Customer Rating: 
Summary: DSLR after film and digital point & shoot.
Comment: This is my first camera review and is based upon six weeks of heavy use of my new Olympus E-510, 10MP, DSLR with two very good kit lenses (14-42mm and 40-150mm). I bought the camera to upgrade my ability to capture indoor architectural details in historic buildings. My background includes the use of 35mm film SLRs and digital point & shoot cameras. I have been slow on getting a DSLR because I don't like big, heavy cameras in outsized bags. The E-510 is amazingly light but easy to get a good grip on. I've added a Lowepro 160 AW bag for the camera, two lenses, a spare Olympus Li-ion battery and a spare 4GB compactFlash card. There's still room for more and it is almost feather light over your shoulder.
I have taken several hundred practice images in my own home using the built-in flash and an external Olympus FL-36 electronic flash with tripod. As expected, the built-in flash is fine for quick photos of the family but more serious work demands an external flash unit. I've added a diffuser to my FL-36 and found it helpful. I've used automatic settings and tried the full range of manual settings. So far I've only used the lower resolution SQ JPEG settings. For minute detail I plan to use higher resolution HQ, SHQ and RAW settings in the future. These settings are all easy to find and quick to set using the camera's easy to read paper instruction manual and intuitive Menu viewable through the LCD window on the back of the camera.
Outdoors I've made very good use of both lenses and the image stabilization feature. When you can walk backwards in a busy zoo and can capture a two year old without blurring, you've got a great stabilization system on the camera! I've taken several hundred images of waterfalls in a dark forrest with brilliant, high-noon sun streaming through the trees and close range to distant landscape shots around a large manmade lake from a fast moving boat. All the results have been excellent. I have taken a number of these images, opened them up in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and been very pleased with the results.
I have tried the "live view" capability and it works fine but I find myself using the viewfinder 95% of the time. So, this feature is pretty cool but up to you on how you prefer to use it. Battery life is outstanding. In other words battery life has been a complete non-issue to me, inside, outside, with or without the flash.
Concerning low-light focus problems mentioned in some other reviews. I have experienced the problem, but with all the settings this camera has, you can easily work around the issue. But it is important to know this limitation and experiment with it before you encounter it in a photo shoot situation.
If you'd like some outstanding recommendations on how to customize and save your E-510 camera settings check out this website. http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/e510-sett.html
One thing I have not tried yet is the panoramic shooting mode. To use this mode you must have a Panoramic xD card (I bought two CompactFlash cards, 2GB & 4GB when I bought the camera). The xD card will be my next purchase. Unless you want to spend the money, you might buy the 4GB CompactFlash card and a 1GB or 2GB xD card for starters. No, the camera does not come with a memory card upon initial purchase unless you buy a complete kit.
So, read the reviews, to include the 4 and 3 star reviews. If you make your decision to buy a E-510 and save a few bucks or buy the newest E-520 you won't be disappointed. Olympus Evolt E510 10MP Digital SLR Camera with CCD Shift Image Stabilization and 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Zuiko Lenses
Customer Rating:
Summary: I love it!
Comment: I shopped around for an SLR that would be user friendly along with having a wide range of functions. I am very pleased with this camera. It is light weight yet does everything a heavier, bulkier camera would do. It comes with 2 lenses so you can cover the spectrum of ranges for taking most any picture you want. It may not please the most fussy but for the average photographer looking to upgrade from a simple point-and-shoot in order to take close-up shots to long distance shots without blurred images this is a great camera. The Olympus web site is excellent, too for instructions and general photo taking lessons.
I am very happy I purchased this camera rather than a more expensive one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What can I add that has not already been said.
Comment: Other then add another 5 star review. This is a great camera. Having gone from my first a Minolta X700, to an Olympus E10 to the E510. All great steps forward. This camera runs the gamut from point and shoot to full on manual control of an SLR and everywhere in between. Just a flat out outstanding camera.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Camera!
Comment: I generally agree with all the positive reviews of this camera. It was a determining factor in the purchase for me.
I am not a professional photographer but I do insist on professional looking photos. The main reason for this camera as oposed to others was it is one of the only possibly THE only DSLR that allows you to use the screen to take photos instead of looking through the eyepiece. I generally use the eyepiece because I do prefer using the eyepiece however there is sometimes when it is convenient to use.
