Olympus E-510 Review by Bob Atkins

Bob Atkins got a chance to play around with the Olympus E-510 and posted a brief review of it on his website which can be accessed here.

The  Olympus E-510 DSLR is a 'Four Thirds' format camera and according to Atkins has an impressive feature list. The camera control layout was fbe ound to pretty simple and image noise was seen only in higher ISOs. Focus was good in bright light, but  slow in dim light and he was surprised by the fact that manual focus is done electronically rather than mechanically.

The Olympus E-510 DSLR  ships with two lenses and both the lenses are targeted at the entry-level user. However both lenses performed well though at times barrel distortion was noticed by Atkins.

Atkins concludes by saying:

"I'd say the E-510 with the 14-42 and 40-150 lenses would make an excellent starter camera for someone moving up from a digital P&S, especially if cost and size are issues. For around $650 you get the camera along with the two lenses (and both become stabilized via the body). A similar Canon system might be a Rebel XTi plus the EF-S 18-55IS and the EF-S 55-250IS, which would cost around $880. I think the Canon system is probably better and more expandable (there are more lenses available in the Canon system), but if you just want a small camera and a couple of inexpensive lenses, the Olympus is hard to beat in terms of price and features."