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[Marc2B4]

I've been shooting the 620 w/ HLD-5 for about a year now. It's a nice little camera that does an admirable job. Not as instinctive as the E-1 in terms of ergonomics, but pleasant. If you have no experience with digital cameras it'll take you a while to get used to the different menus and settings, so take the time to thoroughly read the manual. Experiment, try different settings, get out and shoot with it. A big improvement is the focusing speed, additional focusing points. That was the biggest hang up for me coming from a Nikon D1x to the E-1. Once you get used to how the camera behaves in different shooting situations, it does the job. With the in-camera IS I've handheld down to 1/4 of a second. Impressive stuff.

[Photo-John]

Thanks for sharing, Marc. If you haven't already, please add your review to the Olympus E-620 user review page:

Olympus E-620 User Reviews >>

There are only three user reviews for the E-620 so your review will be a valuable addition.

Thanks!

[Camp.Freddie]

Hi!

I have the E-450

[Camp.Freddie]

Sorry...as I was about to say before it loaded up!

I have the E-450, as an upgrade from a simple digicompact but as a previous OM10 user: so the e-series really appealed, especially after I saw the relatively expensive PEN range I might have liked !

I got the body with a 14-42 f3.5 ED "Kit" and the ZD 25mm pancake to begin with, getting hold of a mega offer on the older 40-150mm f4 which takes the best shots for my use so far! All for less than half the price of the EP2 with EVF and two lenses.

The little 25 mm f2.8 "pancake" renders the camera small enough to go in a trouser cargo pocket and is super quick to focus: it can even be used as a macro substitute on a tripod. I have quite little experience on it actually, as I await a 43-49mm ring convertor to fit some old prime filters I have.

There are the usual "wheel" choices: A,S,Prog, FlashAUTO prog plus a pile of fairly useful art effects: fireworks for example, gave much better results than I could have managed on ordinary settings !

Really everything is on there you would want, plus userdefinable bracketing which I leave on all the time: it then activates upon selecting the fast button to multi release. Useful for difficult contrasty days, low light or high lights.

Drawbacks? Yeah it is noisy at high ISO and that is "Only" 1600. The P mode selects too slow shutter speeds for normal hand held use IMHO, often under 200 on fairly bright days. Some images can lack a crucial sharpness but go back to the RAW or just sharpen the jpeg in your software ( radius 5.0, amount 3 to 5 and threshold 0.5 does things nicely to the eye IIRC) . The body lacks the grip of the E-3/5, 500s and 600s but this makes it more compact..The 25mm comes with a stupid screw in lens cap, but it is best to get a 43-49 or 52 ring convertor to keep the range of filters you can use open. Oh and it isn't CF with SD card if you like me, had a pile from earlier and a slot in your laptop eagerly awaiting your shots. It is still CF with an XD. USB cable it is then.

None of this shold put a keen amateur off buying a camera for general use on good, bright days for taking photos! I have taken some great shots, won a couple of local competitions on it so far, and will see if I get three shots of classic boats in a 2011 calendar.