Olympus e-500 or Canon 400D?

Thanks again both of you 🙂 I’d be lost without yee!

The 350d seems like a good choice after researching. The kit lens has got a bit of stick, but then again as soon as I get my tele lens (about being looking at the cheap 50mm, which looks pretty kool) I’d doubt I’d use it much again!

Think I’m settled on it now. The only thing I need to do know is choose which lens. It’s a choice between the Canon 75-300mm III USM or the Sigma 75-300mm DG Macro (btw whats the difference between the lens with APO and without?

Sorry about all the questions, can never seem to make my mind up 😀

Cheers,
Adam 🙂

-Thread Bump-

I’m stuck, again! Had a go on the e-500 today in Currys. After having a think about it, I don’t think I like it that much. It felt too big for my hands and not very “clean” to hold, but the UI was alright and controls ok. Also, the twin lens kit is out of stock everywhere, unsure wether they are going to be getting stock again.

Regrettably, I did not try the 350d but I see it’s in jessops for £399. The problem is, that’s with the kit lens and I wouldn’t be able to get a decent tele lens for about a month.

The 350d seems my last possible option now. Although it does seem like an excellent camera, even without the dust reduction. Do you guys reckon its worth biting the bullet and just going for it even without the tele photo lens? The 18-55mm might be a bit too useless for aviation photography, then again I’ve never used it.

Cheers everyone,
Adam

18-55 would be impractical for aviation photography at an airport. For an airshow or museum like Duxford where you can get close to parked aircraft it would be great, but for distant flying aircraft its a no no.

However, one of the joys with DSLRs, as you know, is that you can buy extra lenses and amass, over time, quite a collection. So, I would go for the kit lens, and then add to your collection of lenses over time, the telephoto lens being the next addition. A month isnt too long to wait, and when that month has come and gone, by the time you get the telephoto, shooting conditions (i.e. light and little warmer) will be a lot better than they are now, so you won’t really miss much.

The 18-55 may not be totally suitable for aviation, but its going to be great for wide angle stuff and ‘general use’. The more lenses you have, generally, the more versatile you will be with what you can photograph. I have a high zoom lens at the moment, my next purchase will be a 14-54mm lens. I can’t wait to get it.

I hope that helps!:)

EDIT: damn, Paul beat me to it. :p

Hi Adam,

One wonderful aspect to DLSR (or SLR) photography is the fact that all systems, be they Canon, Nikon, Four Thirds or anything else, are modular. You can buy new lenses or upgrade your bodies as you go along. If the 350D seems to be your best option at the moment, then go for it. It’s a great camera and I’m sure you won’t regret it. Even if you have to wait a month until you can buy a telephoto lens, that’s a month you can spend getting to know your camera and getting your editing skills up to speed.

There are certain situations you can actually use an 18-55mm (on a 1.6x FoV camera of course) lens for aviation. If you’re at MAN’s AVP for example, you’ll get all the traffic taxi’ing past OK, and even from the south side if your images are sharp, with a fair amount of cropping you should get a good number of useable shots.

Anyway, let us know what you decide! 🙂

Paul

-Thread Bump-

I’m stuck, again! Had a go on the e-500 today in Currys. After having a think about it, I don’t think I like it that much. It felt too big for my hands and not very “clean” to hold, but the UI was alright and controls ok. Also, the twin lens kit is out of stock everywhere, unsure wether they are going to be getting stock again.

Regrettably, I did not try the 350d but I see it’s in jessops for £399. The problem is, that’s with the kit lens and I wouldn’t be able to get a decent tele lens for about a month.

The 350d seems my last possible option now. Although it does seem like an excellent camera, even without the dust reduction. Do you guys reckon its worth biting the bullet and just going for it even without the tele photo lens? The 18-55mm might be a bit too useless for aviation photography, then again I’ve never used it.

Cheers everyone,
Adam

PMN – yeah I see what you mean, having a look at the EXIF data and he seems to have slightly lowered and highered some levels 🙂 It’s something I want to experiment and learn anyhow, might have to purchase Aperture for Mac 🙂

Adam – any american site has it for around $399! American ebay does too. Although I have not looked at any shipping charges, google conjurs up a lot of results for it. Here, for example. If I do end up getting it from american will have to check custom charges mind.
EDIT: On the included site, inc shipping to UK is £223. Not bad at all I suppose 🙂

Thanks again for the replys 🙂

Certinally helped. Being looking at aviation shots of the e500, and it seems more capable than I first thought. This one looks really good 🙂

Think I’ve settled on the e-500 now, well as soon as I get a play on one if I like it I’ll certinally be purchasing. For £400 seems too good to miss. Also Adam, whats the 18-180mm like? Found one for £210 new imported from america, seems like a kool lens for the price.

Cheers again for the help 🙂 Will be ordering in the coming weeks, yay 😀

For me, as someone that doesnt know any better (i.e. Ive never used any other lens so I cant compare it to anything), the 18-180 is great. Its a good all purpose lens; there are faster lenses with wider apertures but the zooms arent as good and wide angle shots are less obtainable (refering to the 40-150mm lens). Its compact, and fairly light.

The 18-180 is perfect for me and I shoot anything and everything with it.

Which site are you looking to buy the lens from ? – only when I bought my lens from a UK site at the end of last year, it cost me over £300 ( http://www.warehouseexpress.com/ ) . £210 seems incredibly good!

Being looking at aviation shots of the e500, and it seems more capable than I first thought. This one looks really good 🙂

That sure is a great shot (from a great spot!) But bear in mind with DSLR’s that isn’t how the photo will look straight from the camera. DSLR images usually require a certain amount of post processing to get them up to the standards of what you see on sites like J.Net or A.Net, and in fact pretty much any DSLR will produce excellent results if used correctly and the photos are edited reasonably well. There are a few people on these forums who can help with that, though. 🙂

Paul

Thanks again for the replys 🙂

Certinally helped. Being looking at aviation shots of the e500, and it seems more capable than I first thought. This one looks really good 🙂

Think I’ve settled on the e-500 now, well as soon as I get a play on one if I like it I’ll certinally be purchasing. For £400 seems too good to miss. Also Adam, whats the 18-180mm like? Found one for £210 new imported from america, seems like a kool lens for the price.

Cheers again for the help 🙂 Will be ordering in the coming weeks, yay 😀

Size of the equipment is important as well – the 4/3rds concept allows for compact lenses and camera – my 36-360 mm lens on the E-400 is just 9 cms long when not in use – and just over 14cms long when using full zoom. Equivalent zoom lenses from Canon etc are, I believe larger. Again, this sort of thing comes down to personal preference, and what you are willing to cart around with you.

Very good point, and one I hadn’t really thought of. My camera case when it’s full carrying three SLR bodies, five lenses (one being 1.8 kilos of Sigma 50-500) and a laptop weighs an absolute ton. Luckily for me, so do I so it isn’t much of a problem, although not everyone is happy lugging that kind of weight around everywhere! It has to be said though, a 400D with something like an EF 75-300 actually is quite compact, but then again I’m comparing that to my 50-500 mounted on the 30D. Side by side the 350D combo is tiny. It’s all relative, I guess.

Paul

I suppose my main question is, is the £200 worth it for the slightly better images? It’s the main thing I’m quarreling about, £600/£400 so just want to make sure I buy the right gear 🙂

Ultimately, I think that would have to come down to personal opinion. The 400D is almost certainly going to be the better of the two (E-500 and 400D) for a number of reasons. More megapixels, better image quality, and its a newer camera (although again, it would come down to personal opinion as to whether an extra 2 million pixels really does make a noticeable difference). So, are you willing to spend £200 extra for better image quality – and only you will know that).

Size of the equipment is important as well – the 4/3rds concept allows for compact lenses and camera – my 36-360 mm lens on the E-400 is just 9 cms long when not in use – and just over 14cms long when using full zoom. Equivalent zoom lenses from Canon etc are, I believe larger. Again, this sort of thing comes down to personal preference, and what you are willing to cart around with you.

The E-400 is stocked at the ‘London Camera Exchange’, which, despite its name has stores across the country.

You must handle each of the contenders in store before buying.

Hope that helps 🙂

Thanks guys 🙂 Was certinally a lot of help.

The main reason I’m consediring the e500 over the e400 is because of the price. Someone mentioned it was discountinued and that’s why the twin lens kit can be had for £400.

It’s reassuring to know there is lens support out there. Not had a chance to play with the e400 since my jessops didn’t stock it, I think currys might so will have to try and pop down. I liked the handling of the canon, from reviews I’d probably like the handling of the e500 just as much. The only thing is that the 400d undoubtedly has slightly better image quality.

I suppose my main question is, is the £200 worth it for the slightly better images? It’s the main thing I’m quarreling about, £600/£400 so just want to make sure I buy the right gear 🙂

Cheers for help so far,
Adam

Hi Adam, glad to see you’re considering stepping into DSLR world!

It’s a difficult question to answer, because there really isn’t an answer as such. I’m a Canon user so I’m not familliar with Olympus gear, but judging from Adam Dowleys results so far the E-400 is certainly a very capable camera. The range of possible upgrades and the options available is certainly one of the reasons I chose Canon. It just seems to be a more flexible system than the relatively new four thirds, but I wouldn’t let that alone sway your decision if after handling the Olympus you prefer that. There are still plenty of four thirds lenses available, so you shouldn’t be too stuck for choice.

I think the best advice I could give is just to spend as much time in shops as possible with various cameras and see which one fits you the best, because although I’m now a die hard Canonite I’m not really into this strange thing some photographers have of dismissing anything that doesn’t have their favourite manufacturers name on it (which gets even more childish than those pathetic Airbus v Boeing arguments!) I agree with Adam Dowley about the 350D/400D hand grip being poor, but it by no means makes it un-useable for me and my hands are possibly slightly bigger than what could be considered average, but you might end up preferring the feel of the Canon over the Olympus. It’s all personal at the end of the day. It has to be said though, the hand grip on my 30D is wonderful!

So just play with them until you’re sure you feel more comfortable with one camera than another. Canon make great cameras, Nikon make great cameras and I’m sure the Olympus gear is excellent as well.

Happy shopping! 🙂

Paul

I think it would be fairer and more sensible to compare the 400D to the Olympus E-400, as both camera’s are better matched. The E-500 has 8megapixels whereas the 400D and E-400 both have 10. The E-400 is Olympus’ newest model.

I have the E-400, and think it is a fantastic camera (my first DSLR).

The Oly range of lenses is only set to expand, especially when Oly announce the successor of the E-1 this year. Other 4/3rds manufacturers are bringing out lenses that are compatible with the ‘E series’, so the range will expand. The 4/3rds concept is gathering pace and reputation for delivering excellent cameras and quality and the smallest DSLR cameras ever produced.

The E-400 two lens kit is from all Ive heard, a very nice package.

My main reason for selecting the E-400 was that I am already an Olympus equipment owner, and I loved the design and ergonomics of the E-400 – I cannot hold Canon DSLRs becuase of the (IMO) awful battery grip that you find on so many DSLRs – my hand just doesn’t fit.

I hope that helps