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November 23, 2007
New Camera Purchase
Several weeks ago I bought an iMac with all the bells and whistles, plus Apple's photo management and editing application: Aperture. The problem was that when using Aperture's loupe to instantly zoom in on images, I realized that my camera (a Fuji Finepix S9100) was outputting some very noisy (grainy) images. Not only that, but I was starting to notice the large amount of barrel distortion in the lens which was making straight lines look curved. Considering that I take quite a lot of photos of buildings and street scenes, this was a problem. It was then that I started looking into the latest digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras. SLRs are the more traditional type of camera which typically have larger photosensors, detachable lenses and almost always produce higher-quality images than the standard point-and-shoot style camera.
So after weeks of poring over reviews of digital SLRs, I finally decided on the Olympus EVOLT E-510 which I just ordered on Amazon a few minutes ago. I chose the E-510 for several reasons which I'll outline here.
First and foremost is image quality. My biggest complaint with my current camera has been the graininess so I was looking for a camera that would minimize noise at high sensitivity (ISO) and more faithfully represent what my eyes actually see. The E-510 boasts 10 megapixels and from all the samples I've viewed, is crystal clear and has little noise even at high ISO.
The E-510 has an active image stabilization system which will help reduce camera shake. My current camera has "picture stabilization" but all it does is increase the ISO so that a faster shutter speed may be used, thus reducing blur in low light images. The problem is that the resulting images end up being shot at 800-1600 ISO which made them ridiculously noisy. I left it on by accident a few weeks ago when shooting a train crossing a bridge at dusk and was disgusted when I got home and looked at the photos on my computer. That incident was the straw that broke the camera's back.
Obviously, image quality is of highest importance in a digital camera but the file format is important as well. The E-510 will shoot RAW images that can be directly imported into Aperture. This gives me a lot more flexibility when editing my photos. It also uses xD and CF cards for recording images. This means that with my 2 GB xD card plus the 8 GB CompactFlash card I just bought, I'm going to have a whopping 10 GB of storage space in the camera at all times.
When looking at cameras last weekend and actually holding several of them, I realized how important shape is. With a camera as large as an SLR, the way the camera feels in the hands is very important. Several of the cameras I held last weekend were uncomfortable to hold. On one (a Nikon, I think), my right hand rubbed against the lens itself which would have eventually cramped up my hand and literally left me with bloody (or at least irritated) knuckles. Maybe I just have big hands but I was able to comfortably wrap my right one around the grip of the E-510 without any problems and it felt good in my hands.
I'm on a limited budget so price played a big role in my decision as well. The E-510 can be purchased with two lenses on Amazon for only $675. This makes it one of the most affordable 10 megapixel SLRs on the market. Sure, you can buy many other SLRs for that price but they often only include one lens or none at all. The two lenses that come with the E-510 will allow me to get out and start using the camera as soon as it arrives.
Finally, the internet obviously played a huge role in this decision. The number of camera review websites is staggering but the one that I kept going back to when evaluating all my options was Digital Photography Review. They wrote a detailed 32-page review of the E-510 which compared it to other cameras. They also posted a full size sample gallery and judged it on more criteria than I am even able to understand. For me, they've become an invaluable source for choosing a digital camera.
Hopefully the E-510 will live up to the hype I've just built up here. I'll be able to find out for myself when it arrives sometime next week so stay tuned.
Posted on November 23, 2007 at 11:47 PM
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