Where to now?

[griffljg]

I have been a user of Olympus cameras since I bought an Olympus OM2n way back in December 1980. I currently have both an E-3 and an E-300 together with an assortment of Zuiko lenses, which I really like. The E-300 has now been largely relegated to backup and museum roles and I am looking at upgrading the E-3.

But now comes the question?

The E-5 has been out for a couple of years now. Should I invest in one? Or should I wait a bit just in case an E-7 is released...... Maybe later on this year??

Or should I be looking seriously at the OM-D series?

Or should I really be looking at dropping Olympus totally and moving to Nikon or Canon?

[ameerat42]

Get a crystal ball first

[flashc]

My old Olympus gear, 4 film cameras, 2 T flashguns, macro lens etc. are hiding in bag in a wardrobe I think.

The only reasons I changed to Canon was the release of the Canon 300D about 9 years ago, Olympus changed their mount, dropped the OM series type and the digital SLR age moved ahead for amateur photographers.

If you find a crystal ball, let me know if my 7D replacement will be full frame.

I originally bought Olympus because the cameras were different. (small and lightweight)

I stay with Canon because of the range of lenses, accessories and I hope a commitment to the future.

[swifty]

Take this with a grain of salt since the crystal ball is anything but crystal clear.
But rumour has it there will be an E-series camera at Photokina this year. Whether it'd be and E-7 or whatever, who knows. But given your investment in 43 lenses, its worth waiting just 3 more months to decide.
As you know OMD is a series with just one camera in it atm. Again rumour has it there will be a higher as well as lower model added to the EM5 which will sit in the middle of the series.
If this turns out to be true, it wouldn't be hard imagining an E7/EM-7 twin appearing simultaneously.

BTW, why do you feel the need to upgrade your E3? Is it high ISO noise, pixel count, other?

Should you choose to switch systems, I don't think you need to lean towards m43 just because you're previously an Olympus owner. The current adapter solution for 43 lens doesn't seem convincing.
Pick the system based on its merits and what you want out of it. Having said that, m43 is maturing very nicely though.

[griffljg]

I have two reasons to upgrade the E-3:

1. As you mentioned, the high ISO performance leaves a lot to be desired and is a constant source of annoyance to me.
2. I have a lot of difficulty keeping my horizons horizontal. Unintentional sloping horizons irritate the hell out of me. Straightening horizons always forms part of my editing process. I quite like the idea of a tilt mter such as the E-5 has.

There are a lot of reasons to criticise Olympus and the 4/3 system. Some might even be "deal breakers" for somebody who is starting from fresh. But just when I am thinking of "jumping ship" and moving on to some other system, the quality of my lenses, particularly the 12-60 SWD, brings me back.

At the moment, system-wise, I am in a dead-end. If Olympus come up with an upgrade to the E-5 or with a viable upgrade path to some other system, I'll take it. If not, then I should really look at some other system before I invest in more equipment.

[ericimbs]

crystal ball comments aside, get the OMD, adapt the lenses. why change makers if you're happy? if a new Oly slr comes out and the OMD ain't cutting it for you, switch bodies and you still have all your zuikos.