Does anyone own both the E-1 and Canon 20D?

If so, please give your thoughts on both for those that may be considering purchasing either.

I am leaning heavily toward the E-1. Cameta Camera has the E-1, 14-54 and the 40-150, pllus the battery grip for about $1100--wow!

Obviously, the 14-54 has read is very high quality (in fact, may be in league to Canon L series. There are many other considerations.

I don't make a purchase like this often (LOL) and really value the feedback from this forum.

Please don't worry about getting flamed. Opinion is opinion and should be respected. I posted this in the Pro digital forum and was advised to rather post it here.

What do you use each for rather than the other. Which do you enjoy using most? Picture quality in varied conditions, frustrations with. Which is your favorite overall. I realize it's very subjective, but I'd like the feedback.

Thanks in advance..

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ddyk

You will not regret it. Thats a steal!

Hi Kevin, i had the Canon 20D and sold it within 3 months just could not get on with it. I would chose the E-1 any day like all the rest this camera is Fan-Daby- Dozy fantastic you will not regret it i have the E-300 but my biggest regret was to get rid of the E-1. Boy do i miss it regards Alan.

Get the Canon.

2 reasons.

Better resolution and much better high iso performance.

It's an old cliche, so I hate to repeat it, but if you think though why you want a DSLR in the first place and what you want to do with it, the decision becomes very easy because the two cameras you mentioned couldn't be further apart in the usage spectrum.

Good luck.

The 20d is the better camera (resolution and high ISO, and lenses to choose from) but the e-1 is a gem in its own right. At this price, get the Olympus. Theo

The E1 is better handling, lighter, better JPG straight out of the camera, water/dust protected CCD is cleaned with the sonic dust cleaner, nicer images at ISO 100 & 200 IMO.

Canon quicker startup, more lenses to choose from, but you will have to learn to clean the sensor though!, images tend to lose the highlights and the colours seem more washed out, but great at high ISO, faster focusing, more focusing points to choose from and better laid out, build quality is ok, but not as comfortable to hold as E1. canon more expensive and lenses and body are heavier than the e1

If you dont need 8meg pixels or high ISO i would go e1, if you do then maybe the canon will be better for you.

Also which image ratio is best suited to your needs 3:2 (canon) or 4:3 E1?

try them in a shop and see which feels better
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paul

Well I returned the E500 yesterday to Sam's wholesale. They have an awesome 30 day return policy. There were alot of things I liked about it, but there are two cameras that I believe I will be much happier with.

The E1 or the Canon 20D...

I have not received much feedback from anyone that has both. I realize that are very different cameras. I would really like to hear from Oly owners that also have the Canon 20D for their input.

The Canon will be more expensive in terms of a lens even remotely similar in quality to the 14-54 f/2.8-3.5 that comes with the E1, but I could initially go with a Canon 50mm 1.8 until (over time) my budget allows for other lens.

Thanks in advance....

Kevin

pfm said:

The E1 is better handling, lighter, better JPG straight out of the
camera, water/dust protected CCD is cleaned with the sonic dust
cleaner, nicer images at ISO 100 & 200 IMO.

Canon quicker startup, more lenses to choose from, but you will
have to learn to clean the sensor though!, images tend to lose the
highlights and the colours seem more washed out, but great at high
ISO, faster focusing, more focusing points to choose from and
better laid out, build quality is ok, but not as comfortable to
hold as E1. canon more expensive and lenses and body are heavier
than the e1

If you dont need 8meg pixels or high ISO i would go e1, if you do
then maybe the canon will be better for you.

Also which image ratio is best suited to your needs 3:2 (canon) or
4:3 E1?

try them in a shop and see which feels better
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paul

Click to expand...

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ddyk

Kevin, i had the 20D and in a nut shell it was a Dust magnet i never changed lines but still got Dust , Dust, and more Dust at least its one less thing to worry about with the E-1.

The E-1 is a huge bargain when you consider the pittance that they want for it now (well, in the US that is). To think that when new I paid $1799 for the body alone...well, that has me shaking my head.

I had the 20D. I subsequently sold it - not because there was anything wrong - quite to the contrary. I just wanted to focus on one system and I choose Olympus.

The 20D is an awesome camera and those gorgeous high ISO 1600 and 3200 images are unbeatable (short of full frame of course). I enjoyed the 20D and would recommend it highly and now that the 30D is out, that would be the logical way to go.

