Help me choose...Rebel XTi or Olympus sp-560..seems easy but...

[shaolin95]

Hi!
My first post and in desperate need of help. My mind is about to explode after researching this far too long.
I was almost decided to go with the SP-560 because I really want that 18x zoom plus the panorama assist feature will be great to take pics of the gorgeous Utah mountains.
Then I read about the Rebel XTi and its awesome image quality and things got harder for my mind.
If I were to get the Rebel, I will need a 500mm lense (right?) to match the 18x zoom of the sp-560. That could probably kill the Rebel as an option unless there is a cheap lense that does the job fine. When I say cheap I mean less than $200.
I am no photographer and my previous cameras has been a Fuji 2650 and Sony DSC-T5 so either of this cameras should be a huge jump in quality specially the Rebel.
I really want the Rebel picture quality but maybe cost and complexity for a rookie will be too much. Perhaps I will be just as happy with the 560...is the image quality difference HUGE between the two if I am mostly printing 4x6 some 10x8 and whatever panorama shots I can create?
Sorry for all the questions and long post but I REALLY need help.

Thanks

[Rooz]

If I were to get the Rebel, I will need a 500mm lense (right?) to match the 18x zoom of the sp-560. That could probably kill the Rebel as an option unless there is a cheap lense that does the job fine. When I say cheap I mean less than $200.

not a chance. the new consumer grade 55-250mm, (400mm equivalent), lens from canon will be around $250. the tamron 28-300mm is the closest you'll get in an "all in one zoom". needless to say it will be well over $200.

btw: i had thought the lumix superzoom, (fz18??), was a better optical performer than the oly ?

[shaolin95]

How about the Pentax K100D?
The panny has a better lense than the Oly but worst ISO performance and I really like that Panorama assist on the Oly. :)

[Rooz]

pentax k100d body $350 plus the tamron 18-250mm, (27-375mm), at $500. so, around the $850 mark. the pentax just pips the nikon d40 as the cheapest dslr. great little package. still...a much bigger budget needed than the superzoom.

[shaolin95]

When you say consumer grade 55-250mm, (400mm equivalent) how do you determine and why do you have to determine what it is equivalent to? This whole camera thing is very interesting...I am a computer whiz and now want to try to learn this stuff and its a huge world! :)

[Rooz]

the conversion is to 35mm equivalent to enable us to compare camera focal lengths across all different sensor sizes. basically you mulitiply the lens focal length by the sensor size, where "1" is a full frame sensor or the equivalent of a film camera.

so a 200mm lens on a pentax which has a aps-c sensor, (1.5x), the equivalent to a 300mm lens.

[shaolin95]

How about the Pentax with a Tamron 70-300mm ($189)? Is that a good option even if I have to stretch the budget....will it really give me that much better image quality?
Thanks!

[pas49ras]

How about the Pentax with a Tamron 70-300mm ($189)? Is that a good option even if I have to stretch the budget....will it really give me that much better image quality?
Thanks!
That setup is not good for everyday pictures because with the crop factor of the K100 it turns the 70-300mm into a 105-450mm lens which is way to long for any indoor shots. I have that Tamron lens and image quality is ok but lots of purple fringing..I tend not to use it much. I have been a lots happier with my Sigma 28-300DC.

[shaolin95]

Sorry I forgot to say that I will be getting the kit lens as well for th 18-55 or whatever it is.
The fringing issue does worries me cause I may end up getting the same issue the Oly 560 has when doing zoom....
Is that Sigma much more expensive? I will probably end up going with the 560 after all...
http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-28-300mm-3-5-6-3-Aspherical-Cameras/dp/B0009XQPJ8
Is that the one?

[pas49ras]

Sorry I forgot to say that I will be getting the kit lens as well for th 18-55 or whatever it is.
The fringing issue does worries me cause I may end up getting the same issue the Oly 560 has when doing zoom....
Is that Sigma much more expensive? I will probably end up going with the 560 after all...
http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-28-300mm-3-5-6-3-Aspherical-Cameras/dp/B0009XQPJ8
Is that the one?

I think the best 70-300 zoom on a buget is the Sigma APO 70-300..I kick myself for not buying one. I still think for the money, you will be much happier with a DSLR..


http://www.sigma4less.com/sess/utn;jsessionid=15460ac2878e832/shopdata/0010_Lenses/0010_Zoom/0040_Tele+Zoom/product_details.shopscript?article=0400_Sigma%2BZo om%2BTelephoto%2B70-300mm%2Bf%3D26slash%3D3B4-5%3D252E6%2BAPO%2BDG%2BMacro%2BAutofocus%2BLens%2B for%2BPentax%2BAF%2B%3D28SG70300F4ADPX%3D29

[shaolin95]

Well the price is still under $200 so it works and I assume no fringing right?
Its so hard to make a decision but seeing that I have two point and shoot cameras it will make little sense to not get something with REAL low light capabilities right? :)

[pas49ras]

Well the price is still under $200 so it works and I assume no fringing right?
Its so hard to make a decision but seeing that I have two point and shoot cameras it will make little sense to not get something with REAL low light capabilities right? :)

The Sigma is very well reviewed. If you get one,just make sure its the APO version. All the ultra zooms suffer from noisy images above 400 iso..this is were DSLR shine.


http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Sigma-70-300mm-F4-56-APO-DG-Macro

[shaolin95]

Great pics but one question....is that 300mm the equivalent of the 18x on the 560? Somehow I dont see the same magnification but then again its going from 70mm to 300mm not from 0 to 18x...

[Honest Gaza]

Great pics but one question....is that 300mm the equivalent of the 18x on the 560? Somehow I dont see the same magnification but then again its going from 70mm to 300mm not from 0 to 18x...

The x18 of the Olympus refers to the focal range 27-486mm (therefore, x18)

[shaolin95]

The x18 of the Olympus refers to the focal range 27-486mm (therefore, x18)

I really need to learn about this...is that book about Understanding Exposure good to learn about this?
So I guess my question is...is that 300mm lens able to get me as close to the image as the one in the Oly? I guess not but I could be wrong as happens most often when I talk about cameras! :-)

[Honest Gaza]

I really need to learn about this...is that book about Understanding Exposure good to learn about this?
So I guess my question is...is that 300mm lens able to get me as close to the image as the one in the Oly? I guess not but I could be wrong as happens most often when I talk about cameras! :-)

In reference to your original thread topic...Pretty damn close.

The Olympus suggests a 35mm equivalent of 486mm at maximum zoom.
Because of the x1.6 crop factor, the Canon XTi will portray a 300mm focal length as a 35mm equivalent of 480mm (300 x 1.6)

The Pentax K100 has a crop factor of x 1.5, therefore, it will portray the 300mm focal length as 450mm.

[Rooz]

I really need to learn about this...is that book about Understanding Exposure good to learn about this?
So I guess my question is...is that 300mm lens able to get me as close to the image as the one in the Oly? I guess not but I could be wrong as happens most often when I talk about cameras! :-)

yes a 300mm lens will get you pretty much as close on a k100d as the oly, (300mm x 1.5 crop = 450mm). i think you are confusing focal lengths to the range of a lens. the 18x thing refers to the ratio of the longest range of the zoom to the shortest range. for example: 18-55 is a 3x zoom, (55/18). the 70-300 is a 4x zoom, (300/70).

understanding exposure won;t help you understand alot of those things and really yiu don;t need to know most of that stuff after you buy a camera. it is an exceptional learning tool for understanding expsoure and taking better photos. it's not really realted to all the tech stuff. more aout shutter speeds, apertures, iso settings etc.

i also concur with the above comments inregards to the sigma apo 70-300.

[shaolin95]

Excellent info guys. I was totally confusing that indeed! So that book is nice but wont help me with the tech stuff...any books or websites with good info?
I am going with the Pentax almost 90% sure now thank to all the info here. :)

[shaolin95]

A few more questions my friends...

One thing I liked about the Olympus is the built in Panorama assist...how hard will it be to create panorama shots with the K100D? Do I get the same or better by just taking the pics and using a pc software to put them together?

Another thing, I read a lot about the Face Recognition...is that a mute point since the K100D has so good high ISO performance thus no need to "optimize" faces?

[David Metsky]

Face recognition is to make sure the faces are in focus. It has little to do with image quality otherwise. It doesn't do much to "optimize" faces.

There are lots of panoramic assist software packages out there. I wouldn't worry about the quality of that versus the in-camera version.

And it's "moot" point. :)

[shaolin95]

Face recognition is to make sure the faces are in focus. It has little to do with image quality otherwise. It doesn't do much to "optimize" faces.

There are lots of panoramic assist software packages out there. I wouldn't worry about the quality of that versus the in-camera version.

And it's "moot" point. :)

Sounds good...I thought face recognition also made sure faces didn't end up to dim.

Funny how this buying process worked out. I started with my mind set on buying a Canon 650 ...then saw the Oly 560...then the Fuji and Panasonic....finally caught an eye of what the Rebel XTi could do so the SLR world grabbed me and finally decided to go with the Pentax!
Nice evolution :D