Olympus EVOLT E-510 (with 14-42mm and 40-150mm Lenses)

I've liked Olympus point and shoot cameras as well their film SLRs so I couldn't wait to get the E-510. It's a delight. The ample control fit my hands well and are in the right places. The menuing system is great. I thought that thanks to my less than great old eyes I'd use the LCD for composing most of the time. I was wrong. The viewfinder is simply wonderful and I use it 95% of the time. I love the ability to reuse my many old XD cards as well as the CompactFlash (BTW: get an Extreme IV CF - you won't believe the speed). Overall, I'm delighted. So what's not so great. Well, the build quality. I had the camera out on a Florida evening that was quite humid. The next morning the LCD was full of what looked like water droplets and the shutter was dead. This camera wasn't ever near a source of water, just very humid air. It needs to go back and Olympus suggests from leaving here to getting it back will 3 to 4 weeks. This camera isn't 4 weeks old. Plus to get that speed I get to pay FedExs or UPS both ways. So even if they do the repair under warranty I'm out $50 to $100. That doesn't make me a happy consumer. BTW, if you get an E-410 or E-510 get the two lens kit. It's a huge bargain.

Here are my initial thoughts on this Olympus. The E510 makes its predecessor (the E500) proud. This camera will definitely keep the DSLR competition honest and only benefit us consumers! I am thrilled to-date. (3 days with it)

PROS
* Image Stabilization
* Great Construction, feels well made
* Light weight (lighter than my friend's Pentax K100)
* Phenomenal Kit Lenses
* Lightning fast AF with 2 very good & light Zuiko kit lenses
* Image quality, lower noise at higher ISOs
* Great battery life (500+ photos in mixed shooting conditions)
* Image sensor dust removal (at bootup)
* Both CF and xD cards

CONS
* Not a con, but Live View is quirky. When I use a DSLR I prefer to use the viewer, but I can see how some folks would LOVE to use the LCD. Its more of personal thing and if you dont want to use the LCD you just don't.
* No others yet

I have had this camera for about a month and after using this, I felt compelled to write this review, especially after seeing some comments from first time SLR owners.

My advice to them, please think carefully before buying a dSLR. If all you are going to do is set this camera in Auto mode and shoot, you are making a mistake, an expensive mistake. E-510 or any other dSLR is not designed to excel in this department, definitely not as good as an advanced P&S.

If you want better image quality (color, dynamic range, low noise at high ISO, interchangeable lens etc) and convenience (IS, more buttons, speed), DSLR is the way to go. With power, comes the responsibility. You should also be ready to take the challenge of trying out different settings and spend some time in post processing the RAW images. You can get dynamic range that no P&S can match, if and only if, you are ready to spend the time on it. JPEGs straight from camera will not be significantly better, unless you tweak the settings for each situation perfectly.

Most complaints about this camera are about focusing, under or over exposure. You have to learn how an SLR camera works. There are different metering and focusing modes and you have to choose carefully. Also you have to decide whether to shoot aperture priority or shutter priority based on situations. You can also choose whether to shoot for high key or shadow areas.

No SLR in auto mode can give you a perfect shot of a person when the sun is behind him/her. Either use the proper P mode, or you use spot metering (or at least fill flash).

When something is moving, shooting with slow shutter will also result in blurry image and an SLR expects that the person behind the view finder knows these basics. So my advice is, read the manual and try out all the options and find the modes that suit your needs.

Also, the default ESP metering on this camera is a bit off. It's actually set to ESP + AF in factory. In my experience, if you change Menu2 > Metering to ESP, it works better. You might also consider turning the Noise Filter off for ISO 100 shots. It makes the images sharper (even with sharpness -2) and you can get details that you can't get in any other entry level camera at this moment. But, you might get some visible grains.

What I like -

1. IS, all my lenses are stabilized and I can get sharp shots sometimes at 1/30 when using focal length of 300mm in 35mm equivalent.

2. Clean high ISO, up to 800 is completely usable with little noise reduction. ISO 1600 gives you better or same results compared to other brands, only Canon is half stop ahead.

