Which Digital SLR?

iansk

seletar wrote:

I bought the Olympus EVolt 500 at Christmas.With the camera deal on ebay
was the addition of a telephoto lens.The camera is great and very easy to use.
It is suitable for point and click but is mainly aimed at the ex users of SLR
film cameras.The only problem that I have found with the camera is that
I cannot get Photoshop CS2 to work with the RAW Olympus orf files.So stuck
with JPG`s but that`s no great hassle.

seletar, you probably need to update ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), go to the adobe website and download the newest version. It works with my E400 which is newer than the E500, and I know of a couple of people using CS with their E500's.

Ian

o_t_e

Hi spud - just to address your chosen list for a moment I would only quibble with the panasonic for reasons summarised in this comment by dpreview.com:

"If you look at the list of pros and cons above you'll notice that the pros are mostly concerned with the camera and the cons are mostly concerned with the image, or more specifically the effect of noise and Venus III noise reduction. This sums up the FZ50 perfectly; a fantastic camera with a less than stellar sensor / processor, and way too many pixels."

I would consider the Sony A100 as an alternative - there have been many very positive reviews and the price is quite competative. Having said that I went the Nikon route - D70 then D200 - and I'm sure you'd enjoy using the D50 (which many people say takes better pictures straight out of the camera than the D70).

While I'm sure the olympus has alot to offer if you stick with either Nikon or Canon you'll benefit from having ready access to the lens of third party suppliers like sigma, tamron and tokina - at some point you will want to buy better quality lenses and it's useful to have a choice.

The bottom line is that all the DSLRs you've listed are capable of taking good photos so the best thing you could do is go into a shop and find which one you feel comfortable with in your hand.

Viz_2

I have had the Canon 400D for about 4 months now. Its my first SLR camera, i love it.

clairefun

As sunshinesam said, I too looked into DSLR's last year, did research and narrowed it down to the Nikon D50 and the Canon 350D and went to Jessops to have a play.

My most recent non digital slr purchase had been a canon and I had been perfectly happy (though had sold my spare lenses to a desperate friend as I'd not been using them for years, so lenses weren't an issue). I expected to prefer the canon, despite the nikon repeatedly coming up better in magazine reviews, but I too much preferred the feel of the Nikon, the quality felt superior. The canon felt plasticy and cheap and too light, plus didn't fit in my hands very well, it felt awkward to hold. The nikon felt like I thought it should - a bit of weight to it, and it felt right in my hand.

I've had a great deal of fun since and would have no problems recommending it to anyone, still not entirely sure I've got the hang of it yet but that's my lack of techno savvy and certainly nothing to do with the camera. feel free to take a look at my photographs here http://clairesphotos.blogspot.com/ - I'm happy with the results I've had.

Spud_2

Lovely photos Claire! Thanks for sharing them.

seletar

Re "seletar, you probably need to update ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), go to the adobe website and download the newest version. It works with my E400 which is newer than the E500, and I know of a couple of people using CS with their E500's."
I`ll give it a try this weekend.Thanks iansk

ollyk

clairefun wrote:

As sunshinesam said, I too looked into DSLR's last year, did research and narrowed it down to the Nikon D50 and the Canon 350D and went to Jessops to have a play.

My most recent non digital slr purchase had been a canon and I had been perfectly happy (though had sold my spare lenses to a desperate friend as I'd not been using them for years, so lenses weren't an issue). I expected to prefer the canon, despite the nikon repeatedly coming up better in magazine reviews, but I too much preferred the feel of the Nikon, the quality felt superior. The canon felt plasticy and cheap and too light, plus didn't fit in my hands very well, it felt awkward to hold. The nikon felt like I thought it should - a bit of weight to it, and it felt right in my hand.

I've had a great deal of fun since and would have no problems recommending it to anyone, still not entirely sure I've got the hang of it yet but that's my lack of techno savvy and certainly nothing to do with the camera. feel free to take a look at my photographs here http://clairesphotos.blogspot.com/ - I'm happy with the results I've had.

Really nice shots their Clair! What lens's do you use?
I would love an SLR I currently have a Coolpix 8700 went against all advice when I got it thinking I could do better at getting good piccies out of it but have to admit apart from build quality and functions (both very good) that it is a very poor camera. I would still look at Nikon first though! So waiting for the day I can afford an SLR.

clairefun

ollyk wrote:

Really nice shots their Clair! What lens's do you use?

Thank you - I still use the standard zoom that came with the deal I got. I've heard that it's one of their poorest lenses but just haven't been able to afford to get a new one yet - we're moving house next week so you can imagine, I'm sure. Is it 18-55mm? That sounds about right (sorry - it's not to hand for me to check). Yeah, I really did get that close to the spider (ewwww).:rotfl: Mind you I'm finally moving to a house with a garden in the sun so I'm going to be able to take many more of my favourite type of photos - close ups of plants & flowers, etc - so I'm very excited. :T So maybe I will treat myself to a new lens...

suckmaster.burstingfoam

I'm a professional photographer, and the best advice I can give you is to go with either Canon or Nikon. There is very little to choose between the brands, but Nikon sometimes have rather less megapixels, which is a factor if you intend on doing anything professional with it.

Canon are selling the most cameras, but Nikon are healthy enough that they're not about to disappear. I personally wouldn't risk any of the other brands.

nej

The Panasonic FZ50 is not an SLR, so if you want interchangable lenses and the superb speed of an SLR, avoid it. Otherwise, it's not a bad camera. I've got an FZ10 (4mp version from about 3 years back), but recently bought an EOS 400d, and the difference is staggering. Not just image quality, that's to be expected, but the handling of the thing. Just shot after shot dispatched with effortlessly.

Realistically, you will not be disappointed with either a Canon or a Nikon. Try them both out and see which one feels right in your hand.

Don't rule out the 350d in favour of the 400d though. The 400d has 2 extra MPs, a couple more auto-focus points, a bigger LCD screen and the sensor dust removal wotsit. But you might get a good deal on a 350 now.