Olympus Evolt E-510

Well, I finally got my new toy and I’ve been wanting it for a long time now. I’ve wanted a DSLR camera ever since they first came out. It was a painful wait too, took about a week to get the camera just to find out I had to wait another week because the guy forgot to pack the batteries. I finally got it all however, and also got a weekend to play with it. I must say, I absolutely love it. I’m a secret camera-freak I guess, so finally buying this is just awesome.

I figured I’d write a little unprofessional review of it, as well as test out wordpress’s new features (yay image captions).

It is any enthusiast photographer’s wet dream. Automatic bracketing (in different ways too), 3 FPS shooting, 10 megapixels, RAW capability, in-body image stabilization (nifty feature), full-automatic mode as well as Aperture/Shutter priority modes, full-manual and even programmed ’scene’ modes. Can take Compact Flash and xD memory cards, so space isn’t an issue. There’s a whole bunch of custom lenses, optics, flashes and other accessories for it. It can become a money sink pretty damn fast.

Zuiko Digital 14-42mm lens

The one I got was a Body + Lens combo, so it came with a Zuiko Digital ‘four thirds’ lens (14-42mm). The auction also included an extra battery in the deal too, so overall it was a steal compared to what you’d pay for one normally. I got all that for the price of the body only basically, you gotta love ebay sometimes.

So far the pictures it has taken, even in full-auto ‘SHQ’ mode, are amazing. Using aperture priority mode with RAW, oh man just forget it. Amazing quality, even if you aren’t a professional. You don’t need to be a photographic genius to take good photos with this.

The lens it came with is great too, using around f8 gets the sharpest photos out of it. It can zoom up to approximately 3x and go to a very wide angle as well. The ‘four thirds’ lenses are a bit different in that they aren’t based on 35mm standard, so 14mm on this lens is about the equal of 28mm on a normal 35mm standard lens. In my uneducated testing, the 25mm mark is about equal to 35mm and 35mm is about equal to 50mm (don’t take my word as perfect though, I’m probably off a bit).

One thing that is still holding me in awe, is the overall speed of the camera. It takes barely a second to turn on, automatic focusing in ideal conditions (good light) is nearly instant, writing speed (to slow xD cards) is even bearable. The focus is much more tedious inside when it is dark and using the flash. The flash will pop up and sprinkle light onto the area to try to focus, and sometimes it just takes awhile. Manual focus indoors might be a better option.

The only thing is it is obviously large and isn’t going to fit this in your pocket, unless you’re still sporting some of the baggiest pants on earth. So it is going to make a great companion to my existing SP-310 which I’ll have no trouble taking anywhere due to size. My 310 will also continue to be my macro shooter, I’m amazed at that cameras ability to do macro shots. I’m sure with a macro lens, this E-510 could take amazing macros as well.

I would recommend this lens to anyone looking for a near professional-grade DSLR but don’t want to fork out $2500+ for one. You can get this for about $550 with body + lens + battery. If you ask me it is an excellent deal. It has amazing reviews around the block and comes highly recommended everywhere I look.

I’ll have a bunch of photos posted tomorrow that I took with it to show off what it can do.

I also in no way see this camera as an extension of my body, no matter how bad it looks.

Lens Extended

Here is the first photo, it is from 2003:

And now in 2008:

Well, not much has changed in five years with him in these two shots. He did manage to tilt his head the other way however.

Here is another, this time from 2004:

and again in 2008:

He somehow managed to slide into the corner through means that obviously took awhile. Also, he managed to flip over to evenly rest both sides of his body.

Throughout the years he has explored his nekkidness in various positions. It is assumed that he has not decided on a favorite position yet.

Enjoy the photos.