3. Image quality. The details with noise filter off, the color and the sharpness are wonderful. The dynamic range is not best in it's class, but with RAW files and a little time with Lightroom, it's not really an issue.

4. SSWF. The dust buster in this camera works, unlike other brands (read Canon/Sony/Pentax). Never got a single dust peck on the sensor and I change lenses frequently.

5. Live view. This is the only one in this class at the moment to have this feature. Another Olympus model, E-330 has it, but it was too expensive. This feature really helps when you have time and your eyes are tired. Also when you are shooting macro in an awkward position or using a manual focus lens and want to do precise focusing with the live view magnifier. This is a life saver for me that I can still use old manual focus lenses.

6. The size, weight and ergonomics. With the kit lenses you get 28-300mm range covered and NO OTHER brand can get you this quality in this size and weight. D40x is as good in handling, but lack of IS (and the price/weight of their VR lenses) was a deal breaker.

7. Speed. It's always ready for next shot. In drive mode, you can get 3 frames a second unlimited in HQ JPEG. With RAW, it's limited to 10 shots at the same speed and after that speed reduces to around 1.6 fps. Better than most in it's class if you have a fast card. I don't miss a shot these days due to camera.

What I don't like -

1. Though viewfinder is brighter than some previous Olympus models, it could be bigger. LV helps, but it's not usable always. A small issue considering my eyes aren't too bad.

2. Focus confirmation using manual focus lenses. Though I didn't buy this camera for this purpose, it would have helped a lot. Especially when Panasonic L1 and Pentax models have it, it's just a software fix they have to do so I am hoping they'll release a firmware with this fix.

These are just minor gripes and the second one is easily fixable. All in all, I would say this camera is a winner in the hands of a little experienced person, but a new owner will just need some time to get to know this little gem. IMO, it's the best camera in it's class today if you can live with the "Made in China" sticker on it.

As a professional photographer I have used Cannon and Nikon cameras. I purchased an Olympus E-500 two years ago and was impressed with the sharpness, color capture, and other features. Needing a second camera I tested several Cannon and Nikon pro-level cameras. I found the Olympus E-510 equal or superior to each in edge-to-edge sharpness and color capture using color charts and sharpness charts. Additionally, the ease of use of the E-510 was a contributing factor. I am also impressed with the four-thirds system lenses produced by Olympus; they weigh less then their equivalent lenses in the Cannon or Nikor lines and I feel give better edge-to-edge sharpness. The only negative is the narrow line of pro-level lens in the Olympus line.

I recommended the E-500 to my photography students and now I'll recommend the E-510 as the cost factor is important to students. If you are looking for a solid D-SLR I highly recommend the E-510. I suggest that consideration be given to purchasing the Olympus "high-grade" lenses rather then the kit lens for the advanced photographer. The kit lenses are fine for the consumer.

I got this camera after reviewing & trying out several different brands at local stores. Compared with the others, the only one I liked better in the hand was the N80, which is considerably more expensive & lacks anti-dust & body-based image stabilization. The viewfinder on this camera is smaller than you're used to if you've shot 35mm SLRs for years, but it's not bad.

Now that I've been using this for a couple of weeks, I like it even more. The body-based image stabilization works well, I can hand-hold the long lens of the set (150mm) for a 1/20 second shot, and it comes out very clear, no visible shake. I can't really comment on the usefulness of the anti-dust capabilities, but have switched out lenses several times, & no dust spots are apparent on my shots. Image quality is great, but the Oly software is worthless. Terrible UI, and the included software that can do decent post-processing of the raw files is trial only. Photoshop Elements w/ Adobe's raw processing & batch conversion from the camera's ORF files to DNG's works great for me. The kit lenses are good, very comparable to old Zuiko lenses from the manual focus 35mm days. Fewer lenses are available for this system than for e.g. Canon or Nikon, but most of the needed lenses are out there. Only thing I really miss is a good fast prime (25mm f/1.4 or f/1.8 would be very appreciated, Oly!) Overall, I'm totally pleased w/ this camera & would recommend it.