Home > Consumer Reviews > Olympus Evolt E520 10MP Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization w/ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Lens

i read countless reviews in PC Photo and other photography magazines before deciding to purchase the e-520. the most common complaint was confusing menus, which have never been a problem for me. in reality, nearly every setting can be changed with the menu button, but pressing the ok will superimpose your settings over the lcd image, allowing you to see and change them on the fly. a third option is using the buttons on the camera itself to change settings instantly. i found this arrangement intuitive rather than confusing. all reviews i read seemed to agree that this is a lot of camera for the money. and i've shot some amazing pictures with it already. i am especially impressed with its low-noise, long-exposure low light shooting ability, and the olumpus' command of color and white balance is nothing short of breathtaking. want to warm up your shot? use the manual white balance setting and shoot a light blue piece of paper instead of a white one to give the glow of sunset to a mid-day shot. i'm even getting some awesome infra-red shots through a hoya r72 filter, with exposures up to 15 seconds. i got the fl36r wireless electronic flash a couple weeks after the camera, and i'm glad i did. a few nights later, a train derailed in front of my house, blocking the highway for hours. that flash lit the scene like daylight out to well over 50 feet, giving very high detail and contrast with shockingly little noise. i got the only night shots and they've been very popular with neighbors and newspapers alike! (there were no injuries and no damage except to 11 rail cars and some track, if you were wondering) i will have some of my work posted at [...]. could you get better shots with a Canon Rebel or the new Nikon? maybe. but i have nothing to complain about with respect to the e-520, and i now have an excellent flash, reflector, remote control, extra batteries, four filters and a bag for about what i would have spent on one of those other cameras. my advice: if you're reading this, stop thinking about it and buy one! then get some toys to go with it and have fun with your photography!

I looked at Canon XSI/XTI and Nikon 60D and decided to go with Olympus. And I am very happy with my decision.

The body is light, the pictures are sharp. AF is very good. When I showed the pictures to my friends who owned Canon and Nikon, they kept asking me if I improved the pictures on photoshop or not. I told them no and they didn't believe me.

The battery lasted very long. I took hundreds of pictures so far in the last month and I have only recharged my camera once.

3.5 fps is pretty decent. The only minor complaint is that AF is a bit slow in low light situation, but it is no big deal for me.

Overall, this is the best entry level DSLR in the market.

I've used this camera for three or four months now and I'm very satisfied with it. I'm not giving it 5 stars only because I haven't compared it to similarly priced Nikon and Cannon models, but I know that although definitely not for the point-and-shoot crowd, this is a good camera for intermediate to professional caliber photographers on a budget. The biggest limitation would be the relatively small choice of lenses available, compared with the Nikon, Cannon, or Sony. Also, the live view feature, while sometimes useful, really slows down the focusing and processing speed, to the point that I usually don't use it. But it's still a nice feature to have. The built-in stabilizer is particularly useful, and only a couple of other cameras have it built in to the body like this one. I highly recommend forgoing the kit Olympus lenses and buy a good Sigma or higher end Olympus lens. I'm using the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 macro, and it's great. The kit 14-44 Zuiko is ok if you're only taking run-of-the-mill snapshots, but if that's what you're doing, why get a camera this sophisticated to begin with? I used the Zuiko for a few weeks, but after getting the Sigma (available for about $375, but well worth it) I have yet to put the Zuiko lens back on.

I've had a digital camera for several years, but this is the first one with all the bells and whistles. I'm still learning about all the settings and options, but am very happy with it so far. Also, my dealings with Amazon on this, an additional lens, and a card were first class, and the prices were quite acceptable.

This is a great camera for the price. I have had it for about 2 months now. It feels really good in my hand, which I could not say with the same with the D60 or Cannon XS series. In-body IS works well. Autofocus is reasonably fast. Auto exposure works well, even with the annoying flash turned off (it uses the flash to get the white balance I believe). Lots of configuration options. Image quality is excellent.

Downside: The included software isn't the most fully featured however.

I don't know much about SLRs and am getting my feet wet. This is my first and I am not disappointed. I just shoot in auto mode and it does a very good job. Way better then a point and shoot, and a lot more fun to use.