Olympus E-520 lens

[Tuddi]

I will probably be buying me an Olympus E-520 after new year, but have no idea what lens I should get for it, and therefore I seek advice from those of you who may (hopefully) know what goes.

I would like either a wide angle, or fish-eye lens. Until now, I have been shooting around 30 photos for each pano, and would like to save a bit on the on-site work and also make the stitching process shorter.

These cameras come with the following 2 lenses:
Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Digital Zoom Lens
Zuiko 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Digital Zoom Lens

Would those be of any use for panorama work... or a complete waste of money?

Surely it would be easier to buy Nikon or Canon, and get lenses to those... but I have always had Olympus and like their craftsmanship... and am not willing to change over to other brands.

Any qualified response would be highly appreciated.

[siesfor]

I don't know about the 14-42mm, I know the 14-45mm kit lens that used to come with the cameras was pretty soft and slow. Not an awful lens, but not a grand one either. Looking at the price of 'em, the 14-42 is probably not much different. The 14-54, on the other hand, was a much better upgrade lens (at a lil' under twice as much, it should be). But from everything I've read and heard, the Olympus kit lenses blow away the competition's kit lenses (for what that's worth).

The 40-150 is a very nice lens (especially for the price) for regular shooting, but would be too long for speeding up pano-shooting.

There's also the 12-60mm, which I just read a review on the other day that was giving some good raves about it. I believe it also ships with the E-3 kit. And by itself will run ya about 900 or so.

Course, if 900 doesn't intimidate ya, then you would want to look at the 7-14mm, which runs a bit over a grand. Now we're talking wide-angle, and every picture I've seen taken with this lens is eye-poppingly crisp and clear. It would certainly be an incredible lens to own.

But probably your best solution, would be the Zeiko 8mm Fish-eye. Nice sharpness, wide angle, and with a mid-range price (around 600-700 range new). 6 around, plus a nadir and zenith, if you desire, and you're done.

You could buy the 520 body and the 8mm FE by themselves, but if you plan to use the camera for non-pano shooting, or for getting close-up shots to use in your panos, the 40-150mm could certainly come in handy, and if that's the case, you may as well stick with the kit, plus the FE, and let 'em throw in the 14-42 for, essentially, free.

(btw, all prices quoted were in US dollars, your own bank account damage may vary)

[Tuddi]

This will help me a lot. THANK you!

I will take the full package (both lenses) and go for the Zuiko 8mm FE.

Unfortunately money IS an issue, but that's just because I am not running a Wall Street pyramide scam company, elegible for government bailout package amounting to some billions... :)

The current camera I use, is Olympus C-8080, with a non-changeable wide zoom lens. It is a good camera, but the autofocus is terrible... only exceeded in terriblyness by the manual focus which is operated through button pressing rather than turning the lens itself. If operated correctly, it will deliver very good quality, but it's getting old and worn out (6 bad pixels) after more than 200.000 pictures on the counter.

[phberlin]

Hey Tuddi (<-- I'm still wondering how either this or "Trausti" is actually pronounced, besides :-),

I'm working with a E-330 and the original Olympus FE (8mm). First of all, the 520 is an excellent camera, can't go wrong with this :-)

Keep in mind that the 520 (like all FourThirds cameras) effectively doubles the focal length of each lens, so a 14mm lens is like a 28mm full frame. That means that even with the 8mm fisheye you need at least six photo around to get the 360 degrees with enough overlap plus one nadir and one zenith shot. Thus I'd not advise you to try it with a 14mm lens, because you'd still need a lot of pictures to get a full sphere.

