I need some advice. (Dial up warning)

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I have shot all of my pictures with an Olympus Stylus 1010 and another Olympus point and shoot.
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I think I am ready to graduate to an DSLR? I am partial to Olympus only for the reason that that is what I have owned. The knock on Olympus is that they are not a good low light camera. I need advice on what would be a good DSLR that is between 10 MP and 12 MP. What are your thoughts?

[Adsos Letter]

1. My thought is that these are very nice.

and I especially like #s 1, 3, & 5!

Other than that, I have no useful advice; I am a non-DSLR guy meself. :D

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8. Thanks. n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

2. These are beautiful.

Nice job on the white, which can sometimes be difficult, at least in my experience.

I have Canons, but - again - it's what I learned on. I really like my 50D for convenience. All the settings can be seen clearly on the LED screen and can be changed easily using one button. Also it has the self-cleaning sensor, which is nice. I believe the new Rebels have these same features and are somewhat less expensive.

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9. Thanks for the suggestion

And, thanks for the compliment. I looked at the Rebel XSi yesterday and I was surprised at how light it was. For some reason I have always attached some biased against the Rebel series, but I think it came from pre-digital days and comments from some people I knew. I am still in the discovery phase of buying so I will definitely keep my options open.

[alfredo]

12. A good resource

http://www.dpreview.com/

[qnr]

3. What is your interpretation of "low light"? How much shooting will you be doing

in that situation? Since you're new to SLRs, you don't have to worry about having a lot of legacy lenses, so the field is open.

Nikon is pretty well known for being the "king" of low light, though some of the newer Canon's are supposed to be challenging that.

That said, it's not entirely accurate to say that the Olympus is not a good low light camera. It can be a fine low-light camera. The four thirds sensor in the Olympus cameras is smaller than the APS and FF sensors in the cameras of other brands. This can cause some more noise at higher ISOs, but in many cases, none of the noise is obvious unless you engage in pixel peeping. And that's SOOC, if you shoot RAW (or even edit your JPEGs), you have all sorts of options for handling the noise. The newer Oly's have supposedly closed the gap significantly (with the E-30, and E-620 for example).

So granted, there are some high ISO issues, but there are also benefits with the 4/3 sensors (Olympus, Panasonic and Leica use 4/3) - it's exactly 1/2 the size of a 35mm (film) sensor. What this means is that you get a 2x equiv with your lenses. A 70-300mm is actually equivalent to a 140-600mm 35mm lens. Since the sensor is smaller, the lenses can also be made smaller. All of the 4/3 lenses are made specifically for digital, rather than being reworked film lenses. Another advantage is in-body Image Stabilization. You buy it once, with the camera body, instead of each time you buy a lens (the IS also works great with legacy 35mm lenses - you can get adapters for almost any camera's lenses for about $20, and find great buys on eBay and in pawn shops on old glass). Oly is pretty good at innovations, for example, dSLR Live View and Sensor Cleaning originated with them.

Also, don't forget to look into Sony (previously Konica & Minolta, which merged and then the technology went to Sony), and Pentax - even Sigma, a company mostly known as a third party lens manufacturer, now sells a dSLR. You might also want to look into the new breed of micro 4/3 cameras like the Olympus E-P1 (Pen) and Panasonic GH-1 - they're basically dSLRs, but without an Optical Viewfinder and a mirror - quite compact.

Anyway, wonderful photos - I think you'd really enjoy a jump to a dSLR.

Edit: Here are some Low Light/High ISO Oly photos: http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=high%20iso&w=10349025%40N00&m=pool

[alfredo]

5. Lumix (Panasonic) GF1

Lumix GF1 is also a micro 4/3. Unlike the Olympus EP-1, it has a flash, but the EP-1 is a beautiful machine. A classic.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicGF1/




I'm a long time Canon user. They have never failed me. I currently have the Canon G10. I like it. I would have gone DSLR, but I have some physical issues that make viewfinder cameras the best option.



