E-520 vs E-620

[MikeyNy]

The title is rather self explanatory, but what I'm really confused about is that upon reading both performance parts of the dp Reviews I saw that the E-520's burst mode when shot until full was 28, where as the 620 was merely 11 until full, both shooting super fine j-peg formats. I however saw that the E-520 was shooting with a 4GB Ducati Sandisk, where as the 620 was shot with an unspecified "4GB Sandisk"

The reason I am concerned with this is that I shoot a lot of surfing,body boarding and skimboarding photos, so most of my shots will be in continuous mode to capture the action.

Alot of you guys on here know alot more then I do so please enlighten me some :thumbsup:

[Greg McCary]

I am not sure the difference in the cards would make that huge of a difference. Best thing is to look at all of the features combined and see which one would suit you more. The 620 has 7 focusing points, 11 on live view, where as the 520 has only 3. The 620 was basically designed with art filters and multi exposures for those who do not like to process pictures.
Why not the E3? Tough as nails and weather sealed. I fell 40ft in Feb with my E3 with me and it survived the fall. Check the prices you might be surprised.

[MikeyNy]

I heard about your fall, I'm glad things went well for you're recovery :]
As for the E-3, its just alittle too far out of my price range, The 620 has way more features fitted towards what I'll be shooting, the extra focus points will defiantly help, and the 12 MP instead of the 10 will also benefit, as for post capture editing I don't really need any help with that haha, I have photoshop and lightroom and I'm pretty familiar with both. I was just concerned with the burst capturing abilities.

[Sushigaijin]

I was just concerned with the burst capturing abilities.

Sounds like you've answered your own question. FWIW, burst shooting is pretty fast in all current DSLRs.

Although, an E3 with the 50-200 (SWD or not) is probably a better choice. You can get it REALLY wet. And then wash the salt off under your tap

[Atomic2]

If you're shooting near the water, you DEFINITELY want an E3 or some other weather sealed body [for that price only Pentax bodies come to mind]

If you get it used, you can probably score the E3 for about 800 on ebay

[MikeyNy]

The E-3 is just too expensive, I just don't understand how the 620 which is supposed to be a better camera, could shoot less images then the 520 in the continuous mode.

[OldClicker]

The E-3 is just too expensive, I just don't understand how the 620 which is supposed to be a better camera, could shoot less images then the 520 in the continuous mode.

Because fps isn't everything. Like asking why a $250,000 Ferrari can only seat two people. - TF

[MikeyNy]

It's not about the fps, it's the fact that the 520 shoots up to a supposed 28 images before reaching a maximum buffer where the 620 only shoots 11 until maximum buffer.

[Greg McCary]

I think oldclicker is right. The 620 may be slower but you are getting a better image. Like the old saying, Less is more.

[Atomic2]

The E-3 is just too expensive, I just don't understand how the 620 which is supposed to be a better camera, could shoot less images then the 520 in the continuous mode.

The E-620 has a larger FPS rate and larger images. So in the end, the processing bit rate is probably what keeps the E-620's maximum lower. However 11 images is plenty, thats almost 3 seconds of shooting. I've never gone above 6-8 frames on my E3, which shoots at 5fps.

[MikeyNy]

Thank you alot atomic, one other question, how does the e-620 stack up against the Pentax K-x?
Thanks guys I appreciate this all alot!

[Photo-John]

I've got a whole bunch of Olympus DSLRs available and the one I always use is the E-620. Hands-down, it's my favorite Olympus digital SLR. I think the 12-megapixel sensor delivers the best image quality of all the Olympus DSLRs, I love the tilt-swivel LCD, the AF system is very good and you can't beat the small size and weight for outdoor photography.

Salt water is definitely a concern. But for what it's worth, I have done a ton of shooting with the E-620 in the rain and with other non-weatherproof Olympus DSLRs in the snow. Weatherproofing is only really necessary if you're getting dumped on and can't protect your camera at all. The only time I worry about water is when it's really pouring - especially at an event where I have to stand in the rain for hours with my camera. And for that I have an XL rain jacket that I can zip up over my camera. Most people will never really test the limits of weather-sealing on even a regular camera - trust me because I have.

I understand you worrying about the buffer. The E-620 has larger image files because it is a higher resolution camera than the E-520. Unless Olympus increased the size of the buffer, the number of images it takes to fill the buffer has to smaller. Based on the numbers you quoted, it may be that Olympus has also changed the JPEG compression on the E-620 to make the high-quality JPEGs better. I shoot skiing and mountain biking and I never hold the button down for more than a second at a time. At the most I shoot short bursts of 3 or 4 shots at a time. I also shoot RAW and I don't think I've ever filled the buffer with the E-620.

I really think you're looking too closely at the specs and worrying about something that is a non-issue. For action shooting, the frame rate is a bigger issue than the buffer. The two things that would make the E-620 better are better auto focus and a faster frame rate. Aside from that, it's awesome as-is.

[MikeyNy]

I appreciate it alot, I ordered it last night and I can't wait to try it out, thinking back to what I've used my old OM-2 in it should be fine, I used it in some light drizzely rain and it doesn't come less then 3 feet away from the water so I don't think it should be that big of an issue.
4 frames a second I think should be good enough for the shots I take.
Your post has comforted my concerns alot haha, thanks dude.