Lens Kit Olympus

Lens Kit Olympus

Olympus e520 or Canon 1000d (xs)?

Which should I buy. The Olympus has better features for the money, built in image stabilization, and, from what I hear, a superior kit lens. But the Canon has more lenses that it is compatible with. What do you think? Also, has anyone tried the Olympus OM lenses on an Olympus DSLR (with an adapter of course)? Does it work well? Are the pictures sharp? (I already know that it would be manual only) Thanks
Does a smaller sensor make a difference at this level? Are there any specific advantages in the Canon crop sensor over the olympus 4/3 sensor?

I personnaly prefer Olympus. You get much more for less money, resulting in a better value overall. Olympus cameras like the E-520 (and E-510 which I own) allow users to select many different presets for scenes or to make manual control, including full manual. The Digital Zuicko lenses were designed form the ground up for digital photography. As such, they have been hailed by several as being superior lenses. Nikon and Canon use adapted film lenses which does allow for older lenses to be used. Yes, you can use an adapter for the OM lenses on the new cameras. They work fine, though I do find the quality of the new lenses to be better. All of my OM lenses were manual anyway, so that was a non-issue for me.

The reason Nikon and others use image stabilization in the lenses dates to their film lenses. Nikon and Canon had image stabilized lenses first for film cameras. As a result, they continue the trend. It also means they can charge significantly more for those lenses. Olympus and other companies put the IS in the camera, and it works with any lens, even lenses that require an adapter. You simply select the focal length and there you go. As for which is better, neither is. It has been shown by too many unbiased sources that both types of IS are too close to call a winner. Personally, I like it in the camera.

The sensor size issue is overdone, it does not make that much of a difference. The biggest down side of a smaller sensor is more noise at really high ISO. I am talking well above 1200. A benefit is that Olympus is the leader in noise reduction technology. Look at some comparisons at dpreview.com. I personally don't have an image, including night shots and cave shots, that went over 800 ISO, so there is plenty of room to dial it up further. I know people with Nikons, Canons, and other brands. They are always impressed by the quality of my images. They, too, bought into the size difference. Once they say how the quality did not suffer, they were apologetic.

Olympus also makes some of the fastest writing cameras on the market, as well as the smallest and lightest. I was on a long tour and having a smaller, lighter camera was a definite advantage. Less fatigue, especially if use live view.

One advantage of the 2X crop factor in Olympus cameras is for wildlife photography. That's a major reason Professional Photographer Mitsuaki Iwago, who has been on the cover of National Geographic, chose Olympus. It gets you closer to your subject. In wildlife photography, that's a plus.

Pulitzer Prize winner Jay Dickman also chose Olympus. NASA also chose the Olympus E-1 for an official space mission. As you can see, professionals find the quality of Olympus perfectly fine for their careers.