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| Brand: Olympus
Category: Photography
List Price: $699.99
Buy New: $549.95
You Save: $150.04 (21%)
New (12) Used (6) from $464.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  167 reviews
Sales Rank: 441
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 3
Display Size: 2.5
Maximum Focal Length: 42
Minimum Focal Length: 14
Maximum Resolution: 10
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 3.6 x 2.7
nv:Sensor: 10 Megapixel
Image Resolution: 3648 x 2736 pixels - 640 x 480 pixels
Movie Resolution: 3648 x 2736 pixels
Storage Media: Compatible CF Type I / II / MicroDrive
Compressed Format: JPEG
Compressed Format: RAW + JPEG
Compressed Format: DCF
Compressed Format: DPOF compatible/Exif
Compressed Format: PRINT Image Matching III
Compressed Format: RAW (12-bit)
Optical Viewfinder: Approx.0.92x (-1m-1, 50mm lens, infinity)
LCD Monitor: 2.5-inch
LCD Pixels: 230,000 pixels
LCD Coverage: 95%
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 262072
Model: 262072
UPC: 050332160484
EAN: 0050332160484
ASIN: B000NVXF30
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Disapointed July 19, 2007
45 out of 77 found this review helpful
I had great expectations for Olympus E-510. After learning on a Canon A620, I wanted something that would give me consistently better pictures. Unfortunately, the E-510 is not that camera. I am plagued with out of focus, under and over exposed junk shots. Out of 500 shots, four were keepers. I have tried shooting in all modes, indoors and out, with bad results. For a time, I might have had trouble getting consistent lens contact, which would explain some of the poor focus problem. Eventually, auto focus could be obtained in still controlled indoor shots, but not outside (for me, the viewfinder is inadequate for manual focus). Also, Image Stability seems to offer little help in cutting down blur. The camera feels great to hold, and has all the bells and whistles, but what's the use if you can't get clear pictures. Final thought: It has been discussed at length, the need to turn off noise reduction on the E-510, in order to get clear pictures ( usually have it off). For some shots this is helpful, but for most it will introduce an abundance of noise into your pictures. In many cases, I can get better results from my point-n-shoot (in manual mode) than I can in any selection with the E-510. I don't have any other cameras to compare with, so similar models of other brands may not be better. I do know that $900 is a lot to pay for a failed photographic experiment.
Follow up after 1 month, about 2000 shots:
Hopefully, this is my final word on the e510. After being accused of naivete by more learned photographers, I was frustrated about how to warn against the limitations of this camera. After rereading many of the e510 online reviews, at various photo sites, I noticed some of them warn against the limitations of the sensor. They state that it operates at the far limits of what a sensor its size can handle. This is the only thing that makes sense to me, when trying to make a rational evaluation. Perhaps my frustration is that my old P&S (Canon A620) had a very high quality sensor, for that kind of camera, and that I expected the E510 to surpass it, which it hasn't, except in a few limited cases.
I like to visit my local park and shoot geese and ducks, mostly. My old A620 would give me dazzlingly sharp pictures of wing tip feather details. However, I needed a tripod, perfect light, a range within 50ft. The E510, according to the reviews, promised to overcome those limits. The samples provided by some reviews looked very good. So I expected the E510 would easily meet my expectations.
My first disappointment with the E510 was that the IS in Auto mode would not give good pool-party style pictures - even a P&S without IS can do this. My next disappointment was that it would not take controlled indoor still photos well, even on a tripod, even in Manual mode - they were blurry. I suspect that the lens was making poor electrical contact with the body, since Oly warns about this in their FAQ, and because the pictures improved later.
My real disappoint was at the park shooting ducks and geese. I had high hopes that IS would let me take hand held shots, but no. I took 150 hand held shots alternating between kit lenses without a keeper. The next day, I tried again with both noise liters turned off, but the results were about the same (noise being a minor issue in these kinds of shots). So I brought my tripod to the park, but still, in daylight, with sitting ducks, using every settable range available on the camera, only 2 of 170 shots were keepers. This was no better than my A620 P&S!
