K100D vs. Olympus E-500

Hi guys..

im just an amateur / semi pro enthusiast. I did take photography from college,

but it was all through FILM SLR, not DSLR.

This will be my first DSLR .. right now, i have a Minolta Z2 .. terrible IMO.

One thing that really bothered me about the Minolta is the "shake" in low

lighting.

Anytime I take any kind of indoor shots.. at night.. The images come out very

blurred. And yes.. I have a steady hand! I also know to press the shutter very

softly as well. Nothing seemed to work.

So.. naturally.. through my search .. I found out about PENTAX K100D's SR.

Sounds like a perfect match. However... I dont know much about PENTAX. .. and

i've been reading about some issues with it too.. slow shutter.. AF.. WF..

etc.

Also... a friend of mine has an Olympus E-1. All the photos are incredible!

Love that camera. And I found out that the E-500 is based on the E-1. Price is

also similar to the K100.

Question is.. which camera is better?

I do like the SR.. but from my own personal experience with the Olympus.. i

love the pictures that it takes...

Picture quality comparison wise.. is Olympus better?

Is the SR that much worth it?

IS, OS, VR, SR, or what ever they call it, is worth it. It's not the magic bullet, but it's close. Canon, Nikon and Sigma include it in some of their lenses. Pentax, Panasonic, Sony and others include it in their cameras. It really does help. It just doesn't fix everything. It won't stop subject movement, for instance, and there still is a limit as to how slow a shutter speed you can hold. It's just allows a lot slower shutter than without it. Very nice.

I doubt you can see much difference in image quality between these cameras, but dpreview.com seems to be highly pleased with the Pentax K100D. You might want to check their latest review.

Sam, my 2 cents (and of course I'm a little biased because I am a K100D user)...

A couple of things that are in favor of the Pentax would be a larger sensor which gives you cleaner/less noisy high ISO performance. That is definitely going to be a plus when it comes to photography in low light. And of course the anti-shake feature really does work great! I'll also say that the lens selection for the Pentax is a little broader, but from what I understand, the lenses for the Olympus are all pretty much top notch, so you don't really need a big selection, if that makes sense.

I'm kind of wondering what you mean about indoor photos at night? With the only light coming from household lightbulbs? Probably not very high light levels, so probably going to put you into the ISO 1600 range just to get handholdable shutter speeds. And the anti-shake does help.

Anyway all that being said, have you had a chance to handle both cameras? Maybe go into a shop and take a couple of test shots. See how you like the feel of it in your hands, stuff like that.

I know nothing about the Pentax digitals, but I own the E-500 and I really love it. Easy to use, lightweight enough, but still feels like a camera in my hands. The lcd display is bright and provides all the data that I need to see, the dials and switches are in the right places. I wish it was just a bit faster writing to the memory card when I shoot RAW, but I don't really shoot action, so it's not been a big hindrance. battery life is excellent. Keep in mind though, that it's a four-thirds camera, so a 14-54mm lens is really 28-108mm.

The only thing I would suggest is that you don't bother with the kit lens, a 14-45mm f3.5 - spend the extra couple of hundred dollars and get the 14-54mm f2.8 - it's a much better, sharper lens.

<p>If you get the two camera side by side, I think you will be surprised how dark it looks in the E500 viewfinder. I decided against Olympus because of their funny marketing tactics, I was interrested in the E400 which is not (and likely won't) be available in North America.

<p>As far as performance in low light, check the picture I added to this thead:<BR>

<a href=http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00IrPM&tag=>http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00IrPM&tag=</a><BR>

<p>This was done with a K110d on a tripod, the only source of light was a 15 W fluorescent. I could add a larger version of it to my portfolio if people think there is any value in that.

I bought a K100D recently, choosing it above the E500 for a number of reasons, and am happy with the choice. The major clincher for me was the backward compatibility with older lenses, of which I have a few. The other reasons were better low-light performance and the general feel of the camera.

Another issue would be the quality of the kit lens. From what I hear, it's the best of the lot of them, although it is a bit slow (f3.5-5.6), which is a saving of a fair bit of money.

As for loving the pictures that the Olympus takes, cameras don't take pictures, photographers do, although a good low-noise sensor and decent lens help.

