  We compare two methods for deriving distances to early-type galaxies:
fundamental plane (FP) and surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) distances for
170 galaxies. A third set of distances is provided by predictions derived from
the density field of the IRAS redshift survey. Overall there is good agreement.
However, several nearby, low-luminosity, mainly S0 galaxies have systematically
low FP distances; we conclude that this is at least partly due to recent star
formation and consequently low mass-to-light ratios. The tie between the
Cepheid-calibrated SBF distances (Mpc) and the far-field calibrated FP
distances (km/s) yields a Hubble constant H_0 = 68 +/- 3 km/s/Mpc, while the
comparison between SBF and the IRAS-reconstructed distances yields H_0 = 74 +/-
2 (internal errorbars). Possible explanations for the marginal inconsistency
include systematic errors in the redshift survey completeness estimates or in
the FP aperture corrections, but at this point, the best estimate of H_0 from
early-type galaxies may be a simple average of the above two estimates. After
revising the SBF distances to be in agreement with the final set of Key Project
Cepheid distances, we conclude H_0 = 73 +/- 4 +/- 11, where the second errorbar
represents the total systematic uncertainty in the distance zero point. We also
discuss the recently introduced "fluctuation star count" parameter Nbar as a
less demanding alternative to (V-I) for calibrating SBF distances. The
Nbar-calibrated SBF method is akin to a hybrid SBF-FP distance indicator, and
we find that the use of Nbar actually improves the SBF distances. Further study
of Nbar would provide useful constraints for elliptical galaxy formation
models. (abridged)
