Which one would you recommend?

dr. gonzo

I'm fairly new to the digital photography game and am looking to invest in a digital SLR, which one out of these three would you recommend:

• Nikon D-50
• Olympus E-500
• Pentax *ist

FreeAnd..

Canon 350D

elven

It's pretty difficult to answer that, without knowing what you're actually looking for. What's important to you - availability of accessories/lenses, comfort of handling/build quality, price, low light capability....?

That's like saying "I'm looking for a car, should I buy a Fiesta, a Clio, or a Polo?"

Is there a reason that you've left the 350D out of your shortlist?

You should read the recent thread about the Olympus E500, too. Save us all having *that* argument again...

rymus

no... I wanna have that argument again!

I'd see it as a two horse race between the Nikon and Canon to be honest...

311

I think theres something important that hasn't been mentioned ,the ergonomics/shape of a camera and how you hold it.

How a camera sits in your hand is very important ,not all the cameras are the same shape.I'm actually thinking about buying a secondhand 300D because sometimes the 350D p***es me off because it's so small.

elven

That would be the bit where I mentioned "comfort of handling"

I think that's a very underestimated factor that a lot of people miss when they are choosing a camera. A lot of people don't like the 350D because it's quite small, but that's what I like about it... shows that it's just down to personal preference and nobody else can tell you what's best for you.

rymus

if you added the battery grip to your 350D, would that be of any help? I found that ever since I added the grip to my 20D, it's alot more comfortable to hold (and better balanced)

311

I have a battery grip alright ,but I took it off because the weight of the camera was doing my head in. I'm still a learner and the weight is just a hindrance.

I ,can't help thinking they the made camera small like that so people would buy the grip . I've noticed the way people hold the 350D and they sit it in the palm of their hand a lot of the time.
When your banging out thousands of cameras ,thats a lot of raw materials that aren't been used.

EDIT : I'm happy with the camera believe it or not ,it's got the best innards of all the cameras ,which is what it's all about.

digitalbeginner

A straw pool of my students cameras shows that the Canon 350D is the most popular followed by the D50. A lot of women like the 350D because of its size, men generally seem the like the D50 because it's a bit bigger.

On a capability comparison, the 350D seems to have the edge, the D50 has been nobbled in the software so that it's not as well rounded as the Nikon D70s (which I have). I love my D70s, but am keeping an eye on the announcement in 6 days time of a replacement (possibly 10 megapixels).

wingnut

I see argos are doing the D50 for €580, I presume with the kit lens. Does anyone know if these are the same as the ones in other shops because I have heard other manfucturers cut corners to release 'argos' versions of their products, not up to the usual quality. I think the twin lens kit d50 was €830 but I would have to check again.

Like everyone else says here you have to decide what you want to do with the camea as the 350D are d50 are strong in different areas. There are tons of threads and reviews on 350dVD50: they usually conclude that its a personal choice, both good cameras. You will always get people who side with one or the other, just go have a look at both and take the plunge!!

elven

Yup, one day, you'll all realise that size only matters to men...

I was also shocked to find out in a side by side spec sheet of the 350D and the D70, that the D70 doesn't go down to ISO100... I also just saw that it's the same on the D50... does that make a perceptible difference?

(http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/NikonD70versusRebelXT.shtml)

P.S. Tis a bit of a shame turning this into a N/C debate, when the OP asked about entirely different cameras, mind you.

I was hoping by pointing that out to dispel some of my guilt for joining in

311

I apologize also ,but it's probably best to hear stuff now ,then when you've got a receipt in your hand.

joolsveer

I own a few cameras - ancient and modern, Canon, Olympus and Pentax among them. Of these the only problems I have had have been with a Canon.

311

wingnut wrote:

I see argos are doing the D50 for €580, I presume with the kit lens. Does anyone know if these are the same as the ones in other shops because I have heard other manfucturers cut corners to release 'argos' versions of their products, not up to the usual quality. I think the twin lens kit d50 was €830 but I would have to check again.

Like everyone else says here you have to decide what you want to do with the camea as the 350D are d50 are strong in different areas. There are tons of threads and reviews on 350dVD50: they usually conclude that its a personal choice, both good cameras. You will always get people who side with one or the other, just go have a look at both and take the plunge!!