O.K. The current Pentax AF surely isn't the fastest on the market. IMO that's the obvious reason why Pentax temporary(?) discontinued their AF-challenging lens line above 100mm (besides a few consumer zooms). They fixed it. After almost 20 years they'll be offering a new SSM lens line for the new K10D but our K100Ds won't benefit from that. So the remaining question is how slow is slow? - I use a 135mm f2.8 on a *istD. It can handle running children somehow and might be faster than me focusing manually, but similar to any machine it makes mistakes; it likes to lock on microphones instead of singers for example. Bad thing about the K100D is it has no thumb wheel for AFspot selection toggleing (between manual spot selection done via 4way keys, center spot onl and Auto spot selection, which is nice with moving subjects) and no switch for the modes (shutter or focus priority) - welcome to the menues. - Useing them is surely slower than focusing a old beater manually, but I wouldn't like to do without AF on that screen and thinking ahead helps getting the job done.

O.K the lens line: I love what's there (or seems to be available) primes from ultraWA to reasonable telephoto at moderate speed, which is enough for my taste / purse. - I have a line of cheap crappy Sigma zooms too, which I use for outdoor webshots. They don't feed every single pixel too well, when wide open but get jobs done. Pentax lenses seem better, but I own none of their zooms besides the cheapo 35-80mm.

I can't tell much about image quality. I started with the old *istD and shoot it almost only in RAW mode. I know how to tweak those files and can beat the crap out of straight out of camera JPGs from a Nikon D100, reproduce a painting quite well and so on. OTOH this could be probably done with any camera and the holy grail chased by some might be the perfect JPG captured at 1st attempt. - I don't know your friends postprocessing workflow, his preferred subjects and how many pixels he showed you.

For me SR at ISO 3200 was enough reason to buy the K100D. My *istD has no SR but same ISO and couldn't handle the darkness at concerts with f2.8 lenses. - I ordered faster glass too, but know it's limitations.

I don't know the highest ISO of Olympus, but can assure you you can almost never get enough.

Bottom line: Pentax seem to be producing a useable system. The K100D is a mixture from a inexpensive beginner body and a one trick pony in available light, while the K10D seems worth buying blindfolded (for anything besides moderate res pics in available darkness) due to it's better user interface and technical features.

Standing in your shoes, I'd grab that friend of yours and his Olympus and try the K100D at some shop and ask how which odd WB or AF setting is changed at each camera.

"Standing in your shoes, I'd grab that friend of yours and his Olympus and try the K100D at some shop and ask how which odd WB or AF setting is changed at each camera."

I'm not sure how valid that test would be. I had never dealt with SLR before, and for me it took me almost 2 weeks and 300 pictures before I could take a decent one with the K100d ; so if his friend knows the Oly really well, and nobody at the shop knows the K100d ins and out, the friend should be able to make the Oly shine easily. I'd still go and handle both cameras to compare the size, feel, etc... (that's actually what I did).

I agree with the comment about more lenses for Pentax, especially if you don't mind having a few manual focus ones, there are quite a few very sharp primes under 100$ out there.

There was a <A href="http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&thread=20961221">similar thread in a DP Review forum</A> a few weeks ago.

<P>SR is not a silver bullet but it will manage to rescue a significant percentage of shots taken at borderline speeds. Many people will claim it's roughly equivalent to a two-stop improvement--maybe allowing you to shoot at 1/15 what you might previously have shot at 1/60.

<P>I'm not aware of any issue with "slow shutter". If anything, I thought I recall some mention of complaints on the startup time of the E-500. In practice, you turn these cameras (I use Pentax) on and by the time you have it up to your eye it's ready to go. None of the slow boot-up time or motorized zoom extensions that many point and shoots exhibit. All of the D-SLR's available have virtually no shutter lag once focussed. There's a lot of talk about slow AF, but a lot of this is in comparison to the expensive lenses with in-lens focussing motors (e.g. Canon USM)--in practice, the Pentax D-SLR's may be a little noiser but the AF performance is competent if not the state-of-the-art sports-shooting machine guns that a pro-level Canon body represents.

