OM Zuiko f/1.4 on Olympus DSLR

[robyns_song]

I bought an Olympus E500 about three and a half years ago before my daughter was born. We bought it without researching much--thinking Olympus was a reliable brand, all DSLR camers are the same, etc.

I was looking at a Zuiko f/1.4 lens but the ones for a DSLR are hundreds more than the manual. I'm not comfortable with my purchase of an Olympus camera and before I start spending $100's on a lens, I wonder if I shouldn't consider purchasing another camera all together. BUT if I can use a manual f/1.4, then I'd rather wait another year or two before I consider getting a different brand.

Anyone had experience using a manual lens on a DSLR? Would I need to get an adapter or would the OM lens fit directly on my camera?

 

[Don Kondra]

Yes, OM lenses will work on your camera. You will need an adapter, the off shore ones are ~$25 off ebay.

What is it that you expect will be better with another brand ?

 

[Sw1tchFX]

If you want fast with AF, the Nikon's with the 35mm f/1.8 deliver a killer combination.

 

[robyns_song]

Yes, OM lenses will work on your camera. You will need an adapter, the off shore ones are ~$25 off ebay.

What is it that you expect will be better with another brand ?

Thanks for the help!

I'm disappointed in quite a few aspects of the camera that I think may be fixed by switching brands but I'm just not sure when to take the dive...

1)menu is annoying to navigate
2)the exposure info in the viewfinder is difficult to read
3)there's an unusual amount of noise at the higher ISOs
4)slow start up (terrible when you have kids)
5)slow AF (which is why I'm not so worried about a manual focus lens)

Even if I had researched the camera before I bought it, I doubt these would have made much of an inpact on my purchase at that time.

 

[Don Kondra]

I'm disappointed in quite a few aspects of the camera that I think may be fixed by switching brands but I'm just not sure when to take the dive...

Switching brands won't solve anything, moving up a few models will

1)menu is annoying to navigate

They all are until you get used to them...

2)the exposure info in the viewfinder is difficult to read

Even with my eye sight I got used to the E-510 viewfinder fairly quickly but the info on the bottom of the viewfinder on the E-30 is much easier to read.

3)there's an unusual amount of noise at the higher ISOs

Yup, the only fix to that one is moving up to at least a prosumer model in any brand.

4)slow start up (terrible when you have kids)

Yup, 2 seconds is an eternity

Leave the camera turned on when you think you might need it, in the menu you can set it to "go to sleep" after a short period of time. Then just feather the shutter button when you need it and it's ready to shoot.

5)slow AF (which is why I'm not so worried about a manual focus lens)

I'm going to guess you are using a kit lens in low light. That's asking a lot from any AF system. Switch to MF for these situations.

The E-500 is an older entry level camera that is capable of acceptable results if you take the time to learn how to use it.