Olmpus E-300 or Canon 350D?

[cnyee74]

Hi, plan to upgrade to DSLR but dunno which one to choose need advice.

 

[obewan]

Hi, plan to upgrade to DSLR but dunno which one to choose need advice.

Hi Cnyee74,

Here is just my personal opinion of these 2 DSLR. Both are very good DSLR.
The Olympus E-300 is selling at a slightly cheaper price than the Canon 350D.
My advice is go for the Canon 350D if you can pay a little more money.
Do consider the Nikon D50 or D70s too. There are many dark side photogs here. :bsmilie:

I had a friend who got an Olympus E-300, and he regretted. Not because that this is a poor camera. But the Zuiko lens don't come cheap. The choices of lens are also more limited compare to Canon. It is also more difficult for him to source for 2nd hand lens. You can take a look at the B&S forum yourself.

For DSLR, you can't go wrong with a Nikon and Canon. Other brands users please don't :flame: me. Haha :sweat:

 

[blow]

E300 - ideal for travelling - go for the package deal with tele len. Good len & camera. Macro, Portrait, landscape.

350D - Don't bother. Go for 20D instead. Bundled len is suck. More like a toy camera. I don't expect u to mount it with a L len.

Eventually, you must know your interest. Try the cameras & decide.

 

[wind30]

agreed if you intend to get 2nd hand lens, ONLY buy Canon and Nikon.

If you don't trade lens, then olympus or the upcoming minolta 5D (if you can wait) is valid alternatives.

 

[nemesis32]

Whether u buy E300, 350d or D70s etc, prices and specs wise is quite similar.

Impt is what system are u using now? I assume you using a SLR now... so if you have canon lenses, buy 350d, if nikon, buy D70s.

For oly... i think if you dun have any lenses or use any nikon/canon system, it's worth buying. Why? simply because the lenses are good and very light. As a amateur photogs, it will be helpful as higher chance of you shooting if it's not too heavy to lug around.

 

[Wai]

350D - Don't bother. Go for 20D instead. Bundled len is suck. More like a toy camera. I don't expect u to mount it with a L len.

well, if you dont like the bundled lens, can still sell away since they dont worth much anyway. i wont judge the camera based on bundled lens if i were you. the beauty of SLR is the interchangable lens, so if you dont like the bundled lens, u can easily get a better one. however if you buy the wrong camera body, you will be stucked there because it is more expensive to change the body.

when you add the battery grip to the 350D, actually D70 feel more like toys ;p

 

[bwilly]

I am using 350D, never regret.
Was ponder among oly, canon n nikon.

 

[A-Von]

E300 - ideal for travelling - go for the package deal with tele len. Good len & camera. Macro, Portrait, landscape.

350D - Don't bother. Go for 20D instead. Bundled len is suck. More like a toy camera. I don't expect u to mount it with a L len.

Eventually, you must know your interest. Try the cameras & decide.

judging from wat u said u must either be a E300 user or 350d failed upon u before.. :bsmilie:

 

[sidder]

E300 - ideal for travelling - go for the package deal with tele len. Good len & camera. Macro, Portrait, landscape.

350D - Don't bother. Go for 20D instead. Bundled len is suck. More like a toy camera. I don't expect u to mount it with a L len.

Eventually, you must know your interest. Try the cameras & decide.

I beg to differ that the 350D package is pointless. Its an entry DSLR and u cannot compare it to a 10D or 20D. the most u can compare is the similarities of the functions both bodies offer. eg, 350D has digic 2, ETTL II.
in any case, i think get a DSLR body that suits your needs or suit your style of photography.

Back to your topic, i think the oly offers quite a wholesome package with the zoom lens and its lens kit. True enough the lens selection is very limited. but hey if it caters to your style, why not. 350D again like others have mentioned offer lens from the low end to the high end. 4/3 is another issue altogether which also hsould be considered.

I was also like u was banging my buck on 350D or E-300, but since i like night photog and street photog, i needed a range of lenses both WA and Tele to feed my photog needs. Thus i chose the 350D. although the start up cost is 200-300 dollars more.

in the end is show your style and pictures not your equipment.

