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Hi, I'm a little bit confused about models and brand, please could you help me choosing my first DSLR?

I'd like a compact and versatile DSLR to bring always with me and working well also in low light levels, like indoor shots or street photography.

I also have some old MF Nikkor lenses, especially the 50mm F1.8 and 105mm F2.5, that I was using a lot with Nikon FE camera, could they be usefull on DSLR?

Thank you!

You can use them on Nikon bodies (D7000 and better for full functionality) or on any body lower without metering or the same goes by using an adapter on other brand bodies. If you really look for compact, did you look at the mirrorless bodies?

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- Wout -
Nikon D80 with 18-70 DX, 70-300 VR, 35 1.8 DX
Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with 488RC0 midi ballhead
Lowepro CompuRover AW and Nova 200 AW

I think your old Nikkors will be manual focus only on anything smaller than a D7000.

You should look at EVIL/mirrorless cameras such as Olypus PEN, Panasonic G-series if you want something small and discreet with a DSLR sensor and interchangeable lenses.

These are perfect for street photography

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/53061745@N02/

Panasonic G3: 9-18mm, 14mm, 20mm, 45mm

Or the new Sony NEX, or the older Olympus DSLRs. The Canon 1000D is small too.

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Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

I prefer a DSLR to the mirrorless camera, I'm so used to the optical viewfinder.

The olympus E-620 produces always dull images, why?

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"The olympus E-620 produces always dull images, why?"
I'm not sure where you got that impression. on the contrary: i know of users that swear by the colors of their Oly.
I don't have any personal experience with Olympus DSLRs but I'd be very surprised if you couldn't adjust the processing parameters like brightness and saturation to your liking.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

As an Oly user, I have always been somewhat perplexed by the bad rap their DSLR cameras get -- I think much of it has to do with the lack of understanding around the FourThirds standard, and what it's meant to do.

I will say that my e-620 has never let me down, and even does well in low-light/high ISO situations. I have shot more than acceptable pictures at 2000 ISO and above - but frankly, am not a frequent low-light shooter. In terms of overall quality, I find that JPG out of camera or RAW are equally good. I have a number of galleries on my flickr page -- feel free to review them.

The overall quality of shots from an Oly is like any other camera -- you have to know how to work your camera to get the settings correct for the results you want. Remember -- a DSLR is a photographic tool --- well beyond point-&-shoot. I don't believe that a DSLR is for everyone as you can get excellent results with a good bridge camera such as the Canon G-series.

Another thing I will say about Oly -- and that is that the Olympus-Zuiko glass is the best I have ever used. Even my current two kit lenses are far superior to kit lenses from the competitors.

If you are after a "compact" DSLR, then the e-620 with the 25mm Oly-Zuiko pancake lens is as compact as you can get right now -- it's pocketable - albeit you will need a large pocket -- but it is doable.

Having said all this -- the other thing you need to consider is which system you want to buy into. Over the past 18-24 months, Oly has been putting most of their eggs in the mirrorless camp or the higher end DSLR camp -- ie they have not announced any new DSLRs other than the E5 during that time. Whereas other manufacturers including Nikon, Canon, Pentax, and Sony -- have all introduced new models. If you have Nikon lenses -- then why not look to leverage that investment which you already have? It would make sense to me.

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Olympus e-620 / 14-42mm / 40-150mm
Metz 48 AF-1
Kata 3-N-1 20, LowePro Orion Mini, LowePro Nova 2
My Flickr

“As an Oly user, I have always been somewhat perplexed by the bad rap their DSLR cameras get -- I think much of it has to do with the lack of understanding around the FourThirds standard, and what it's meant to do.”

I think the “perceived” inferiority between systems is a by-product of inexperience and a prevalent noob syndrome.

Once photographers have a couple of years behind them, their focus and priorities change significantly.

I'm not talking about inferiority, I'm talking about color and exposure man.


E-620


D90

The E-620 has a warmer color, and the white skirt of the model is overexposed so losing details


E620


D90

Again here the E-620 is warmer, look especially at wall, on the D90 is white.


E-620


D90

The D90 produce a brighter, better esposed to my liking, than E-620. The E-620 is little underexposed, one could just apply some compensation....


E-620


D90

Here I like more the E-620, the D90 image looks to me just a little overexposed. Looking at the original size photo you see also the superior resolution of the olympus lens, in the corners, incredible also if you compare it with other superior combination lens/body from other brand.


E620


D90
You see what I'm talking of duller image? look at the gray area tonality difference, again some compensation necessary on the E-620

Off course this could be totally wrong since I'm not using a calibrated monitor...

The weakest poin of E-620 is ISO noise, it's there to see, but If I shoot with fast lense and right use of tha flash I can stay ISO 100-400 most of the time

I am familiar with these test shots. To me, all of the Oly shots are much more natural looking. But that's my opinion based on my own personal preferences. As I have read reviews over the years, it seems to me that the vast majority of test shots do not take into account setting a camera up to whatever a particular photographer's personal preferences are. That takes some time to learn with any camera. It seems to me that highly controlled test shots such as these generally serve best to expose the bias of a manufacturer's choice of default settings. In terms of white balance, I use an in-front-of-lens tool so I don't see white balance issues such as those which show up on most test shots.

I am not bothered by ISO noise personally - and have noticed little if any in my own shots at acceptable ISO (i.e. 100-400, and even in some 800 ISO shots). However, I must add that I don't tend to pixel peep, blow-up or crop too much, so am probably less affected by it. ymmv

In the end, my take on this is that if you think the Nikon is best for you, then by all means get it. They make excellent cameras. In fact, I am of the opinion that there is really no bad camera available these days. My recommendation regarding Olympus was in direct response to your original post asking about a compact DSLR. If size is a top issue for you - then the fact is that Olympus happen to make the smallest DSLRs right now. That is down to the FourThirds format. Smaller sensor, smaller body and lenses developed specifically for the sensor.

The best way to decide on what to buy is to get into a proper camera shop and get your hands on the cameras you are interested in. Test them out, then buy the one you like the best. You can only go so far relying on other people's reviews. Again -- as with all my posts -- ymmv.

Best of luck with whatever you land on. To be honest, I doubt there is a "wrong" decision for you here.

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Olympus e-620 / 14-42mm / 40-150mm
Metz 48 AF-1
Kata 3-N-1 20, LowePro Orion Mini, LowePro Nova 2
My Flickr

Also something to note and remember when looking at samples and test shots - there are so many variables that can affect outcome, it's impossible to judge the potential of one camera against another based solely on such comparisons.

For example, when those shots were taken...was there even the smallest difference in light output or angle? They were weeks, months, sometimes years apart, and things get bumped, fade, move, etc. What was the peculiarities of each lens - was one a lemon, one a real gem? What about the camera settings? Each was at default, surely...but those controls are there for each user to tune to their liking. Would adjusting saturation to +1 or contrast to +1 make the Oly output basically identical to the Nikon output? How about a camera's exposure settings - some cameras are intentionally tuned by the manufacturer to lean towards overexposing a bit to improve shadow detail, some intentionally underexpose to avoid blowing highlights. A simple EV adjustment by the user could have those two cameras exposing identically. And that's just in the JPEG output - start getting into RAW, and now all the results could be pretty much equalized in post processing and tweaking the RAW file.

So don't put too much faith in 'camera A has better contrast', or 'camera B has better color', 'camera C overexposes', 'camera D is sharper'. Pretty much all of those things are moot points, because the user can set the default to their liking the day they buy the camera, and get the results tuned to just what they like with no further effort. The only variables that really can't be equalized are a camera's high ISO detail retention vs noise grain, a camera's handling or control layout and ease of use for you, the speed of the AF system or continuous shooting frame rate, and features which the camera has or doesn't have compared to competitors.

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

The OP has decided that they are going for a DSLR, and a compact one by the sounds of things as well.

You need to be aware that the viewfinders do not always show 100% coverage, and the digital imaging sensors that record the images can be cropped frame, rather than full frame (35mm film equivalent).

I went for Canon because of the simplicity of the layout, all the buttons in the right places, and a good all round design, on top of everything else.

Have you decided on a set budget for the camera?
Are you looking to purchase a body only (no lenses)?

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Canon EOS 500D
Lenses: EFS 18-55mm IS, EF 50mm F/1.8 II

"viewfinder" - a good point!
I forgot to mention that it is highly recommended to have a look through the viewfinder as you handle the cameras. This is for many the decisive moment...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Great pics of you parents jwnrw, from the great country Canada is

Budget is around 1000 eu, but if I can spend less to get the same shots it would be good

I think yes, also if I buy a nikon body compatible with old MF lenses I think I'm gonna buy it with a kit lens, I think it's usufull to have at least one AF lens.


What do you mean by this?


Those shot I think they were taken under "controlled situation", whatever it means...


yes yes, I discovered that their aren't as big as my old film camera.


This morning I tried a a switched off E-420, it seemed fine, the viewfinder is acceptable for its dimension and wheight. I Couldn't make a direct comparison with other DSLR brand

You know with olympus it's a metter of compromise between size and performance. What make the DSLR big are the lenses, the olympus one are smaller and lighter.

I discovered the E-620 sadly doens't have a HDMI port, wich is great for wathing photos on HD TV...

If you are new to DSLRs, then you should be aware that the consumer line of products tend to contain APS-C, cropped frame sensors. The sensors are smaller than a 35mm (in digital terms, known as a full frame). The viewfinders, as mentioned, also offer less coverage.

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Canon EOS 500D
Lenses: EFS 18-55mm IS, EF 50mm F/1.8 II