New SLR User: Difference Between Olympus and Canon

DeAd-EyE · Apr 15, 2007

hello gents,

i've been lurking around this forum for some time and have recently been in the market for a digital SLR camera.

I've come across two cameras which i think I might like:

- Canon Digital Rebel XT -> seems you can't go wrong with this...good quality, great lense choices, good sensor etc etc. My buddy has the 1st digital rebel and its still going strong.

- Olympus E-500 -> harder to find info about as it doesn't seem that popular. Has a 4/3 sensor which i've heard is smaller than the canon's. 8MP so same as the rebel XT. Less overall choice of lenses but i dont plan on buying a bajillion of em.

Just to give you some idea of what i would be using the camera for:

- Typical photo taking
- Product photography
- Automotive photography
- Event photography (track days, functions etc)
- general goofing about
- Making posters/panoramic photos: camera should be able to take good prints to blow up in size.

I'm particularily interested in the differences between the Canon and Olympus's Sensors...does the smaller Olympus sensor really impact on quality that much?

sorry if some of these questions are noob-ish...but the staff at the particular Henry's i visited wasn't particularily helpful (i'm pretty sure the chick at the counter was stoned :mrgreen: ).

Thanks in advance. Also i would be open to other camera recommendations, especially:

- Canon digital rebel (the older 6MP version...not sure how good this would be for enlarging stuff for posters tho)

- Pentax? i know nothing about these.

cheers :thumbup:

lkWinnipesaukee · Apr 15, 2007

The XT is miles ahead of the original Rebel for the money. Look up the head to head reviews on dpreview.

I'm not familiar with Olympus (although I have an old film SLR). If the sensor is indeed smaller, then I believe the quality of the prints--given the same number of pixels--will be less.

I say go for the XT. It's a sweet little camera, and takes absolutely amazing pictures (I just got mine yesterday!!!! :-D).

Also, check out the Nikon D40.

Don Simon · Apr 15, 2007

Hi there. The Canon and the Olympus are both capable of producing excellent images. Where you will see the difference is that the Canon will have less noise at higher ISO levels. General consensus is that Canon's sensors (at least at the consumer level) are the best at handling digital noise at higher ISOs. But then I don't use a Canon. We all have different priorities. Try to narrow down yours (it's easy to say 'image quality' but any system is capable of producing amazing images) and it will help make your decision easier.

As for Pentax, well they use the same sensors as Nikon. Less choice of camera bodies than the competitors (although they are good), choice and quality of lenses is good but availability sometimes not so good. My system of choice... but again my priorities and preferences are not the same as yours

You have a huge amount of choice here. But if, as it seems, you're already leaning towards Canon (notice I refer to the brand - because you're buying into a system - and not the specific camera) then as you said you can't go wrong there.

sothoth · Apr 15, 2007

The Canon is a great camera. The Olympus is also good but I'd get the Canon given the choice of just those two, hands down. Part of the reason is greater availability of lenses for Canon and Nikon compared to Olympus. You should also check out Pentax (as someone else already suggested) and the new Sony dSLR. There are many good ones out there, definately take your time narrowing it down.

DeAd-EyE · Apr 15, 2007

thanks for the replys so far...is it worth it to spring for a 10MP or would that just be overkill (i'm assuming that difference between XT and XTI Canon's arn't as big as the difference between the 300D and the XT...law of diminishing returns?)

Don Simon · Apr 15, 2007

Well I wouldn't say 10mp would be overkill because the difference isn't huge. You'd have to get to much larger pixel counts, more like digital medium format, to reach the point of overkill IMO. Now for some the difference between 6mp and 10mp matters for cropping or enlargement; for me 6mp is enough. But to me 6mp vs 8mp vs 10mp is not as important as the other features of the camera and the system. For example I would rather have a camera with a 6mp sensor that I find has good controls than one with a 10mp sensor that makes me use menus all the time. In this case you need to look at the Rebel XT vs the XTI rather than just 8mp vs 10mp. For example the XTI may have more pixels but in addition to this is the image processing notably better, is the autofocus better, is the metering better, are the viewfinder or LCD screen better, is the buffer larger for continuous shooting... but obviously it all depends on which features are most important to you.

RVsForFun · Apr 15, 2007

...is the photographer. Don't worry about brands and take good photos.

DeAd-EyE · Apr 15, 2007

decided on a canon digital rebel XT....can't wait till it arrives...i wanna start snappin some pics

borrowed my neighbors's nikon 8MP to take some pics of my car before selling it. will post em up for critique when i have time.

thanks for the input.

cheers

xfloggingkylex · Apr 15, 2007

If you plan on doing a lot of wildlife, the Olympus is a nice choice. The smaller sensor means it has a 2X crop for lenses, so a 200mm lens becomes a 400mm as far as field of view is concerned. Also, Olympus is the only camera with an effective sensor cleaning system, though nothing short of chemical wet cleaning is better than the bulb (see my review here).

But, having used both of these cameras (my friend has an XT, his dad has the Olympus) I can say I would go with the XT. the 2x crop has its benifits, but it also has draw backs, such as a lack of wide angle lens ability and noise. Also, canon has a backing that is simply untouched.

I myself however shoot Pentax.