[Recovered Thread: 79547]

[leooz]

Uh... iv decided to buy a DSLR, but again am unsure with which one= =

The camera wil be used to shoot home design pictures, family fotos, protraits, architectures, artworks, street and lanscapes.

iv read sum reviews and went to the local resellers to check and liked three particular models - the Canon Digital Rebel XT, Nikon D50 and Olympus E-500 Evolt.

The Rebel comes with 18-55 & 75-300, 1400 CND or 18-55 & 17-85 USM, 1750 kit lenses.

The E-500 has only one choice: 14-45 & 40-150, 1250

The D50 has more combos:
18-55 & 55-200DX 1200
Tamron 28-200XR 1000
18-55 F3.5/5.6 G ED Zoom 970
18-55 & Tamron 28-200xr 1230
18-55 & 70-300G 1130

These r the price given by the local reseller (i assume zat i can find a better price shopping around?)

Please help me identify sum of their strengths respectively and the quality and utilities of the kit lenses (or whether just buy the body and lenses separately).

Many thxs,
Iteloo:?~

[peripatetic]

Have you made a mistake on one of the Canon options?

It seems very unlikely that it would come with the 18-55 & 17-85.

[ellover009]

the olympus one is not that great, horrible noise bad warantee costumer support

[leooz]

Um...I checked and no, the lens are exactly as told on the reseller's website http://www.kerrisdalecameras.com/store/
R the price reasonable though?

[plg3]

I think you would be happy with any of the DSLRs you've listed. All take excellent quality pictures and offer the many advantages (and disadvantages) that SLRs have over "point and shoot".

I have an Olympus E-500 and have been really been enjoying it. Takes excellent pictures. I obviously disagree with Ellover009's assessment that "it's not that great horrible noise...." Yes, the E-500 has more noise at the higher ISOs but it is easily managed with Noise Ninja or other noise reduction software.

The E-500 kit lenses are the best of the bunch. The "every day" lens (14 - 45; 28 - 90 equiv) isvery good- light weight and quick to focus. The second lens (40 - 150; 80 - 300 equiv) is excellent. Both lenses have metal lens mounts. Other Olympus lenses are available and specifically designed for digital photography. The 14 - 54 is nearly "legendary" over in the forums on Digital Photo Review ( http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1022 ). Some are even forgoing any of the kit lenses and getting just the E-500 body withthe 14 - 54 and then adding on a longer zoom later.

The E-500 also has a "dust buster" for cleaning dust off the sensor. This is unique to Olympus. Yes, it takes about 1 -1.5 seconds for the camera to turn on while it cleans the sensor but it will probably take you this long to bring the camera up to your eye and compose the picture. Ergonmics are excellent. Camera is comfortable to hold and all the buttons fall right into place.

The Olympus menus are easy to navigate and exceptionally deep. Lots of options to give you great control over the picture you wantto take. Auto white balance is also excellent but if you want to change it, it's easily done with a single push of the button to get to the white balance menu. Oh, and don't forget the lovely and huge (2.5 inch) LCD monitor on the back. Great for checking pictures and it has many options for evaluating your pictures - photo info and curves, white or dark highlights, etc.

As I said originally, the three cameras you listed are all excellent cameras. Good luck in your search.

Paul in NoVA
Olympus E- 500 C- 730
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoney_g

[peripatetic]

You are right they are offering it as a combo, very weird.

If you have the 17-85, the 18-55 is completely redundant. So you would be better off getting the XT + 17-85 combo. Save yourself a bit of cash.

Of all the combos listed there that would tempt me the most i.t.o. image quality.

For a nice telephoto zoom you should add the new Canon EF 70-300 IS, (not the 75-300 listed).

If that's too expensive for you then I'd suggest the Sigma 70-300 DG APO Macro.