Olympus E-20N -- is it over priced?

[MDutra]

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra US$900.

Any body can comment on that?
--Mauro Dutra

 

[Andrew Grant27981]

Yes the E-10 is overpriced. The new D60 will cost around $2200. If you wait a month or so you could pick up a used D30 for less than $1500. Either cmaera would be much better than those you have listed.

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera
to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all
features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus
E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think
it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the
competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to
judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra
US$900.

Any body can comment on that?

--
Mauro Dutra

 

[bartP]

You want to know about the E-20, but several owners agree that in terms of image quality the E-20 is hardly better than the E-10, where the E-10 writes files faster. (You can see a comparison in image quality at http://www.belgiumdigital.com Both cameras produce noise shooting Jpegs and Tiffs. The big advantage of the cheaper E-10 is that is can benefit from a great orf plug in made by the same person who made ORF suite. It won't work with an E-20. With this plug in the E-10 produces a very clean image, I would say better than an E-20 would produce with the Olympus plug in.

The downside of an E is that the chip is so small, that you will miss a shallow depth of field if you are into that.

From the cameras you named, I would go for the E-10 system. It feels like a real camera and the real viewfinder is very pleasant.

But compared to for example a D1, an E-10 is very slow. And no comparison in focussing, but then, a D1, even second hand, is another league. You could also consider buying an E-10 second hand.

Good luck!

Bart

 

[E. Blues]

Olympus E-20N -- is it over priced?

Way.--Just my opinion, and you know what opinions are like. Everybody has one.EB

 

[Michael Cotellessa]

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera
to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all
features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus
E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think
it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the
competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to
judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra
US$900.

Any body can comment on that?

--
Mauro Dutra

Go to camera world.com they have it for 1,700 or the e-10 is for 1,200

 

[jk]

the d60 will cost around 2000 dollars check b&h website

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera
to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all
features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus
E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think
it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the
competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to
judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra
US$900.

Any body can comment on that?

--
Mauro Dutra

--beam me up scottyim giving it all shes got captain

 

[Pops59659]

I just bought the E-10 but not because I thought the E-20 was overpriced I just thought the E-10 was the smarter purchase and I couldn't afford the E-20. Overpriced is a matter of opinion if you think it's too much then don't buy it but why post a thread asking if it is overpriced? Do what most of us do, research, research, research and reviews look and test and then ask pertinent questions that are not inflamatory then you won't have to listen to all of the salesmen's pitching their choice and you will end up better off hopefully.
Pops

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera
to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all
features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus
E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think
it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the
competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to
judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra
US$900.

Any body can comment on that?

--
Mauro Dutra

 

[DocH]

Depends on what you pay for it....;-)

Doc H.

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera
to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all
features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus
E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think
it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the
competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to
judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra
US$900.

Any body can comment on that?

--
Mauro Dutra

 

[David M.]

Moot point on the D60.

If you don't already have a good lens for it then plan on adding another grand to that total, bringing the realistic price of a D60 up to around 3,000$.

That's more than a grand more than an E20, and more than likely with a slower lens as well.

The price comparisons between the D60 and Oly Exx's are getting silly. Noone seems to take into account the glass.
D.

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera
to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all
features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus
E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think
it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the
competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to
judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra
US$900.

Any body can comment on that?

--
Mauro Dutra

--
beam me up scotty

im giving it all shes got captain

 

[kingdon hawes]

Bart P wrote:

"The big advantage of the cheaper E-10 is that is can benefit from a great orf plug in made by the same person who made ORF suite"....."With this plug in the E-10 produces a very clean image, I would say better than an E-20 would produce with the Olympus plug in."==============================Bart, I just bought an E-10 and would like to know more about this "orf plug in" you mention. What is an "orf plug in" and how does one get one to reduce noise ? PS: I'm not computer savvy. Thanks,KH--KH

 

[Digital Xtreme Photography]

If your loking for the best buy of your choices the EXX series olympus is your best bet.I've shot an e-10 side by side with the 7o7 and the e-10 produced more true to color images.not to mention the ttl view finder or the great glass. I've produced 20x24 out of studio and 11x14 sport shots from my E-10 with noise not being much of an issue.But the camera does suffer from shutter lag and the write time horrible. I didn't think so til I purchased my D1X, but that is a different beast in a way different league.