The Olympus EP-1

[qnr]

6. Yeah, the EVF and Flash attach to the hotshoe. Supposedly, the E-P2 will have a built

in flash and EVF (electronic viewfinder) - but that's just a rumor from a reputable source.

Edit: typo - also... Yes, I was always a Canon fan in my SLR days. (Not that I'm anti-Canon now, I just happen to really appreciate 4/3). Had a Canon A-1 & AE-1, and an Olympus OM-2N & OM-4T. Panasonic has treated me well too, I've owned two of their Lumix bridge cameras, a DMC-FZ7 and DMC-FZ28 and thoroughly enjoyed (and physically abused) them both, and they held up well.

[alfredo]

7. I heard that too. I would be nice to have a built in that can

be swiveled.

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10. Thank you for the info

I am definitely looking forward to the jump to DSLR. You have given me info that makes me realize just how much I still need to learn. (which is a good thing) I will definitely have to research, learn and play with the manual settings on my camera more, so that I have a firmer understanding of what I have in my hands before I buy it. The link was very helpful.

[HappyCynic]

4. Fantastic shots!

Warning: long winded reply...
I don't know much about the different brands of DSLR cameras but I think I can give you some general advice or at least some things to think about before you make a purchase. As an owner of a Sony A330, I don't even have one of the most popular brands (Nikon and Canon). Others will be able to give you more detailed advice.
The first thing to think about is how far you want to take it. Some people say that you're not really buying a camera, you're buying a system. Once you start investing in lenses, flashes, and other accessories, you're pretty much locked in - switching to a different brand probably means none of your equipment is compatible. So, the first question you have to ask yourself is how much you plan to invest.
If you don't plan to invest much at all, then it's pretty wide open. Most entry level perform equally well, although each will have their advantages and disadvantages that you'll have to research a bit to see what fits your needs the best. You may want to seriously consider used or older models, as they'll give you the best bang for the buck. Also look into how easily and cheaply you can get used lenses that are compatible.
If you plan to invest a bit, then you'll probably want to do research not just on the camera itself, but on all the different lenses and other accessories. You should probably look at reviews, prices, and availability (new and/or used).
If you think you may eventually have a heavy investment in your camera, you'll need to heavily research the various product lines.

Once you've decided (or roughly decided) how far you want to take it, you'll want to look at the cameras in terms of their various trade-offs. For example, the Sony line is more friendly to new users in terms of the user interface, has in-body stabilization, and also has one of, if not the best, live view system (view through the LCD screen instead of the viewfinder) of the major brands. However, it has some limitations that more serious photographers would find hard to ignore (like the lack of an auto-exposure lock button and fewer new lenses, although it is compatible with the older Minolta lenses).

Once you have an idea of what you want in a camera, it's time to go to the camera shop and try out numerous cameras. When testing, don't forget to check how the cameras feel in your hand. If possible, just hold it and walk around the store for a couple minutes (or just hold it by your side if you think they'd object to you walking around with it). This is to test how comfortable it is when holding it for a while and also to see if you're likely to accidentally press/activate any buttons, dials, or other controls. It should also give you an idea of whether it's too heavy.

One final note: the low light performance of the DSLRs is primarily dependent on the lens aperture (most zoom lenses will give you something close to 3.5 - 5.6 as the most open and some fixed focal length lenses will give you 1.4 or 1.7) and the auto-focus speed (numerous auto-focus systems will "hunt" a lot more in low light conditions). I haven't done any research to see how well the Olympus DSLRs perform in low light conditions.

After all that, you should have a much better idea of what camera is right for you.

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11. Thank you for taking the time

for the long winded reply. :) I am really looking at this as an investment. I find myself somewhere between obsession and hobby, more towards obsession. I am a nature child, and my Wife and I are not planning on having kids, so I have lots of time on my hands. (probably too much info) I will be using whatever I buy for taking pictures of nature while on hikes, and expand from there. Whatever system I buy into, I will be working towards a more weatherproof camera. I eventually want to be out in all weather conditions, documenting the beauty of our planet. Also, thank you for the very nice compliment.

Cheers
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