Home > Consumer Reviews > Olympus Evolt E520 10MP Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization (Body Only)

The E-520 from Olympus is my first DSLR purchase and I must say that it is an excellent camera. I've taken some great shots with it outside and I'm very impressed. The kit lens (Zuiko 14-42mm) i find to be a great starter lens although in low light situations the auto focus takes much time and can be inaccurate. i plan to get the Olympus Zuiko 12-60mm lens to go with this camera as it handles lower light situations much better. the auto white balance can generally be accurate but i do suggest using either one of the presets or making manual tweaks. while live view is one of the big features in this dslr, as it has been with almost all of their dslr cameras, i find myself having more fun using the viewfinder, which hasn't really given me any problems. the anti-dust system is great, i still encourage cleaning the camera every once in a while as well just as a precaution. I encourage anybody in the market for an entry level dslr to look @ and try the e-520.

First, it is my opinion that the Olympus e520 is absolutely the best DSLR camera you will find in its price class. Sure, there are more expensive models from other brands that are better. But for the money, you will not find a more capable camera.

Also, it is my opinion that there are three components that determine the quality of a photograph.
1) the camera. 2) the lens, and 3) the photographer's ability to use the camera properly.

So keep those things in mind when deciding which camera to buy, you need a good lens too, and you will need to learn how to use the camera's various features to get the best photos.

This is my first DSLR camera. I spent two months researching various DSLR cameras and read many reviews. And I admit, at first I did not seriously consider Olympus as an option because it is not as popular as the two leading brands (Nikon and Canon). Most of my friends and relatives have one of those two brands so I figured they were the best. But I was overwhelmed by the many conflicting reviews I read about Nikon and Canon models. It seems there are many opinionated and passionate brand loyalists out there who love their choice of camera. Which is perfectly fine except for their biased bashing of the other brands.

This made it very difficult for me to make an objective comparison between the brands. I had almost given up on my quest for the right DSLR for my needs until I talked with another friend who has the Olympus e510. He let me try it out and I found it to be very impressive and very easy to use. So I read as many reviews about the Olympus cameras that I could find and it turns out that nearly all those who own an Olympus love it and wouldn't trade it for any of the other brands. So, for reasons I'll explain below, I finally made the purchase and I soon found my new e520 was on the door step. Although the camera is not perfect (neither are the Canon or Nikon cameras), it did not disappoint and I am very satisfied with my choice.

+++ Pros +++

+ Excellent construction quality. This camera feels very substantial, sturdy and tough.

+ Excellent layout of buttons, and controls. The buttons and dials are easy to find and seem natural and comfortable when using them while taking photos.

+ The LCD screen is the biggest in its class if camera.

+ Very easy to use. I'm a first time DSLR user and it was very easy for me to learn how to use almost all of the cameras features. For those who prefer auto, no worries, it takes very excellent photos in auto mode. For those who want to customize the heck of the settings, no worries either, the Olympus e520 has more manually setting ability than any of the competition in the same price range. And changing the manual settings is so easy and quick with the super control panel that only Olympus has.

+ Image stabilization built into the camera body. This is a big deal. For crystal clear photos you really do need image stabilization. Especially if using telephoto lenses. The difference between Olympus and the other brands is Olympus puts image stabilization into the camera body while the competition puts it into the lenses. Lenses with image stabilization cost more to manufacture than lenses without. Therefore, with the Olympus system you will get more lens for the money since you won't be paying for the image stabilization.

+ Unlike the competition, the entire Olympus system is designed from the ground up for digital photography using the new four thirds standard. This makes their telephoto lenses more capable and much less expensive. And Olympus has a very large selection of lenses to suite your needs.

+ The e520 has the fastest continuous shooting speed in its price range and received best scores for color accuracy in independent reviews. It also has the best dust reduction system in the market.

+ The kit lens takes very excellent photos and is a more capable lens than the competition's kit lenses. This is because the four thirds system provides higher telephoto ability in the same size lens plus image stabilization is in the camera. Watch out for the other brands' kit lenses. Many of them do not have image stabilization.

+ There are many more pros worth mentioning but not enough room!

