> I know quite a few of you also use the renowned IS 3000. A colleague of
mine
> likes hers very much, but the 180 mm focal length seemed a bit short for
> Wildlife ( She goes to Africa every now and then, not really focused only
on
> photography, but still...). So could anybody comment on the quality of
this
> combination? Is it also usable with the zoom function, or should it only
be
> used at the 180 mm setting? The combination seems attractive especially
> regarding the weight of equipment, if you have to carry it.
>
My wife took a safari a year ago ( a very basic safari: tents, shower under
a bucket, no actual bathrooms. She tells the story of hearing Lions sniffing
at the outside of her tent one night), and she took the IS3dlx with the
adapter lens. Her experiences were mixed.
As we all know, the glass is superb, so much that I wish Oly could have made
this lens in an OM mount. She also liked the general ergonomics of the
camera (she used it only on program). Most of her pictures were remarkable-
sharp, saturated, a real joy to behold. The extender did not degrade the
pictures so much that you could tell which were with and without at a
glance. Quite a few were blown up to 11x14 to good effect.
The durability was also good. While several cameras failed, generally due to
dust, the IS3 soldiers on. Imagine of you were the person with the brand new
Rebel, that craps out on the second day...
Now lets drop the other shoe. The extender is used only at 180. Otherwise,
it vignettes, gives a fisheye circle in a black rectangle look. It reminds
me why I sold my Pentax Spotmatic and LSM rangefinders, as it screws on the
front, not good for fast handling.
Finally, we both love the camera, but let's face it: autofocus speed is
glacial. She found that there were cases where the thing wouldn't autofocus
at infinity, due to low subject contrast, a 35mm scenic scene, for example.
She was extremely frustrated by the autofocus.
The upshot: she has another safari scheduled for next year, and has bought a
N80 and 80-400VR. I think she has spent more than Tom and I put together!
Sorry not to be more positive. It's a great camera, just has its limits.
Bill Pearce
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