Which Digital SLR should I get?

Question

I'm looking to buy an "entry level" DSLR. My budget is currently about 500 bucks.

I've found 2 that look nice - the Nikon d40, and the Olympus e-510. Both are available on Newegg in my price range.

Should I go for one of these? Do you have any other suggestions?

Answer 1

I like the Nikon one. And yea, Newegg is great for saving money on your purchase. The Nikon would serve you well for a long time.

Answer 2

I've had my Olympus e-500 for several years. I am still in love with it simply because I've never had any trouble with it and it has given me thousands of incredible shots.

I don't have any experience with Nikon, but I've heard good things about them.

Of course I'm going to recommend the Olympus. It's a great camera.

Answer 3

Both of those are nice cameras but I think you would be smart to get the Nikon.  Reason?  Nikon has an upstanding reputation.   If you will scroll through 20-30 pages of these questions you will find dozens of Nikon users that love their cameras and are recommending Nikon to all that ask.   My daughter and I really do have an extensive collection of cameras... actually, way too many,  but both our Nikon and Canon cameras have not really given us any trouble.  They have not failed...  been easy to operate and relatively user friendly.    I don't like to wade through those user manuals and have been able to start up shooting quite quickly anyway by just using a little common sense.   I have known friends that bought the Olympus DSLR and liked them as well as the customer service,  but I have no experience with the SLRS.   The small point and shoots( C-5050, an older model) , however, are the right size for my purse and have taken great pictures.  Hope that I could have been some help.

Answer 4

Since you're shopping, you may as well look at what Sony and Pentax have to offer.

The Sony A200 & A300 are both 10.2mp cameras. The A300 has Live View that works with the auto focus. There are 26 branded lenses in the Sony catalog and there is a Carl Zeiss T* line of lenses plus you can use every legacy Minolta Maxxum AF lens made since 1985. Sony has its version of image stabilization in the camera body so any lems used will have that benefit.

The Pentax K200D is also 10.2mp and has a weather sealed body. Since it uses the venerable K-mount introduced in 1975, every manual focus and auto focus K-mount lens ever made will mount to it. Pentax also has its version of image stabilization in the camera body.

Unless you have experience with an older film SLR there is no way to avoid devoting a lot of time to really READ & STUDY the Owner's Manual for whatever camera you buy.

Taking a few classes in photography will also be of immense benefit.