Considering Nikon D50 + Nikkor 18-70 and Olympus E-500

[gaggu]

Sorry Folks,

Confused again.

I had almost decided on getting Nikon D50 with 18-70 lense + 55-200 lense later
on.

But ... just saw the Olympus E-500 kit with 14-45 and 40-150 lense for 100£ less.

Should I give in to the temptation of saving 100£ or should I stick to the Nikon D50.

:O

--
Gaggu

[guillermovilas]

Well if i were you i`d think of a D50 with the Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens.

It`s much more practical to have just one lens,you`ll therefore avoid the dust getting in the camera issue.

You will benefit from the VR system which is fantastic.

Remember .... lenses stay for a very long time therefore it`s much more important to get the right lens instead of the right body.....meaning it`s better to invest in a very good lens instead of choosing a D80 over a D50 for example.

[stowaway7]

I always suggest getting your hands on both cameras and trying them out.If you can, bring your own memory card in-store and take a few shots to review at home. The Nikon is a fine camera; the Olympus lenses, IMO, are some of the best "kit" glass on the market. Either way, you won't go wrong.

[BenjaminXYZ]

Sorry Folks,

Confused again.

I had almost decided on getting Nikon D50 with 18-70 lense + 55-200 lense later
on.

But ... just saw the Olympus E-500 kit with 14-45 and 40-150 lense for 100£ less.

Should I give in to the temptation of saving 100£ or should I stick to the Nikon D50.

:O

--
Gaggu

So? What were you innitially looking for in your next camera? In my book, these two cameras are different and will eventually lead you to different paths.

Consider that one of them is the four-third system CCD and the other is Nikon with the APS-C system CCD. Eventually you will be buying into the "system's" lenses due to the CCD type.

As a side note:

The 18 - 70 mm lens that originally comes with the Nikon D70s is one of the best kit lens around according to reviews and test results.

[gaggu]

-BenjaminXYZ

I was expecting you'd reply ... your posts are actually quite interesting

Well, this is my 2nd DSLR. The first one was EOS 350D which I had for
2 days and returned it coz it _actually_ was cumbersome to handle.

(Technically, I still am looking forward to buy my first DSLR)

Here's my criteria
- Should cost me no more than 650£ to start with. That should include
2 lenses + memory + bag and if possible a good tripod.

- Easy to handle. (Not like EOS 350D)

- Some cameras like Pentax have a shallow buffer so Burst Modes
are average. I don't want to be restricted in those terms. Nik D50
is pretty nice there. E-500 can also give u similar but not as good
performance.

- Should have as much flexibilty in as possible. For e.g. Oly E-500 allows
one to (almost) fine tune ISO, WB etc. Nikon D50 is not as flexible.

- Kit lenses should be good. Yes Nikkor 18-70 is GOOD, and so is Nikkor 55-200.
I am not sure about Zuiko ones. I did check out E-500 at a Currys (Dixons)
but guess what ... they didn't have live battery so I couldnt actually try
how it performs. But still the 40-150 lense was heavy enough to feel just
good.

Both E-500 and D50 are very comfortable to use. (Just a little snitch with
E-500's so called slow response LCD which I couldnt actually see due to
dead batteries there ... and which I am sure Oly can fix with a firmware
upgrade later on)

I have seen D50s results. Excellent.

I have seen E-500's results on interenet. Don't look bad. Infact some
of them are simply brilliant.

I don't have a collection of lenses as yet ... so it doesn't matter which
ones I start off with. In fact ... for a long time ... I don't think I'll need
more than what I'll get with both the kits.

I am not bending towards E-500 coz of the Wave Filter. Somehow I dont
really believe that its effective.
(I think someone in the future will come up with an idea where some "lense"
like thingy could be attached to the camera which discharges and then
vaccum cleans the inside of the body and disperses the grit out of the
body. That would sound more effective)

Its the Price vs Value proposition. And here it is.

- Nikon D50 + 18-70 + 55-200 + Bag + Memory is coming
at 'promotional' offers for just under 650£.

- Olympus E-500 + 14-45 + 40-150 + Bag + Memory + Printer
again in 'promotional' price is costing 550£

Add on top of it the price of filters. Thats an additional 30£.

In that sense ... I am confused. :O

Just wondering ... do all people go thru what I am going thru when they
are about to buy their first DSLR ?

--
Gaggu

[BenjaminXYZ]

Just wondering ... do all people go thru what I am going thru when they
are about to buy their first DSLR ?

Usually everyone have their own preference when theyupgradeand they can differ from one another. I don't see anything wrong with your start out point, in fact, it is looking ambitious to me. (It looks like a good start to me)

Nikon D50 + 18-70 + 55-200 + Bag + Memory is coming
at 'promotional' offers for just under 650£.

This kit sounds like a great deal considering you had covered the important ranges and have further zooming capabilities. The Olympus EVOLT E-500's kit also covers the range, so you have to ask yourself whether you like the D50 cameramore? (In terms of feel, comfort, grip, and user ergonomics etc...) It would be better if you can state whether high ISO performance, or any other features are important to you. (Then I can help you make your decision better) :idea:

I am not bending towards E-500 coz of the Wave Filter. Somehow I dont
really believe that its effective.
(I think someone in the future will come up with an idea where some "lense"
like thingy could be attached to the camera which discharges and then
vaccum cleans the inside of the body and disperses the grit out of the
body. That would sound more effective)

Generally, if you don't change lens often; you will not need that SSWF feature (It will be less important). However, I see that you might have to change lens often if you want those two lens combos on the D50/E-500 dSLRs. (The SSWF will be effective here) On the other hand, if you don't mind cleaning your CCD manually, then the SSWF will be less important again. Some people say you just need to use a dust blower and blow the dust off the CCD. (It sounds seriously easy :lol But I cannot confirm that; (I personally believe in a small and powerful enoughvacuum cleaner for the job since in my believe, it is better to oops than to blow; less the dust get blown into other areas!) :shock:

Should have as much flexibilty in as possible. For e.g. Oly E-500 allows
one to (almost) fine tune ISO, WB etc. Nikon D50 is not as flexible.

I am very sure that you can do a better job with complex W.B. in photo-shop than in camera. IMO, just shoot RAW with auto WB and then do all the fancy WB tweaks in photo-shop! :idea: (A lot of pros will tell you that. )Regarding ISO selections at 1/3 E.V. increments, it becomes less important if your camera have great ISO performance for the start. (The Nikon D50 surely have top notch ISO performance). :-)

Some cameras like Pentax have a shallow buffer so Burst Modes
are average. I don't want to be restricted in those terms. Nik D50
is pretty nice there. E-500 can also give u similar but not as good
performance.

The Nikon D50 is great at multiple burst performance. Better than the Pentax dSLRs and Olympus dSLRs A.F.A.I.K. (As far as I know)

Easy to handle. (Not like EOS 350D)

Both the Nikon D50 and the Olympus E-500 are (according to people and reviews) comfortable and pleasant to operate. If you like the way they bothfeel, then you are going somewhere for a good start.

Good luck with your selections.

EDIT:

You can check out the Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX

& the Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX

__________________________________________________ _______________________

TheOlympus 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital

& the Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko Digital

[Edvinas]

gaggu wrote:

- Nikon D50 + 18-70 + 55-200 + Bag + Memory is coming
at 'promotional' offers for just under 650£

Are you sure about 18-70? D50 kit lense is 18-55 which is much worse quality than 18-70. I am almost completely sure that you won't get 18-70 in a package for such price.

[BenjaminXYZ]

Are you sure about 18-70? D50 kit lense is 18-55 which is much worse quality than 18-70. I am almost completely sure that you won't get 18-70 in a package for such price.

I wanted to ask that too. (Because it makes a significant amount of difference.)

[gaggu]

-Edvinas

It is an 18-70 lense.

No it is not being sold as a kit lense. Its body+lense+lense deal.

The package with std kit lense is even cheaper

--
Gaggu

[Edvinas]

In such case I would go for D50 then without doubt.

There are two things I really don't like about Olympus:
- 4/3 system;
- very big noise at higher ISOs.