Digital Camera Ratings Blog

Olympus Evolt E520 10MP Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization (Body Only)

Your life is full of priceless, fleeting moments that you want to keep just the way you see and feel them. Preserve each moment with the E-520. With the E-520’s Live View, you can shoot your subject while viewing it on the LCD monitor, so it’s just like shooting with a compact camera. In addition to phase-difference detection AF, the E-520 incorporates a high speed Imager AF that offers easy 11-point multi-area autofocusing with Live View simply by half-pressing the shutter button. Face Detection AF automatically detects up to 8 faces at a time and adjusts focus appropriately. Accurate composition is assured by the monitor’s 100% field of view. The E-520 is equipped with a 2.7″ HyperCrystal II LCD monitor with high-definition 230,000-dot resolution, improved contrast ratio, and enhanced color reproduction capability. While shooting with Live View, framing-assist patterns or a histogram can be displayed on the LCD monitor to improve your picture composition and check exposure condition. The E-520 incorporates a Live MOS sensor with 10-Megapixels, Olympus’ original TruePic III image processing engine delivers improved imaging, gradation expression and color reproduction capabilities as well as minimized noise at high ISO setting. Olympus’ highly acclaimed dust reduction system employs a Supersonic Wave Filter in front of the image sensor, which vibrates at such high speed and with such great power that it removes even the most stubborn dust; dust that cannot be removed by just shaking the image sensor or by discharging the static electricity. Weight - 475 grams (body only) Requires use of an Olympus Zuiko lens or compatible for use of camera

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Excellent Camera, Best Value for the Money
First, it is my opinion that the Olympus e520 is absolutely the best DSLR camera you will find in its price class. Sure, there are more expensive models from other brands that are better. But for the money, you will not find a more capable camera.

Also, it is my opinion that there are three components that determine the quality of a photograph.

1) the camera. 2) the lens, and 3) the photographer’s ability to use the camera properly.

So keep those things in mind when deciding which camera to buy, you need a good lens too, and you will need to learn how to use the camera’s various features to get the best photos.

This is my first DSLR camera. I spent two months researching various DSLR cameras and read many reviews. And I admit, at first I did not seriously consider Olympus as an option because it is not as popular as the two leading brands (Nikon and Canon). Most of my friends and relatives have one of those two brands so I figured they were the best. But I was overwhelmed by the many conflicting reviews I read about Nikon and Canon models. It seems there are many opinionated and passionate brand loyalists out there who love their choice of camera. Which is perfectly fine except for their biased bashing of the other brands.

This made it very difficult for me to make an objective comparison between the brands. I had almost given up on my quest for the right DSLR for my needs until I talked with another friend who has the Olympus e510. He let me try it out and I found it to be very impressive and very easy to use. So I read as many reviews about the Olympus cameras that I could find and it turns out that nearly all those who own an Olympus love it and wouldn’t trade it for any of the other brands. So, for reasons I’ll explain below, I finally made the purchase and I soon found my new e520 was on the door step. Although the camera is not perfect (neither are the Canon or Nikon cameras), it did not disappoint and I am very satisfied with my choice.

+++ Pros +++

+ Excellent construction quality. This camera feels very substantial, sturdy and tough.

+ Excellent layout of buttons, and controls. The buttons and dials are easy to find and seem natural and comfortable when using them while taking photos.

+ The LCD screen is the biggest in its class if camera.

+ Very easy to use. I’m a first time DSLR user and it was very easy for me to learn how to use almost all of the cameras features. For those who prefer auto, no worries, it takes very excellent photos in auto mode. For those who want to customize the heck of the settings, no worries either, the Olympus e520 has more manually setting ability than any of the competition in the same price range. And changing the manual settings is so easy and quick with the super control panel that only Olympus has.

+ Image stabilization built into the camera body. This is a big deal. For crystal clear photos you really do need image stabilization. Especially if using telephoto lenses. The difference between Olympus and the other brands is Olympus puts image stabilization into the camera body while the competition puts it into the lenses. Lenses with image stabilization cost more to manufacture than lenses without. Therefore, with the Olympus system you will get more lens for the money since you won’t be paying for the image stabilization.

+ Unlike the competition, the entire Olympus system is designed from the ground up for digital photography using the new four thirds standard. This makes their telephoto lenses more capable and much less expensive. And Olympus has a very large selection of lenses to suite your needs.

+ The e520 has the fastest continuous shooting speed in its price range and received best scores for color accuracy in independent reviews. It also has the best dust reduction system in the market.

