Olympus E4xx range a good intro to DSLR jumping?

[drunkenmunkey 0]

Hi all

I am looking at getting my first DSLR camera to go on my helmet. just for fun jumps, to get some pics of my mates really. the olympus E4xx have always appealed to be because of the huge weight saving, and the great prices. I actually work for an electrical retailer and have toyed with the idea for months.

anyway, we have recently started recieving stock of the E410 kit, with a revised lens of 14mm - 42mm. now for what i understand so far, it seems that I may not need to purchase a wide angle lens so to me, this now seems to be a great way of getting into DSLR without breaking the bank, or my neck lol

but I could have the completely wrong end of the stick here so i am hoping that some people who use this forum might have experience with this range of cameras, and can share their experience and advice with me.

also, I would need one of the USB style bite/blow switches, so I am wondering if these have any limitations themselves.

my helmet is an FF2 with propor 2 ring cutaway system, and newton cross ringsight. experience 300 jumps, mostly freefly, under 100 video jumps

thanks for looking

[vesatoro 0]

Hi

I have used the Olympus E400 for two seasons both skydiving and base. The reason I choose the camera was primarily the light weight (I also do backpacking), so it's a bit of a compromise in other aspects.

Pros
-Light weight
-Ease of use
-The kit lens (14-42) offers some wide angle for starters, eventually you may want to buy the new 9-18 mm.

Cons
-Manual focusing distance can not be locked. It always resets the focus to some factory setting when turning the camera off/on, You have to rely on the automatic focusing which only has three points or have the camera turned on all the time.
- You have to buy the wire remote (RM-UC1) and do some wiring to a bite/blow switch, nobody makes a factory made switch/cable for Olympus, but propably nothing complicated to you.

The attached photos are all taken with 14mm fl.
Feel free to PM for further questions

Vesa

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[psw097 0]

I use an E-410 - very lightweight. I spliced a mini-plug into my wired remote so that i can plug in the tongue switch and still use the wired remote for non-freefall photography. The kit lens (14-42) works well.

[dragon2 2]

I'd stick with a canon digi rebel if you want lightweight and reliable for skydiving.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[vesatoro 0]

Olympus E-400 375g
Zuiko 9-18mm (18-36 as 35mm) 280g
+ battery
together ~700g

Show me a Canon with wide angle lens at this weight ;)
Do you have some bad experience about the reliability of Olympus cameras?

Vesa

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[drunkenmunkey 0]

do you have the same issue with the manual focus reverting back to automatic after powering off as does the guys jumping an olympus E400

i know the olympus E410 doesnt have a switch for Af/Mf so this could well be the case on the E410 also.

[vesatoro 0]

I don't know if I explained it well enough.
In the P, A, S and M modes (not Auto) the selected manual/automatic focus function (C-AF, S-AF, MF etc.) stays in the memory of the camera when shutting and turning on again. The problem is that the focus distance resets to some factory setting between nearest possible and infinity.

Vesa

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[psw097 0]

Not sure - I use auto-focus - I'd have to check the camera but the lens is focus-by-wire and when shutdown it goes to infinity so if it was in MF I suspect it would stay at infinity when powered-up.

[drunkenmunkey 0]

thanks all for the advice

I think i may end up getting the EOS 1000, think thats the Rebel Xti over the water. as a retailer of these cameras, i will get the 18-55mm kit for under $540 equivilent. is there soo much difference between that and the Xsi Eos 450?

[PhreeZone 20]

The EOS 1000D is the Xi
The EOS 450D is the XSi
The EOS 400D is the XTi
The EOS 350D is the XT

The 1000D is the 450D's sensor in the 400's body. You lose the larger screen and some other little features that the 450 has, none of which are really needed for jumping.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[BMFin 0]

Quote

The 1000D is the 450D's sensor in the 400's body. You lose the larger screen and some other little features that the 450 has, none of which are really needed for jumping.

Nope..

The 1000D is basically the 400D in a smaller body. The differences are that 1000D has live view and digic III processor. But has only 7point autofocus as the 400D has 9 point. There are no major differences with these two anyways.

The 450D is a bit better camera for sure..

[Icon134 0]

Quote

The EOS 1000D is the Xi
The EOS 450D is the XSi
The EOS 400D is the XTi
The EOS 350D is the XT

The 1000D is the 450D's sensor in the 400's body. You lose the larger screen and some other little features that the 450 has, none of which are really needed for jumping.

The 1000D is the XS...

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...