Canon G10 : would you sell to buy an Olympus Pen?

Flash In The Pan

Flash In The Pan

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Been mulling this one over, I'd need to add quite a chunk to the value of the G10 to buy the Pen I want (both lenses and the viewfinder) but as it would just be a "toy" it's rather a lot just to sit in a camera bag, any thoughts either way - anyone?
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Been mulling this one over, I'd need to add quite a chunk to the value of the G10 to buy the Pen I want (both lenses and the viewfinder) but as it would just be a "toy" it's rather a lot just to sit in a camera bag, any thoughts either way - anyone?
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I agree, the PEN would be a very expensive toy and £850 for the twin lens kit is very expensive (but buying the additional lens and viewfinder later, even more expensive)

Logic says, £850 is too expensive and to wait until the prices come down. But I really really want one, and it's just a matter of time before I buy.

It was the jump to FF that has really 'broken me'. Having a FF body and standard lens weighing close to 2Kg, I really want a decent compact for traveling light. But at the same time, I hate compacts because the IQ is so far off a dSLR. The Oly seems just perfect (well almost). I was tempted by a DP1|DP2 for a while, but thought, if only it has an interchangable lens!

Did that help?
 
Hmmm. I have had the same thoughts but don't think I will for a while. I love the idea of an interchangable lens "rangefinder" but its that bit bigger so I reckon it will get taken out less. I like the fact my G10 lives with me a lot of the time.

I too hankered after the DP1 for a while but went G10.

Think I'm going to stick with it for the time being as the EP-1 is too expensive for a toy IMO
 
I would :)
If I would find PEN anywhere in stock I would buy it even today :D
even only with 14-42mm lens PEN would be great to carry it everywhere everyday when my 5d would stay home...I dont think I would need longer lenses on it...and yes,I would go for viewfinder and flash :)
 
I have a feeling there will be a successor to the Lumix LX3 soon that will have interchangeable lenses ... prices might be better.
 
ny thoughts either way - anyone?

Is it really that much smaller than a D40 with 18-55 kit lens? Worth giving up a proper viewfinder for...?
 
The thing is that there are some very nice limited edition pens (of the writing sort) being given away with the first few Pens sold, however it would be nice to get one for a couple of hundred less instead :D

It would seem the twin kit is the way to go - it's only £150 more than the 14-42 kit, which makes the 17mm lens only £50.
 
Ive heard that 17mm f2.8 pancake isn't available yet...
 
I wish US would be closer....PEN overthere is $799 so that makes it around £499...not 699 like in uk heh
 
I have the G10 and bought the E-P1 zoom kit from Jessops. Early days but initial signs are that it is a fantastic piece of kit. Weight wise it doesn't feel much different to the G10.

The size of the sensor makes a big difference at higher ISO's

In all honesty I think I'll be selling the G10 as I don't think it'll get used much at all. When I want to travel light I'd pick the E-P1 over it any time. The money from the G10 should get me a pancake lens when they're released.
 
can you post some sample pictures from it please:D:D
 
I had a quick look at PEN today at jessops...thanks to all the safety locks attached to it it wasnt pleasant and heavy...
but still...i want one :D
 
bastic said:
I had a quick look at PEN today at jessops...thanks to all the safety locks attached to it it wasnt pleasant and heavy...
but still...i want one :D
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<---got to play with it without the ball and chain :love:

I wish they'd hurry up and drop the price :LOL:
 
I can confirm that without the ball and chain it is pleasant and it isn't heavy :)

I originally thought you meant you wanted to look at it without Mrs Flash In The Pan present when you mentioned ball and chain
 
Flash In The Pan said:
<---got to play with it without the ball and chain :love:
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you lucky...:razz:

I will wait and see for how much Stewart from DigitalDepot will have them for TP members ;) he ordered twin lens kits and is waiting for them :)
I still havent decided what colour I want...
 
thats the lens Im after as well...none in stock anywhere at the moment...
 
