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January 07, 2009
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Olympus Evolt E-500

Olympus Evolt E-500

Price (MSRP): $699.00
Megapixel: 8
TYPE: Digital SLR


This very compact and lightweight consumer digital SLR follows the Four Thirds System standard for sensors and lenses, making it compatible with Four Thirds lenses from Olympus and third-party vendors and claiming better edge-to-edge image quality and wide-angle options than systems that use optics designed for 35mm film cameras. This camera also incorporates Olympus's Supersonic Wave Filter Dust Reduction tool, which shakes dust off the sensor. We found the E-500's image quality extremely high from ISO 100 to ISO 800 and very high at ISO 1600. Visual noise ranges from very low at ISO 100 to low at ISO 200 and moderately low at ISO 400 to 800. At ISO 1600, visual noise is moderate. Its autofocus lags compared to the competition, and it can't focus without an assist lamp below EV 1. The E-500 provides no fewer than 25 shooting modes, including standard manual and automatic exposure in addition to plentiful programmed automatic scene modes. It also offers numerous color options, dual media slots, both RAW and TIFF capture, many customizable controls, five autofocus modes, depth-of-field previewing, auto exposure and focus bracketing, a 2 percent spot meter, and a highlight/shadow spot meter, which biases the metering for high-key and low-key subjects, respectively.


Slowest Shutter Speed 60
Fastest Shutter Speed 4000
Built-In Flash Yes
Continuous Shooting 2.5 images/sec
Flash Sync Speed 1/180
AF Points 3
Metering Zones 49
Lens Mount Four Thirds
Screen Size 2.5 in
Screen Resolution 215,250
Screen Type LCD
Maximum ISO 1600
Max Continuous RAW 4
Media Type Compact Flash
Battery Olympus Battery Pack BLM-1 or 3 CR123A
Battery Life Approx. 400 shots
Width 5 in
Height 3.7 in
Depth 2.6 in
Weight 19.2 oz

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User Reviews
Here's how our visitors have reviewed this camera.
RATINGS
AVERAGE RATINGS
Overall quality
8.53
Ease of use
9.07
Fit and finish
9
Click-to-click speed
8.13
Display quality
8.93
Flash quality
7.27
Image quality
9.07
Overall value
9.4
RATING SCALE: 1 = WORST 10 = BEST
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