OT, a bit: Olympus E500 dSLR camera, opinions sought?

Mike I have been lazily looking at digital SLR's, what were your parameters for looking price/features etc? U mite save me some goating around

yeah, "wait for the new model", you'll save heaps!

that does not help you sorry mate.......:)

G'Day Mike,

Sorry to dissapoint, but I don't believe Olympus have made a decent SLR since the OM series, bit like Pentax with the K1000 and F1.

I have a Nikon D50 and would be happy with this or the Canon EOS. Long after features are fogotten reliability will be the key, so I tend to stick with the two big brands. No use having a great gadget for that shot in the middle of ther Simpson only to find it won't work.

My D50 has 17-55mm lens and I would rarely want for anything else. You can get a D80 with lenses for under the $2K mark.

Hope this helps

Rolande

Hi Mike ,

Something to consider . When you buy these deals where you get two lenses , the lenses are usually not very good quality . Have you thought of maybe getting a body and selecting one really good lense ?

That's what I did . I bought a Canon 300D body and bought one stunning lense which is great for cave art and also good for general stuff .

Cheers ,

Willie .

I tend to agree with Roland. I don t think much of the Olympus Digitals at all. I was a dedicated Olympus film camera user but now I use the Nikon D70 digital. Great peice of kit. Have a look at the Nikons or canons. Both very good cameras.

Peter

Hey Mike .... won't get into the debate over brands, but with that 80-300 you're going to need a good tripod if you want to keep it steady.

Just something else to put on your "Wish List".

Geoff

Just got a Pentax K-100D + 18-50 / 80-210 mm lens. $999.00 (don't you hate that)

I don't know how good it is but I know it can take a better picture than me..LoL

with all the extras total cost $1325.00

it at least looks like a camera, spent last night taking pic's of the house and the garden it does a good job

cheers

I think I've made my decision. Just a few more O'T shifts needed.

I reckon I'm going to go with the new Sony Alpha A100.

The reviews are good. It looks good, feels good and will take all my Minolta lenses.

The lenses are a considerable contributor to the decision, and I'll be buying body only but the camera will do everything I'm looking for and more.

Hard to find a bad review on it, with many suggesting that it'll rival some traditionalists favourites in other brands.

Dave

I believe Cannon will be bringing out a special anniversary camera in 2007.

I have a Cannon powershot, somehow the flash board blew out, it went off like a gunshot when I was taking my grandkids with the town mayor LOL. Cannon took over 3 months to repair it on warranty so I was not impressed at all with the service and nervous about buying a more expensive SLR Cannon.

I go to a digital art group and one of the lecturers also sells cameras, I know he favours Cannon but quite a few of the other photographers in the group don't. He seems to think I would be very pleased with the results of an SLR camera.

Like Mike I would like something at the top end for amateurs and the bottom for professionals LOL.

I would also like something not too heavy to carry around, but I think this might be impossible in an SLR.

My favourite camera is my Aldi Traveller, it fits in a pocket or handbag and weighs next to nothing and the shots are ok, even the odd good one :). I think you can get them on special for under $100.

Hope we get to see the results of the new cameras, a picture tells a thousand words.

Carolyn

Mike,
No opinion on the Olympus other than having an OM1 years ago - worked well until another person took a liking to it at a BBQ.

Bought my wife a Canon 30 D for Christmas with one of the new 28 - 105 Image stabiliser lens - paid much more than I intended but it is great and our other Canon EF lenses from the film based EOS 35 fit.

My liking Canon is based on many years of realibility and the fact that they maintain backward compatibility of the lenses over many models.

The deals advertised over Christmas for all sorts of cameras were amazing - highly competive business.

Emjoy whatever you get.

alastair

Hi Mike & Bonz..Suggest you buy for two main reasons: (1) Quality of the "glass" (2) Proven quality in the digital aspect,be it CMOS or whatever. A further suggestion is to only purchase a camera with "3 legs". The three legs add further quality to your results,no matter how good the camera quality is.."Three legs" you ask..Yes! A digital camera with only a rear screen to compose/take photo with is,by my standard, a "two legged" camera,subject to some shake (read blurrs) unless used by an expert rifle marksman (controlled breathing) where as the camera with the addition of a optical viewer (placed against the eye socket surrounds.bone) adds the stability of the "third leg" rather like a tripod..The resultant improvements will show,most likeley,in lower light situations,when the camera or operator has selected a slower shutter speed to obtain more light*..The suggestion to also checkout the new Sony 100 SLR which has thousands of Minolta lens (new/used) available (*cloudy.morning.evening:some of the best times to photograph) is valid..Camera is light enough to not hinder those with outdoor pursuits,yet still derive the benefits of the proven SLR platform.The Nikons are proven products (I have many 35mms and the digital Kodak SLR/n in a Nikon basic body/lens mount)) in digital and I find it hard to follow that the Olympus brand,so well accepted in the medical field,would be anything but a good performer..Sorry! That should confuse anyone.Enjoy.RockyOne!MPG:8!

Great well built camera.

Just had a woman on a photography workshop I led in Emerald with one ... great pics and easy as pie to use.

Excellent choice if you aren't into collecting lenses and the like.

It is a 4:3 aspect ratio camera however, so if you are printing from it, you will have to be careful about how you crop to fit (for instance) 6"x4" postcard prints.

If you want any more info, drop me a note: andrew@vividadventures.com.au

Cheers
Andrew.