I doubt nikon would do something like that ,that argos price is the same as AC-FOTO. Sounds like a great way to get into Slr's.
I'd try and get a black one though .
EDIT : Argos must have made a boo boo in regards to the D50 price as it's 750 euro in other shops here.

thebaz

i am in a similar position to OP, and am deciding between the olympus e 500 and nikon d50 . The nikon d50 is more available in Ireland, and i have handled it , whereas the olympus i have only priced and speced. I will buy one this month, and right now it look like the Olypmus it is an 8 mp compared to the 6 MP of the Nikon . On technidirect the olympus e500 + 2 lens (including zoom) is 760 euros, whereas the Nikon d50 ,with single lens is 589 euros .So i think you get more for your money with Olympus. I'm going to the UK at end of month , and possibly will buy then . One thing that i am trying to establish, is for a novice like myself, which is the easiest SLR to start with ? I am begining to think that for the 760 euros , i will get all features i will need with the Olympus, along with an easy to use auto setting , not sure if the Nikon is so easy to start with ?

elven

The Nikon will be just as easy to use as the Olympus. There's always a fully automatic mode - it's just that most people who are spending the money on a DSLR are spending it for the sake of getting a camera that has fully manual settings, so you won't find many people asking about that...

mtracey

D50, great camera, very popular, tops all the magazine reviews I've read and I've read alot.

Nice to handle, intuitive, photo quality as good as the D70s.

Redundo

I feel you should judge the dSLR cameras on the price and availability of lenses and accessories. The camera body may be expensive; but the combination of 1-2 lenses, a flash, etc will end up costing more then the camera body.

Canon and Nikon have the largest range of lenses available, though stuff like Flashes and battery grips can get quite expensive, quite fast.

thebaz

mtracey wrote:

D50, great camera, very popular, tops all the magazine reviews I've read and I've read alot.

Nice to handle, intuitive, photo quality as good as the D70s.

is it better than Olympus e500 ?
Price wise there is not much difference, but the Olympus has 2 mp more , and apparently better lenses, what has the d50 over the Olympus ?

melekalikimaka

d50 all the way
you wont be disappointed

311

thebaz wrote:

is it better than Olympus e500 ?
Price wise there is not much difference, but the Olympus has 2 mp more , and apparently better lenses, what has the d50 over the Olympus ?

The olympus e500 is probably a better camera all round ,but you find after a few weeks that the camera is not important when you discover what the different lenses do. Olympus lenses are expensive and it doesn't look like anyone else is making lenses for their cameras. I think the reason olympus give you more in the e500 than other cameras ,is to get people to buy into their stuff.

gyppo

_Brian_ wrote:

The olympus e500 is probably a better camera all round ,but you find after a few weeks that the camera is not important when you discover what the different lenses do. Olympus lenses are expensive and it doesn't look like anyone else is making lenses for their cameras. I think the reason olympus give you more in the e500 than other cameras ,is to get people to buy into their stuff.

Olympus Lenses are expensive - true.
However, sigma make lenses for the olympus dlsr's.
Also, inexpensive 4/3's adapters are widely available on Ebay all the time, and allow the use of canon, nikon, pentax m42, and other types to be used on the olympus camera's in manual mode.
Many users migrating from film might find that there own lenses will not work with 100% functionality on their new digitals anyway.

Many excellent Olympus OM series lenses can be picked up on Ebay cheaply, and used on olympus dslrs with excellent results.

bp_me

elven wrote:

I was also shocked to find out in a side by side spec sheet of the 350D and the D70, that the D70 doesn't go down to ISO100... I also just saw that it's the same on the D50... does that make a perceptible difference?

Less noise. The ability to use a slower shutter speed or wider aperature in bright light. I usually use ISO100. Sometimes ISO 80 (is that a full f-stop down?)

elven

What have you got that you can use ISO80? A 20D/30D?

I try to use 100 all the time, and even then, if something is underexposed and I try to brighten it I get noise. It's the bane of my life. Well, one of them, anyway...

bp_me

elven wrote:

What have you got that you can use ISO80? A 20D/30D?

I try to use 100 all the time, and even then, if something is underexposed and I try to brighten it I get noise. It's the bane of my life. Well, one of them, anyway...

Fuji S9500 does ISO 80. I rarely use it though.

311

gyppo wrote:

Olympus Lenses are expensive - true.
However, sigma make lenses for the olympus dlsr's.
Also, inexpensive 4/3's adapters are widely available on Ebay all the time, and allow the use of canon, nikon, pentax m42, and other types to be used on the olympus camera's in manual mode.
Many users migrating from film might find that there own lenses will not work with 100% functionality on their new digitals anyway.

Many excellent Olympus OM series lenses can be picked up on Ebay cheaply, and used on olympus dslrs with excellent results.

I apologize for saying that no one makes lenses to fit olympus ,I was just going by the sites I use and the stock they have ,sigma do make some lenses for olympus ,not as many as for nikon and canon though.
Sorry

Brian.
PS ,its a known fact that olympus sensors are weak when it comes to low light and the E500 sensor is more or less the same as the older model.

gyppo

Hi Brian,

I wil agree with you - the olympus isnt a match for canon at high iso's (I'm sure Nikon is as good, but I've no experience with nikon).
However, its not too bad up to iso800 - this was taken with an E1 however.

http://www.pbase.com/jswanick/image/44957773/large

dr. gonzo

Wow!

