Re: Nikon D60, Canon XSi (450D), or Olympus E-420?

<aniramca@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Currently I have a Canon G7 and a Lumix FZ18. I have been thinking
>about upgrading my camera to a DSLR (will be the first one). I have a
>small hand, and a Canon 40D, Nikon D200, or Pentax K10D sizes is just
>too big for my hand. I like the feels of entry level DSLRs, especially
>the Olympus E-410. Now that the XTi (400D) is replaced with XSi
>(450D), D40x with D60, and E-410 with E-420; what is the best picture
>quality among the above three?

www.dpreview.com will give you all the details you want when it comes
to dSLR image quality.  But in short: They're all good.

> They are all about the same size, with
>XSi is the biggest in size. I am not planning to buy more than one
>type of lens, and will use the camera for general purpose (no fast or
>s****t actions - mostly still photography). Thinking of having just the
>standard zoom lens which come with the camera (35 mm equivalent of
>30-120 mm?).

The lens will have a bigger effect on he image quality than will the
camera itself, especially if you get the average everything-in-one
lens.

>The plus about the E-420 is its small size (I believe it is the
>smallest). The minuses are the 4/3 which has smaller sensor than the
>other two, and it does not use SD card. Could someone comments?

>If you have to buy the lens separately (not as a kit), what specific
>zoom lens among the three that will produce the sharpest photos?

Smirk.  The Canon 70-200mm f4 is widely regarded as being very sharp,
but it's a telephoto and about $1000 so I suspect that you want
something that's not quite the sharpest.

>Finally, the reason of switching to DSLR is because of sensor size and
>noises in P&S. I notice that E-420 with 4/3 system actually has
>approx. 30% less sensor size (area) than the other two (APS-C size).
>Does this make a lot of difference in terms of getting less noise
>pictures at higher ISOs?

It certainly can make a significant difference.

-- 
Ray Fischer         
rfischer@[EMAIL PROTECTED]