There is also a cheaper alternative to the Zuiko 8mm fisheye, the "Peleng" lens. It's a Russian lens that is fully manual (no autofocus and so on). I've had it and can only encourage you to directly buy the Olympus fisheye which I use right now. The two are worlds apart regarding quality and ease of use. (Plus for the Peleng you'll need an extra adapter to fit on a FourThirds mount, and that is another difficult thing, because if the adapter's width is not exactly perfect (talking of fractions of milimeters here), you'll get focusing problems. Believe me, I fought with it long enough :-)

About the Zuiko 14-42: It's a good lens (like all Olympus kit lenses), but I'd recommend you the Zuiko 14-54. It has an amazing quality and is relatively good for low light situations. And it has literally no (!) barrel distortion at 14mm. About 50-150: There are two versions, the older one (a little bigger, takes more light) and the new one (smaller, takes less light, weights less). I have the old one. It's a good lens, but I find I use it more seldom that I would have thought in the beginning (almost only for portraits). Because -- you know -- it's equal to 100 - 300mm full frame. On the other side: It's unbelievable what a high quality lens you get for such a low price with the 50-150.

Conclusion: The E-520 is a brilliant camera, especially for that price. For panoramas, I'd strongly advise you to buy the Zuiko fisheye. It's not very cheap, but you'll fall in love with it quickly for its reliability, its speed and of course the optical quality (crispness, not too much chromatic abberation).

Best regards,
Philipp

[Tuddi]

Trausti (native name) is prenounced pretty much like "Trustee" and "Trusty" in English. Tuddi is the nick given by my nephew when he was 2 years old and he couldn't speak properly (Tuhdee).

Thank you for confirming that I will be getting a good equipment... not that I doubted it, but it's always good to have a confirmation :)

I considered buying the E-330 a couple of years ago, but decided upon keeping the C-8080, which has been kind to me. Is it correct that the E-520 body is titanium alloy, or did they compromize on quality to keep the price down?

[phberlin]

Trausti (native name) is prenounced pretty much like "Trustee" and "Trusty" in English. Tuddi is the nick given by my nephew when he was 2 years old and he couldn't speak properly (Tuhdee).

Good to know :-) "Internally" (I mean: for myself when reading) I always pronounced you somewhat like in English "Trowse-Tea", because that's how a German (me) would do it if it was German...

Thank you for confirming that I will be getting a good equipment... not that I doubted it, but it's always good to have a confirmation :)

I considered buying the E-330 a couple of years ago, but decided upon keeping the C-8080, which has been kind to me. Is it correct that the E-520 body is titanium alloy, or did they compromize on quality to keep the price down?

The E-330 is such a brilliant camera, but doubtlessly the E-520 is much better due to its greater view finder (that's a clear minus with the E-330). But you'll only use the LifeView for panoramas anyway, I guess :-)

AFAIK the E-520's body is made of plastic. At least they say it in this very detailed review (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse520/) that I can warmly recommend if you want to know just about anything with the cam.

Best regards, Philipp

[FrankLesco]

Hi Tuddy,

My English is'nt so very well, so i'll be short.
I am working with the E-500 and the zuiko 8mm fish eye.
That is somewhat in the direction of your choice, just a bit older ofcourse and has less possibilities...
Here you can see what i have done with it...
www.panorama360.be
www.digiscoop.be (these ar all 3 shots hdr and all with fpp...)

Greetings,
Frank

Does any one now when the new release of fpp comes out with the correction of the distorted nadir and zenith bug?
I am using ptgui...

[phberlin]

Does any one now when the new release of fpp comes out with the correction of the distorted nadir and zenith bug?
I am using ptgui...

The next FPP release's date is one of the best kept secrets of today (at the same eye level of: What's really inside Area51 etc.). Denis (the developer) does not say anything about it. Anyway, it'll be ready someday (hopefully soon).

Regards, Philipp

[uudu]

Hi Frank,
I'm using also E-500 and have a plan to buy 8 mm fisheye. Or is it Zuiko 9-18 mm the way to go?
Can you upload somewhere a set of images from 8 mm to play with?
Thanks,
uudu

[FrankLesco]

Hi,

Suggestion how i do this on for example "www.digiscoop.be/untitled/"

Frank

[FrankLesco]

http://www.digiscoop.be/untitled/untitled.html

...is the path to download examples .jpeg or/and .orf

Frank

[FrankLesco]

http://www.digiscoop.be/untitled/untitled.html

... is the path to download .jpeg or/and .orf

Frank

[FrankLesco]

http://www.digiscoop.be/untitled/untitled.html

... is the path to download .jpg and/or .orf

Frank

[FrankLesco]

http://www.digiscoop.be/untitled/untitled.html

...is the path to download .jpg or/and.orf

Frank

[FrankLesco]

I am sorry, if someone is able to delete three of the four same messages....

Thnx,
Frank

[uudu]

Thank you Frank.
Now I know how to spend the rest of day.
One problem with E500 and also E-520 - It give to use AE bracketing only +1, 0, -1. Often it`s not enough.
On your site you have really well exposed windows.
Thanks again for files.
uudu

[FrankLesco]

Hi,

Indeed, they only have a small ev range, but with some experience it works well within most ranges....
When i must choose on location, i choose a bit lower exposure, so a bot darker pictures, just a bit ofcourse, otherwise you get problems with noise...
When you work on a tripod you can set a second time the exposure value lower for a round of bracketing. That is how i do it in occasion...
Otherwise you have to look in the direction of nikon who is very well in ev bracketing if you ask my opinion... But for that money i would like also canon quality about very less noise ratio in de pics...
So, not just yet... I am still waiting for both things in one camera if i have to spend that money....

For the money i payed i am very satisfied with my olympus e500 model and the zuiko fisheye 8mm lens...

Frank

[Tuddi]

Bought the Olympus E-520 today, with the two lenses, now I only have to get the fisheye lens (8mm Zuiko)... and since it's not available here in Peru, I have to get it from the US. Also looking for a new tripod and pano head, since I had the misfortune of the tripod+camera (old)+panohead falling and breaking the pano(saurus)head, and the tripod leg support rings broke as well (die-cast aluminium crap).

First impressions of the camera are very positive, and I am sure I will be pleased with it when I get the fisheye lens, going from 30+ photos down to 6 will be a huge time saver.

[Tuddi]

Not having too much time to test and try things... or even to read the manual, but I was just trying to use the camera in "Panorama" mode and thought it would be possible to have it on "AE Bracketing" at the same time, enabling 3 photos shot with different exposures, but I don't seem to be able to do that. Anyone know if it CAN be done with this camera?

[siesfor]

You might try setting the drive to continuous shooting. Not sure about the 520 but you had to do that on earlier models to use bracketing.

[Tuddi]

Yes, putting it on continuous shooting is needed to make the 3 different exposures, but that is seemingly not possible to combine with the panorama setting.

Also, using the Olympus Studio 2 software, one can control the camera with a computer. But for some very weird reason, there is access to all (?) the different preset shooting methods, but NOT the panorama setting.... It would have been great to connect a laptop to the camera while it's on the tripod and see the images in proper size when shooting them... and live view with the software is not possible either... I find that very to be a very strange limitation.

[uudu]

I'm not familiar with E520 (using E500 now) but think the Panorama assist doesn't do more than lock some camera settings- Exposure, WB. You can use Manual mode while shooting bracketed. Or even better - all time.
I tried also writing to laptop with Studio, but it is very slow compared to card with E500 (usb 1) Also it's not very comfortable to walk around tripod laptop in hands. You need to turn camera to next position anyway, then return to shoot from laptop - too much hassle.

[Tuddi]

I better find time to read the whole manual and make tests. Until now I have (out of laziness) used the panorama function, but for indoors shots with bright windows, it would be good to have different exposures. In the past I have shot an extra set, but it is too bothersome since I am (still) not using a fisheye lens.

If I could use the laptop with bracketing, I would simply make a holder for it that would attach to the tripod and rotate it to keep it behind the camera at all times. I have had several panos destroyed when the autofocus (on the old Olympus C-8080 wz) did not get the focus right, and with the small display I could not know before it was too late. With a laptop connected (USB2) it does take a little extra time for getting the connection, but it would save me from the hair-tear episodes afterwards.