Just an opinion..

Paul
DXP

 

[David M.]

Paul:
Good post. I must concur with everything you mentioned.

The one thing I just don't understand though, is how anyone can say the Exx's are overpriced at less than 1,800$ for the E20 yet 6,000$ is NOT overpriced for a D1x!!! I don't mean this as a flame or anything, but for 6 grand the cam better take me out to dinner at night and clean the house as well! I understand it's a different league and a professional tool, but let's face it....ALL the high end pro model DSLR's are way overpriced for the time being.
D.

If your loking for the best buy of your choices the EXX series
olympus is your best bet.I've shot an e-10 side by side with the
7o7 and the e-10 produced more true to color images.not to mention
the ttl view finder or the great glass. I've produced 20x24 out of
studio and 11x14 sport shots from my E-10 with noise not being much
of an issue.But the camera does suffer from shutter lag and the
write time horrible. I didn't think so til I purchased my D1X, but
that is a different beast in a way different league.

Just an opinion..

Paul
DXP

 

[David M.]

KH:

An "ORF" plug-in is for opening and manipulating RAW files. You cannot view or otherwise use RAW without having this plug-in. Olympus offers the Photoshop plug-in for free from thier website.

Reducing noise can be achieved with different methods. Since your E10 does not have a built-in noise reduction feature for slow shutter speeds as the E20 has, you can use various Photoshop "actions" as well for this purpose. Many are available for purchase, just run a search on the Oly SLR forum for ones you can use.

Shooting in RAW with the Oly PS6 ORF plug-in by itself is the best mode for reducing overall noise and ensuring highest quality images.
Hope this helps,
D.

Bart P wrote:

"The big advantage of the cheaper E-10 is that is can

benefit from a great orf plug in made by the same person who made
ORF suite"....."With this plug in the E-10 produces a very clean
image, I would say better than an E-20 would produce with the
Olympus plug in."==============================Bart, I just
bought an E-10 and would like to know more about this "orf plug in"
you mention. What is an "orf plug in" and how does one get one to
reduce noise ? PS: I'm not computer savvy. Thanks,KH
--
KH

 

[Michael Long]

When the D30 was $2995, the E20 had a nice price point haflway between it and the more expensive $1000 P&S's.

Now, with the upcomming release of the D60, D100, et. al.. at the $2000 price point, the E20 is, in my opinion, now way over-priced.

If you really want the E20, I'd hold off a bit as I would expect it to drop down into the $1500 range in the VERY near future.

 

[David M.]

Yes, the D60 and D100 are at the 2,000$ price point. WITHOUT a lens!!! I don't understand why noone wants to take this into account!!

For under 1,900$, the E10/20 COMES with a very nice and fast (F/2) hunk of glass. The D60 does'nt. So......forget about the 2 grand price point. Realistically, it's 3 (unless you opt for a cheaper lens, which IMO would be pointless on such a camera).

So, there is still a 1,000$ price difference. For anyone under the level of a successful professional, that grand could make or break the budget (and several marriages to boot I might add!!)

Is this extra grand worth the incresed write times, larger buffer and relatively reduced noise levels? Certainly, for the pro. For the enthusiast however I think those limitations could be dealt with for the benefit of extra wallet padding.
D.

When the D30 was $2995, the E20 had a nice price point haflway
between it and the more expensive $1000 P&S's.

Now, with the upcomming release of the D60, D100, et. al.. at the
$2000 price point, the E20 is, in my opinion, now way over-priced.

If you really want the E20, I'd hold off a bit as I would expect it
to drop down into the $1500 range in the VERY near future.

 

[Andrew Grant27981]

So buu a $1500 D30 and a $300 lens and you will still have a much better camera than the E-20 with out spending much more money. Any Nikon or Canon lenses you do buy can be sold on Ebay for close to the prurchase price.

Many of the longterm Oly SLR forum members are selling all or most of their Oly kit to move to either the Nikon or Canon systems. D30 owners can upgraded to either the D60 or 1D with out selling anything other than the D30 itself (unless they keep it as a backup).

Yes, the D60 and D100 are at the 2,000$ price point. WITHOUT a
lens!!! I don't understand why noone wants to take this into
account!!
For under 1,900$, the E10/20 COMES with a very nice and fast (F/2)
hunk of glass. The D60 does'nt. So......forget about the 2 grand
price point. Realistically, it's 3 (unless you opt for a cheaper
lens, which IMO would be pointless on such a camera).
So, there is still a 1,000$ price difference. For anyone under the
level of a successful professional, that grand could make or break
the budget (and several marriages to boot I might add!!)
Is this extra grand worth the incresed write times, larger buffer
and relatively reduced noise levels? Certainly, for the pro. For
the enthusiast however I think those limitations could be dealt
with for the benefit of extra wallet padding.
D.

 

[glowluzid]

So buu a $1500 D30 and a $300 lens and you will still have a much
better camera than the E-20 with out spending much more money.

Heheheh. Not likely. The D30 image quality when using cheap glass doesn't quite work as well as the e20. Noise reduction works to smooth the e20 image, but you can't get resolution detail outa the d30 that wasn't there already. See the comparison linked at the site below. Also, if you're paying more than $1450 for the e20, you're not trying hard enough...--Photos, tips and tests at: http://www.geocities.com/glowluzid

 

[David Crockett]

I got my E-20 when it first came out for 1599. I got the camera, the wide angle and telephoto lens adapters, a camera bag (cheapie but useful for extras) a 250 CF card, and a 20 gig Digital wallet for 2200 including shipping (no tax).

I like the camera. Reminds me of a real camera. YES, if you got 6 g go for the Nikon. Lots like the Canon but I have read a number of comparisons that show the E-20's image quality on par with the Canon and Nikon. (Don’t kill me, I'm just telling you what I read) Serious sports photography? No, the Oly no good. Most everything else, great. As a comparison for a 5 mp prosumers camera, I have stated this a dozen times in these threads so forgive me for repeating myself, I was told by a camera sales-person that the Dimage 7 was returned very often compared to the E-10 which was rarely returned. (This was right before the E20 came out and the Dimage 7 was actually more expensive at that time than the E10)

I don’t know the specs for the new Nikon and Canon, but adding a few good lenses I believe will make the total cost about 1000 more than the E20. If you got the money and the new cameras have more and/or better features go with them, however if you have to stay in the 1500 price range then I believe, from my research, that the Oly E20 is the best camera for the coin.

My humble opinion,

David

http://cdsart.com/photography

 

[A E Hansen]

$1900 for an E-20? You will only pay that if you are not even attempting to find a deal.

I have spent the past two days researching which 5MP digital camera
to buy. After analyzing all pros & cons, also considering all
features I am looking for; I came to a decision, I want the Olympus
E-20N. The only thing that is keeping me from buying it is I think
it is over priced.

The contenders were:
Olympus E-20N
Sony DSC-F707
Nikon Coolpix 5000
Minolta DiMAGE 7

No need to say that they all have their pros & cons, but the
competitors prices are on the US$1,000 range. So, I find had to
judge if the features of the Olympus E-20 I want are worth an extra
US$900.

Any body can comment on that?

--
Mauro Dutra

---- A E Hansen

 

[bartP]

The plug in I was raving about is: http://communities.msn.com/PaulChaseDempsey

It's a whole other league than the Olympus plug in: it loads 4x faster, you can opene several files in one session and the colours are better. When you open them with gamma gamma and color balance checked, you'll at forst see a dark blueish image. That's easily corrected by tweaking the midtones and using the grey pipet in curves. What you end up is a way better, sharper and cleaner image quality than the Olympus plug in or other programs will give you, and again, better than the E-20 too.

Bart