Olympus E510 or Sony A300

[bajefier]

Hi, all

I'm a beginner photographer.

Which Camera DSLR do you recommend me? Sony A300 + 18-70mm, but I can buy an Olympus E-510 with 2 lenses cheaper...
I need photo print size 30 × 40 cm high quality.
Any advice/pointers/comments would be much appreciated.
Thank you very much in advance!

bajefier

[ditch_azeroth]

the e510 is 4/3 so it is slightly of lower quality as opposed to the a300, but i would recommend getting a kit canon 400d, 450d, or nikon d40x or d60, and buy an additional 50mm 1.8/f lens. that should be a better deal.

but if forced between the two, i'd get the sony. still, i would rather get a nikon or a canon any day.

[Slushie]

Not too sure why the "4/3 so it is slightly of lower quality".

However, it is a smaller sensor size.... So... there are differences, but I don't know if those differences are necessarily a bad thing. For example, Olympus has a x2 crop while the Sony has a x1.5, depth of field differences, etc...

Having just recently purchased an Olympus e510, I can tell you that there's quite a bit to read out there about what is available nowadays. Not having used any of the other cameras, I can't recount my experiences between cameras with larger sensors and the Olympus 4/3 system.

I can say though, that I have been very happy with my Olympus purchase (picked up the 2 lens kit)... Having played around with film for years, the deciding factor for me was that I'd have a chance to play around with two lenses (both of which are quite good for kit lenses!). Reasonably priced, and knowing that it's just a matter of time before I'd dish out more money for flashes and additional lenses... I wanted to find something priced under $1000 that I could experiment with before I really dumped a bunch of $$$ into a system that I would be stuck with in coming years. For the price, ($650US) I felt I had a system comparable to most Nikons and Canons with a nice set of lenses to experiment with before having to make a decision about what system I'd go with.

I can say that so far, I haven't been disappointed with the Olympus and am definitely going to stay with this system.

[jkb1962]

I'm on a budget and am also looking to buy a new DSLR... both cameras you mentioned are very good for the money. The Sony will use any of the Minolta auto focuse lenses that you may already have and it is packed with features.

I am going to get the Oly simply because of the price and IS in the body. Oly kit lenses are better than the Canon kits so I think it will do nicely for me, a beginner.

JKB

[frad-ster]

I have no experience with the Sony's. I did own an old Minolta SLR, but it didn't have AF or anything else fancy - it was a great camera. But like I said, no experience with the Sony DSLRs that are based on the Minolta's of old.

I own the E510 two lens kit and I am very pleased with it. It is small and lightweight, but it packs a lot of features into a comfy package. The AF is a little slow in dark scenes, but I would expect this to happen on all the DSLRs in this price range. The lenses are super clear and take very nice pictures.

I will be using it for my fine art print business that I am in process of starting. I am impressed enough, that I will probably buy the E3 when I have the cash. I could convert to a Nikon or a Cannon, but I am really impressed with the out of the box performance of the Olympus. I have heard of under/over exposure problems with the Nikons/Cannons and I just havent seen any of that with the 510.

[hagais]

First of all if you're on a budget you can get the E-510 kit with two great lenses for a little more than 600$.
Second the E-510 is smaller and weighs less. Although it's a 4/3 you can achieve with it better performance than the a300. It has a great anti dust removal. An d finding lenses will be easier.

[FotoSlinger]

Originally Posted by bajefier

Hi, all

I'm a beginner photographer.

Which Camera DSLR do you recommend me? Sony A300 + 18-70mm, but I can buy an Olympus E-510 with 2 lenses cheaper...
I need photo print size 30 × 40 cm high quality.
Any advice/pointers/comments would be much appreciated.
Thank you very much in advance!

bajefier

I just got an E-510 a few months back after my Canon 20D was stolen on vacation. I did not have the money to purchase a new Canon with the lenses I had, so I opted for the Olympus E-510 with the 2 kit lenses. I am loving this camera so far, and find it very easy to use and takes wonderful shots.

Lighter than a Canon, has more features, but does have some minor negatives compared to what I was used to with my Canon, but nothing to stop me from taking great photos.

Remember, good photographs come from a combination of a good photographer and a good camera.