Olympus E-510 dSLR
World's 1st dSLR with in-camera sensor image stabilisation and Live View
see also:
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reviews of the E520:
reviews of the E510:
more on the net:
DIY cable release for the E410 / E510 with buttons for half-press, full press shutter button and Bulb:
3rd party battery holder:
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Customizing Your E-510
Quick Notes on the E510:
E-510 Olympus School:
NB. the E510 was superseded by a minor upgrade in mid-2008, the E520 which adds a few features:
11pt continuous contrast-detection AF in Live Preview with certain lenses (kit lenses and 25mm pancake lens)
face detection AF
shadow adjustment and apparently the E3 sensor to improve dynamic range
support for wireless TTL flash, 3.5fps burst rate & up to 8xRAW instead of 3fps and 7xRAW
additional IS panning mode
optional underwater housing
announced May 2008
Main features of the E510:
announced March 2007, available June 2007.
10mp upgrade from the E-500 with:
the excellent Olympus sensor dust protection mechanism
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added mechanical CCD-shift
image stabilisation which now works for ANY lens including legacy manual focus lenses such as Olympus OM, Leica R, Carl Zeiss, Nikon F, etc (see firmware 1.3)
although Olympus recommend turning IS OFF when using a tripod,
experiments by Stan Williams suggest that turning IS on mode 1 is OK on a tripod using the
Olympus E510, and may be beneficial in minimising mirror vibrations at shutter speeds 1/30th sec - 4 sec range.
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significantly improved digital noise at high ISO
Hi-speed USB 2.0 at last
more compact ED kit lenses covering 28-300mm range for twin lens kit
3fps x 7 RAW and unlimited JPEG
RAW files are 11Mb instead of 13Mb in the E330
image size 3648×2736 at full resolution.
What is so good about this camera?
great quality 10mp images in a light and compact dSLR perfect for
travel (E410 is even lighter and smaller), and you can use the live preview for the times when you can't physically place your eye on the camera such as when you want to put the camera on the other side of a wire fence (eg. at the top of the Eiffel tower - try composing there with a Canon 400D).
sensor dust removal system is a proven technology and seems much more effective than competing technologies.
there are some really nice lenses especially designed for this format.
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Olympus have made a semi-pro version of this - the
Olympus E-3 dSLR which is even better although bigger & heavier.
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hand-held ambient lighting of interiors where an ultra-wide angle is needed and tripod is not possible
for example, interiors of cathedrals in Rome or urban street scenes in low light
combined with the incredible but expensive Olympus ZD 7-14mm f/4 lens, the creative options are suddenly expanded when you now have an ultra wide with IS
sure you can get a Canon 400D with Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 but:
there is no IS so hand holding at slow shutter speeds to give subject motion effects without camera shake is not as good.
you can crank the ISO up on this by 1-2EV which allows you to use faster shutter speeds in low lighting but this will tend to freeze your subjects and not give a creative blur, particularly when you want the image to emphasise the architecture and not the crowds of people.
only gives 16mm wide instead of 14mm
optical quality does not match the Olympus 7-14mm
if you get the Canon 1D series, there is no lens as wide and none with the optical quality let alone IS capability.
if you get a full frame Canon, you can get a 14mm EF lens or a 16-35mm EF but again, these do not have IS, and their sharpness is poor in the periphery of the full frame.
if you get Nikon DX, you could get a Nikkor DX 12-24mm which would give a wide angle of 18mm or even wider with Sigma or Tokina lenses, but again, no IS and inferior optical quality.
have a look at my urban night photos hand held:
here
hand-held manual focusing with Live Preview is much more accurate with IS:
use with legacy MF lenses:
Olympus has managed to improve its digital noise profile significantly:
but be aware the default noise filter settings result in loss of detail so it may be best to set it to LOW for ISO 200-400 and set sharpness to -2.
image noise at high ISO is probably similar to 1 ISO stop difference on Canon/Nikon cropped sensors and perhaps 2 stops difference from the
Canon 1D Mark III
to offset this though, IS is available for ALL lenses (8mm-1000mm focal length) via the body and Olympus lenses tend to be 1 stop faster than available in Canon/Nikon.
