Am considering moving from the Olympus 5050 to the Evolt 500 or maybe the Nikon D70s. Need some wisdom here. I have owned 3 Olympus cameras and each one developed an issue over time. Thus I plan to get an extended warranty this time. I really like some of the reviews I have seen of the 500 on line. OK, you experts, help me decide which to buy. Might even consider Cannon. Dpreview.com does not really advise on as to which camera really comes out on top, overall.
Thanks, Jim.

I decided on a Nikon D70 over a Canon as from the reviews I understood that the lens included in the package was of a higher quality, and some of the features on the cheaper canon SLR (ie the Rebel) had been disabled. However I think both Canon and Nikon have released new models since then so the second point may no longer be relevant. I think the more important factor is the lenses you buy or get in a package with the camera body, as the only real difference between the two seems to be the label. I can certainly recommend the Nikon personally, I am very happy with it. I have never used the Canon, but from what I hear pretty much everyone who has one is happy with that too.

Look here for a comment by an Evolt owner.

I have a Nikon d100 with sb50 flash and two sigma lenses, power grip that is still under the five year warernty. It is about 3 months old. I would be willing to cut it loose for a $1000.00. if your interested. I traded over to the Canao 20D and 5D.

I also have the Nikon D70 (pretty much identical to the new D70s) and i am more then happy with it. I would definitly recomened it. I have also heard many good things about the Canon rebel. I've never really used one other then hold it in the store, so all i can really say about it is the Nikon feels better in my oppinion. But yes. If you buy the nikon i would be suprised if you feel like you made a mistake.

To answer your original question. The Nikon would be IMHO the better of those two cameras.

I think you should make your decision based by the manufacture that makes the lenses and accessories that suit your intended purpose best. For example landscape photographers tend to favour Nikons while sport shooters seem to go for Canon most of the time.

Personally I went with a budget Canon and a couple of expensive lenses, because I expect to have those lenses for a very long time and I’m certain I will change the camera as technology brings better cameras to us at better prices.

I hope this helps in some way.

I own an Olympus eVolt E300, and after six months or so of use I think the Canon Rebel XT is a superior purchase, because of the lenses that you can get with the Canon. The kit lenses that come with the E300 will only go down to F5.x or F3.x not the expected F2.8. If you want to get a lense that will do this you need to spend over $1000. The Canon lens product range is much larger. The Olympus does have the advantage (so I hear) of it's CCD built-in cleaner, and it starts up in about 1 second from power-on to first photo. The lens problem's a big one though.

I own a D70s and i think it is a great camera... it is actually larger then the Canon Rebel which i like because it fits my hand better (both cameras are big so it bing a little larger isnt a huge issue because it wont fit in your pocket anyways) they are both really nice cameras but i went with the Nikon.. it has a better build quality for the bode also... but each one has its ups and downs

i Have the 300D. its great, and i dont expect to change it for a long time. the image quality is exellent.

I have the e500, and I'm very, very happy with it. Then again, I'm a newbie... In any case, I've read tons of good reviews on it and similar spec'ed cams like the EOS350, D50. etc...
If you're starting, it probably doesnt't make much of a difference, anyway.

Well slap me bald-headed and call me curly! I just finished my evaluation of my new 50-200mm (100-400mm) Zuiko lens for the eVolt, and I can say that for $655 it is an amazing piece of work. Razor-sharp optics and a fast aperture at 400mm enables me to shoot wildlife (like I see at the local beaches - ahem!), sporting events, etc. with nary a problem. This lens retails for $900, but I found it on eBay after two days' search for $655 U.S. Since the eVolt has always included spot-metering, and that incredible self-cleaning CCD, I would now highly recommend the camera. Just don't waste your money on the kit, as the lenses included are Chinese crap. You're going to want to get decent lenses soon enough, and the standard Olympus / Zuiko 4/3s lenses are superb. The whole rig (including macro lens) is going to wind up costing you $1600 U.S. if you don't get the kit lenses, but you will have one fabulous camera.

What you need to do is go buy a 512 mem card. Go to a good camera store and take about five picture using different settings on each camera you like and go home and compare them. Remember to right down which set of images and from which camera. If you have a lap top, take it and load each set to it at the camera store, that way you do not have to deal with the reformat issue that may come about do to each differnet camera system.