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Its price is tumbling even as I type and the coming prosumer model will likely inherit a huge number of features from the E-1 in an effort to out-attract customers with the offer of "more." Nikon's D70 has appeared and they can't make them fast enough. For a few hundred dollars more than a Digital Rebel, a list of digital features longer than your arm can be acquired with the N-word on it. Minolta has plans to enter the prosumer arena as do Fuji, Pentax (please tell me that "*" isn't pronounced "p-"), Kodak and even the Russians, or maybe not. Magic Combination To recap, the Magic Combination that has provided the Big Win this year is the affordable dSLR that gathers quality images with fast response and interchangeable lenses. It isn't one model or brand, it's an idea whose time has come. Canon's sub-$1000 price point kicked the excuses out from under the industry and we, who take photographs, win Big Time. A dSLR is harder to carry than a pocket compact, so there will always be that strata of camera--often with advanced features--but the larger format chips will always out-perform the smaller ones in terms of noise and tonal range because larger chips can afford larger individual sensors--the photosites that actually see the light. Here's a last gallery of images from the two dSLRs that went to China.  Shanghai. Pepsi, anyone? Canon 300D / Sigma tele zoom.  Beijing Tian Tan Park. Canon 300D / Sigma 28-200 zoom at 28mm.  Beijing Tian Tan Park. Canon 300D / Sigma 28-200 zoom at 200mm.  Along the Yangtze, buses look like boats and bus stops look like this. Olympus E-1.  It's only fair. Olympus E-1.  Rain brings out umbrellas. Olympus E-1 / 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 Zuiko at full tele zoom.  And so does the sun. Olympus E-1.
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Winner Page 2 of 4 
Nor
is the Digital Rebel the end of the story by a long shot. Olympus
is gearing up for a similar price point Four Thirds System camera
by winter, and their excellent professional E-1 dSLR was a delight
to use during the research phase on this article.
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