Olympus or Pentax DSLR?

[polack]

If you are going to choose one. What do you prefer? Why?

 

[Johnboy2978]

Which models were you trying to compare exactly? I went with the Pentax line b/c I really liked their line of optics, and since they haven't changed thier mount system, I can use any of their lenses.

If you are considering Pentax, you may want to look into the K10D. It's their newest body 10mp with lots of improvements. It will go on sell this month I think for around $1000.

 

[nakedyak]

Canon or Nikon. ;-)

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with the sentiments of nakedyak, that Canon or Nikon are clear leaders in this field...both in terms of camera technology and lens selection and quality.

However given the choice at hand...I'm with Johnboy, Pentax has plenty of lenses to choose from because the camera will accept any lens with that mount.

I think the Olympus uses what they call a 4/3 mount which is fairly new. Not all that many lenses to choose from.

 

[kkart]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with the sentiments of nakedyak, that Canon or Nikon are clear leaders in this field...both in terms of camera technology and lens selection and quality.

However given the choice at hand...I'm with Johnboy, Pentax has plenty of lenses to choose from because the camera will accept any lens with that mount.

I think the Olympus uses what they call a 4/3 mount which is fairly new. Not all that many lenses to choose from.

Ehhhhhhh I am none to sure on that with "that Canon or Nikon are clear leaders in this field...both in terms of camera technology and lens selection and quality" ---Technology? Ehhhh....neither STILL has a anti-dust method nor in camera A/S. Quality? Well, that is pretty wide open as well. I will gladly stack up Minolta G glass anyday against L glass. The reason they are so popular is because they sell more, plain and simple. AOL is still the biggest ISP, doesn't mean they are the best.
Now onwards and upwards to question at hand.
Personally I would probably steer clear from Oly. The reasons are 2 fold for that. The 4/3rds system is expensive and VERY limited to get in to. Remember that when you are purchasing a camera, you are not just buying a cam but an ENTIRE system. There just aren't many lenses available for the 4/3rds...espcially when you compare it to everything else out there. Sony with the Minolta mount, Nikon, Canon, etc. Heck even Sigma's own DSLR's have more of a lens selection! The second reason is straight up image quality. Oly's with the sensors are NOTORIOUS for producing high level noise in anything above 400 iso. That is because the 4/3rds sensor is the size that is in a P&S, where as most dslr's use an APS film sized sensor (unless you go full frame like the Canon 5D)
For the issues I have stated...I would go Pentax. Quite honestly the Pentax cameras are VERY good and with the upcoming K10D, they are going to have a superstar camera if the images it produces out of cam are anything like the IST & K series previously made. Honestly, on paper, there is just not another camera that come close to the K10D in terms of features. The D200 from Nikon is closest, but that camera retails out at $1699- body only. Now considering the K10D is at the very least full 700- cheaper (some reports have put the cost at $799- for a K10D) you do the math.
Pentax lenses, well.....you have nothing to worry about there. You have a MASSIVE array to chose from, and look to ebay for legacy glass. In fact. from what I have read, even Pentax Manual Focus lenses will bolt right up to the K10D. If that is the case as I have read, you are going to have a camera that probably has the biggest lens selection from the get go so far.
DPreview has a review of the K10D up at http://www.dpreview.com/articles/pentaxk10d/ I would put this cam at the top of your list, honestly.

 

[Big Mike]

I'll concede that Canon & Nikon may not be the best in every aspect...but they do lead the market...and it's not just because they advertise more.

Canon does an anti-dust sensor in it's new Rebel XTi...which will probably be the standard in all of their new DSLRs. Sure, the don't have in-camera stabilization...but it's my opinion...that is because they were ahead of the field before when they put that into the lenses...and by now it's more difficult to change.

I don't mean to sound like a gear snob...there are certainly great cameras and lenses from Pentax, for example.

 

[Don Simon]

Ditto the recommendation for Pentax over Olympus. I don't have anything against Olympus - far from it; I think their compact p&s models are great, as were the OM SLRs and Zuiko glass is very impressive indeed. But as has been pointed out their DSLRs don't handle noise too well at higher ISOs. The newest model AFAIK only goes up to 1600ISO and is likely to suffer from fairly high noise there. Meanwhile Pentax's current range of DSLRs (the *ist series, the K100D and K110D) all go up to 3200ISO, which is quite useable at smaller print sizes, especially with noise reduction software. I don't think it's very controversial to say that Canon clearly are miles ahead in one area - noise at higher ISO levels - but as I said Pentax's high ISO levels are still very much useable. Pentax also has the advantage of a brighter viewfinder, which is very helpful if you decide to use older manual focus lenses (and also just helps composition in general).

As much as the K10D interests me, I can't recommend it until I've seen with my own eyes that it doesn't suffer from noise at higher ISOs like the Sony Alpha that uses the same sensor. The K100D or *ist DS I can highly recommend, except for one issue: the buffer is limited, so while bracketing three RAW shots is no problem, you can forget about serious continuous shooting. This isn't a problem for me as I don't do a lot of sports photography, but if you do it may be a problem.

 

[seanberry]

*First Post*

I just recently bought my first dSLR and I purchased the relatively new Pentax K100D. I was looking at the Canon Rebel as well. When I finally held both of them I immediately dismissed the Rebel as I found it incredibly uncomfortable. The other reason was that my mom used a Pentax in the past so I got her 20 year old 50mm f2 free and it works like a charm (learned today that my aunt may have some more Pentax lenses I could use!).

The new K10D looks absolutley stunning but it's just a little too much fo me currently, and my month old K100D treats me just fine .

 

[Peanuts]

First, just like to say that I agree with what Big Mike stated regarding Canon and Nikon.

Secondly, seanberry brings up a very good point. This shouldn't be a strong foundation for your decision, but if a family member, fried (that you might be shooting with) etc. has a certain camera, you might want to go with their line if you are not leaning heavily either way. it makes it quite handy to be able to borrow a certain lens, and lend in return.