I can answer in part.

Quote:

Another thing That interests me is the interchangeable lenses. There were some shots I could not take because I needed a wider angle lens, and i am locked into what I have. There are way to many choices, because they're talking about a bunch of stuff that i don't understand. The first thing i would like to know is if there is an easy way of figuring a zoom power (eg 10X like my power shot)? What kind of lens should I get? Keep in mind Zoom is important me, that's why i got the power shot because of the 10X.

Every lens is described in terms of its range of focal lengths and its aperture or range of apertures. Olympus has an 18-180mm lens - which would be a 10X lens since 180 is ten times 18. If instead it were an 18-90mm, it would be a 5x. Simple division.

It is very handy to have a zoom with such a wide range, but there are trade-offs. That particular lens is f/3.5 at the wide-end, but only f/6.3 at the telephoto end. In dim light, this may present a problem if you need telephoto focal lengths. The advantage is that the variable aperture makes a lens that is both light and affordable. If it were an f-2.8mm across the whole range, you would probably need a fork-lift to carry it and a fork-lift to haul the money to the store to buy it. With such a wide range of zoom, it probably will not be nearly as sharp as a shorter range that costs four times as much. It is difficult to make a 10x zoom for the larger sensor, and some quality may be traded off for versatility. None the less, it will probably be sharp enough.

In any case, this would be a lens to consider as your general purpose lens, and may be the only lens you will ever need. However, if in time you find that there are things that you can not do with it, at that point shop for a second lens that meets the specific need once you have defined it. In all, you may have 30 or more lenses to choose from that will work on the camera, not just from Olympus but from other makers as well.

Often cameras are offered with a lens or two at a special price. I just checked a merchant's page and the 510 is offered in two packages, as well as body alone. One is with a 14-42mm 3x zoom and the other with the same lens plus a 40-150mm zoom, both at very reasonable prices. Of course, you still have the option of buying the body and the 18-180mm if you want a single 10x zoom. SLRs give you the choice.

Hey, Thanks that makes so much more sense. Im actually looking at the e-410 body now, w/o lens on a computer site, that i use all the time, for 399. What is a focal length Multiplier? I get the basis, it is when the image is bounce of a mirror, and then back into the sensor. But what dose it do? Dose it take the 180MM Lens, and make it 360MM? Where is a good site to get lenses? And what speed, should i get on my CF card? On SD cards they used much slower numbers eg 40X and i was looking at 122x Cards and they said they might be too slow for photography

Thanks again
Chad

Let me try to answer part of your latest question. A focal length multiplier optically changes the focal length of the lens so that instead of 180mm, the lens is 360mm. But again, there is a trade off. First, the quality of the image is generally at least a little degraded. You may not find that to be enough of a factor to bother you. I have some multipliers which seem to be fine to me. The multiplier will also make the lens "slower." That is, the amount of light which passes through the lens at any given time increment will be less than when the multiplier is not being used. With a "2x" multiplier, that generally means two stops -- f6.3 becomes f12.7. The problem here is that with the greater telephoto lens you need faster shutter speeds to avoid camera shake and, since you are cutting down the amount of light which passes through the lens, the shutter speeds must be slower. In bright sunlight, that may not make a big difference, but it very well could.

As far as card speed is concerned, the higher the speed the faster the card can record data. If you are taking photos of sports or action, that makes a difference. Since I take largely scenery, I rarely find that it is a factor for me.

Dave

Focal length multipliers only affect 35mm film lenses that are used on Digital SLR cameras.

Since all the Olympus D-SLRs where designed to be Digital from the ground up, the lenses available are not affected by multipliers.

That being said, Olympus does sell an adapter so that you can use older OM lenses and there would be a 'crop' factor (or multiplier) for those lenses. Unfortunately those old lenses will be Manual focus.

Digital SLRs are a huge step up from Point and Shoot cameras. They capture a lot more detail, and more importantly they capture colours more accurately. You can't compare image specifications between D-SLRs and P&S type cameras.

I'd also take those CNET reviews with a grain of salt. They usually review function over performance, and their performance reviews are quite basic. They also do not emphasize a reference of comparision.

Your Canon and the Olympus D-SLRs can't be compared on a level playing field, thus an 8 for your Canon and a 7.1 for the Olympus is not equatable.

TOM...