Olympus vs. Nikon vs Canon?

[jon_k]

YAK! YAK! YAK!

Just keep talking............

Nikon and Canon are more stable than Olympus, Minolta, Sony or whatever company you want to name that also just jumped onto the DSLR bandwagon in the last few years when they started selling better. Personally I think anyone who is pro and decided to go other than the big 2 are going to regret it (or mabye already do hence the defensiveness).

Haha.

Well, for me most of my shooting is for street photography and landscapes. Weight is a big issue for me, that has driven my choice of Olympus.

I was at the local camera store on Friday when they had a nikon rep there to show off Nikon's new stuff. He had about 15 lenses and bodies to try out.

I was Stunned to see how huge and heavy the Nikon 200 F2.0 lens with D200/batt grip was. It felt as if it were at least ten pounds or more. Not something I would want to handhold for very long! The lens is actually 6.4 pounds, not sure about the camera. For a 300 equiv. F2 I would much rather have the Olympus Zuiko 150 F2.0 paired with the E-510 or upcoming E-3. Even though my 7-14 seems heavy for a wide angle, holding the Nikon really made me appreciate the weight savings benefits Olympus has at the Tele end.

The Nikon D200 is also *much* more expensive!

As a sidenote, the Canon 200mm f/1.8 is even heavier (though there isn't a real equivalent for that in the Olympus line) but I wouldn't leave home without a huge sturdy monopod with that beast.

I've been eyeballing the other big players, but nothing warranted jumping over the fence yet.

 

[Katharina B.]

Hey everyone thanks so much for all the comments & replies, it really cleared some things up for me. Ive been trying to reply for a while but my stupid slow computer keeps freezing everytime i try to upload pictures onto photobucket, so thats not really going to work.

Anyway, i decided to go with the Olympus e510! Its price, compactness and generally good feel led me to this decision, and because I simply cant wait any longer for new models. If the E1 ever comes out, itll be expensive at first, maybe without as good a kit as the e510 has. And anyway, there are always going to be better cameras coming out, i could wait forever, thinking that the next model might be more suitable. The considered 40d and d300 are too advanced for me at this stage, as this camera will be my first slr. And ok, maybe the professionals use canon & Nikon cameras, but Im just a beginner, and being a pro is a long way off!

I’m ordering the Olympus e510 tomorrow with the double kit, and ill look into buying an adapter for it to convert Nikon lenses to 4/3 (before I didn’t even know they existed). Ill post pictures (if it works!) and my experience with it around the beginning of nov. when I return from my trip to America!


So thanks again for helping my decision, I definently wont regret it!

Cya, Katharina

 

[jon_k]

Really cool!

I'd love to upgrade my e-500 to an e-510. The image stabilization sounds nice! I think I'll wait for the prices of the e-3 to come down though and snag that.

As for your Nikon lenses with a converter ring, good stuff. I've got an OM lense to 4/3 adapter... and a T mount to 4/3 adapter.

I also have a bunch of Konica lenses, but there is no 4/3 adapter, so I'm in the process of modifying them to fit on the 4/3 mount. The first lens I've converted has been a success, very sharp pictures.

Just a word of advice with the legacy lenses. They look great on the cameras but it's very hard to focus with the E-500/510 because there is no focus assistance. You're basically looking in a tiny screen trying to focus.

The old film cameras use to have a split focus prism to help you... and fortunately you can purchase those focus screens for the E-510 as well!

http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/cat--Olympus-DSLRs--cat_olympus.html

Katz Eye is the most reputable seller of these focus screens... but also the most expensive. They also offer services for installation if you are weary about poking around inside your body.

I just ordered a focus screen from hong kong for $20 off eBay. I'm not too worried about doing the installation, I've seen videos of other people doing it, and if I break my E-500 then that's the excuse I'd need to get the E-510.

I really hope you enjoy the camera. I love mine. Canon and Nikon users can say all they want, but I've used cameras from them and Olympus makes taking pictures fun vs the other guys.

 

[JIP]

I really hope you enjoy the camera. I love mine. Canon and Nikon users can say all they want, but I've used cameras from them and Olympus makes taking pictures fun vs the other guys.

I just want to know what exactly does Olympus do to "make taking pictues fun vs. the other guys" I don't get this. That seems like kind of a weird thing to say well mabye not weird but I just don't understand it.

 

[Sideburns]

See, I wouldn't order an Olympus, but that's just me. If you enjoy taking pictures, you're all good.

