The D90 would be a good choice, but for me an M9 would be better.
Bill Pearce
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus mail list" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 1:10 PM
Subject: [OM] Pentamirror vs. pentaprism
>A friend recently asked me to recommend a new camera for her for under
> $1000 with a kit lens. It's to replace her Nikon D40X with 18-55 kit
> lens which she sold off to her brother. She wants to upgrade... to
> something. The only stated requirements were better than the D40X
> (which she loved) and under $1000.
>
> My first thought is to stay with Nikon since she's already familiar with
> the brand and likes it. But trying to figure out what to buy hasn't
> been so easy. There are any number of low cost bodies and kit
> configurations from all manufacturers but I noticed a decided price
> break at the $800-900 mark for body alone. That's where pentamirror
> viewfinders get replaced by pentaprisms. Unsurprisingly (in most cases
> at least), viewfinder magnification suddenly increases from the 0.8X
> range to 0.95X or better range. Everyone here who has a DSLR of any
> type has probably bemoaned the loss of viewfinder brightness and
> magnification relative to the champion OM-1. Since good viewfinder
> performance is critical to overall camera performance I decided to see
> if I could meet her total price requirements while also getting a body
> with a prism.
>
> But first there is an anomaly to be addressed. I said the pentamirrors
> tend to be down around 0.8X magnification with prisms being much higher.
> The anomaly was seen in comparing the E-620 (pentamirror) with the
> E-30 (pentaprism). The E-30 sports a 98% field of view at 1.02X
> magnification. But the E-620 isn't too far behind at 95% field of view
> and 0.96X magnification. In fact, even the E-510 isn't bad at 95% and
> 0.92X. But the recently announced Nikon D5000 (pentamirror) has 95%
> field of view but only 0.78X magnification. Her D40X was similar at 95%
> and 0.8X.
>
> Since I now live in the hinterlands with no camera store within less
> than a 75-100 mile drive I don't get a chance to see or handle any of
> these things. My question is have any of you ever directly compared the
> viewfinder of the E-620 and E-30. Do these specifications have any
> practical meaning? Is the E-620 viewfinder anywhere near as good as the
> E-30 as the numbers seem to indicate? Can a pentamirror really compete
> with a pentaprism?
>
> ps: I'm leaning toward the Nikon D90 with included 18-105 VR lens for
> $1080 from Cameta. A little over her budget but excellent specs for
> longer term ownership and I think a quantum leap over the D40X for not
> too much more money... pentaprism, dual control wheels, big, hi-res LCD
> and compatible with almost all Nikon lenses back to the F.
>
> Thanks,
> Chuck Norcutt
> --
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