Hi All

A friend of mine is going to the US, and she wants to buy a DSLR. She's new to photography, but wants something decent which will give what she needs as she develops.

She's specific in wanting Live View, which narrows the field down a bit. I think 10MP or above would future proof the camera somewhat.

I've looked at what's available, and I think it's between these two:

Canon 450D
-comes with great software
-superb lens range
-well featured, so won't need to upgrade too soon
-small

Olympus E510
-internal shake reduction
-best dust removal
-great price with two zoom kit
-small

What do other people think? I'd hate for her to buy the wrong thing, so if you've advised someone on buying kit, and they've been pleased with your recommendations, please let me know. Are there other options just as good?

Also, what about lenses? The Olympus has a terrific two lens kit. I think if I hadn't bought into Nikon, I'd be very tempted here. But what about for the Canon?

 

 

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Chris Seary

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The Canon "kit" lens isn't a brilliant performer. Plastic throughout, and I can't guarantee if the lens elements are actually glass (yes, some lenses were once made with plastic lens elements). That being said, it's not too shoddy from f/8 to f/22.

The Canon line-up does include full-frame DSLR's, but the latest DSLR offering from Olympus is pretty good according to reviews (non-DCM).

I would personally go for the Canon - not just because thats my system - but I don't like the crop format on the oly.

But - best thing she can do is try both when she gets there - or try both here and know what she wants when she gets there - as the Oly might suit her better.

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Mark

Digital Photo Group
My Website

Ne nuntium necare

The E-510 is pretty good [I swapped to a 40D on AF speed and lenses mainly]. Given the choice between those two I'm not sure which I'd go for. If it's a case of kit lenses then the 14-42/40 -150mm Zuikos are amazing value and also very small and light - yes, anti dust does really work too. Canon budget models do tend to feel a bit plasticky, but  you get a bigger lens range and possibly better high ISO performance.

Of course,with the current cashback offer you can get a 40D for the same price as a 450D - so I'd get one of those!

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a few mediocre pics

I would personally go for the Canon - not just because thats my system - but I don't like the crop format on the oly.

Its not the format that worries me its the size of the sensor. When you pack that many sites onto a sensor 1/2 the size of a full frame, noise control becomes a problem if you need to crank up the ISO a bit.

I'm a Nikon user but if it is between Canon and Olympus I'd go for the Canon.

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It was when she said 'put the camera down and come to bed' that I knew I'd finally gone too far.

Tazzers DCM gallery

    if the op would kindly allow me to hijack the thread a little bit :)

tazzers, i was thinking of possibly buying a d40 or d40x (or possibly a d60) mainly for night photography lower light photography mainly landscapes and city scapes.  i want to do hdr photography, is the workaround for the d40 relatively simple and effective to do or do you reckon i need a camera with auto exposure bracketing.  sorry im a total noob!

Hi

My D50 had auto exposure bracketing, but I found I needed more than 3 exposures sometimes.

I set the camera to manual and adjusted the shutter speed between shots. As long as you have a firm tripod, it should be fine.

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Chris Seary

My gallery

My Blog

chris@seary.com:

Hi All

A friend of mine is going to the US, and she wants to buy a DSLR. She's new to photography, but wants something decent which will give what she needs as she develops.

She's specific in wanting Live View, which narrows the field down a bit. I think 10MP or above would future proof the camera somewhat.

I've looked at what's available, and I think it's between these two:

Canon 450D
-comes with great software
-superb lens range
-well featured, so won't need to upgrade too soon
-small

Olympus E510
-internal shake reduction
-best dust removal
-great price with two zoom kit
-small

What do other people think? I'd hate for her to buy the wrong thing, so if you've advised someone on buying kit, and they've been pleased with your recommendations, please let me know. Are there other options just as good?

Also, what about lenses? The Olympus has a terrific two lens kit. I think if I hadn't bought into Nikon, I'd be very tempted here. But what about for the Canon?

 

 

Doesn't matter which camera she chooses, as they will all produce stunning pictures. As sue says, the Olympus might be better, as it is light and easy to hold. Go into a shop and try the different makes, and find which is best suited.