The E-1 is characterized by a superb build quality and weather sealing (superior to the 20D in this regard). One of the many lures for the E-1 is the image quality (read tonality here). But remember, this baby is 3 years old now...that's light years when talking digital photography.

Another camera that I would highly recommend is the Nikon D50 - yup, the D50. It's ISO 1600 performance is second to none, and with that model (along witht he D2X and D200), Nikon began changing the tonal signatures of their camera line. And at the price, you just cannot beat the D50. In fact, here's an untouched (meaning no noise reduction) shot of the D50 at ISO 1600 - taken this past holiday season. Shot in RAW and converted and adjusted in ACR.



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Have a great day no matter what comes your way!

Ben

Thanks for the feedback ASR. Thank is definitely something to consider. Quite frrankly, that's not something that many of avid 20D owners readily talk about. I didn't know it was that bad---especially if you rarely switched lenses!

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ddyk

Ben, it is absolutely beatiful color!

VERY impressive at 1600 iso!

I talked to two different camera salespeople that say the D50 has better "out the camera" jpeg picture quality than the D70s.

Again, I appreciate the comments Ben,

Kevin

Ben Herrmann said:

The E-1 is a huge bargain when you consider the pittance that they
want for it now (well, in the US that is). To think that when new
I paid $1799 for the body alone...well, that has me shaking my head.

I had the 20D. I subsequently sold it - not because there was
anything wrong - quite to the contrary. I just wanted to focus on
one system and I choose Olympus.

The 20D is an awesome camera and those gorgeous high ISO 1600 and
3200 images are unbeatable (short of full frame of course). I
enjoyed the 20D and would recommend it highly and now that the 30D
is out, that would be the logical way to go.

The E-1 is characterized by a superb build quality and weather
sealing (superior to the 20D in this regard). One of the many
lures for the E-1 is the image quality (read tonality here). But
remember, this baby is 3 years old now...that's light years when
talking digital photography.

Another camera that I would highly recommend is the Nikon D50 -
yup, the D50. It's ISO 1600 performance is second to none, and
with that model (along witht he D2X and D200), Nikon began changing
the tonal signatures of their camera line. And at the price, you
just cannot beat the D50. In fact, here's an untouched (meaning no
noise reduction) shot of the D50 at ISO 1600 - taken this past
holiday season. Shot in RAW and converted and adjusted in ACR.



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Have a great day no matter what comes your way!

Ben

Click to expand...

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ddyk

I just sold all my oly gear after owning the D50 and E1 side by side. I loved the E1, trust me I have some fantastic prints from it, but I found that I liked the image quality of the D50 better. I also owned a 20D and liked the E1 much better.

However, you can't go wrong with either camera.
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Most experts aren't.

I did try a D50 and a D70 at a camera store. I did not bring my CF card to compare pictures at home. I should have. I like the fact of more "options" with the D70s, BUT would I really use any of them is the question. One thing I know about myself is I go get caught up with specs.

Thanks for sharing J.

Kevin

J Stevens said:

I just sold all my oly gear after owning the D50 and E1 side by
side. I loved the E1, trust me I have some fantastic prints from
it, but I found that I liked the image quality of the D50 better.
I also owned a 20D and liked the E1 much better.

However, you can't go wrong with either camera.
--
Most experts aren't.

Click to expand...

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ddyk

Ben Herrmann said:

Another camera that I would highly recommend is the Nikon D50 -
yup, the D50.

Click to expand...

Agree 100% - I've just bought one as a backup to my main rig (I also have an E1 as Ben knows) and as far as bang for buck goes, the D50 is very top of the list (cheapest DSLR out there bar blowout E300s), the image quality from the D50 even in JPG is excellent, with RAW and Capture one i'ts phenomenal and gives the 8Mp cams (any of them) more than a run for their money.. add the cheap and extremely cheerful Nikon 28-200 and you've got a very compact, light, wide-ranging camera for little cost

D50, 28-200 @ 200



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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

I think you need to think about this carefully. They are very different. The 20D is a camera that I considered for a while. After trying it out, I was upset about its build, and then went to the1Dm2 for answers. Too big, or is it?

Ultimately I ended up with the E-1. A brilliant concept. I don't know about you, but I want a camera that does not limit my shooting potential.