I don't hate the E510, I'm just disappointed. I paid $700 more than I did for my P&S for pictures of comparable quality. I love the way the E510 feels - it makes you want to go shooting. I love the lenses, especially the 40-150mm. I will definitely keep working to find the sweet spot in this camera. However, the LiveView is useless if you are trying to capture a moment, since it has a one second shutter delay. The viewfinder is too small and dim to accurately use manual focus in most cases. Also, the viewfinder display isn't bright enough in daylight to see easily, unless you give your eye time to adjust. The passive AF (common to DSLRs) on the E510 is easily confused, especially in dim light. When AF uses the flash to set range, it delays the shot by seconds, and ruins a candid shot. Comparing shots with my friend's xti, I end up with large dark patches, that the xti doesn't get. There are adjustments that can correct some of this, but you loose in other areas to do it - the xti does not. This, according to the reviews, may be due to a sharp luminance drop off, compared to the xti, and the D40x.
I bow to those photo masters who, not so graciously, commented on my review. I still have a lot to learn. However, there are limitations to this camera that are being ignored. If this were a $500 or $600 camera, I would say hurray; the picture quality isn't any better than my $200 P&S, but it has lots of bells and whistles, and it feels great to work with. You can't move into DSLR much cheaper, so suffer the disappointment with me (all entry level DSLRs have their draw backs), or put out the really big bucks, I guess. I see the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II is selling for about $7000 (body only).
 Shakey Hands? July 17, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you've got shaky hands like I do, then this is the camera for you. I just got the camera yesterday and I'm going pro again tomorrow. The IS really does work. I've been shooting everything around the house just to practice, and I finally have sharp photos again. I was once a pro and gave up due to a hand tremor. This camera is the answer to my prayers. I hate the fact that it is plastic, but for the price and features. I can live with it until Canon or Nikon adopt similar or better technology. The Canon and the Nikon are staying on the shelf as they have for many years now, or maybe going on ebay:) BTW customer support is by engish speaking people with great knowledge of the product even though it just came out.
Kudos to Olympus for putting out a great product at an affordable price, must be why it is plastic:)
What a wonderful camera. July 16, 2007
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I purchased this camera after several weeks of shopping, testing and reading various reviews. The feature set of this camera was both intimidating and exciting to me as this would be my first DSLR camera. I was not disappointed with this purchase. After browsing through the manual I took the camera out for a weekend shoot. I took over three hundred shots and have to say that I was pleased with the results. Even shots that were not breath taking were due to pilot error and not the result of the camera failing to produce. I have a lot to learn but I'm satisfied that I choose the proper tool to learn with.
Great camera July 10, 2007
84 out of 87 found this review helpful
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.
Not Disappointed July 5, 2007
51 out of 51 found this review helpful
Have had this kit for a week now and am throughly pleased with my purchase and Amazon's service. I ordered the kit Sunday evening, paid $8 for 3-5 business day shipping, and it arrived Wednesday afternoon, 2 days in my book. I am a noob at digital SLR photography, though I have used older film SLRs, and was able to get some amazing fireworks shots last night using the 40-150mm lens on a tripod (M-mode, 8s, F16, ISO 100, SHQ JPeg).
I am totally amazed at how easy it is to change settings. The buttons are well placed, at least for me, and the menus are very intuitive. I "glanced" through the manual before the camera arrived and began shooting as soon as the battery was charged. I've had nothing but fun, none of the usual frustrations with something new.
It's a lot of money, but I can't believe it won't last me many, many years and the kit lenses are very good, though I'm already drooling for the EC14 (and an EC20 would be even better to double the range).
If there is one negative I can think of it's getting used to shooting with 4x6 prints in mind. Oly uses a 4x3 format and that doesn't translate directly to a 4x6 sheet of paper. Mind you, I don't print often, but it's something to consider, especially if some of your family/friends are computer shy. :)
The other negative might be the Master 2 software. It is painfully slow, but does a good job for free software. I personally use Picasa for most things and Paint Shop Pro when needed.
EDIT: I just found out Amazon has a 30-day price guarantee. This means I will be getting a nice $88 refund on my credit card. Have yet to be disappointed with Amazon.
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