Though we’ve seen some great cameras emerge as a result of seemingly minor upgrades, it’s mostly been a year of light makeovers, slight tweaks, and progressive developments in the consumer DSLR space. With all of the phenomenal power that’s been released in the upper half of the market since last summer, interchangeable-lens cameras for the masses have largely been laying back to ride whatever waves of technology roll in from their more advanced brethren.
The Olympus E-520 replaces the EVOLT E-510 from last year as Olympus' mid-level dSLR offering. This camera is loaded with advanced technologies. These include an Image Stabilization system that is built right into the camera body, which compensates for movement so that images are sharp and blur-free with any lens, even at slower shutter speeds. Together, these technologies help the E-520 produce pleasing results:
The new 10 megapixel Olympus E-520 DSLR camera is an evolutionary upgrade to last year's popular E-510 model. It boasts some notable advancements including wireless TTL flash control, Shadow Adjustment Technology, improved image processing, two extra scene modes, Face Detection and more convenient auto-focus options in Live View. The E520 also offers a bigger LCD, a larger raw buffer and a nominally increased continuous shooting speed of 3.5 frames per second than found on the older E-510.
Olympus E-520 Review - In a sector of the market that's becoming more crowded than a west end pub, Olympus introduce yet another model to its Four Thirds system. Peter Bargh drinks in the atmosphere and checks out the latest talent to see if it's a luxurious cocktail or a pint of watered down ale.
The Olympus E-520 is a refreshed version of Olympus's upper-entry-level camera, the E-510. As such it's a slightly bulked-up E-420 with image stabilization, which makes it one of the most feature-packed and customizable cameras available for under £500/$800. It loses some of its sibling's compact chic but offers a bigger, longer-lasting battery and a more familiar grip shape to those people familiar with contemporary DSLRs.
Its Four-Thirds sensor (2.43cm2) offers 10 million pixel output and a Live view system that has become commonplace since Olympus pioneered the idea a few years back. It's clearly a camera that comes from a company with a strong heritage of making products for photographers, with useful features such as highlight and shadow spot metering modes sitting alongside a plethora of beginner-friendly point-and-shoot modes.
The whole market has become a much more competitive place since the E-510 first hit the market in March 2007, so has the newest version done enough
If you purchase the E-520 lens kit, then you'll get Olympus' fairly new 14 - 42 mm lens. On the E-520 (and all other FourThirds cameras), that's equivalent to 28 - 84 mm. This is a pretty nice lens, as kit lenses go, with good sharpness and decent build quality. There are plenty of other FourThirds lenses available, ranging from macro to super telephoto.
Digital SLRs never come with memory cards, so if you don't have an xD or CompactFlash card already, you'll have to buy one. The E-520 has two slots: one for xD and the other for CompactFlash. The CF slot supports Type I and II cards, though I don't believe that it takes advantage of super fast UDMA-enabled cards. I'd suggest starting with a 2GB, high speed CompactFlash card.
Add to my favorite
