Need help with decision.

[liverpool]

Hey guys,

I'm a complete noob to photography. I've never owned anything other than a point and shoot. I'm planning on purchasing a D-SLR very soon.

My problem is I can not pick the right camera:

My choices right now are the
Nikon D40X, and Olympus E-420.

Those are my only choices, because I have a 500$ gift card to a store, and those are both ~$450.00.

What should I look for?
From the research I've done Nikon is more popular, but I don't know why.
Olympus seems a lot smaller, but there is not that many people with it.
What are the things I should pay attention to when purchasing?

This camera is primarily going to be used to take pictures of motor sports.
All the reviews I've read go in to great detail, but I'm a noob and don't understand most of it.

If someone can explain what I should look for, or the pro and cons of each camera, help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[KhronoS]

Go to the store, hold both cameras in your hands, run through the menus.

Before going you should try comparing the specifications of the 2 cameras.

From what i see maybe olympus would be a better choice because it;a a new released camera, you can benefit of live preview, and a lot other new options that crawl through the new cameras.
A pro for nikon is that you can choose from a wide range of lenses that i guess are better than olympus.
Good luck.

 

[Mike_E]

Cameras come and go. Nikon has been around for a long time in the D/SLR market. This means that there are a lot more options to their system and they are unlikely to pull a Pentax and bail out of that segment of the market.

Pentax has gotten back into the game but for quite a while if you wanted the latest and greatest in the DSLR segment then all the money you had invested in Pentax gear was wasted and you had to start over with Nikon or Canon.

Also if you like to do wide angle photography- landscapes, groups and the like-you should go with the Nikon due to the smaller crop factor. (1.5 as opposed to 2.0)

Holding a camera is important but if it doesn't meet your needs what's the point?

 

[impressme]

+1 ^^^^
Also- Nikon has a wider variety for you to upgrade to then Olympus. You're lenses can move up with you as you upgrade you body. If you're going to be investing money into this equipment don't you want to be able to continue to use it?

 

[liverpool]

Ok, so basically I should just see which one feels better to me?

KhronoS what does live preview mean?

Thanks guys.

 

[Dao]

With Liveview, you can use the on-camera screen instead of the viewfinder on the camera when taking photos. Most of the point and shoot type camera has liveview feature. But in DSLR world, not all of them have this feature.

 

[liverpool]

So I'm assuming Nikon does not have this?

 

[Dao]

I believe so, but it should not be a big issue. It is nice to have it in some situation. But not a must have feature. There are cameras out there do not have liveview but cost 10 times the cost of D40. And people still by them.

 

[kundalini]

The D40 does not have Live View. TBH, Live View has a limited use in a dSLR IMO. Should not be a make or break deal.

I don't want to knock Olympus by any means, but Nikon has a greater opportunity for future upgrades.

Just my 2¢.

 

[TwoRails]

The 'live' preview on the Olympus is for composing more than anything. There is a delay, so don't think you'll have that "instant" response like a P&S. Sony's live preview is the only one that can do that since they use two sensors instead of a mirror flip up/down.

 

[liverpool]

Oh one thing I forgot to mention

with the Olympus I get two lences with it

& 40-150mm Telephoto & 14-42mm Lenses

I don't know if that'll make a difference.

 

[DRoberts]

PhotographyReview reviews the Olympus E-420 and writes;
“The E-420 won’t give comparable Nikon or Canon digital SLRs a run for their money in terms of image quality, but it certainly will in size and weight. For many photographers, packing the world’s smallest DSLR will be worth trading a little image quality.”

CNET.UK reviews the Olympus E-420 and writes;
“The E-420’s shots are noticeably noisier than those from other dSLRs, even at low ISOs, and it does tend to clip highlight detail fairly heavily if you’re not careful with the exposure.. Picture quality? The lens is very good but the sensor is a tad noisy, so it evens out.”

DigicamReview reviews the Olympus E-420 and writes;
” Image quality is very good to excellent: auto white balance and exposure is very good and the images have excellent colour, with good saturation, contrast and detail, with low noise except for high ISO images…Given the excellent value for money this camera provides, and the extensive features, I’d highly recommend this camera!”

ePhotozine reviews the Olympus E-420 and writes;
“the E-420 is fitted with the Trupic Turbo III processor and so produces really good results at low ISO. That aside, I’m actually very impressed with the resolution of the high ISO images too.”

ImagingResource reviews the Olympus E-420 and writes;
“Image quality improves on previous models in the line with excellent color accuracy and resolution, though evidence of its small Four-Thirds sensor is pronounced at its highest ISO settings. Photos suffer from limited dynamic range and high-contrast mid-tones, as did the E-410..”

PopPhoto has a preview of the Olympus E-420;
“Speaking of holding, the preproduction E-420 we handled proved nearly shocking in its tiny size and light weight. (Some staffers initially thought it was a compact!) Large-handed testers — men and women both — found it a little too small. Small-handed users, though, loved it.”

 

[Dionysus]

if you are on a budget for other things, and not just the camera, i would suggest the cannon xs. its under 500 on amazon, and usually around 500 in the stores. canon lenses tend to be cheaper for their equivalent in the nikon line.

you really cant fail w/ either nikon/canon though. there are lovers/haters on both sides.