SINGAPORE: Not many would have thought that the DSLR (digital single lens reflex) market would become as saturated as the compact digital camera market has become. The latest Olympus E-520 ($1,149 with14-42mm kit lens) joins the expanding DSLR crowd, replacing its predecessorE-510 in the process.
Major improvements in the E-520 over its antecedent includes a bigger 11.8-mega-pixel four-third-type live MOS sensor, a larger 2.7-inch HyperCrystal Live View liquid crystal display, an additional image stabiliser mode, face detection and shadow adjustment technology (SAT).
While camera shutdown is almost immediate, startup takes around a second due to the dust reduction work of its supersonic wave filter (SSWF), which vibrates to remove dust and other particles from the front of the sensor.
Perhaps, Olympus should have a dust reduction operation during shutdown as you might lose the moment in that second when you power up your camera.
Despite the E-520’s lightweight (475g without lens and battery) and compact size, it is surprisingly good to handle with its ergonomic grip. Button layout is good, with all the functions and dials in close proximity of your fingers. The menu interface is user-friendly and I could navigate through all the functions without consulting the manual.
However, the quirk that irked me with the E-500 and the E-510 remains — the lack of a front dial. This means I had to press a button and turn the wheel dial to change aperture during manual mode. It is a simple addition that can make a big difference.
The E-520 is one of the few DSLRs that utilise auto-focusing (AF) during Live View mode (ie shooting via the LCD). However, AF tends to be quite slow — the lens often loses focus before it locks on to the subject. Perhaps, the focusing lag is due to the 11-point AF Live View uses. And it takes around a second before the image is registered.
Even though you can only use three AF points when shooting via the optical viewfinder, it yields a much more responsiveAF operation. It shoots without any shutter lag up to a maximum rate of 3.5 frames per second.
However, to see the face-detection technology at work, you have to use Live View. While face detection works most of the time for frontal portraits in good lighting conditions, I can’t help but wonder why anyone who is sophisticated enough to use a DSLR would want to use face detection.
On the other hand, the SAT is a much welcomed feature that you can change via the Gradation setting. SAT works by mimicking the human eye in seeing details in the shadow areas.
You will immediately see the difference when you switch from Normal to Auto Gradation mode — shadow areas become brighter. Switching to High Key illuminates more shadow areas and fetches more details.
With Olympus’s TruePic III image processing engine, images shot using the14-42mm (28-84mm in 35mm equivalent due to four-thirds 2X crop factor) kit lens are sharp and gorgeous, with smooth pixel rendition. Colour reproduction is magnificent, with accurate auto white balance in most circumstances, and yields smooth skin tones.
Noise levels are almost invisible up to ISO 400. Even at ISO 1,600, where noise artifacts are evident especially in the shadow areas, images are still printable.
If you already have an Olympus E-510, the E-520 might not possess enough compelling features for you to upgrade.
However, if you are a newbie looking for a light and compact DSLR with Live View, face detection, responsive operation, intuitive interface and superb image quality, the E-520 just might be the DSLR for you. - TODAY/fa
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