For the most part, I use this camera on AUTO. Like I said, I'm not pro. However I have two issues that crop up on this setting and the reason the product only got a 4-star was the White Balance on AUTO setting in bright outside situations is terrible! The photos always way to bright almost to the point of being washed out. It can be compensated in a Post editor but it is a pain and an extra step. The WB can be easily adjusted with the simple touch of a button even in AUTO mode but it is very hard for my untrained eye to know when and how much to adjust it. I have been toying with "bright outside days" WB=-1.0 usually works well however and destroy the photo if you leave it there and go inside and take some photos.
The second issue is sometimes the focus time is extremely long. Sometimes it will just not focus. It tries and then gives up. Usually a slight shift to whatever you are focusing on will allow it to refocus. Also sometimes it focus' on the left or the right side of the frame which is really annoying. When I point the camera at something, I generally put whatever I am focusing on in the middle of the frame. This also can be set C-AF in the AF menu but if you shut the camera off, it will switch back to S-AF when you turn it back on.
Generally speaking, I love this camera. I would buy it again, it takes excellent photos. The WB issue is my only complaint so far and I have well over 500 photos on it.
I hope this helps.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice Camera!!!
Comment: I sold my Canon Rebel XT and bought this because I wanted a DSLR with dust shake-off, live view and image stabilization. The 510 was a perfect match and after reading many reviews decided to buy it. I am very pleased so far, it is easy to use and the pictures I have taken so far are excellent. This camera has a lot of neat features, the highlight and shadow alert feature is quite unique.
I am really a novice and have slowly been learning the settings. I found the small fine print in the manual hard to read with my 50 year old eyes. I bought the Magic Lantern manual and have found it easy to ready and follow.
A great camera, I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for the right features as I was, and the two lens kit. Other reviewers have noticed that the price fluctuates, I watched that carefully, sometimes checking the price twice a day and got it for $550!
Footnote: Be careful where you buy, some forums here on Amazon have identified some sellers as offering low-ball prices, then they call you to pressure you into paying high prices for accessories, then saying your item is back-ordered when you don't buy.
I did not experience this but want to bring it to everyone's attention!
Summary: DSLR after film and digital point & shoot.
Comment: This is my first camera review and is based upon six weeks of heavy use of my new Olympus E-510, 10MP, DSLR with two very good kit lenses (14-42mm and 40-150mm). I bought the camera to upgrade my ability to capture indoor architectural details in historic buildings. My background includes the use of 35mm film SLRs and digital point & shoot cameras. I have been slow on getting a DSLR because I don't like big, heavy cameras in outsized bags. The E-510 is amazingly light but easy to get a good grip on. I've added a Lowepro 160 AW bag for the camera, two lenses, a spare Olympus Li-ion battery and a spare 4GB compactFlash card. There's still room for more and it is almost feather light over your shoulder.
I have taken several hundred practice images in my own home using the built-in flash and an external Olympus FL-36 electronic flash with tripod. As expected, the built-in flash is fine for quick photos of the family but more serious work demands an external flash unit. I've added a diffuser to my FL-36 and found it helpful. I've used automatic settings and tried the full range of manual settings. So far I've only used the lower resolution SQ JPEG settings. For minute detail I plan to use higher resolution HQ, SHQ and RAW settings in the future. These settings are all easy to find and quick to set using the camera's easy to read paper instruction manual and intuitive Menu viewable through the LCD window on the back of the camera.
Outdoors I've made very good use of both lenses and the image stabilization feature. When you can walk backwards in a busy zoo and can capture a two year old without blurring, you've got a great stabilization system on the camera! I've taken several hundred images of waterfalls in a dark forrest with brilliant, high-noon sun streaming through the trees and close range to distant landscape shots around a large manmade lake from a fast moving boat. All the results have been excellent. I have taken a number of these images, opened them up in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and been very pleased with the results.
I have tried the "live view" capability and it works fine but I find myself using the viewfinder 95% of the time. So, this feature is pretty cool but up to you on how you prefer to use it. Battery life is outstanding. In other words battery life has been a complete non-issue to me, inside, outside, with or without the flash.
Concerning low-light focus problems mentioned in some other reviews. I have experienced the problem, but with all the settings this camera has, you can easily work around the issue. But it is important to know this limitation and experiment with it before you encounter it in a photo shoot situation.