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SK
The Best Photographer in the world 4th November - 5th November 2006 & 17th-18 November 2007
Oldboy’s Gallery

chris@seary.com:

Hi All

A friend of mine is going to the US, and she wants to buy a DSLR. She's new to photography, but wants something decent which will give what she needs as she develops......................

Hi Chris,

Is your friend a UK or US resident? i.e. will she be returning to the UK with the camera? It appears from a lot of posts on other forums lately that US prices are in some cases more expensive than the UK/EC and in others only slightly cheaper. A lot of US sites, although not all, still do not include sales taxes in their pricing until the point of purchase, typically between 7.5 & 12.5%.

Due to cashback differences and starting prices, it seems that the 40D is currently around £80-100 cheaper in the UK than the US in real terms.

Add to this the warranty implications, Canon (and I suspect others) will only repair a Camera in the country of purchase, although in the EC they will waive this if you have a customs receipt for the Import Duty and VAT paid on import.

To be honest, I think I would want to be able to save a significant amount if purchasing in the US due to the potential problems later on, I'm not certain that these deals really exist at present on entry level kits. Just a thought.

Cheers, Peter.

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Oh Lord, please help me to be the person that my dog thinks I am.

tazzers, i was thinking of possibly buying a d40 or d40x (or possibly a d60) mainly for night photography lower light photography mainly landscapes and city scapes.  i want to do hdr photography, is the workaround for the d40 relatively simple and effective to do or do you reckon i need a camera with auto exposure bracketing.  sorry im a total noob!

 

Sorry I've only just seen this and I can't answer as I'm A D80 user, the best thing to do is go to the store and ask, are there any D40/40X/60 users that can answer this? When I do HDR, as Chris said, I often need more than 3 exposures anyway so I bracket manually for sometimes 9 or 10 shots to cover the entire dynamic range from vastly overexposed to vastly underexposed with all points in between seperated by 1 full stop (3 clicks on the wheel) per shot.

 

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It was when she said 'put the camera down and come to bed' that I knew I'd finally gone too far.

Tazzers DCM gallery

       cheers for the reply guys.

ok, so now im thinking auto exposure bracketing doesnt do what it says on the tin. in that case i suppose a bog standard d40 should do the trick no?

is there an hdr guide on the net anywhere, specifically for nikon would be awesome.  im new to slr photography so at the moment it sounds complicated, although with anything technical it isnt complicated once you know it!

do you like the results of hdr or do you think its overhyped? does it work well for lower light stuff?

It does what it says on the tin but it is a bit limited compared to manual bracketing when doing HDRs, thats all.

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It was when she said 'put the camera down and come to bed' that I knew I'd finally gone too far.

Tazzers DCM gallery

Tazzers:

I would personally go for the Canon - not just because thats my system - but I don't like the crop format on the oly.

Its not the format that worries me its the size of the sensor. When you pack that many sites onto a sensor 1/2 the size of a full frame, noise control becomes a problem if you need to crank up the ISO a bit.

I'm a Nikon user but if it is between Canon and Olympus I'd go for the Canon.

I guess you think your D80 or Canon sensor is lot bigger then? Sorry to break it to you but there all pretty small compared to full frame

ir

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Paul
My glass is 4/3rds full :)

MY GALLERIES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SensorSizes.png

All smaller than full frame, except of course medium format although of all the DSLRs the 4/3 sensor is the smallest, considerably smaller than Nikon or Canon APS-C.

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It was when she said 'put the camera down and come to bed' that I knew I'd finally gone too far.

Tazzers DCM gallery

Hi craftysnapper

This is so true.

I saw this diagram in a magazine a few weeks ago. The 4/3 system is not much more than a quick slice off the sides of APS-C. Something I do anyway when sizing for 5x7 or 10x8 output.

If I was buying my first DSLR, I would definitely go for Olympus. The new E-520 is a terrific bargain. Olympus seem to have avoided the 'big, heavy with lots of features' or 'small and light with reduced features' mindset that most other manufacturers have got themselves stuck in.

 

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Chris Seary

My gallery

My Blog