Olympus EVOLT E-510 vs E-410 vs Nikon D40x

[Qion]

I've been researching various sub-$1,000 DSLR cameras for about a week now, and I'm really torn between the three cameras that make up this thread's title. I'm planning on offering more advanced photography services for my clients (IE architectural photography, custom portraits, etc.) that I can incoporate with the design side of my personal business. The other side of this new camera's function will be to shoot product shots for my silkscreening company.

The most I'm willing to spend right now is 800 dollars, and I'd very much prefer that to cover a lens kit as well. These all seem like great cameras, and I'm leaning towards the E-510, but I'd really like some unbiased opinions.

[hawki18]

I shoot with a Nikon D80 and love it. I bought it about 6 months ago spent 1200 bucks but that included a 18-135mm Nikor lens and 2 rechargable batteries and a 5 year extended warranty. There is great site call streetprices.com that is how I got such a good deal. You do a search by brand model ect and it will list different stores and best price. I think you really would like the d40x good 10mb camera.

[symphonix]

I'd recommend the Nikon over the Olympus as you will find a larger range and easier availability of lenses, flashes and other accessories.

I've used one of the Olympus D-SLR's (can't remember which one it was) and while the image quality was good (and it had a very good ISO range) the overall feel of the camera seemed very cheap: awkwardly positioned controls, a poor LCD screen and only 8 compatible lenses on the market at the time really put me off it.

This may have changed since then, but I'd still stick with Nikon or Canon for the availability of accessories, or Pentax which has about 25 years worth of backward compatibility on its lenses and make really sweet DSLRs.

[Qion]

Thank you symphonix and hawki18.

I'm going down to Sunny Schick (only pro camera shop in lovely Fort Wayne) to try out a D40x, D80, and an E-510. I'm tired of purchasing online; I want to see, hear, and touch something I'm putting nearly a grand into. I think that I will ultimately decide on what "feels" right. At this point, I believe that it's petty to argue between which camera is better or worse: everyone has their own preference (obviously, opinions still matter, and I'm not discounting the point of this post at all!). All of these cameras are so good that you'd be hard pressed to find a difference in image quality using the same optics, so might as well get the one that makes ME happy!

(Besides all that, it's not the camera that takes a good picture; it's the photographer.)

[Qion]

I ended up buying the Nikon D40 with the 18-55mm kit lens. It's really an amazing camera, and it's a joy to work with. Switching between full-auto and full-manual is intuitive and easy, controls are in the right places, the body feels solid and well balanced... oh, and the lack of a top LED panel is actually an improvement.

As soon as one gets past the "entry-level DSLR" crap, one realizes that the D40 is actually a D200 on a diet.

First picture taken:



Shutter: 1/60
Aperture: f8
Length: 38mm
ISO Speed: 1600

(3x crop taken from 6MP JPEG)

[hawki18]

I think you made a good choice I been thinking about getting a d40x as back up camera. good pic and good luck with the new camera.