Just been to have a look at what the PEN is all about, and the MICRO 4'3rds thing.

Nice piece of marketing, making out that the lens circle to sensor size is the important thing. NO IT ISN'T, THE SIZE OF THE SENSOR IS THE IMPORTANT THING.

When I read the first few posts I was interested, I thought, aha, a rangefinder with full frame sensor....just the job. Using a retro name to set the photography world alight again. Then you read into it a bit more, and realise they are using an APS sized sensor, the same as everyone else - they have just cleverly described it differently.

Nope, I won't be selling my G10 to get one of those. The G10 offers wider coverage and longer coverage, without changing lenses. The output files are about the same though. I am very happy with the lens on the G10, I don't like the 400 and above ISO performance - it is dire to say the least. If you need more than 200, forget the G10, it is AWEFUL. If you can use it on 80 or 100, then it is great and the lens coating actually has a very high contrast if the light is sidelit - almost polarised effect (only doesn't cut out glare like a tre polariser). For the wide use I put it to, it is fine. I have had plenty of DPS published form it, so it is doing OK. Faster to use than the change of lenses.

Plus, would the cost of changing be recouped by extra sales? NO. So I shall use the money I have just saved to do another trip instead.(y)
 
I'm quite tempted to flog my 30D and lenses to get a PEN once I've seen some more reviews and had a play myself. Had my DSLR since january and realised I'm only really interested in street and landscape photography, and lugging my Lowepro around all the time is beginning to get on my tits.

Will sit and wait and see how the price comes down for a bit though :)
 
not heard of a PEN before, so looked at the olympus site.

trying not to sound thick, but why PEN? does it mean something? im either missing something obvious, but doesnt say on the olympus site either.
not a compact, not a slr but a PEN. seems an odd slogan.
 
Olympus did a small rangefinder in the late 50s called the PEN (actually the PEN F, or that was the later one) - because it was as light as a pen.....and the name stuck.


Now, they have resureccted the old name, because retro is good for marketing. This is a pure marketing exercise using same insides in a fashionable body, with the lenses to match.
 
It's so easy for all of us to get all excited about the idea of a small camera that packs a DSLR sized punch and I was off looking just the same as everyone else that hasn't seen/heard of the Pen before this thread.

The thing is, once this trend gets going everyone is going to start to bring out a version of a pocket rocket. By the time we get onto the second release by the major players, these cameras are going to be miles ahead of the ones out now and probably a fair bit cheaper too.

Having slowed myself down and had a coffee, I think I'll pass on this one and wait it out for a while. :)
 
dazzajl said:
The thing is, once this trend gets going everyone is going to start to bring out a version of a pocket rocket.
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Who knows? :shrug: Only Minolta and Pentax made 110 film size SLRs.
 
photon said:
Who knows? :shrug: Only Minolta and Pentax made 110 film size SLRs.
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That's a good point but my guess is that this will be different. While some of those 110 cameras were as cute as that hedgehog posted, it was never really a viable film size for bigger than 6x4 prints and even then, pretty dire.
Anyway, i've found my ticket to resistance and now i'm sticking my fingers in my ears. La la la la la ;)
 
Lensflare said:
Olympus did a small rangefinder in the late 50s called the PEN (actually the PEN F, or that was the later one) - because it was as light as a pen.....and the name stuck.
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Not quite - the Olympus Pen F, Pen FT and Pen FV. were 35mm half-frame SLR (not rangefinder) and there was a large range of interchangeable lenses available for it.

OlypenForiginal.jpg


The Pen, Pen E, Pen S and Pen W (and versions) were the simple 'rangefinder' camera.

penee.jpg
 
Ive another dillema...maybe instead of getting PEN I should get myself 135L or 24-105mm....
I have to anwser a question...If I get one of the lenses, would 50mm be enough for my holliday trip to Greece??????I dont want to carry all my gear in hot weather,or take it to the beach with me....
PEN would be great for carring around....
Dillemas dillemas...
 
