Important question about a camera

[hiss srq]

Well My birthday is Friday and my mom and dad kep asking me about cameras and stuf and I noticed a order book laying around the house the other day. Well today my dad pretty randomly came up to me and was asking me about which camera is better the Digital Rebel or the Olympus Evolt E500. Now Obviously it is the Cannon but how good really is the Evolt what info can you give me on it. Thanks folks and what lense would be comparareable to the 100-400L with that camera

[moose135]

A couple of detailed reviews of the E500:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/O ... y_e500.asp (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Olympus/oly_e500.asp)
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/e500-review/

I don't know who (if anyone) is making lenses for these cameras (Tamron, Sigma, etc.) but looking at the Olympus website, there isn't much listed that will be useful for aviation photography. The longest zoom I saw was a 90-250mm (they also have a 300mm prime) Both are in their "top pro" line, and open to f2.8 in full zoom range (similar to the Canon 70-200 f2.8 ) so I would imagine they are a bit pricey. Other than that, I didn't see anything longer than a 200mm zoom. Unless you want to get involved with teleconverters, that's not much, especially around NYC.

Given the choice of the two, I would pick the Canon. There are enough of us here using them, and I (and others) will attest to the quality of Canon lenses. In fact, as an entry level camera, I would recommend getting an inexpensive Canon body (you can probably get the XT - 350D at a discount now) get some good glass when you can, and then move up to a better body when you are ready.

[nwafan20]

Go with the Canon, I was looking at the Evolt E500 for a while, it really isn't worth it.

[SP-LPB]

Canon all the way, no-brainer really. Go for the 400D (Digigtal Rebel XTi) $699 for the black body, silver creeps me out.

400D Review (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0608/06082416canoneos400drebelxti.asp#cleaningvideo)

[nwafan20]

Where did you find the black body for $699? B&H has it for like $750.

I hate the silver bodies, I am lookng for a black XTi. Hopefully I will get it in January (I should have a bit over $1,000 by then. So I am going to get the body, the 28-105 F3.5-4.5 II USM, a 2 gig card, a new tripod, and a nice case for it. Hopefully)

[SP-LPB]

Amazon has them for that price.