Photography Thread - Camera, Stills, Video, HDSLR, Mirrorless, Etc.

[Vracer111]

Been into amateur photography for quite a while, mostly since the late 90's... Growing up I had point-n-shoots, but my first truly nice 35mm film camera that started me onto the SLR path was an Olympus IS-100s, it had a fixed lens but was a great starter SLR. In college I took photography courses as electives and needed to get a manual SLR...so since the Olympus OM-2000 just came out then I started off with it. It wasn't a true 'Olympus' OM, being a rebranded Cosina, but worked fine as a basic SLR for classes. Bought some nice used OM Zuiko primes for it and later on I picked up some real OMs (all used off of Ebay) which consisted of an OM-1N, two OM-2Ns, and An OM-4T.

When the Nikon F5 came out it was like the hot camera and I thought about maybe getting a used one when the prices dropped, was a pretty cool camera tech wise. But the 35mm camera I had always wanted wanted was the OM-3Ti ... but I was never was able to get one because they had skyrocketed in price and were hard to find by the time I could pay for one at MSRP price...and they were used going for double the MSRP... I ended up getting a medium format Fujifilm GS645S during that time...which is an excellent, lightweight SLR sized rangefinder camera with a very accurate built in metering system. Then the digital revolution came.

I started off with the Olympus E-10, I guess a similar path as the 35mm getting more serious starting point. Nice camera, took decent photos for what it was. After a while though, since I already had some OM Zuiko lenses, I wanted a digital SLR that could use them and well a used but nearly brand new Olympus E-1 it was, and still is currently! Love my E-1 even though it was the first digital SLR system introduced to the market some 11 years ago...still shoots great. I blame the E-1 for my OM lens collection growing much larger...because I don't like auto-focus lenses, I like to shoot prime only full manual lenses and OM lenses are excellent quality and a heck of a lot less expensive than the Digital E-series lenses. Well, I did end up getting the Holy Grail of Olympus OM lenses (and one of the finest telephoto's ever made from any manufacturer as well)... the Zuiko Auto-T 250mm f/2.0 ED-IF. It worked well for auto racing and airshow photography, being just the right focal length. I say worked because the stupidest decision I've probably ever made was selling that lens... I knew I would regret it later on and I have to say yep I do, ultra rare telephoto lens with such excellent sharpness and bokeh. Here's a photo taken with that lens from a ways away (from at least 50+ feet away), unedited from the camera:

250mm f2.0 OM Zuiko shot

Keep in mind the E-1 is a 5MP camera and I'm handholding and guesstimating my focus.

I just sold most of the 35mm stuff I still had a little over a week ago because film is a hassle and extra expense to develop...and it's been forever since I've even touched my OM-1N, OM-2N, and Fujifilm GS645S. I had thought about going smaller with a mirroless Fuji X-E1, but now that I think about it and having held the Fuji X-E1 then going back to my E-1 this weekend at Cars and Coffee, I much prefer the full SLR format. And for ~$350 I can get an excellent condition used E-3...which i think I will do, and keep the E-1 as backup.

My Olympus system as it is currently:

• E-1 Body
• HLD-2 battery/grip extender
• FL-36 flash
• Genuine Olympus OM to 4/3 lens adapter
• OM Zuiko lenses:
  24mm f2.8
  50mm f1.8
  50mm macro f3.5
  135mm f2.8
  180mm f2.8
  300mm f4.5
  500mm mirror reflex f8

I also have the FP-1 flash power grip with cables that I don't use much due to the fact the FL-36 flash doesn't work with it due to the power socket interface designed for the FL-50 keeps it from going all the way into the hotshoe mount. It works great just as a grip though (so comfortable to use compared to just the E-1 with HLD-2 attached) so I plan ditch the FL-36 and upgrade to the FL-50 for about $130-140 used.

My online photo album is: http://vracer111.smugmug.com/

[nlamon33]

Just got a Canon EOS 60D. I have shot with a Rebel a little bit and took an introductory course at university but I am excited to get more into photography. I like the 60D's video friendly setup. Gonna play with it for a while but I really like how it feels while shooting. Hanging out with a buddy next week and going to install a few things on his E46 M3 (as well as my car) and plan on making a little video/photoshoot out of it. I'll post some pictures once it happens.