If you'd like some outstanding recommendations on how to customize and save your E-510 camera settings check out this website. http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/e510-sett.html
One thing I have not tried yet is the panoramic shooting mode. To use this mode you must have a Panoramic xD card (I bought two CompactFlash cards, 2GB & 4GB when I bought the camera). The xD card will be my next purchase. Unless you want to spend the money, you might buy the 4GB CompactFlash card and a 1GB or 2GB xD card for starters. No, the camera does not come with a memory card upon initial purchase unless you buy a complete kit.
So, read the reviews, to include the 4 and 3 star reviews. If you make your decision to buy a E-510 and save a few bucks or buy the newest E-520 you won't be disappointed. Olympus Evolt E510 10MP Digital SLR Camera with CCD Shift Image Stabilization and 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Zuiko Lenses
Customer Rating:
Summary: I love it!
Comment: I shopped around for an SLR that would be user friendly along with having a wide range of functions. I am very pleased with this camera. It is light weight yet does everything a heavier, bulkier camera would do. It comes with 2 lenses so you can cover the spectrum of ranges for taking most any picture you want. It may not please the most fussy but for the average photographer looking to upgrade from a simple point-and-shoot in order to take close-up shots to long distance shots without blurred images this is a great camera. The Olympus web site is excellent, too for instructions and general photo taking lessons.
I am very happy I purchased this camera rather than a more expensive one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What can I add that has not already been said.
Comment: Other then add another 5 star review. This is a great camera. Having gone from my first a Minolta X700, to an Olympus E10 to the E510. All great steps forward. This camera runs the gamut from point and shoot to full on manual control of an SLR and everywhere in between. Just a flat out outstanding camera.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Camera!
Comment: I generally agree with all the positive reviews of this camera. It was a determining factor in the purchase for me.
I am not a professional photographer but I do insist on professional looking photos. The main reason for this camera as oposed to others was it is one of the only possibly THE only DSLR that allows you to use the screen to take photos instead of looking through the eyepiece. I generally use the eyepiece because I do prefer using the eyepiece however there is sometimes when it is convenient to use.
For the most part, I use this camera on AUTO. Like I said, I'm not pro. However I have two issues that crop up on this setting and the reason the product only got a 4-star was the White Balance on AUTO setting in bright outside situations is terrible! The photos always way to bright almost to the point of being washed out. It can be compensated in a Post editor but it is a pain and an extra step. The WB can be easily adjusted with the simple touch of a button even in AUTO mode but it is very hard for my untrained eye to know when and how much to adjust it. I have been toying with "bright outside days" WB=-1.0 usually works well however and destroy the photo if you leave it there and go inside and take some photos.
The second issue is sometimes the focus time is extremely long. Sometimes it will just not focus. It tries and then gives up. Usually a slight shift to whatever you are focusing on will allow it to refocus. Also sometimes it focus' on the left or the right side of the frame which is really annoying. When I point the camera at something, I generally put whatever I am focusing on in the middle of the frame. This also can be set C-AF in the AF menu but if you shut the camera off, it will switch back to S-AF when you turn it back on.
Generally speaking, I love this camera. I would buy it again, it takes excellent photos. The WB issue is my only complaint so far and I have well over 500 photos on it.
I hope this helps.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice Camera!!!
Comment: I sold my Canon Rebel XT and bought this because I wanted a DSLR with dust shake-off, live view and image stabilization. The 510 was a perfect match and after reading many reviews decided to buy it. I am very pleased so far, it is easy to use and the pictures I have taken so far are excellent. This camera has a lot of neat features, the highlight and shadow alert feature is quite unique.
I am really a novice and have slowly been learning the settings. I found the small fine print in the manual hard to read with my 50 year old eyes. I bought the Magic Lantern manual and have found it easy to ready and follow.
A great camera, I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for the right features as I was, and the two lens kit. Other reviewers have noticed that the price fluctuates, I watched that carefully, sometimes checking the price twice a day and got it for $550!
Footnote: Be careful where you buy, some forums here on Amazon have identified some sellers as offering low-ball prices, then they call you to pressure you into paying high prices for accessories, then saying your item is back-ordered when you don't buy.
I did not experience this but want to bring it to everyone's attention!
Olympus Evolt E510 10MP Digital SLR Camera with CCD Shift Image Stabilization and 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Zuiko Lenses Reviews: Page 3 of 33
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