DSLR: Nikon vs Canon vs Olympus

[deicruxified]

hi! my dad, ever since he started loving photography, has always been using an olympus slr film camera which until now is very functional and highly durable. he then advises me that if ever i'll get a dslr (well first, as i have mentioned before, i have to give him 20 good shots using the manual one) it should be olympus. now i'm eyeing over an olympus evolt e-510 (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) but then a friend of mine suggests a canon eos 40d (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)...

:edit: someone before was suggesting a nikon d200 (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.). i saw some awesome pics from that cam from my hiking buddy and was about to be convinced to get myself one until i saw this (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) ... yikes!!

any suggestions?

[BadMojo]

I got a Canon EOS 350D and it's very good! But it does have some limitations when it come to shutter times. However, some good optics like can cure that to some degree. (The standard sucks and isn't worth anything.
But you can buy a "cheap" Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens (In Denmark it cost around 400$).

The good thing about Nikon and Canon is that you can choose among a lot good cheap lenses like Sigma and Tamron. I Don't think they make optics for Olympus. But you can always buy an adapter I think.

I would say go with the cheapest camera housing that can deliver a decent quality, and spend some more money on some good optics.

But if you insist on buying a great camera housing, find some reviews on the Internet.

[lain]

You might want to consider staying away from olympus for two reasons, it has 2x FOV crop sensor and produces images at 4:3 ratio.

Instead I would recommend Nikon D80, canon eos 450D, Pentax K20D or K10D which you might for real cheap since K20D was just released.

All of those bodies are fairly cheap for a dslr and will last you for many years to come as your skills improve. After all, its the lenses that you will really want to invest in.

Best thing for you to do would be to go to a shop and hold all of those cameras and try them for yourself. It really doesnt matter which brand you choose as long as youre comfortable with the camera.

[deicruxified]

thanks guys :) i'll have these noted