Opening up a can of worms...Which Olympus dslr?

[2tcreative]

New to this forum so be easy on me!

Okay, I have been shooting 35mm for nearly 40 years (Nikon, Canon, Leica) and sold it all about 4 years ago to dabble in digital. I purchased an Oly C-8080wz and although it has great lens capability, the ergonomics and ability to manual focus are the pits!

Since I liked the Olympus lens quality I started looking at the older OM line to get back to shooting the way I was accustomed to. I 'stole' a set from an older gentleman (OM2n/winder 2, 24/2.8, 35/2.8, 50/3.5, 75-150/4 and 300/4.5 plus assorted filters, bag, etc. for only $240. I know I should have felt guilty but instead I was giddy!

Since then I have added a mint OM1, clean OM4, 28/2.8, 100/2.8, 135/28.

Now the kicker...I want to try the dslr line now in the Olympus line in order to use my existing OM lens where applicable as well as build a small stable of good lens (i.e. the 14-54 ZD).

Now after all that, which dslr body to start with?

What I really like about the E-1 is build quality and the better viewfinder compared to the later Oly dslrs (at least from what I have read and what I have seen of the e-410).  My eye-site is not the best (wear glasses) but manual focus alot as well as auto-focus. What I may not like about the E-1 is the lower resolution, i.e. 5.4 vs 8 and 10 of the later dslrs. I rarely need to go above 400 asa so noise levels are not much of an issue.

Is this that much of a factor for prints up to 12 x 16? I understand that the E-1 has a reputation for a more 'film' quality to the way it renders images and I may like that.

So some basic questions here:
1. Is the viewfinder in the E-1 alot better than all the other E-series bodies including the newer ones? Is the auto-focus better (quicker, more accurate) in the E-1 than other bodies?
2. Is the small mega-pixel size that much of a handicap?  I am impressed with the 8mpx size in the C-8080 so wonder if going down in size will be a factor in print sizes up to 12 x16?  Rarely go larger.
3. Build quality should be more impressive in the E-1 than all others, right?
4. How quite is the E-1 compared to the others? I have read that it is much quieter than all other E-series and other dslrs.

I shoot a variety of subjects from landscape to some macro to abstract tele (florals, etc.) to B&W street.

Anything else you have found out through experience with the E-1 I should know about would be appreciated.

Anyone care to help me out (or confuse me?) :-)

[situgrrl]

I used an E1 before it was stolen.  I replaced it with a Canon 30D.  i've no experience with the newer E series cameras.

Your questions in order:

1  Viewfinder - possibly - I slightly preferred it to my current Canon (it's 100%) but both are pretty crap IMO.  E1 autofocus is rubbish unless in contrasty conditions.  It also only has 3 focus points.  So, it should be all points to canon there - but - the olympus never had front focus issues.

2 12x16 is about the limit for 5 mp.  You notice it when cropping.  I never lost a shot due to not enough though - you work with what you have.

3 Yes.  I used to shoot an EOS 1n and it matches the build quality in every way.  There is no weather or circumstance that I would be afraid to use the E1 in and I miss that.

4  It's quieter than any other DSLR I've used.  It's quieter than my Ricoh GR1.

The lenses are exceptionally good value - I had the 14-54 and the 50-200 and loved them both.  High ISO (above 400) is horrible - 800 is barely usable in a pinch, 1600 and 3200 are not even suitable for 6x4s.  I found manual focus to be unusable on the E1 but then, I have done on all but the full frame DSLRs, this is likely to be my vision though.

Ultimately, I replaced the Olympus with Canon due to my need for high ISO usage and the need for faster AF lock.  I will consider switching back to Olympus if they can rectify these faults.  If you can pick one up for a song and can live with these limitations, do it.  Otherwise you can either wait for ever for them to release the successor to the E1 or find something that forfills your needs now.  OM lenses need an adaptor to work on E cameras - adaptors that can also be bought for Canon and presumably all other DSLR manufacturers.