Masterful marketing from Olympus, but the new PEN is nothing like a G10, or any other compact. Fortunately.

The main thing about it is the larger sensor - not quite APS-C like Nikon/Canon etc, but the same 4/3rd as in many other DSLRs. The new camera is essentially an Olympus E-620 without the mirror and viewfinder.

And while the PEN body might be quite small, the larger sensor needs a big lens and so the whole package is not small at all.

The nearest thing to it is the Panasonic G1 and GH1. They have eye-level viewing and AF that works almost as well as standard DSLR's AF, ie better then the Olympus.

Panasonic doesn't have the Olympus marketing brainwash, but for sure the big guns will be out with mirror-less DLSRs with interchangeable lenses (that's what the PEN is) before long.
 
I keep umming and ahhing about a second camera like the PEN or the G10. On one hand, it would be great to have something compact to stick in my pocket and take around but on the other hand, I take my D700 with me everywhere anyway. I keep thinking £300/400 for a G10 that may or may not get a lot of use or I could put £300/400 towards a nice lens/a second body like a D70/80/200. Heart says get a compact so I'm not lugging camera gear around with me all the time, head says I'm spoiled with the D700 and it's image quality.
 
I love the concept... however I will not move till it has a built in optical viewfinder, like on some of their 35mm zoom compacts.
 
The way I have understood it, there is the 4/3rds size and then there is the micro 4/3rds....just a different name for the same size sensors as everyone else uses - oh, and the lenses are Apochromatic, same as any decent digital lens needs to be (all colours focussed to same point of film plane. - Yes, I still talk of film plane as the the focal point!)
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
I love the concept... however I will not move till it has a built in optical viewfinder, like on some of their 35mm zoom compacts.
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I think you might be waiting a long time for an optical viewfinder, at least of the built in variety. It makes no sense when you have a live video feed going on and all you need to do it patch the signal into an electronic viewfinder, like the Panasonics. And look how big a decent OVF has to be - a zooming one would be huge.

4/3rd format is not the same as APS-C, it's quite a bit smaller - 2x crop factor relative to full frame - but much bigger than all compacts. The Four-Thirds bit just refers to the aspect ratio. Micro 4/3rd is the same format, but without the mirror in the way so the lenses can have a much shorter back-focus (smaller, theoretically better).

Logically, this is how the digital camera concept should be, rather than a film camera with a digital sensor stuck in it. What we need now is to get rid of the shutter and let the sensor switch itself on/off for the actual exposure. I honestly think that most enthusiast cameras will be like this in a few years, and in ten years the DSLR will be history. I posted a thread about this new type of camera a few months ago, which got quite long and, erm, entertaining. Most people didn't give it the time of day but this Olympus is pretty much there already. All I can say is, I told you so... :D ;)
 
bastic said:
So PEN is a 2x crop ??
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Yes. Pen E-P1 is 2x crop factor.

Sensor sizes run something like this:
Full frame, 1x crop factor, 864 sq mm.
APS-C 1.6x Canon, 1.5x Nikon, 330-370 sq mm approx
4/3rd, 2x, 256 sq mm
Compacts, approx 5x, around 50 sq mm
 
"Logically, this is how the digital camera concept should be, rather than a film camera with a digital sensor stuck in it. What we need now is to get rid of the shutter and let the sensor switch itself on/off for the actual exposure. I honestly think that most enthusiast cameras will be like this in a few years, and in ten years the DSLR will be history. I posted a thread about this new type of camera a few months ago, which got quite long and, erm, entertaining. Most people didn't give it the time of day but this Olympus is pretty much there already. All I can say is, I told you so"

I that case I will be stocking up on DSLR's to see me through to my dotage,however if DSLR's are to really die a death how will the sports & wildlife pro's manage,can you really see one of these Toys with a 600mm f4 on the end in the next 10 years
 
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