--- Cons ---

- No camera is perfect. And for the entry level price I would expect some cons. Don't worry, this camera takes awesome photos in almost any circumstance. And it also takes awesome photos in poor lighting situations as long as you use the flash. But, if you're looking to take flashless photos in dim light by using a high ISO setting, you may be disappointed by the noise. The image sensor in the Olympus camera is smaller than other DSLRs and therefore is more susceptible to noise at high ISO settings. ISO 100 and 200 have no noise problems in any light condition. ISO 400 has an acceptable amount of noise. Anything 800 or above will produce way too much noise in my opinion. However, this is not a big issue for me because I use a flash when taking photos in dim light. Or, for night time scene shots, I just slow the shutter speed down rather than adjust the ISO settings. I do sometimes use ISO 400 with acceptable results.

- Generally, the auto focus works great. However, in dim light, the auto focus has to use the flash to help it focus. It does this by rapidly flickering the flash like a strobe light for a half a second while it focuses. This can be annoying and distracting to the subject you are photographing. Other brands use a red led to assist in dim light focusing. Not sure why Olympus didn't do the same because the strobe light thing is really annoying. To solve this problem, I bought a hot shoe flash which uses the red led to assist focusing. I like this much better.

In conclusion, you can't go wrong with Olympus. They manufacture very high quality cameras and lenses with many features that outshine the competition in the same price range. Too many people tell me their Canon or Nikon is better but then they paid two, three, or four hundred dollars more for their setup. Of course I would expect it to be better. Olympus also has higher end cameras that are more capable than the e520. But for my needs, the e520 is the best value.

Over the months I reviewed numerous camera's before purchasing the Olympus E-520 w/14-42 lens. I looked at Nikon, Cannon, Pentax, Sony and the normal brand name camera's. I went to the stores and visually reviewed and handled each camera asking questions with a knowledgable saleperson Olympus, by far, was the best choice for me when you compare price verses bang for the buck. I have been completely satisfied. It takes excellent pictures and has all the versitality necessary for your everyday photo requirements. There are always pro's and con's on every camera and it becomes confusing if you do enought searching, but the Olympus E-520 won me over. I ordered this camera from Amazon on a Friday and had it on the following Monday. Excellent job Amazon! You actually shipped it within an hour of me completing the online order with a confirmation email. WOW! For someone looking for a camera, the Olympus E-520 is a great choice and Amazon is the place to buy it........

I bought the e-520 for one simple reason... it has several mitigating features that allow for an overall system price break while still giving pretty good quality images.

Yes, I know that other cameras have an edge when it comes to digital noise, dynamic range and number of megapixels BUT from a practical, real-world shooting stand-point you can get great images from the Olympus E-520.

The fact that even Olympus's lower range of lenses are pretty good quality means that a person who is trying to scrimp can come up with a good "prosumer" camera system.

Consider this. You know that the drawback to Olympus's four-thirds sized sensors mean that there is SLIGHTLY more digital noise at higher ISO settings, right? Well the smaller sensor means that my 70-300 f4-f5.6 tele-zoom is really the 35mm equivalent of a 140-600mm!!!... And still at f4-f5.6!!! That's pretty good. And I spent WAY less then someone purchasing a 140-600mm.

Now... Image stabilization that is in the lens means that there is a premium added to the cost of the lens. Well, the E-520 comes with GREAT image stabilization in the camera body. No need to add that expense to the lens! Cool!

On top of that Olympus tends to price their cameras slightly lower than other similarly ranked cameras. AND they tend to put a couple other features in there for the price... like THE BEST sensor dust reduction system in DSLRs!!! Cool!

So far I'm quite happy with the E-520. If the E-620 had come along earlier I might have decided on that simply because of the higher mega-pixels. However, I've been quite happy with the image quality coming from this camera, "for the price-point".

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UPDATE 7/23/09

Still a great camera for the price but I would now strongly suggest the E620 unless the difference in price is just something you can't handle. I often find myself needing to crop in and I wish there were a higher resolution to do that with.

Also, do not be surprised if you use the 70-300mm zoom and see fuzzy images without a rock-steady tripod. At the 35mm equivalent of a 600mm lens there is not a lot of wiggle room to shoot hand-held, even with the image stabilization built-in.

I have this SLR with ZD 14-54 2.8-3.5 lens.
There no other body and lens combination under one grand that can match the value and quality of pictures I can get from Olympus. The E520 is compact yet has super ergnormics when compared to E420 and Canon XTi, both of which I owned at one time.