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[OM] Fwd: [Nikon-D70] Re: D70S vs Olympus E-500

Subject: [OM] Fwd: [Nikon-D70] Re: D70S vs Olympus E-500
From: Jez Cunningham <jez.cunningham@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2005 17:19:25 +0100
Interesting comparison from another mailing list (with a slight bias to,
perhaps, N*kon:-)
Jez

---------- Forwarded message ----------
> I have a Nikon film SLR (N80) and want to
> make the move to a digital SLR. I saw the E500 last weekend and it was
> impressive but so is the D70S. Anyone else worked through or had
> experience with the pro's and con's of both systems?

Your lenses would of course be immediately usable on the D70s, albeit
with a reduction in wide-angle field of view due to the D70s's 1.5x
cropping factor. As far as flash compatibility goes, only the newer
flash units like the Nikon SB-800 and SB-600 are fully compatible with
the D70s's i-TTL flash system. Older flash units (e.g. SB-28, SB-80, and
SB-80DX) would only be able to be used in their non-TTL auto flash modes
(using the light sensor in the flash unit).

By coincidence, I was having a look at the E-500 just yesterday. It
seems like a nice camera in terms of its build quality. The Olympus Four
Thirds System seems to be quite well thought out, and has a small but
growing range of lenses of high optical quality, as well as the usual
lower-cost lenses.

Because of the 2.0x cropping factor on the E-500 compared to a 35mm film
camera such as your N80, there are some weight savings to be gained when
using zoom lenses at the telephoto end. For example, a 200mm lens on the
E-500 will have a field of view equivalent to that of a 400mm lens on a
35mm film camera. In comparison, a 200mm lens on the D70s will have a
field of view equivalent to that of a 300mm lens on a 35mm film camera.

The following lenses in the Olympus range would be expected to be
excellent performers. However, there are no VR lenses.

  a) 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 (28-108mm equiv.) USD$500
  b) 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 (100-400mm equiv.) USD$900
  c) 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 (80-300mm equiv.) USD$280
  d) 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 (22-44mm equiv.) USD$800
  e) 35-100mm f/2 (70-200mm equiv.) USD$????
  f) 7-14mm f/4 (14-28mm equiv.) USD$1675
  g) 18-180mm f/3.5-6.3 (36-360mm equiv.) USD$500

In the Nikon system the (approximately) equivalent lenses would be:

  a) 17-55mm f/2.8 USD$1250 or 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 USD$340
  b) ???
  c) 70-200mm f/2.8 VR (135-300mm equiv.) USD$1480
  d) 12-24mm f/4 (18-36mm equiv.) USD$920
  e) 70-200mm f/2.8 VR  (135-300mm equiv.) USD$1480
  f) 12-24mm f/4 (partially) (18-36mm equiv.) USD$920
  g) 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR (28-300mm equiv.) USD$800 (estimated)

In the Nikon lens system, there will soon be available an 18-200mm
f/3.5-5.6 VR lens (28-300mm equiv.). This would make an excellent
walkaround lens that would cover a lot of typical shooting situations.
It seems like quite a handy lens, and hopefully its optical quality will
be quite good.

The E-500 is an 8 MP camera, versus the D70s's 6 MP sensor. Resolution-
wise, that isn't really a big difference. However, the size of the
photosites in the E-500 is much smaller than those of the D70s. The
reason for this is two-fold: i) the E-500's sensor has 33% more
megapixels, and ii) the E-500's sensor is only about 62% of the size of
the one in the D70s. Taken together, this means that the photosites on
the E-500 are about half the size of those in the D70s. Assuming that
the sensor technology is similar, this means that the noise performance
of the E-500 at a given ISO will be poorer than that of the D70s (by
approximately 1 stop). This may be a problem if you wish to do high-ISO
shooting at ISO 800 and above.

The Olympus Four Thirds System uses a small sensor with a 2.0x crop
factor. This means that you will be getting two stops worth more depth
of field with an E-500 at any given aperture compared to the N80. This
means that you will lose some of the ability to blur the background for
creative purposes. The D70s is also similarly affected, but because its
crop factor is only 1.5x, this means that the D70 has only about an
extra stops worth of depth of field compared to your N80. In some ways,
this is a better compromise, as you still gain the benefit of the 1.5x
crop factor at the telephoto end of the range.

Overall, I would go with the D70s for the following reasons:

  a) better high-ISO noise performance
  b) better flash system (including wireless multiple flash)
  c) generally better ability to control depth-of-field
     creatively because of the 1.5x crop factor
  d) larger image buffer for burst shooting
  e) availability of 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens (28-300mm equiv.)
  f) availability of 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens (135-300mm equiv.)
  g) autofocus performance might be better (as AF-S lenses
     are available)

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