<P>Pentax pros:

<BR>- Better high-ISO performance, largely due to bigger sensor with lower pixel count

<BR>- In-body shake reduction

<BR>- Bigger & brighter viewfinder

<BR>- availability of excellent prime lenses

<BR>- better availability of 3rd party and legacy glass

<P>Olympus pros:

<BR>- More longer, faster (and expensive) zooms available

<BR>- better framerate/buffering for continuous shooting

<P>Another difference is that the Oly shoots in the 4:3 ratio that matches most P&S, computer screens, etc. Most other D-SLRs shoot in a somewhat wider 35mm-like aspect ratio. Considering the cost in ISO noise, it's hard to list the 8mp vs. 6mp as a pro for Olympus. I think you'll find that either camera can take excellent pictures though--you should spend some time handling the camera to see if one feels better to you.

<P>-Andrew

Contrary to what Jochen indicates, Pentax's current AF is very competetive. This wasn't the case with the *istD through DL2, but AF is distinctly better on the K series.

The E500 is not based on the E-1. They merely share a lens mount. Everything else is different.

The K100D has better AF, far better high ISO performance (the K100D is better at ISO 800 than the E500 is at ISO 400), far better viewfinder and a selection of available mid-range and wide primes. Olympus has a better selection of digital zooms (including a wider rectilinear zoom at 14mm equivalent [the 7-14mm]) and has easier to find (but more expensive) long primes. The build quality on the K100D is also better than the E500 and the K100D has SR with all lenses, while you need to buy the expensive Leica 14-50 OIS lens to get any IS on the E500 (And the Leica lens only comes with the Panasonic L1 and upcoming Leica Digilux 3 right now) and the biggest weakness in the Oly lens is that there are no primes shorter than 100mm equivalent right now, and only a few 3rd party ones announced (and all are large to massive, the smallest being the Sigma 30mm f1.4, only Sigma and Leica have announced fast short primes for 4/3rds)

There's no slow shutter or AF with a current Pentax camera. The flash sync ain't high, at 1/180, but that's exactly the same as the E500's flash sync.

Oly makes a superb body in the E-1. And they're dirt cheap now. But the E500 isn't nearly as good a body as the competition. If you're going Oly, take advantage of the low price of NOS E-1's.

Wow~ thanks guys...

Read through everything.. and im leaning more towards to the Pentax. I was about 50/50 before.. but im actually shopping around for one now. :)

I think I should jump into this.. and seeing from all the responses, I dont think I'll regret it.

I also like the fact that it's backward compatible with older lenses.

I dont care too much about 6 MB vs. 8MB ... and if the picture qualities are not much of a difference.. than it makes me feel more safe about the decision.

I've actually already tried the K100 at Henrys the other day. And I also tried the E-1. K100 did seem better in my hand.. but the shutter sound was.. uneasy. Maybe its cuase I'm used my Film Nikon SLR. ?

I read somewhere it just needs time to get used to..

Ah well.. its just a sound I guess.

Last question.. any place you guys recommend to buying this? I dont mind shopping online..

It's confusing since some of them only sell the BODY.. while some sell with a lot of accessories with it at similar prices..

<p><i>"Read through everything.. and im leaning more towards to the Pentax. I was about 50/50 before.. but im actually shopping around for one now. :)"</i></p>

<p>Don't get me wrong, I chose the Pentax over the Oly, but bear in mind that your decision might have been different had you asked that question in an Olympus forum !</p>

<p><i>"Last question.. any place you guys recommend to buying this? I dont mind shopping online.."</i></p>

<p>You mentioned Henry's, so I assume you are in Canada. The three shops that seems to be consistantly around the same prices are Vistek.ca, CameraCanada.ca, and TheCameraStore.ca. I'd recomend that you shop online, but use that to negotiate the price at a local store, even if they're still 10$, 20$ more than the best online offer. If the camera breaks within a few days, you can walk in the store and should be able to get it exchanged right away, and later if you need some small equipment that you can't be bother ordering online, it's nice to go to a shop where they know you and remember you spend a bunch money there.</p>

I've got both these cameras. While the Olympus is capable of producing excellent images it has, for me, a few real turns offs -

like -

Downloading - it uses USB 1.1 For me this is unbelievable - see what it is like when you choose to empty your CF memory card, go and cook your meal 'cause it'll take that long.

CF card - not my favourite, not the cheapest, and potential problems with the use of pins for making contact.

Battery power - uses its own proprietary batteries that are not readily available and not cheap. Pentax AA more to my liking.

Good lenses but look at the prices - can be crazy

Biggest pain for me - the viewfinder, makes composing a picture difficult.

If you can live with all that, then maybe Olympus is OK