Me personally, I would go with either the Nikon or the Canon. Either one is good (I'm not a Canon fanboy even though I have Canon). See the thing is...they aren't going anywhere, and their lens system is VERY complete. Both companies have every focal length covered at least 3 or 4 times...you have so many options. That's one thing I love about the big two.

Just trying to save you trouble down the road. You COULD upgrade to another Olympus, but I dono...my feeling would tend to say you'd upgrade to either a Canon or Nikon...and then you'd have to buy all new gear.

Either way it doesn't matter to me. If you get the Olympus and you are happy and you take nice pictures...more power to ya, and prove us wrong!

 

[jon_k]

I just want to know what exactly does Olympus do to "make taking pictues fun vs. the other guys" I don't get this. That seems like kind of a weird thing to say well mabye not weird but I just don't understand it.

I've not studied all the options in the Nikon line, and even less in the Canon line... but I've noticed that to get to certain stuff you have to hit the MENU button and dig around for stuff. E.G. This one ladies camera had ISO, AEL, and metering buttons on the body... but she didn't like how it kept focusing continually. I looked all over the body and finally found only in the menu the ability to turn off continuous focus mode and set it to single focus mode.

I was somewhat surprised because my body has buttons for all of those functions. As for the full frame bodies, they're heavy. I notice they have some bulk with them. I don't want to feel like I'm working out when carrying a camera. APS-C is much much better, but APS-C sensors are only a tad larger than 4/3. I also like the 4/3 aspect ratio due to the type of crops I usually do.

If I went pro, I'd go Nikon. Great high ISO... and other goodies. As-is I'm doing fine with Olympus. It's just a hobby for me now. The lens selection covers pretty much all I can think of. I've got too many lenses as it is I think, but lens lust has me buying more and more.

Olympus /is/ filling in the lens selection and creating "budget" copies of lenses that are only pro at the time being. Take a look at their lens roadmap for 2007-2008. I don't want to sell my stuff and pay twice as much on L glass.

Olympus isn't the #1 camera company, but I'm not buying stuff for name recognition. I buy products for 1) price 2) ease of use 3) features you get for your money. Olympus wins on all 3 I believe. They're only a step behind the latest and greatest specs sometimes, but thats to be understood with what you pay. In other ways they are a step ahead.

I am /not/ a pixel peeper who cares about megapixels, or if I have 400 focus points, or low grain at ISO 960000. I don't want to spend $3,200 on a body for features like this. I enjoy what I have, and I'm not shooting with my body to impress anyone.

Way too many "other" users brag to me about tech specs...When I get the prints back, it looks just as good as theirs, and at a fraction of the cost (without an L lens, or some expensive IS lens) If people are that interested in specs they ought to earn ultimate bragging rights with the Hasselblad H3D II 39 megapixel Digital Camera Kit. The body only costs $33,995.00 after all. I wonder if an 4x5 print from that camera would look any better from a 4x5 made by my E-500.:lmao:

Maybe I /should/ sell all my Olympus gear and go to Canon. Like. Right now. But I have a feeling my pictures would look no better for what I do with my camera, and I'd probably end up paying more for good glass than I did originally with my Olympus system.

Some people have the most fun shooting with Holgas, some have the most fun shooting Leica... and some have the most fun shooting with Olympus. Some of you guys act like Olympus is a few steps from filing bankruptcy and that Canon and Nikon are gods. Their SLR camera division is very profitable, there are more who use it then you might think. I do not believe the SLR system from Olympus is going to disappear anytime soon.

 

[usayit]

Canon and Nikon users can say all they want, but I've used cameras from them and Olympus makes taking pictures fun vs the other guys.

HEY! thats what us Leica shooters say all the time... lol

Honestly.. buy what feels comfortable and shoot. That is what counts.

If for some luckiness you go professional, then you continue to shoot with what you have because it helped you go professional. If and when you "outgrow" your system, then decide where to go next... heck... you might even get your next system for free... via some sort of sponsorship.

 

[lordson]

all this time when i read the word "noise" when people talk about cameras

i though it meant how loud the "click" sound was when people take a shot

lol

 

[Campbell]

I'm really happy with my E-500 as my first DSLR. It was affordably priced with the 2 lenses it came with and is very user friendly. Couldn't have asked for more in my first camera. Perhaps I'll upgrade my body to an E-500 or E-3 when I get the money, but I'm happy with what I have now.

Maybe somewhere down the road I'll venture into Nikon or Canon, but I'm content for now.