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I'm looking to buy my first digital slr i have around £500 to spend, and my 2 choices are either the canon 450d or olympus 520, i'm slightly swayed by the olympus dust sensor and live view features as i wear specs and sometimes find it difficult looking through the viewfinder, on the other hand the images from the canon would seem to be slightly sharper and the camera is a little bit cheaper now.. which one would you choose?
you will get so many different answers to that question, and more. The best thing really, is for you to go to your local camera shop, pick them both up, handle them, try them, and see which your most comfortable with. You will have your answer.
Best of luck, have fun.
Anthony
Quote: You will get so many different answers to that question, and more. The best thing really, is for you to go to your local camera shop, pick them both up, handle them, try them, and see which your most comfortable with. You will have your answer.
Best of luck, have fun.
Anthony
Quote: Quote:You will get so many different answers to that question, and more. The best thing really, is for you to go to your local camera shop, pick them both up, handle them, try them, and see which your most comfortable with. You will have your answer.
Best of luck, have fun.
Anthony
yes thats my next step ! when i have 1 or 2 hrs to spare lol
You will know which camera is right whatever make it is.The correct one just feels natural.Hope you make the right decision.
John
If you could stretch a little above £500, the E520 twin lens kit is a very good deal, yes the canon is cheaper, it includes a single lens.
reviewed here
Quote: You will get so many different answers to that question, and more.The best thing really, is for you to go to your local camera shop, pick them both up, handle them, try them, and see which your most comfortable with.
A camera shop is your best bet, in the mean time look at this.
This should dispel a few myths
The Canon is backed by a much more extensive system, generally agreed to be the largest & finest in the world (& I'm a Nikon user!). Lenses available to you and accesories are pretty well unbeatable.
Also the Tamron, Sigma & other independant lenses for a Canon, you will struggle to get many Olympus fit independant lenses. The optical quality of Olympus / Zuiko lenses is outstanding, mind you.
Go & try & see for yourself.
As you wear spectacles you may want to look through the viewfinders first as the two camera have quite different viewfinders, with 4/3 cameras having small viewfinders. As regards Liveview, well both camera look to offer similar liveview solutions and both offer to clean the sensor.
As for dust, I have never found it to be a big issue and cleaning I found to be easy, but I must confess to not having had to clean my current camera yet and I bought it last year. In the past it was every 3 to 6 months I would clean it.
To be honest I have found liveview to be of more use than I expected, but more for tripod mounted photography. For stability the camera to the eye arrangement gives a better grip and stability I think when compared to holding it at arms length to use live view.
IS and lens range is a big difference. Canon have their low cost IS lenses, and I am told the new 18-55 IS is much better than the old version of the lens. The Olympus has in-camera IS so every lens is stabalised, but the range of lenses is smaller. A sort of heads you win, tales you loose item. If the twin lens kits fill your needs the Olympus could be a value for money buy.
If you can handle them and importantly get some photo's off them. and check out the lens system, its not just the camera body you are getting.
Neither cameras are bad, but they are different and depending on your needs one will be better than the other. I know which one of the two I would get, but I am biased. 
Quote: As you wear spectacles you may want to look through the viewfinders first as the two camera have quite different viewfinders, with 4/3 cameras having small viewfinders
What has small viewfinders John ?
Canon might be a little wider being of a 3.2 shape, yet the 4/3 are a little taller. Have you seen the difference between those of the 40D and E3, the E3`s a fair bit taller.
As for specs I wear them myself, the viewfinder`s size has never been an issue with any 4/3 camera
[link]IS and lens range is a big difference
[/quote]
Yes it is, imagine being able to fit almost any lens that has been made by most manufactures for almost all mounts in the past 30 odd years and still have IS on 4/3. Got an E3 coming and looking forward to seeing how it will perform with my lensbabies
Quote: As you wear spectacles you may want to look through the viewfinders first as the two camera have quite different viewfinders, with 4/3 cameras having small viewfinders. As regards Liveview, well both camera look to offer similar liveview solutions and both offer to clean the sensor.
As for dust, I have never found it to be a big issue and cleaning I found to be easy, but I must confess to not having had to clean my current camera yet and I bought it last year. In the past it was every 3 to 6 months I would clean it.
To be honest I have found liveview to be of more use than I expected, but more for tripod mounted photography. For stability the camera to the eye arrangement gives a better grip and stability I think when compared to holding it at arms length to use live view.
IS and lens range is a big difference. Canon have their low cost IS lenses, and I am told the new 18-55 IS is much better than the old version of the lens. The Olympus has in-camera IS so every lens is stabalised, but the range of lenses is smaller. A sort of heads you win, tales you loose item. If the twin lens kits fill your needs the Olympus could be a value for money buy.
If you can handle them and importantly get some photo's off them. and check out the lens system, its not just the camera body you are getting.
Neither cameras are bad, but they are different and depending on your needs one will be better than the other. I know which one of the two I would get, but I am biased.
well anthony was right, lots of different views, i guesss its a case of trying them both out which i intend to do.
Yes indead you will get different views, if it helps this review has elements of back to back review. you should find a review for each camera on that site, and the E520 has back to back tests of some elements of performance.
I take the comments and reviews, take note on what they say is good or bad then try the cameras for myself and sometimes these reviews or comments help me to test out the good, or not so good bits. I would not take any of them as gospel, rather as things to think about. After all you are buying a camera for you, not a generic human. Your requirements should dominate.
Then to answer Paul, the E3 improves on many of the problems of the 4/3 system but it is alos a camera that has lost the size advantage. The E520 does not have a viewfinder like the E3, and all I did was point out it may well be an issue, only the buyer can decide. It would be for me
And yes I agree the IS is different and again depending on your desires may or may not be deal breaker. Just like the size of lens range and different crop factors may swing you to one or the other.
what I do know is that not everyone will pick up the same camera and agree on what is good or bad
Canon have such a good range of affordable adds-on like flashes, remotes, etc.. etc... The camera is only a part of a system and you've got to look at your future needs, which may evolve in different ways than you think. Getting a cheap 2 lens system may prove a false economy when you have realised that you need quality lenses in 6 months and that they have become worthless. Usually, the more you spend to start with, the lower the overall investment ends up being.
as for the live view, it was kind of scoffed at when olympus introduced it on the E330, now it's being introduced by the other manufactuirers. As in the comment above, i don't find you'll use it as a replacement for the viewfinder though, more for the more awkward situations like low level, awkward angles etc. wearing specs it's just a case of getting used to the viewfinder.
Yes there's more choice of Canon and Nikon lenses, but how many do you need? 
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