Well that gives me plenty to think about, never really considered the Canon - EOS 350D but I guess it seems to come down to a toss up between the Canon and the Nikon.
I think I'll just have to go into the shop and have a play with them both and see which one feels more comfortable.

Thanks for all the feedback!

thebaz

_Brian_ wrote:

PS ,its a known fact that olympus sensors are weak when it comes to low light and the E500 sensor is more or less the same as the older model.

i plan to do a good bit of indoor photography, would you think the Nikon may be better than the Olympus for indoor shooting ?

311

I really would love to have use of the olympus myself to see what it's like ,but I know I wouldn't be happy with the sensor and so in the end I wouldn't like the camera.
To compensate for darkness you buy a fast lens ,but they're expensive.

Oriel

I was going to post this:
http://www.helios.fi/nikon_logo.jpg

as an embedded image, but I don't think rymus would have seen the humour in it (well, he probably would have, but he's a "boring mod" ...)

Look Gonzo, Canon make photocopiers, Nikon make cameras, it's your call...

Steve*.
*A very happy Nikon D70 (and Mac) user...

JMcL

gyppo wrote:

Olympus Lenses are expensive - true.
However, sigma make lenses for the olympus dlsr's.
Also, inexpensive 4/3's adapters are widely available on Ebay all the time, and allow the use of canon, nikon, pentax m42, and other types to be used on the olympus camera's in manual mode.
Many users migrating from film might find that there own lenses will not work with 100% functionality on their new digitals anyway.

Many excellent Olympus OM series lenses can be picked up on Ebay cheaply, and used on olympus dslrs with excellent results.

Leica are making lenses for the 4/3 system as well. Not that that's going to address the being expensive issue in any way. I think though that Panasonic are using 4/3 as well, so some more reasonably priced glass may result from that - though I think all their lenses are actually Leicas at the moment.

One important factor about the Olmpus 4/3 system is that the crop factor on these is 2 (as opposed to 1.6 for Canon, 1.5 for Nikon). Great for telephoto, but a real nightmare if you want wide angle.

JMcL

elven wrote:

I was also shocked to find out in a side by side spec sheet of the 350D and the D70, that the D70 doesn't go down to ISO100... I also just saw that it's the same on the D50... does that make a perceptible difference?

That was actually my main reason for going for the 300D over the D70 at the time. I've no idea why they didn't/don't do IS0100 on the entry level cameras, to protect sales of their more expensive models, and discourage pros from buying a D70 as a cheap backup body?

Borderfox

Nikon D50 is €580 in Argos for the body only. New catalogue out now, 350D in it too as well as Samsung GX1

311

Borderfox wrote:

Nikon D50 is €580 in Argos for the body only. New catalogue out now, 350D in it too as well as Samsung GX1

It looks like the lens comes with it here ,they give the lens weight in the description.
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0560667/Trail/C%24cip%3D43568.Photography%3EC%24Brand%3DNikon.Nikon.htm

digitalbeginner

I have the Nikon D70s since last summer and I too was a little concerned over 200 ISO being the lowest setting available.

I have to say that in use I have not found it to be an issue at all. Some of my shots have been blown up as far as A3 in some magazines that I design (uprezzed in photoshop, little bit of unsharp mask).

I regularly get A4 full page spreads with no problem (the 6 megapixels essentially gives me an A5 shot). Must be something to do with the processor (it's a Sony) combined with the in-camera noise reduction.

Zillah

Wait, so in a nutshell, whats the difference between the D70(s) and the D50?

Smokeyskelton

D70s is more expensive, bigger and has a little more digital noise at higher ISOs (but not bad - had D70 myself and it was a great camera). On the plus side the D70s is a little bigger and easier to hold and has 2 command dials so easier to change settings quickly, whereas D50 only has one command dial. D50 also uses sd cards I think, whereas most dslrs use compact flash - not a big issue but a hassle if you have more than one camera.

That is pretty much it really, you pay a lot for a few minor improvements, you have to decide if the cost is worth it. But don't underestimate feel of camera and speed of changing settings.

If you are wondering Nikon v CAnon arguments it is often stated that CAnon has better high iso performance and have a greater choice of "IS" (image stabilised) lenses. Nikon it is claimed have better ergonomics (feel of camera and ease of changing setting), better flash system and possibly better metering. Most would agree that both are great and the differences are very minor. I chose Nikon on the feel of the camera i.e. ergonomics, but everyone is different.

Also, don't forget there are more than 2 manufacturers, as you already know from your original post.

Smokey

cameraguy

i would recommend you look up dpreview.com. they have very idetailed reviews of all of the current crop of cameras. i use a D70 and find it excellent. it uses the same sony 6.1 sensor as the D50. the only issue i have with Nikon is that they never designed a vertical grip for either camera. i find the balance of the camera wrong with a long lens(very front heavy). im used of using a F90X with the grip.

rabbitinlights

When do people think the 350D will be replaced?