but the whole system was really remarkable. The viewfinder was adequate too --something I was not expecting.
If Olympus produced some compact primes, they could create the range finder of the digital era --I swear to God. That is how much potential I think the 4/3 system has now. I am now 100% convinced I would buy into the Olympus system in a second if they would only give me a couple, small primes. Come on Olympus! The E-410 would be pocketable with Pentax's pancake lenses on it, and I would carry it with me everywhere I went.
Anyway, those were my highlights. I'm still seriously thinking of picking up one of Gitzo's new tripods. I have a 3-section Series 2, the G1257, which is outstanding, but doesn't fold down very small. I very consciously chose a 3-section model though because I wanted a minimum setup time, but the ridiculously small size of some of these new models is making me want to relegate the G1257 to car use, and pick up a GT1540T for hiking...
Lastly:
Gitzo's Sweet New Tripods (actually 1-2 years old):
I saw Gitzo's GT1540T & GT1550T ultra-compact, carbon fibre tripods. I had to resist the urge to buy them very vigorously... The former folds down to 39.0cm & the latter to a ridiculously compact 35.5 cm. The latter is a 5-section tripod though, has an integrated ball-head and only holds 2.0kg. Enough for me, most of the time, but I'm not sure I could put a leveling base & ball head with a panning base on it, which would make it unsuitable for my use.
The D3:
I also got to play with a D3. That was marvelous. The grip, ergonomics and control layout were all superb. The viewfinder... well the viewfinder was just gorgeous. It was like looking through a window. The Canon guys wouldn't let me touch the 1Ds MkIII... bastards, so I can't compare them. It kills the 5D obviously.
The E3:
The Olympus guys were drowning their E-3's ("Do you want to play with the dry one or the wet one...?" was their line when I asked to hold it.). The viewfinder was also shockingly large & bright. Better than my K10D, better than the D40, & D300 as well. Quite impressive for a 4/3 mirror box.
The autofocus speed was also remarkable. I'm not sure the AF is as advanced as Canon or Nikon; the light was good and everyone is solid in good light these days, not to mention that I was unable to create any stressful situations (i.e. tracking a moving subject with the sun behind them, etc.). Instead I think the lighter weight of their zooms and a very good SWD (USM, HSM, blah, blah....) implementation is what is giving them the edge here. One thing I could test, and certainly noticed was how quickly the lense responded once the camera locked. It was like lightning. I don't think it's physically possible to do that with the bigger, heavier full frame glass, and I think that's where their advantage lies.
Nikon's new 400mm f/2.8 was nearby and the Olympus guys were eating it up, getting people to try the E-3 with a 90-250mm f/2.8 (180-500mm 35mm equivalent to people) and then telling them to go over and look at Nikon's new glass with a big grin on their faces... I have to admit, it really shows the advantage of the 4/3 system in that respect.
The E-410:
Some of the zooms for the Olympus system are so compact it's incredible; they're smaller than many primes! I'm not sure what was mounted on the E-410 I used, but the whole system was really remarkable. The viewfinder was adequate too --something I was not expecting.
If Olympus produced some compact primes, they could create the range finder of the digital era --I swear to God. That is how much potential I think the 4/3 system has now. I am now 100% convinced I would buy into the Olympus system in a second if they would only give me a couple, small primes. Come on Olympus! The E-410 would be pocketable with Pentax's pancake lenses on it, and I would carry it with me everywhere I went.
Anyway, those were my highlights. I'm still seriously thinking of picking up one of Gitzo's new tripods. I have a 3-section Series 2, the G1257, which is outstanding, but doesn't fold down very small. I very consciously chose a 3-section model though because I wanted a minimum setup time, but the ridiculously small size of some of these new models is making me want to relegate the G1257 to car use, and pick up a GT1540T for hiking...
Lastly:
I like the inline photos personally. I'm lazy and don't want to have to click on links...That raises a question in my mind which I will put to the group: do you guys think that I should refrain from posting inline images in these threads and just provide a link instead?