Unhappy with my setup

[Kofman13]

I've had the setup you can see in my sig plus a OM 50 mm 1.8 for seveal months and it's been pretty good overall. I've had one gig and several shoots for friends for fun and I've noticed that many things really bother me. Some in time turned out to be just experience and knowledge based issues. But some are really bothering me when it comes to doing shoots. For shoots that I do, I mostly use my OM 50mm because it's just great and fast etc. But thr fact that it's so hard to get perfect manual focus. And sometimes I would have to have the model hold still thr same pose while I do 4 shots of trial and error focus tweaking where with auto focus it could just be one shot. My biggest problem is thr Olympus UI and the fact that my main lens is manual and is cumbersome and impractical.
I did some pictures today on my friends canon XS with 50mm 1.8. And everything was just super easy and convinient and had good results. There were three times as many auto focus points, UI was easy to navigate. I even love the button feel. It's lighter too. And focusing was faster and automatic and quieter than on my camera. And overall pictures looked so much more crisp and had more vibrance with color and nuance.
So in my head right now there are just so many thoughts and factors in my head that show me that every canon that I've used from friends auto
automatically result in better overall experience than my current setup

I am thinking of selling the whole thing and getting a canon probably xs/xti

what do you guys think? I mean I have two friends that are professional photographers who workin studios all day and they both have canon and said would never use olymp

if I were to sell. How much could I get for my setup in my sig plus the mentioned OM lens

 

[Goontz]

Usually people say stick with what you already have, get better glass instead, etc. HOWEVER, that's usually if they're considering going from Canon to Nikon or vice versa. It sounds to me like you'd be much happier with a Canon or Nikon setup over your Olympus. You'll have a much better selection of lenses and just about everything else . I say go for it.

In my experience, some of the brands other than the "big two" are fine for what a lot of people want to use them for. By that, I mean "Moms with camera's" and what not; the average consumer. It sounds like you want more out of it, and there's a reason Canon and Nikon hold the market share that they do.

 

[fokker]

All I can say is... do it. There's a reason almost everyone on here shoots canon or nikon - because they are the best. If you have friends with canon then great, you can share gear and tips etc with them. It seems like you've already made up your mind anyway. You should be able to get a decent price for your current setup if it's in good condition, though I won't hazard a guess as to how much.

 

[Kofman13]

Should i ask in the market forum?

 

[Goontz]

Search eBay or Craigslist and see if you can find what you might be able to get for it.

 

[PatrickCheung]

you've got all the answers you need here! haha i remember a few months back, you had the same dilemma (but with different reasons). if it were me, i'd switch to canon or nikon because they have so many more lenses to choose from

hows it like having a manual focus lens when doing photoshoots? i'm thinking of picking up an 85mm lens that can't AF on my camera for portraiture

 

[AliasPros]

Do it, upgrade, it's just money anyway. This is one of the only hobbies I have that makes it's money back.

 

[Don Kondra]

Wow, a couple of months experience with a kit lens and a OM lens and you're disappointed.

Why don't you try a Zuiko Digital 50mm f2.0 lens before you move on?

Cheers, Don

 

[Kofman13]

Wow, a couple of months experience with a kit lens and a OM lens and you're disappointed.

Why don't you try a Zuiko Digital 50mm f2.0 lens before you move on?

Cheers, Don

i would try it but no photographers i know use olympus and i dont want to pay 380-400$ for one lol

now which canon should I get?

I saw a brand new canon XS in box on craigslist for $400 ( body only)
im guessing i could get that much for my e-520 and two lenses....?

 

[Don Kondra]

With all due respect you are missing the point.

You can get by with a lesser body but the Glass is important.

No matter what brand.

And just to be clear, at the consumer body level, Olympus has the best feature set.

Cheers, Don

 

[Kofman13]

With all due respect you are missing the point.

You can get by with a lesser body but the Glass is important.

No matter what brand.

And just to be clear, at the consumer body level, Olympus has the best feature set.

Cheers, Don

i understand, ive been told that but i pretty much cant afford olympus glass. and i really like the images i get from canon.

 

[Kofman13]

you've got all the answers you need here! haha i remember a few months back, you had the same dilemma (but with different reasons). if it were me, i'd switch to canon or nikon because they have so many more lenses to choose from

hows it like having a manual focus lens when doing photoshoots? i'm thinking of picking up an 85mm lens that can't AF on my camera for portraiture

well the OM lenses have great build quality, they are all metal and have a really nice smooth feel when focusing. it just can be really hard to get a perfect focus because a hair to the left or right on the focus ring can make a huge difference and often through the viewfinder, pictures can look more in focus than they truly are, and when they come out on the LCD they look worse than they did in viewfinder. can be very tricky

 

[Don Kondra]

Okay, silly question.

Are you stepping the lens down ?

The DOF is razor sharp wide open.

Cheers, Don

 

[Dao]

Once you have the right tool for the right job such as a lens that can autofocus with the camera body, things may look totally different. I agree with Don here.

The issues you had with your shoot is not because of the brand. And I think you may already know. Don can show you some great shots he took with his Olympus camera.

Of course, you can switch to any camera you like. But I think once you learn more, you should have more fun with your camera. (Olympus or Canon .... Nikon ... Pentax ..Sony ..)

One side note is, even the lens is capable of F/1.8, you do not have to use F/1.8. The sweet spot of the lens is usually couple stop after the max aperture anyway. Don't give up!! You are getting there!

 

[inTempus]

The XSi and the E510 are pretty evenly matched in terms of image quality (color depth and dynamic range). The XSi trumps it in the ISO department and the over all sensor rating though.

But if you do your part the XSi and the E510 should give you similar results. The argument is that if you're truly concerned about image quality, you're not going to gain all that much by jumping to Canon.

But, to your point, if you just like Canon better there's no technical chart that's going to change that. I know how that goes, I am drawn to things and I want them... so I get them.

Is the XSi a step up? Yup, it sure is. It does give you better performance and access to Canon's lenses and accessories which are top of the line. Will having the XSi improve your photography? No, most likely it won't.

If you buy a good quality AF lens for your E510 you'll get the same results, for the most part, as you would with a XSi.

What would I do? I would buy the Canon because I know that's what you want. And in this game, want is 90% of the hobby.