Yes, a disturbing pair of reviews, with the E-1 and The D300/Digital
Rebel back to back. Disturbing at least if one is rooting/hoping for Oly.
OK, lets just assume that Oly's extra special qualities make their 5mps
equal to the D300's 6mps. The Can*n is the same size, lighter, has lower
noise, equal color fidelity, built in flash, better battery life,
slightly faster AF and an OM adapter available. Oly has more rugged,
better sealed construction, slightly better exposure control and true
spot meter. D300 with flash and basic 3x zoom specifically designed for
smaller digital sensor costs $US 1,000. E-1 with flash and basic 3.9x
zoom specifically designed for smaller digital sensor costs at least $2,400.
PP wasn't impressed with either camera's viewfinder and one will really
have to look through them both to judge them. Can*n may also match Oly's
advantage of lenses specially designed for digital sensors with the EF-S
combo mount. Given the features and pricing, the D300 is going to sell a
lot of units. The replacement for the 10D will certainly have the combo
mount. That means a big potential market for EF-S lenses, so a lot of
them will turn up pretty soon. I think putting the combo mount on their
breakthrough price model is a stroke of genius because of the huge
numbers of the new mount it will get out in the world while still
allowing use of the huge installed base of existing lenses so existing
EOS users won't hesitate to add a D300 to their stable. With such a
large potential market out there, projected economies of scale should
mean attractive prices for the new lenses. The continuity of lens
compatability will also add good will/loyalty to the owner base.
I wish Oly well, but I think Can*n is nailing down 1st. place in DSLRs
for some time.
Moose
William Sommerwerck wrote:
The latest Popular Photography has a review of the E-1: Outstanding image
quality, but marginally inferior to less-expensive cameras with more pixels
(5Mp vs. 6Mp). Viewfinder magnification on the low side. An outstanding
digital camera, but overpriced for the level of quality it delivers.
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