fuji 9500 v olympus e500 v nikon d50 v canon eos 350d

And dont get put off with polycarbonate camera bodys they are lighter and stronger than there pro mag metal ones. polycarb as a greater impact load its gives in otherwords takeing the shock , metal wont its to rigid and will crack and the shock loading is massive . polycarb is also used for bullet proof . and you will find fitted to most new cars headlights no there not glass anymore but polycarb .

well there is a tale to be told….

the olympus was faulty so they swapped it for a NIKON D50

for which i just love……

cheers for asking

jason

E500

xpboy – how are you getting on with your E500?

Im tempted as I have not used a SLR for a while and I have a range of OM bodies and lenses sitting around doing nothing. It would seem to be a logical thing to do to get hold of a E500. Also you can get an OM adapter for the four/thirds mount. (you can also get a nikon and pentax adapter!!)

Does anyone know any limitations of using OM lenses on the E500? (well apart from the obvious – manual focus and double focal length)

cheers
Rich

Congratulations with your new camera and enjoy your photography!!

decision made and olympus e-500 twin lens kit, 1gb card, camera bage etc

pc world £599.00 bargain…..

Here’s what I think.

If you forsee any limitation with the Fuji lens then go for a SLR. The money you will spend on getting accessory lenses for the Fuji would be better spent on getting lenses for the SLR you choose.

Sensor size:
This means the physical dimensions of the sensor (not the megapixels crammed within the lenght and breadth of that sensor). This is the most overlooked aspect when purchasing a digital camera. The size of the sensor will affect the quality of the image. As a thumb rule, the larger the sensor size the better image quality. This is because larger sensors enable the manufacturer to use larger individual sensors, which means those are more sensitive to light than smaller sensors. Hence better quality of the image. In increasing order of sensor size

Fuji Fuji
Olympus E500
Canon D350
Nikon D50

Lens compatibility:
If you go for an SLR, you will eventually feel the need for a different lens than from the kit one you got with the camera. The ability to use different lenses for different situations is what makes SLRs so popular. The big daddy of backward lens compatibility are the Nikons and Pentax’s. You can use lens released 40 years ago with their modern DSLRs even today. Of-course no auto features, but you can find cheap old compatible lenses for them. Canon really muffed it when they changed their lens system from the old FD to EF. They had their reasons, but as an owner of a set of (expensive) FD lenses for my AE1 it really bothered me. However their EF and EF-L lenses are pretty good glass. Olympus opted for a 4/3rd sensor size for their digital offerings. AFAIK their Zuiko series are more expensive than comparable Canon or Nikon glass. Further no other 3rd party manufactuer offers cheaper alternatives for their zuiko lenses. For Nikon or Canon you can purchase cheaper glass from manufacturers such as Tamron, Sigma, Tokina etc…

Image processing engine:
The image processing engine which comes with the camera can vary a lot. You should compare images of similar shots taken under similar conditions at sites such as Dpreview.com

Lastly, but the most important. Your budget.

Final note:
You don’t have to be an equipment measuretubator. If a pinhole camera can give you what you want, you dont need to spend large amounts of money to get the latest and greatest SLR or digicam. Decide what you want to do with the camera. Research the capabilities of the ones you shortlist and go for it. I’m sure you will enjoy hundreds of hours pleasureable photography.

As for me – after my AE1 I used a kodak P&S for 15 years before I decided I wanted to get back to SLR photography, so I went out and bought the Canon 350D. It gives me most of what I am looking for. I didn’t need obscenely fast picture taking 2.7 FPS for upto 14 images was good enough for me. It can use EF, EF-S and EF-L lenses. The thing that decided it for me was the availability of an FD to EF converter. That meant I could use my old FD lenses. If not for that it would have been a difficult choice between the D50 and D350 for me personally.

Try this side-by-side comparison

E500 is completely made of polycarbonate? really?

well I stand corrected on this one…

My E-1 was full magnesium construction so I thought that would carry over… hmm apparently not…

Anyways if you are a avid photographer you shouldn’t really rely on auto everything… It certainly won’t improve you abilities if you let the camera decide for you every single time…

Pesonally I hate touching light plastic camera body as it makes the whole camera feel cheap…

I’ve been an “avid photographer” for more than 40 years and have my own darkroom for colour and B&W developing and printing. Certainly I’m not an auto everything person too and still use my film camera’s quite often (Nikon FM2n with MD11, F4s, F100). I even often use a handheld meter (Weston Master with invercone) for incident light readings, manual focus lenses, etc. However for air to ground photograhy I’ve found that the ability to choose a specific selection of autofocus sensors helps to get more in focus shots than with other methods.

About those cheap light plastic camera’s: correct me if I’m wrong, but according to Olympus themselves the E500 is completely made of polycarbonat (plastic!!) and by comparison to the EOS350D and D50 is the lightest of the three. The weight of the E500 is only 479 g (inc. batt.); compare that to my D2x at 1150 g. However I would in no way regard the E500 as an inferior camera, quite the contrary. Just to set the record straight.

Although the E-500 has many professional features, it is still below par for a professional camera, mainly because of the small viewfinder, lack of custom functions, lack of USB 2.0 connectivity, lack of a vertical grip, long power-on delay, output quality at medium to high ISO settings, only 3 AF sensors and not very high number of frames per second (2.7). If those aspects are not important to you, I’m sure very good results can still be obtained, especially because of the excellent lenses.

Of the missing features you’ve mentioned aside form the lack of some custom features almost none actually affect picture quality and or affect micture taking ability. The slightle smaller viewfinder may or may not cause discomfort but Field of view 95%, Magnification 0.9x is pretty good stats even for pro models.

There really isn’t a good for all camera on the shelf. When you need the High fps then you’d choose the D2X but there are drawbacks as well with that model. If you are not doing a lot of sports action shot then you should be content with 2.7 fps (similar to most film models with motor drives).

medium to high ISO settings is not of much value as I found that even with the toughest lighting conditions ISO set at 100 works remarkbly well…

3 AF sensors may seem less than average but contrary to popular belief the focusing ability of a camera does not rely on the number of sensors but rather how you actually focus. The sigma SD-10 a pro model camera has only one AF sensor and I’ve seen many stunningly sharp pics form this model. So it’s not about the number of AF sensor but if you can effectively utilize what you’ve got.

Anyways if you are a avid photographer you shouldn’t really rely on auto everything… It certainly won’t improve you abilities if you let the camera decide for you every single time…

USB 2.0 connectivity?
I’ve never had porblems as we remove the memory card and utilize a card reader or a storage drive with a compact flash slot. It’s much faster than to connect to a computer and direct upload. It also means you don’t need to send in your camera every time the assitant has to edit for you.

Pesonally I hate touching light plastic camera body as it makes the whole camera feel cheap…

Although the E-500 has many professional features, it is still below par for a professional camera, mainly because of the small viewfinder, lack of custom functions, lack of USB 2.0 connectivity, lack of a vertical grip, long power-on delay, output quality at medium to high ISO settings, only 3 AF sensors and not very high number of frames per second (2.7). If those aspects are not important to you, I’m sure very good results can still be obtained, especially because of the excellent lenses.

The Olympus seems to be an excellent camera with very good optics, although not a “pro model” by a longshot (e.g. compared to my Nikon D2x or a Canon EOS 1Ds). Compared to a Nikon D50 or a Canon EOS350D it has its pro’s and con’s. Look at this site for a direct comparison http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse500/ and judge for yourself. Good luck with your choice!

Why? I’ve a E-1 and I still consider it a pro model and would prefer it over the D50 or a EOS350D even if it has less megapixs. It’s also about the construction of the camera as much as the resolution and you have to take into consideration that not all pixels are equal as the quality of the CCD might differ. For my uses there is absolutely no difference between 5 or 8 Megapixels as the max the pics are ever blown up to is half a spread of a mag.

It always feel more secure when you have a metal chassis over a cheap plastic one… maybe that’s my own personal preferrence…

I’d get the olympus e500v for sure…
It is the only pro model camera in the line up.

It certainly has more freatures than the rest and the lens selection is quite broad and of superb quality. Unlike the nikons and Canon where quality lens cost an arm and a leg the comparable zuiko lens is a bit cheaper.

The Olympus seems to be an excellent camera with very good optics, although not a “pro model” by a longshot (e.g. compared to my Nikon D2x or a Canon EOS 1Ds). Compared to a Nikon D50 or a Canon EOS350D it has its pro’s and con’s. Look at this site for a direct comparison http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse500/ and judge for yourself. Good luck with your choice!

I’d get the olympus e500v for sure…
It is the only pro model camera in the line up.

It certainly has more freatures than the rest and the lens selection is quite broad and of superb quality. Unlike the nikons and Canon where quality lens cost an arm and a leg the comparable zuiko lens is a bit cheaper.