??? Ok guys, and gals...I've been obsessing about upgrading to a Digital SLR for some time. Mostly because of the pictures and talk around here, I've been watching the prices of the Canon Rebel xti and dreaming. Today I saw at my local Ritz Camera store an offer for the Olympus Evolt e500 with both a 14-45mm lens and a 40-150mm lens for $599.99. Is this a good deal? It does include 2 lenses...how about the camera? I've read the reviews at Steve's Digicams and dpreview.com and compared to the Canon Rebel xt, it seems like a good starter camera. The both "highly recommend" it. I haven't had an SLR since college so I'm "relearning" everything. Thanks!! Catherine
I don't know much about the Olympus pricing. Have you tried to price the cost of the body plus the cost of those two lenses if purchased separately?
Catherine, I guess the first question would be how far do you want to go with photography? Canon, Nikon and Sony (via the Minolta line) have the largest list of lenses for their cameras, including used. Olympus has a 4/3 sensor, which is smaller than the Nikon/Canon APS-C (Rebel, all current Nikons) sensor. Smaller sensors usually mean more noise. (plus I see that ISO 800 and 1600 are considered boost, which usually means A LOT more noise) But the 4/3 sensor means they can get smaller lenses with the same capabilities as their larger cousins. Olympus also has the reputation for having the best dust removal system on the planet, and they have the only live-view SLR with autofocus. (but it's not true live view, it uses another sensor) I think one of our newest members makes a living from the Olympus system, so it can't be that bad. My gut feeling is for you to go to the store and just see how you like it. Maybe bring a compact flash card with you and get them to let you take sample pictures to bring home and compare. It's going to come down to how you like it, and how it fits in your hand, etc.
And egads, it doesn't have Live View as well. It's successor the E-510 has that, along with an image stabilizer. But the 500 does have the dust removal. Which the Rebel Xt doesn't.
:-\ Thanks for the advice...maybe I'll wait until my wallet agrees with my wants (does that ever happen??) I'm ready to move up from my point and shoot. I've been getting pretty frustrated with mine (Kodak DX7590) and I use most of the manual settings to try to get what I'm looking for. Most of my shots are either Disney World or of my daughter/family events...I generally use a camera to "record" life. While I appreciate the need for a point & shoot, there are many places/times I want more control to capture the picture that I see with my mind...know what I mean?? :