+ The kit lens takes very excellent photos and is a more capable lens than the competition’s kit lenses. This is because the four thirds system provides higher telephoto ability in the same size lens plus image stabilization is in the camera. Watch out for the other brands’ kit lenses. Many of them do not have image stabilization.

+ There are many more pros worth mentioning but not enough room!

— Cons —

- No camera is perfect. And for the entry level price I would expect some cons. Don’t worry, this camera takes awesome photos in almost any circumstance. And it also takes awesome photos in poor lighting situations as long as you use the flash. But, if you’re looking to take flashless photos in dim light by using a high ISO setting, you may be disappointed by the noise. The image sensor in the Olympus camera is smaller than other DSLRs and therefore is more susceptible to noise at high ISO settings. ISO 100 and 200 have no noise problems in any light condition. ISO 400 has an acceptable amount of noise. Anything 800 or above will produce way too much noise in my opinion. However, this is not a big issue for me because I use a flash when taking photos in dim light. Or, for night time scene shots, I just slow the shutter speed down rather than adjust the ISO settings. I do sometimes use ISO 400 with acceptable results.

- Generally, the auto focus works great. However, in dim light, the auto focus has to use the flash to help it focus. It does this by rapidly flickering the flash like a strobe light for a half a second while it focuses. This can be annoying and distracting to the subject you are photographing. Other brands use a red led to assist in dim light focusing. Not sure why Olympus didn’t do the same because the strobe light thing is really annoying. To solve this problem, I bought a hot shoe flash which uses the red led to assist focusing. I like this much better.

In conclusion, you can’t go wrong with Olympus. They manufacture very high quality cameras and lenses with many features that outshine the competition in the same price range. Too many people tell me their Canon or Nikon is better but then they paid two, three, or four hundred dollars more for their setup. Of course I would expect it to be better. Olympus also has higher end cameras that are more capable than the e520. But for my needs, the e520 is the best value.

5 Stars awesome camera
this is my first SLR camera and so far i’m very satisfied with it. it takes great pictures, lots of manual controls and the speed is awesome. after buying a few lenses for it ive been experimenting and it definitely is worth the price in my opinion.

5 Stars 5 stars considering the price-point
I bought the e-520 for one simple reason… it has several mitigating features that allow for an overall system price break while still giving pretty good quality images.

Yes, I know that other cameras have an edge when it comes to digital noise, dynamic range and number of megapixels BUT from a practical, real-world shooting stand-point you can get great images from the Olympus E-520.

The fact that even Olympus’s lower range of lenses are pretty good quality means that a person who is trying to scrimp can come up with a good “prosumer” camera system.

Consider this. You know that the drawback to Olympus’s four-thirds sized sensors mean that there is SLIGHTLY more digital noise at higher ISO settings, right? Well the smaller sensor means that my 70-300 f4-f5.6 tele-zoom is really the 35mm equivalent of a 140-600mm!!!… And still at f4-f5.6!!! That’s pretty good. And I spent WAY less then someone purchasing a 140-600mm.

Now… Image stabilization that is in the lens means that there is a premium added to the cost of the lens. Well, the E-520 comes with GREAT image stabilization in the camera body. No need to add that expense to the lens! Cool!

On top of that Olympus tends to price their cameras slightly lower than other similarly ranked cameras. AND they tend to put a couple other features in there for the price… like THE BEST sensor dust reduction system in DSLRs!!! Cool!

So far I’m quite happy with the E-520. If the E-620 had come along earlier I might have decided on that simply because of the higher mega-pixels. However, I’ve been quite happy with the image quality coming from this camera, “for the price-point”.

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5 Stars Quick Transaction
The complete process did not take as long as first believed and my camera was in great condition.

5 Stars excellent!
This camera is just about excellent. Its size and weight is very ideal, its built and design remarkable, and above all its performance and image quality is very good. And it’s got loads of features(withn built-in IS too) that with patient exploring and tweeking, will give you results that’s expected of a DSLR made by one of the finest names in the imaging industry. Plus, other than the kit lenses I got with it which aren’t really bad, I got a lot more better Zuiko lenses to look forward to for higher levels of photography. As it is right now, I am very much satisfied with its performance. I will highly recommend this to a fellow enthusiast who aims to reach higher grounds in the art of photography. And the price makes it all worth it. Very good camera…in fact, excellent!

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Filed under: Olympus Digital Cameras