The E-1

I finally took the plunge and bought myself the Olympus E-1 with its "kit" 14-54mm lens. In a way, I feel sorta flipped out, since I already have a dSLR and the lens itself doesn't add that much to my capabilities. However, I've been itching to have a go at the E-1 for the longest time, along with its much touted kit lens. I feel really fortunate to have obtained both items at a very very fair price. In fact, I stand to make a rather tidy profit if I chose to offload them immediately.

Of course, that is unlikely to happen, considering that I already love the feel of this other body. Plus, I'm really quite attracted to the fact that it's splashproof, so I need not worry about my sweat spontaneously killing the circuitry. For the uninitiated, I do actually sweat a lot, so that's actually a big deal. Besides, the CCD ought to churn out some truly spectacular colors.

Right now, my main concern is not about how much money I spent (though it was a hefty sum, albeit akin to an investment) but how I will fairly utilize both bodies. The obvious answer would be to lug both around everywhere I go. Not terribly practical. An alternative would be to bring one out in the day (obviously the E-1 with the 11-22mm, other lenses with tripod) and the other in the night (E-510 with 14-54, or for otherwise lighter kits).

What really pleased me was that the E1 came not only with the kit lens, but everything else in the box and a spare original battery. That's hot because the BCM-1 charger is significantly faster (and actually bigger!) than the BCM-2 that comes with the newer cameras. No box set? Chances are no charger. The spare battery is always a perk, too.