With the E-1, you get a perfectly designed camera in terms of aesthetics, build, and ergonomics. You get a WB that is second to none in terms of accuracy and imo pleasing tone. You get the benefit of smaller lenses and bodies, so when you travel around, back strain is less of an issue. You do not have to worry about changing lenses in dusty environments, and more importantly, imo, you do not have to worry about being stuck somewhere with a dirty sensor. You are even relatiely immune to hot pixels. Of course, you get the vast benefits of sealing. The concept is brilliant.

This camera has drawbacks. Despite the fact that ISO noise may be blown out of proportion, the E-1 is very bad vs other DSLRs. If you want clean images 800 is the limit. For myself, I do not mind grain, therefore 1600 is usable. 3200 is usable to me if you enjoy grain, and are willing to do some NR. I generally do it lightly because i do not want to lose detail. The good news is that the E-1 is the only Olympus DSLR to maintain detail over trying to eliminate noise imo.

The focus is inferior to other DSLRs in terms of speed. Other folks will likely tell you it is fine, or slow but accurate. it is accurate, but there are many low light situations where the AF simply is unusable. Honestly, in low light, my sony 717 is better. In normal daylight the AF is fine. Low contrast items give it problems sometimes. The AF on a Nikon D50 I use is superior. On the 20D, I'll bet it is as well. FWIW I never use focus assist, so that hurts things obviously.

Image softness imo is possibly a problem with this camera. I have never had such a difficult time sharpening photos as I have with the E-1. I use the 11-22, which is generally a sharp lens, but I do not seem thus far to get results quite to my liking. Please keep in mind two factors. First, I am pretty picky about my images. Second, it is a pro DSLR so the images are designed to be itentionally soft for PP. My problem is that thus far PP still is not putting me where quite I want to be. My results get closer each day. It may very well be me. All cameras require different routines to get results.

There are other quirks. The camera resets sometimes (also has happened to others here). I think it has happened to me about two times in maybe 10K exposures/4months. The other thing that annoyed me is that the camera has also locked up maybe twice. I cleaned off my contacts and all is good since last time for both issues (maybe 2 months ago). FWIW the lcd has a slight flicker to it imo, but it is not a big deal. These are problems that are on all e-1s imo, as I have owned another one before an exchange and it had identical issues, not to mention the fact that the same things are reported here and I have seen them on others (LCD). The LCD issue may be my vision, as many folks dont seem to notice it even when I point it out. I don't notice this on the many issue other cameras I own.

It sounds like I am really encouraging you to get the Canon, but honestly I am not. The E-1 is very nice. Canon needs to be criticized for the build of the 20D. It is simply not good enough. My Sony 717 is far superior. For me it is a problem. I cannot quite get to the level of image/iso performance or AF I want with an E-1. Yet the 20D just feels poor to hold. My solution is an E-3 which does not exist. I may yet end up with a 1D or 1DSm2 or Nikon D2Hs. Keep in mind, I am not an average shooter. I want to be able to shoot anywhere with no problems, and I want my images to be perfect. I fear the camera I truly want is never coming. The pro cameras I probably should buy are big enough that they are annoying to carry I suspect.

There is a lack of wide and standard primes on Olympus, but with Canon, lenses are so big that it limits mobility. Really it is difficult to choose. Also with Olympus there is only one IS solution on the horizon, though it looks superb.

So what am I saying? I feel that the E-1 does not really compare with 20D. The E-1 is a pro camera in all senses, but with an outdated sensor and AF. The 20D is going to take technically better photos, but the E1's ergonomics and build will give you photos that might be impossible otherwise. The E-1 is kind of like Olympus' extreme camera. It really compares much more to a Canon 1D than the 20D. The E-1 is more about the process than the result. I really hope you pick which is best for you, if you have any questions, please ask. I would like to help if I can.

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Greetings, Aleksandar

28-200 G or the older 28-200 D ?

It's cack compared to a D200 or 1DS but it's just fine compared to the other Cropped cameras out there, better than the E300 - not as refined as the E1 one but bigger

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

blinky led said:

28-200 G or the older 28-200 D ?

Click to expand...

The G model in this case - they're different and have the sharpness "bias" at different ends of the zoom ..

On a 10/12Mp cam - the D model is knockout wide open from 28 to 135mm, needs F8 to keep up at 200mm - the G model is knockout wide open from 35 to 200mm, needs F4.5 at 28mm to be tack sharp edge to edge.. Both are fine on a D50 or D70 at both ends (so long as you don't get a poor copy of the G which is soft down one edge like the First one I had last year) though the D model still wins at the wide end and the G model at the long end.

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist