Can I get any help on the these following camreras. I have United air miles that need to be used and looking at the cameras. I have been reading and re reading about these. I will be stepping up from a samsung GX 1L SLR which is only a 6 megapixel camera and very easy to use. I'm not real good at manual controls either.
Here are my options in cameras:
Olympus Evolt E 510 / 10.0 megapixel camera kit with two lenses
a 14-42 and a 40-150 I have read that its hard to use for those of us that need glasses so am concerned about that.

Cannon Rebel XTI 10.1 18-55 lens and it seems to have some lens issues so am concerned with that.

Panasonic Lumix 10.1 FZ series and it seem the overall ratings are not the best but have heard wonderful things about the lens.

Can anyone enlighten me more as I'm really at a loss what way to go. Thanks for any help. Sandi

I think i'm leaning towards the Evolt???
I have been reading so much i'm getting blurred vision! Lol

Olympus Evolt E 510

Cannon Rebel XTI

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 (?)



(only on pay-per-view) ----> The side-by-side_mega-cagebrawl_shootout

Let me put on my glasses - - Yup I can see you now! Oh Gosh where do I start. I wont tell you what type of camera I use, because I dont want to sound like a salesman. If I had my choice of the three cameras you listed here, I no doubt would make a trip to Roberts camera in Indy. While there, I could actually hold and get the feel for each camera listed and mentally make a note how each one feels in my real Hobby Photographers hands. The knowledgeable and friendly sales staff will not avoid you, just because you cant make up your mind. They will take the time to explain the pros and cons of each camera and will even let you rent one before your buy it, if available. They carry the full line in all three brands. Parking is a real pain, so put on your glasses, you will need them, at the downtown location. As far as being able to use the camera without your glasses, I would worry more about your cell phone use, any screw-ups there could really cost you. The wrong setting on your camera will not connect you to a Hindu Fakir in the Bazaars of Burma. Correct me if Im wrong, but all the cameras have the capability for an adjustable diopter view finder. You do not need your glasses to use it. All lens and shutter settings can be set looking into the view finder. Neato! Yes there may be lens issues, but thats what happens when dummy's try to place a non-compatible lens on select cameras. I viewed you gallery, I dont think you are a dummy. Lets see! glasses, - a non issue, lens - a non issue, parking - yes thats an issue, deal with it. Brand name - lets talk about that. The gloves are off, when it comes to brand names. I think each of the brands you listed have earned a justified and honorable reputation, based on years of product features and reliability. If there is a comparison that you should pay attention to, I believe is product availability in your area and accessories like compatible lenses, flash, and batteries. Based on available accessories, I would likely lean towards the Canon Rebel. the 18-55mm lens package allows for flexible shooting preferences. And when you have money to spend - bigger better and higher priced lenses can be added. The Olympus had some problems with firmware, but can easily be corrected for $50 and a firmware upgrade. Lumix is a great camera, but more camera noise than any of the listed models. And for only $200 more you could upgrade to a 40D. Thats what I shoot with - opps! I wasnt going to tell you that. Rats! I might as well tell you I also own a Lumix FX07 and a Canon A640 Rats! now Im really going to catch it from the Olympus fans.

I sure do appreciate the comments so far and the links. I have checked out that comparison site already and man it's a hard call for me to make. I'm thinking either the rebel or olympus and I have read that you can buy better lenses for that rebel. Not sure of the cost on that as of yet. But can someone tell me what is the better lens to use for the cannon rebel XTI other than the one it comes with? I will be getting this with airmiles earned so will have to go along with the lens kit offered and upgrade the lens if I go that route. Also wondering about the cost of that upgraded lens. Any Ideas are most appreciated.

Also the wash out issue I have read on the rebel is a problem on bright sunny day but then that i have solved on my samsung with a polarizing lens.

Sandi - You sure can buy better lenses for both the Canon and the Olympus. Canon is one of those companies that does not want to offend any one group. They want to offend everyone equally, and they do this very well with the price of their lenses. Anything that has a "L" in the lens name will cause your jaw to droop to your shoulder. But this is the high quality stuff that everyone wants for cheep money. Please seek and read the compatibility notes, on some lenses, that will not work with the Rebel, because the lens sits slightly closer to the mirror, and will cause it to rub up against or scrape the mirror when the shutter is activated. You can purchase good USM, lenses for under $300 almost anywhere including SOME Walmart stores. Dont be scared to also look at Tamrom lenses. They are of comparable quality, but they just dont have the High priced name like Canon does. I purchased a new Tamron 17 - 55 mm Aspherical 2.8 lens for under $400 at a fashionable Photo store out of Cincinnati. Be careful purchasing used lenses on ebay. Always ask how much use the lens has had, and insist on a refund if the coating on the lens is worn. I think the package that comes along with the Rebel is very versatile for the type of shooting you do. You will be very happy with it. Now for the tricky part. I dont know how to say this without being blunt. So here goes. I dont know if you are built like a Sumo wrestler or a Petete Pin-up girl Im just going to assume the later one, Hubba Hubba! The Rebel body is smaller and most likely will feel good in your hands. You should select a camera that fits your hands. When you do this you will be happy. I will be happy, Everybody will be happy. Canon has most likely the largest selection of accessories of all the brands you listed. That means more shopping for you. Its like buying new shoes to go along with the great outfit. Now got get that camera Tigger!

Hey LoDollar I sure do appreciate the wonderful help on this big question in my mind. I have read something about the USM lenses but was not sure of the cost. I figure I can keep my samsung for the 55 - 300 mm lens and use it for that kind of shots (wildlife and such and even macro as it does very well)
But I don' t want to have to spend alot of money on a camera that I have to replace the lens with when it comes with one. That is a real shame in my book. I have read good things about the tamron's also. I won't buy a lens off of ebay I don't feel comfortable about that at all. Now I'm thinking the rebel, by the way I prefer the smaller grip cameras. I had a cannon before that i used for not even a week because it was too bulky and just did not feel right for me. After reading and reading and reading this cannon sounded better for me and I figure I'll have to buy a polarizer lens for it too. I hate the washed out sky look. I shoot in RAW so that too I have read should help.

And Sandi did you take a look at Nikon too, they have good camera's too:))

Sandi - I dont think you will want to replace the lens that already comes with your new camera. All kidding aside, I have reviewed your gallery. I think the 18-55 lens will add more creativity to your style of shooting. Remember the more range you have in your lens (telephoto) will cause more blurry pictures unless you shoot with a tripod. So a petite Pin-up girl like you will enjoy the smaller more useful lens that already comes with the Rebel camera. You dont have to get a new lens. You can order an adapter ring to continue using your favorite samsung lens if you like. The washed out sky look can be corrected by using a split field nutral density filter. These filters are not cheap. Recomposing your metering point will help eliminate this. But this is a whole new topic. You say you shoot in RAW - WOW! Zingers! Holy Cow! I am now slightly red faced. I am usually fully clothed when I shoot. Oh Sandi! you sound like such a fun girl. :)

Sandi, I have a Nikon D80 and this one isn't on your list. So I can only give you next general advice. Digital reflex camera's are very sensible (based on my own experience) for dust at the CCD photo chip. Some of the newer camera's have provisions to resolve this problem. If you have the intention to buy a digital reflex camera, than my advice is to ask whether this camera has anti dust facilities or not.
Regards, Cornelius

deleted, as it was the same as above

They did not offer the D80 and I would have been interested if they did. I hear so many good things about it. So from what i see so far maybe the rebel with a better quality 18 - 55 or thereabouts lens?? I have again heard the lens that comes with it leaves alot to be desired. Sandi♥

double up sorry!

Sandi - We forgot to talk about it. I just wanted to say what I think is a VERY IMPORTANT feature you should definitely want to consider. That is the self cleaning sensor feature available on the Rebel. Dust occasionally gets into the camera, and the sensor needs to be cleaned, on all SLR's. The Rebel has a self cleaning feature that has made this chore easier to deal with.

I have read this feature about the camera and of course that is a plus feature. Just really concerned about the lens that comes with it I guess at this point.

Olympus. I always use 2 lenses

Many thanks ovar for your thoughts on this.

Think I'm going for the rebel as I type.

rebel it is...

the rebel has just been udated to a new model - 450D/Rebel XSi with lots of improvements including a twelve megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.0" LCD monitor, Live View with both AF modes, 14-bit processing and RAW, spot metering, improved AF, 3.5 fps continuous shooting, a larger viewfinder, SD/SDHC storage and a new higher capacity battery.

The XTi is in a great package at Costco, you get the kit w/18-55mm lens, the 75-300mm lens, a 1GB CF card, a Canon camera bag and a tutorial dvd. All that stuff retail is about $1000, but they sell it for $850 i think.
The XSi was just announced, I don't believe it will be on the shelf till April. It will come with the 18-55mm with IS now. If you care, the XSi only does a burst of 6 frames in RAW though, vs the XTi's 10.
Hope that helped!

I'm still thinking the rebel and I sure do appreciate the help.

Yes the new rebel's burst has dropped to six but this is apparently due to increased in-camera manipulation trickery which can - hopefully - be disabled to return things to normal. the frames per second has slighty improved in the new model though. The various pre-order sites do indeed indicate the kit lens is IS but I'd doubt its optics have improved so it would be advisable again to save yourself the 17% price difference and buy the body only coupled to a better bit of glassware :-) I looked at the two available sample images on Canons site and the detail levels look impressive although perhaps not as much as you would have expected. this could however be down to any number of reasons and manufacturer sample shots (bizarrely) never seem to show off the camera in it's best light. I've only ever seen one that did and that was with Sigma.

Isn't the frame rate related to the larger image size?

*shrugs* most of the things I've read seem to indicate the burst has dropped as their is increased noise reduction going on internally to compete with the 12mp sensors natural tendency to have noisy shadows and midtones. this seems to be a common problem in a lot of 12MP units - the sample shots certainly have some nasty looking noise in the shadow areas.

Was that a problem with full sensors as well?

no - FFS like the 5D never suffered in the same way and indeed are still pretty legendary for their detail performance. the main culprits in the past have been earlier Nikons and Sony's that shared the same sensors that were essentially old 8MP tech over clocked to higher resolutions creating more heat and thus more noise.

And the 40D being a 10MP is ok...not overclocked?

the 10MP sensor was a completely new model apparently - the 40D and 400D shared the same unit but in the 40D it had different micro-lens processes to improve light-gathering and produce a signal to noise ratio that matches that of the EOS 30D.

Based on the relatively minor upgrades with the new rebel could we, perhaps, compare it to the cycle that occurred with the 20D-30D? Most things I have read state that that jump was not as significant as the 30D-40D was.

Based on what Phil has said, I would steer clear of that 12MP sensor.

Canon will always play it safe with the Rebel line preferring evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It's the best selling DSLR of all time so they won't want to rock the boat. As John suggested - owners of the 400D/(XTi) probably wouldnt be tempted to upgrade. 300/350D (Rebel/XT) or new buyers to the Canon brand probably would see it as a good purchase and I'm sure they will fly off the shelves as per usual barring 1D Mk3 stylee technical traumas.

Of course there is always the 40D if you want some more features and don't mind the extra cost. $1499 for that device and the 28-105mm(I think) is a pretty good buy. That, I believe is the MSRP too, so online retailers like newegg.com or beachcamera.com can most likely beat it. Had Costco not had the great deal they did, I was leaning toward a Rebel from them sans the lens and was gonna buy something upscale from the glass in the kit.

I would go with the Rebel XTi with a Tamron 18mm-200mm Lens. You have 24 hours to make up your mind. LOL.

So let's just say I was buying a Rebel XTi-body only. I've heard that the kit lens isn't anything special...
What lens should I go with if I don't want to spend more than about $800 dollars total?
What about the Nikon D40x?
Looking at my gallery won't quite help considering I've taken all my photos with my phone or the family's cheap point and shoot, so it's a bit limited to what they can handle.

I've heard some good things about the D40X. It's major drawback is that it doesn't auto-focus lenses. Buying lenses with built-in motors is a work-around though. On the plus side, it's said to do well at high ISO's, and very user friendly for entry level photographers.

Someone explained to me about the size of the sensor and the megapixel and after looking at my camera because of this issue my camera would not be so inclined to have as much noise at the Cannon XT. There are so many things to consider that is for sure. For now I have decided to hold off in a camera purchase. My 24 hours to decide has since been long gone! Lol!