p.1 #1 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
I currently planning to give the Olympus E-3 a try when it is out since I was told that the color of pic taken by this camera is pretty nice. Unless last weekend, my girlfriend told me that she will be starting a wedding planning business with some of her friends and will need a freelance photographer to fill the gap from time to time shooting wedding functions.
I have done some research about the Fujifilm s5pro and with its nice dynamic range, it is good for shooting people shots especially when the bride is wearing in white. I understand that this will always be a plus but it also comes with the comment that it is slow comparing to other DSLRs and it is actually only a 6-8 mp camera.
I have d200 now (and a few other F-mount film body) but only a few lenses and nothing to brag about but i can use the flash back. However, will it be kinda dumb to get a camera almost identical to D200 only with wider DR but much lower speed? (will the speed be ok to shoot function?)
The new E-3 seems nice with some nice speed and such. However, I have never used an olympus digital. How do they do shooting people shots? From where I am from, not too many people are using Olympus bodies but Canon and Nikons....Will need some advice and opinion..
p.1 #2 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
I think the dynamic range of the Olympus E-3 will not be any better than the D200, perhaps less due to the smaller sensor size. What's the problem with the D200? If its just the color rendition, thats easily tweaked and learned. If your worried about blowing out the wedding dress, then underexpose slightly and tweak images later. I would shoot RAW with the D200, underexpose slightly and use Adobe Lightroom to do all your editing and color/exposure tuning.
This is exactly the kind of job Lightroom is perfect for. I can tell you one thing. The D200's 22 frame RAW buffer will be plenty but the Fuji S5's speed and buffer when shooting in the Wide Dynamic mode just will not get it for shooting a wedding in my opinion. Its something like 8 frames at less than 2 fps. Not what I would ever consider shooting a fast moving wedding with personally.
I see no reason to give up the D200 for the E3 given your requirements. What would be the reason?
p.1 #3 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
thanks for reply. The reason is kinda dumb that I have a friend who recommended Olympus a lot and he was using a E-1...He tried to get me to get one as he like it a lot. But that was only for all purpose photo shooting before the wedding shooting idea came up. Therefor i am only asking to see if I go on with my plan and get it, will it fit the wedding shooting situation.
So in your opinion, you will recommend neither the S5 pro nor the E3?
p.1 #5 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
ivierre wrote:
thanks for reply. The reason is kinda dumb that I have a friend who recommended Olympus a lot and he was using a E-1...He tried to get me to get one as he like it a lot. But that was only for all purpose photo shooting before the wedding shooting idea came up. Therefor i am only asking to see if I go on with my plan and get it, will it fit the wedding shooting situation.
So in your opinion, you will recommend neither the S5 pro nor the E3?
thanks a ton once again
The E3 thus far sounds like its going to be a great camera but so is your D200.
p.1 #6 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
I'm using an E-1 and an S3 at the moment. They represent very different approaches to photography. While the E-1 is my favourite camera, and will be supplemented by an E-3 soon, it can't compete with the S3 for portraits and some of the product shots I do. So I'll keep both systems.
In your case, I would only consider a change if you need the ruggedness and compact size of the 4/3 system. I do a lot of travelling with as little luggage as possible, so it makes sense to me.
An S5 in addition to the D200 may be a better idea. If you are going to do weddings, you'll need a backup body anyway.
p.1 #7 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
I too have been using a D200. However the electronics fried on it recently and so the timing of the E-3 is perfect. However I did have reservations that it may not live up to what I needed for my style of shooting - and that I may be better serverd with the not available yet D300. My preference for Olympus however goes back many years and now that a serious pro caliber contender from them has finally made i t to the stores, I wanted to test the capabilities that matter to me and see if it makes sense for me to finally go back to Olympus.
Last night I took a CF card to my local camera shop and did some testing. Here are some of my thoughts and some of the shots posted on my Blog:
p.1 #8 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
With what you have, the S5 Pro seems like the better choice. I have the D200 still and had the S5 Pro; sold the latter to fund the new Nikon purchases.
I agree with all of Tariq's observations, but if you shoot JPEGS, there is no problem. The S5 Pro's JPEGS are the best straight=out-of-the-camera JPEGS I have ever seen, and the many film modes are very tweakable---so easy to get a look you want.
Last point: the handling of the S5 is very similar to your D200; they are the same body, after all. cheers, kit
p.1 #9 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
I think on the basis of the facts as we know them 'at this point in time', the S5 is the gear to have for wedding shoots.
That said, the jury will be out for some time until some competent tests of E3 DR can be resolved, it does appear that with Gradation set to AUTO there are extensive improvements in the DR of jpeg resolution of E3 so thats something to watch for.
Also, I wouldnt attach much more than anecdotal evidence to the jpeg tonal range from the experience of 410/510 to E3, for it appears to be above this class.
p.1 #10 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
the S5pro excels at people photography. It really does give superior skintones. Perhaps the best feature of the S5 is the auto white balance. It's far and away the best AWB of any DSLR.
Really you can shoot JPG all day long and not skip a beat with the S5.
p.1 #11 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
why get a different system when you need a second body? I say get the S5 and then maybe in the future get the oly.
I ahve an S5 and love it. In fact, we have 3 of them for wedding photography.
I just got an e-510 for playing aroud and testing out the oly system. I am ordering a 150 f2 lens today for my e510. If I like the results I may get the e3 and build my oly system.
p.1 #12 · Olympus E-3 or Fujifilm S5 pro? Need advice and opinion...
My two bits' worth...
The D200 is much noisier than the E-3 at 400-800 ISO. The Olympus lenses are as good as - if not better than - the Nikkors - certainly when dealing with flare.
As a wedding photographer, I've used the D200 for 2 years, and tried the S5Pro. The Fuji is simply too slow to be practical in this era of photojournalistic, on-the-fly photography.
I have a D300, which is great... but I just don't like it. It feels 'Nikonish'. I'll openly admit to being biased to Olympus.
The E-3 is indeed a step up from the D200. I've used one a few times now, and the images are a step up. Consider the D300, though. It's a superb piece of kit.
