Oly E-420 - len's & flash help needed :o

[George.d(^^,)b]

HI all, I have an Olympus E-420, with 14-42mm Lens & I've had this since Dec 2009. I'm looking into a new lens - just wondering, what lens would you suggest thats a bit more advanced than this, (better zoom) and thats not too expensive.. Also, when I take a picture inside, the flash blinks a lot before actually taking the picture, this can be very annoying especially when taking family photos of people who don't like the flash, is it worth investing in an external flash? Or will it still blink? Is there a way of stopping it from blinking? Any advise/links to lens's welcome!!

 

[String]

Sounds like the flash is preflashing trying to get a lock on focus. Olympus are supposedly renowned for having difficulty securing focus in low light. Which is it you have? a 420 or a 450?

 

[George.d(^^,)b]

Thanks, yeah it's only in low light that it does this, do you think getting an external flash will fix the preflash problem? I have an e-420 ;D

 

[String]

I have an E510, and I bought a metz 48AF for it, and have been very pleased with it. It's a hotshoe gun, but has full TTl control and bounce. You should like it.

 

[George.d(^^,)b]

Managed to turn off the preflash, you were right, I googled it & others found it annoying too. It was to assist in getting focus quicker.. I shall check out the flash, thanks

 

[AJQS]

Yes the trouble with the pop up flash is it doesn't have an AF assist light, so it just flashes a lot instead. It is indeed annoying. Put it in red eye reduction mode and it flashes some more!

As for a lens - a 12-60mm gives you a bit extra either end, a stop faster and it's a bit better on image quality. It's SWD as well so faster focussing, but not at it's fastest on an E420.