four thirds lens system

Can I ask if anyone has and uses a four thirds lens and how they compare to the normal lenses apart from more money of course!!

I would hazard a guess and say it's unlikely as the Four Thirds system is only used on Olympus cameras at the moment.

yep. dunno if it matters but i think the crop factor or whatever it's called is closer to 2.0X, rather than the 1.5-1.6 for Canon and NOINK.

I would love to see some objective reviews, the idea seems novell. The crop and ratio factors don't bother me. Olympus has been slowly bringing an entire line of new 4/3 lenses to market the prolevel f2.0 14-35mm should be out soon to complement the 35-100mm f2.0 they just released. This would be eq. to a 24-70/70-200 combo.

In theory the smaller sensor and such should allow for faster lighter lenses, kinda like the EF-S thing.

The E-1 semi-pro body is onsale for $750 street right now, a good deal if you look at what it offers IMO. I'm not bothered by the 5.5MP sensor, I'm sure given quality lenses I could still produce good subject matter.

You won't have much less invested in the gear on account of the lens costs but if the ratio and crop factor are good to you they appear to have enough lenses in the system to satify any needs I would have.

I would suspect that the image quality is very good from the Olympus pro glass as well. Infact using such a large crop factor may allow them to use the filet cut of the lens elements when designing most pro lenses. We have seen that time and time again that crop factor lenses sometimes do edge out the FF lenses in distortion.

I would say it's worth a look if you aren't invested in current 35mm systems. They have some good rebates on now as well. And if you don't need the pro body the E-300 and E-500 appear to have very low noise levels and they are a very well priced body for the MP's.

If Olympus would have been a little quicker off the block, I would probably be shooting Olympus now instead of Canon. That said, I'm not looking to change now; I'm more than happy with the results from the my dRebel.

There are lens reviews around that show the oly 4/3 lenses to be very good.
It would be hard to say wether they would beat canon or nikon pro lenses without thorough testing but they sure are better than cheap consumer lenses in general.
Photozone have some 4/3 lens tests that can be compared to their similar canon lens tests-
http://www.photozone.d​e/8Reviews/index.html

I wonder why Olympus doesn't push this harder in the consumer market. It would be a wonderful system for the first time DSLR users, the aspect ratio is very simaliar to consumer P&S, and I don't think the gear is too far out of line with the Canon and Nikon entry level DSLR's.

I'd wager 75% of all consumer DSLR's sold never go past using anything but the kit lens, clearly the Olympus line of gear should be able to compete with that.

I think it's nice that someone decided to build a system like this from the ground up.

One feature on the Olympus E-300 and E-500 I am very impressed with: the ultrasonic wave sensor cleaner. Just push a button, and any dust particles on the sensor are vibrated off and captured on a sticky strip.

Back when I was shopping for DSLRs in late summer 2005, I gave the Olympus system a look. I have three point and shoot cameras, all Olympus. A major factor in deciding against an Olympus DSLR for me was the proprietary four/thirds lens system. I thought there was too much potential for this to not be accepted by the marketplace, and end up like a Beta videorecorder. Compare and contrast this to the more open Canon standard, which has many manufacturers making lenses and other accessories.

The Canon system (and others) is basically a system where you force the digital sensor to fit the old 35mm lens format, rather then accept tha digital could take any form of sensor needed. But the catch is everyone owns 35mm lens systems so why not? As long as Olympus keeps supporting the system it shouldn't matter.

Canon has found a good compromise, EF-S. It is a digital only lens system that also allows people to use thier 35 mm lenses. Whether the 4/3 or APS sized sensors will dominate the market in the future is yet to be seen.

Oly are really trying to sell their 4/3rds system to consumers but are up against it.
The e-volt has a stupid name (i allways think the word rEVOLTing) , high ISO noise and it doesnt help that most potential buyers have a relative who's recomending they buy a canon or nikon.
If a buyer get's even a whiff of an idea that they might want to get serious one day ,they'll jump straight for one of the brands with masses of lenses to choose from.

The 4/3rds system has some very devoted users in some areas and will continue to do so. It will never be a big force though,not when the big boys are offering the same or better

The down side of smaller formats is more sensor noise and less ability for limited DoF. That is why a lot of us went Canon I expect, as they are the only manufacture with a commitment to 35mm size sensors.