E-520 - it's official

[Nova Invicta]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Andy looking at the lenses you own I would say its about the glass rather than the camera body. Yes the camera has all the functions but we always tell cinematographers that the camera is secondary to the lenses and these form the image and their is no short-cut to quality.

[shenstone]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Andy looking at the lenses you own I would say its about the glass rather than the camera body. Yes the camera has all the functions but we always tell cinematographers that the camera is secondary to the lenses and these form the image and their is no short-cut to quality.

You have seen some of the point I made, but maybe not all. You can be "serious" without being able to afford the most expensive all the time.

e.g. for some it is written off as a business expense and for others it is not. I've always had to compromise and will probably not afford to purchase antthing more in the next few years having moved to digital. it's been pinful to get here, and here I have to stay

Regards
Andy

[Scapula Memory]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Well spec wise I think you would have to be crazy to upgrade from 510 to 520, there really is not enough to warrant it, unless of course the cash is burning a hole in your pocket. But one question remains a bit of a mystery, and that is dpreview mentions Oly as saying that the 520 DR has been improved to near E3 levels. So what exactly has Oly done here?

Oh and Andy ( Shenstone ) I would tend to agree with you as I think of pro cameras as units that have sheer brute firing power and can be drop kicked by Petr Cech in a storm. Other than that not a lot different from main stream cameras especially where these days it is clever PP making the difference.

[Ian]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Well spec wise I think you would have to be crazy to upgrade from 510 to 520, there really is not enough to warrant it, unless of course the cash is burning a hole in your pocket. But one question remains a bit of a mystery, and that is dpreview mentions Oly as saying that the 520 DR has been improved to near E3 levels. So what exactly has Oly done here?

Oh and Andy ( Shenstone ) I would tend to agree with you as I think of pro cameras as units that have sheer brute firing power and can be drop kicked by Petr Cech in a storm. Other than that not a lot different from main stream cameras especially where these days it is clever PP making the difference.

Regards the dynamic range, its generally assumed that the E-510 and E-410 have a 2nd generation LiveMOS sensor (first-generation being the sensors used in the E-330 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1. The second generation sensor is supposed to have the same DR despite the one third increase in pixel resolution from 7.5MP to 10MP. Normally, an increase in resolution across the same sensor area would mean a reduction in DR.

But Panasonic is improving the design of its sensors, reducing the area around the photosites taken up by circuit tracks. When the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 came out late last year, we were told that the DR had been improved again, making this a third-generation LiveMOS sensor. Olympus made similar claims compared to the E-510 when the E-3 was announced, so we assume that the DR of the E-3 LiveMOS chip is the same as the L10 sensor, and that same DR rating is featured in the E-420 and, now, the E-520. Simple really

I tended to find that the E-510 and the E-410 under-exposed, perhaps to preserve highlights. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Ian

[yorky]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Regards the dynamic range, its generally assumed that the E-510 and E-410 have a 2nd generation LiveMOS sensor (first-generation being the sensors used in the E-330 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1. The second generation sensor is supposed to have the same DR despite the one third increase in pixel resolution from 7.5MP to 10MP. Normally, an increase in resolution across the same sensor area would mean a reduction in DR.

But Panasonic is improving the design of its sensors, reducing the area around the photosites taken up by circuit tracks. When the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 came out late last year, we were told that the DR had been improved again, making this a third-generation LiveMOS sensor. Olympus made similar claims compared to the E-510 when the E-3 was announced, so we assume that the DR of the E-3 LiveMOS chip is the same as the L10 sensor, and that same DR rating is featured in the E-420 and, now, the E-520. Simple really

I tended to find that the E-510 and the E-410 under-exposed, perhaps to preserve highlights. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Ian

Ian, I too feel that there is a slight underexposure with the 510 as i have not been getting the ssame ammont of blown highlights as I did with the 500. With the 500 I always reduced the exposure by 1. 1/3rd.

[blu-by-u]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Still not enough to move me from the E-330 I am now loving.

[Graham_of_Rainham]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Ian,

Do you know if the E-520 has been setup to enable IS on OM lenses etc..

or will we need to download a patch. If so is that available ?

Yours "Seriously"

Graham

[theMusicMan]

Re: E-520 - it's official

Ian,

Do you know if the E-520 has been setup to enable IS on OM lenses etc..

or will we need to download a patch. If so is that available ?

Yours "Seriously"

Graham

Hi Graham

I see this has been answered by Ian over on FTU, but to confirm - yes, the E-520 can be set up to enable IS on OM legacy lenses.

You won't get AF of course, but IS - yes.

[Bill Gordon]

Re: E-520 - it's official

I just got rid of the E-3 having carted it around London and other parts of England for a month and I found it to be much too heavy for me. I am looking at the 520 which I understand is smaller and lighter. I am sorry but I loved my E-1 and if they could put all that is in the 520, a smaller body, I just do not understand why they didn't put it all in the E-1 body! I have talked to other over on this side of the pond who have the same sentiments.

[dennisg]

Re: E-520 - it's official

The notion that one is better than the other is all subjective to me. I can go back to my film 35 mm without all of the technology these new horses have and produce some very nice exposures-enlargements. In this month's What Digital Camera from the UK, they compared the Sony Alpha 700, Nikon D300 and the Olympus E-3. At the end, the E-3 came in third.

Neverthelss, the camera, E-3 is a substantial horse and the only thing that the testers agreed with is the small 4/3 sensor does not have the same horsepower that the other larger sensor have.

I was shooting for the E-3 at $1600 for the body alone. For the same amount of money I can still hold on to my E500 and lenses, buy the E-520, and get the 12-60 zoom lens and have relatively comparable success with this rig.

So if we want to split hairs, yes the E-3 is better, but at what cost and satisfaction? We need to practice good photography practices and not depend on the hardware as much as we do. The other side is the software. There are packages that correct lenses, produce exposures to the old film types, compresion software, and a million manipulation packages. So if the camera(s) are SO good, why all the software aide? By the time a person gets done, they spend $700 (American) for the 520 body with the two kits lenses, and hundreds of dollars on software. Leading us all to believe that we need all of it.

I have been taking pictures for close to thirty years and my goal is to get it right at the time of the shot. So all the hupla about the E this and E this is very academic. It is all in then hands of the photographer. Depth of Field, Shutter Spend, Exposure Compensation, and composition. These are basics and we really dont need a $1600 camera to do all of this. We need to be frugal! Why? In a year from now, the E-3 will be an old has been and there will be another E5xx and E-x. The market dictates that new models be put out every so many months. The obsolecense is much higher with today's rigs than in was in the past.

Ask Ansel Adams how he did it with just a box camera? I think we would be amazed and it would bring us back to reality very quickly.

Dennis G

[Graham_of_Rainham]

Re: E-520 - it's official

I used the new E-520 last month (Thanks Ian) and I thought it was brilliant. There will be some who will upgrade from the 510 but for the 3,4 & 500 users that have been waiting for an IS camera to come along, this has to be the one to go for.

The real "Wow" for me was the IS. It gave me such a significant increase in obtaining a usable image in low light, hand held situations, that this one feature alone is for me the biggest selling point. Add to this the Live View capability and it just gets better and better.

I have to admit I have just ordered an E-3, but if Father Christmas is tuned in... I'd love one for my "walkabouts"

Graham