Micro 4/3 My Serious Compact..

[Steve Noel]

..Is the Olympus E-620. (It joines the E-p2, which I have passed on to my wife). And yes it is very compact. It checks most of the boxes for me. Not perfect. None are. It weighs just over half what the K20 does (that I sold for that reason). I consider it to be the interim step before I am able to acquire the E-m5. Most of my images posted in the May challenge are with it and most of them have no PP except resizing. All are JPG.
Only had it for a few days, but I think it is a keeper,...at least for a while.

 

[bilzmale]

The E-6** series was a good attempt at a small dslr (following on from the E-4**). I'm liking your work in May.

 

[Luke]

I've noticed the tags on your photos....congrats on the new Oly!

 

[pictogramax]

I was seriously lusting over E620 when it was introduced, it ticked all the boxes for me in that time. Bit later Panasonic introduced the first mirrorless and the whole perception of "small" changed
Enjoy yours!

 

[Biro]

Yeah... The E-620 was quite literally the perfect four-thirds camera until micro four thirds came out. It was overlooked/underrated by many at the time but remains a solid piece to this day. The only things I could ask for when the E-620 came out was weather-resistance and a larger viewfinder. But both would add cost and neither was a deal-breaker.

What kind of lenses do you have for the E-620, Steve? It's a good enough camera that if you can score a few good four-thirds lenses at friendly prices, it would certainly be worth keeping around for the rest of its service life. I recommend the 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 in either original or Mark II form. Not nearly as expensive as the more-popular 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0. There are also a few iterations of the 40-150, including the original (and faster) f/3.5-4.5 version and the 75-300. But, given that you have an E-1, perhaps you have all of these and more.

 

[Steve Noel]

I have the 40-150 (plastic version) that came with it, but don't use it much. I have the early 14-42, but it is still in AK, for the time being. I'm using the Pentax m42, 55mm, f2.0 Super Takumar, with adapter, and Vivitar 24mm, f2.8 in OM mount. I also have other legacy lenses here, in Texas and AK. No shortage of good glass. But I use mostly just these two on the 620. I still use the wife's E-p2 with the Vivitar 70-210 Series 1.
I use various home made adapters for close ups. Current one is the front element of Tokina 80-200, and 49 to 55 reversing ring.

 

[JJJPhoto]

If I'm looking for a "serious" compact I usually grab "old faithful" (my E-1) and the Oly 25mm pancake. Serious and compact.

That said, if I'm trying to be discrete and travel light I usually grab my Fujifilm X10 or one of my Olympus Pen cameras and a single prime.

 

[Armanius]

Congrats Steve! I enjoyed the E620 very much. Only drawback for me was the tiny VF, specially when compared to the big EVF's (built in and optional) in m4/3.

 

[BBW]

Congrats, Steve!!

 

[Steve Noel]

Things do change, at least for me! The wife liked the 620 so much, that we swapped. E-p2 with the Vivitar 24mm f2.8 is my current carry about. Not light, but better for my old shaky hands. Also, the optics and IQ is great. I bought the 14-42 II for the p2, and it is a very nice carry about, with very good otics, for a kit zoom. But too light for me to hand hold. It is going to my daughter this week for her G1.

 

[Lili]

the E620 is a sweet little DSLR. Add the Oly 25mm pancake and it becomes svelte!