 

[JimmyH]

The kit lens that comes with canon 300/350D is actually quite useful. Maybe mine is a particularly good one but I got some very good photos from it. The reason why it gets a bad rep from people is because of the plastic look and weight. But this lens delivers pretty good resolution. The 18mm wide angle and the size/weight are another plus for me.

 

[sidder]

i agree 350D has shortcomings. and might be a failure to some users. but to me i feel that 350D is my dream camera.
Wide range of canon lense+3rd party types
Digic 2 for cleaner images and faster continuous shooting.
ETTL II making 580EX a very potent flash unit on my camera.
battery grip bought for a discounted price.
free gifts by canon
good service at Canon Harbour Front and DMH.

It has REALLY brought me deeper into the world of photography and best of all the huge number of Canongraphers in CS whom i can ask questions.

 

[sulhan]

Hi, plan to upgrade to DSLR but dunno which one to choose need advice.

Hiee...

Do consider the minolta Dynax 5D.....
with anti-shake......and new DT lens......that will get you very-very far!!!!

rgds,
sulhan

 

[taiwanapurasteve]

Hi Cnyee74,

For DSLR, you can't go wrong with a Nikon and Canon. Other brands users please don't :flame: me. Haha :sweat:

No flames here. :sweat: I completely agree with this. Both offer great DSLR's. Budget wise, 2nd hand gear is close to this:

300D under $1K
D70 ~1.2K
10D ~1.4K
350D ~1.6K
20D ~2.4K

Of course there is some variance in the prices depending on the accessories, but that's roughly what I've seen on the CS forums.

Good luck. :thumbsup:

 

[Merciless_Knight]

No flames here. :sweat: I completely agree with this. Both offer great DSLR's. Budget wise, 2nd hand gear is close to this:

300D under $1K
D70 ~1.2K
10D ~1.4K
350D ~1.6K
20D ~2.4K

Of course there is some variance in the prices depending on the accessories, but that's roughly what I've seen on the CS forums.

Good luck. :thumbsup:

Hi cnyee74,

Do U know why Oly User dun sell U their E-300 on Ur WTB thread?

 

[n0d3]

E300 - ideal for travelling - go for the package deal with tele len. Good len & camera. Macro, Portrait, landscape.

350D - Don't bother. Go for 20D instead. Bundled len is suck. More like a toy camera. I don't expect u to mount it with a L len.

Eventually, you must know your interest. Try the cameras & decide.

The kit lens is a great lens and not as "sucky" as some people claim it to be. Its pretty sharp at f/8 and I've seen many great photos taken with the kit lens. And you can't just judge the camera from the lens it was bundled with. The beauty of SLRs, like Wai said is the ability to interchange lenses.

 

[Thermalcoil]

The kit lens is a great lens and not as "sucky" as some people claim it to be. Its pretty sharp at f/8 and I've seen many great photos taken with the kit lens. And can't just judge the camera from the lens it was bundled with. The beauty of SLRs, like Wai said is the ability to interchange lenses.

i have to agree with whats stated above. though myself is also new, I have seen pretty good photo from the 350D kit lens...i guess its really the perception people have that its cheap and plastic...

just sharing my thoughts though....

 

[hammer_400]

hehe....my 2 cents----> e300
the two lens kit is :thumbsup: ...
and covers most needs.... thier other lenses though dear are
comparatively priced with C and N ...
not to mention thier current range of lenses provides many options
that are unavailable on other brands...
fisheye/7-14mm/11-22 F2.8 etc...

 

[dRebelXT]

Nobody mentioned the ISO noise in E300 leh? You may go to Steves Digicam and
see how E300's ISO noise performance with 350D. ISO noise comes into play when
you shoot in low light or you shoot high speed objects.

 

[bwilly]

Nobody mentioned the ISO noise in E300 leh? You may go to Steves Digicam and
see how E300's ISO noise performance with 350D. ISO noise comes into play when
you shoot in low light or you shoot high speed objects.

E300 suppose to have ISO400 only nia..
extended boast to 1600.. hence at any level
above 400, very bad noise level.

 

[tomcat]

Check out the ISO 1600 images from the E300 posted by fellow CS forumer in this thread:

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=136933&page=1&pp=20

Looks OK to me.