New E-500!

[almo]

Hey guys,

As you may or may not know, I sold off my Canon equipment and decided to buy into the Olympus E-System. Two days ago I got my new camera, my first brand new DSLR, an Olympus E-500!

My first impressions of this camera are so far pretty much all positive. The image quality is awesome, the lenses are great, and the controls are very well thought out. Something that has stuck out to me about using the menues on this camera is how natural it is to use them. On my Canons it was almost like you were leaving the camera to surf the menues, but with the E-500 it's fast and natural.

The camera is light, even with the 40-150mm Zuiko. It is well built and very sturdy. The surface has the feeling of metal, except that it is not cold. I have read that looking through the view finder is like peering down a dimly lit tunnel. This is simply not true. It is true that the mirror and prisim are smaller, but just like all of the 4/3 system the VF is relativly the same. Sure if this VF was used on a larger camera it would look very small, but on this camera it seems as big as any other.

Autofocus is fast and accurate. Color rendition is wonderful. With a fast card this is a very snappy little camera. It writes very quicly. And the screen! OMG don't get me started on that screen, its sweet! 2.5 inches, bright, and can be viewed from almost any angle.

The only things I would have liked different would be the body, I would have liked all metal. There's no battery grip available, and there is only one control wheel instead of two, which means you have to hold down a button to change the aperture in manual mode. If it had those 3 features it would be a pro body.

This is the best Digital camera I have ever owned!

Here are some of my first shots, these are all untouched, except for some cropping...

Very first shot...

[Greg McCary]

Thanks for posting Almo. I can't wait until mine gets here. I am thinking of camping out at the Post Office.
Greg

[dinor2]

Congratulations on your new evolt! I agree with pretty much everything you said about it; I've had mine for almost a year now. I can tell you, this being my very first slr camera of any kind that after a while, you'll just get used to changing the apeture by pushing that little button and rotating the dial, I don't even think about it anymore....

I also loved that this camera did not intimidate me, it's very easy to handle and use, although I admit I don't know my camera as well as I need to.

Great pictures btw, how do you like the 40-150 lens? I would LOVE the 50-200 but for now, I'll probably get the former because of the price difference....

[Jaedon]

I love my camera =)

A friend of mine has the E-1 and a friend of his has the E-300. After toying woth both of those I knew that an Olympus was in my future a wee bit over a year ago now. I bought mine with the 2 lens kit the day of a camera show up here on the day they erleased it in Canada. I was planning on buying the 300 but when I had my hands on the 500 I knew there was no turning back.

My only complaints so far are the noise levels at high ISO, the lack of lenses in affordable range (although that is now changing as more manufacturers are coming online) and the lack of a light meter reading in the view finder.

Other than that I have learned to love this camera and it has taught me a lot about DSLR photography in the time I have owned it. Going form no camera to this one was a leap for sure and for me the learning curve seems almost vertical.....but using the auto mode and seeing how the camera set itself up and then emulating that in Manual was a great way to learn.

Enjoy your new Camera's guys.. and lets show those Cannon guys we have excellent equipment =)

[ken1953]

Congrats Almo on the new gear. I considered the Olympus's when Kim and I purchased our Pentax's last January. I'm sure you'll love the system. Oh and don't forget to do a review when you've had a really good chance to break it in!!! hehe...
Good luck with it,
Ken