Olympus has stuck with only 3 AF points
why is this good?
it is simpler and forces the user to think about what they are focusing on, for most cases, just set it to ONLY use the centre AF point and lock focus on the subject using this point, then recompose (I set the camera's menu settings so the shutter button does not set AF, that way I don't have to keep my finger half-pressed to lock the focus and risk accidentally taking my finger off and losing it or accidentally triggering the shutter - I do this on the Olympus E330 and even on the Canon 1D Mark III with its 49 AF points).
lots of AF points may be of benefit for:
sports photographers capturing action, but in my experience with the Canon 1D Mark III, the camera seems to set AF on everything BUT the subject's eyes - hence I routinely only use the centre AF point for stationary subjects and even for sports.
use on a tripod where changing the composition by moving the camera is a pain - easier to just select another AF point which hopefully lies on your subject.
cameras with facial detection systems
note that AF is faster and works better in lower light levels or for action work on the
Olympus E3.
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depth of field is greater than with equivalent configuration on a Canon or Nikon:
this is due to the sensor size and is a good thing for macro work and much of travel photography but not so good for portraiture although the 50mm macro at f/2.0 gives a pretty good portrait with good bokeh, as does the 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5, and even better on the super pro lenses, the 35-100mm f/2.0 and 50-250mm f/2.8.
Live Preview now has:
RAW file size is smaller
What is not so good about this camera?
although I loved this camera when I bought it in 2007, after using the much nicer electronic viewfinders of the latest
Micro Four Thirds system cameras, I can't see myself going back to the tunnel-like dim view of an optical pentamirror viewfinder such as in most entry-level
digital SLR cameras such as is in the E-510 and Canon and Nikons.
let's get this clear, this is not a pro sports camera
if you want one of those, buy a heavier, more expensive camera with better AF and burst rates such as the
Olympus E5 dSLR, or the even heavier, more expensive still
Canon 1D Mark III.
this is also not designed for astrophotography
while you can do
astrophotography with it, and it has some advantages with manual focusing with its Live Preview, there are 3 main problems:
noise at high ISO - ideally one wants to use ISO 1600-6400 but on this camera they are just a bit too noisy (and limited to 1600 ISO)
lack of specialised astrophotography software support to control the camera
lack of expertise in modifying the camera by replacing its IR filter so it can image emission nebulae (those red nebulae which fall in the IR range).
Olympus still has not increased the AE bracketing to +/- 2EV (its only +/- 1EV)
dynamic range is limited as expected:
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no flip out LCD:
to me, this is a mistake by Olympus, I love the flip out LCD on my E330 and C8080 as it allows easier shooting at waist level or when I have the camera stabilised on my knee, etc.
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no live preview mode A:
no Live preview “silent”, instant mode:
as with the E330 live preview mode B, when you press the shutter in Live Preview mode, the mirror drops back down so that exposure, AWB and AF can be set, then the mirror goes up and an exposure is taken, this is acoustically noisy and causes a rather long shutter lag.
now I can understand this is necessary in the auto modes BUT WHY CAN'T WE have a mode where if white balance has been preset, manual focus is being used or AF has already been set and using manual exposure, then the mirror just stays locked up, we would then have an almost silent imaging mode with almost zero shutter lag.
I know, there is no other dSLR with this feature (Canon 1D Mark III almost achieved it), but surely its just a bit of programming to make it work this way!
if this camera had this, I could take photos of my daughter's cello recitals without making any noise and distracting her and the audience, imagine how good it would be in church's, during wedding vows, etc.
just preset everything and click away without noise - currently, I still use my C8080 for this task.
THIS is a MUST HAVE for the next firmware update - PLEASE Olympus can we have this, it would be so easily to implement in software algorithms - if manual exposure and manual WB then don't bring the mirror down to take the photo - EASY!
no wireless TTL options:
if you are in a hurry or just lazy, then wireless TTL flash can be useful but still may not solve your problems
Canon's e-TTL II and Nikon's i-TTL have wireless TTL capability.
Olympus version of wireless TTL requires the
Olympus E-3 dSLR / E420/E520 or later combined with matching wireless TTL capable flash units with “R” designation on their model numbers.
RAW file converters:
no AF confirm for legacy MF lenses:
Olympus ZD digital lenses use focus-by-wire MF:
the focus-by-wire technology for manual focus feels quite different and can take a bit of getting used to.
must say I prefer the old style MF, especially for macrophotography and astrophotography.
Olympus have not made underwater housing for this model: