Digital Cameras by Megapixels

Digital Camera Accessories

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Good Camera
Comment: Good camera - better than the big two in this category of price and quality, Canon and Nikon. This the most highly rated because of its image stabilization feature, which the other two do not have. Otherwise, they are all the same, at the same price. And all take great quality pictures.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5
Summary: Not what I expected...
Comment: I guess it was my fault, but I bought this camera with only one lens. The box came showing it was supposed to be a two lens package (both lenses shown on the outside of the package). I was under the assumption that I was getting a new, unwrapped item and not something that had been repackaged and sold with only one lens. I don't believe Olympus meant for it to be repackaged and sold as it was. This disappointed me.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: hmm, overall very good
Comment: just use it for a short time. overall is very good and worth the money and it would be much better if the focus system is as fast as cannon's.


Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Great Buy!
Comment: This camera takes amazing pictures! I was going to buy the 520 and then realized for the same price I could get the 510 plus two lenses! The camera is exactly the same as the newer model except for a few new features. If you're anywhere from a beginner to an avid photographer you can't go wrong with this camera!

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Fine Value - Compact DSLR
Comment: I purchased this outfit (E-510 plus two kit lenses) not because it's "best in class" (it isn't), but because it seemed the best value in what I was looking for (I concentrate on landscapes, vacations, people; I do not concentrate on sports or formal portraiture). The price for this outfit shrunk from $1,000 to $620 in less than a year and a half. With Olympus introducing the tweaked E-520, the 510 became old hat. An example of excellent (but no longer state of the art) technology deeply discounted.
As for the camera itself, these are its noteworthy attributes that might not be apparent at first study of the specs:
A) On body (as opposed to on lens) image stabilization. Take a look at lens prices for Nikon or Canon and compare to Olympus' Zuiko equivalents. Nikon and Canon boast on lens stabilization - at a premium price.
B) High reviews for the optical quality of these kit lenses - at virtually every aperture setting. They're remarkably lightweight too.
C) Four-Thirds sensor functionally doubles the 35mm equivalent zoom factor of the lenses. Thus the 150mm kit lens magnifies to 300mm equivalent - about 8x zoom.
D) Relatively lightweight but ergonomically friendly.
E) Overall picture quality at various settings - really really good!
Work Arounds:
A) Noise reduction and sharpness default settings not so good. I prefer the results with the noise filter on "low" and sharpness on "minus one".
B) Speed: If freezing sport or fast action is important to you, look elsewhere. ISO is best at 100 - 200. Just fine through 400. Beyond 400 to 800 is just OK - too much granularity for my liking. Above 800 - forget it - noise is obvious.
C) Only downside of the kit lenses are their maximum apertures of f3.5 and f4.0. (Would really like a f2.8.) However, pretty typical in this class.
D) Built in flash is what you'd expect for this level camera - adequate at best. Consider springing for the Olympus FL-36 - I wouldn't travel without it!
All told - I'm very happy with this camera, especially at this price!