Olympus E-5 12.3MP Digital SLR with 3 inch LCD (Body Only) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've shot with lots of cameras over the years. Olympus cameras are an enigma. When you shoot with them you realize that they have weaknesses(well publicized) to other brands, but you also quickly realize they have plenty of strengths as well.
The biggest strengths are things that go unnoticed on a spec sheet: Exposure, white balance, color reproduction, and image clarity and sharpness. And a JPG engine that gets it right directly out of the camera so you don't have to spend hours making your photos look right. You also get in body IS that works on every lens, and a superior weatherproofing system that includes the body and the lenses.
The E5 is a perfect blend of everything Olympus has learned up to this point. It's not on the cutting edge of sensor technology, or movie making abilities, but it absolutely delivers in every sense of the word. Of course the build quality is spectacular. You can take this camera anywhere, anytime and not worry about it.
Picture quality is amazing. It's hard to describe properly but the images have a clarity I haven't really seen before. And I've shot with Canons and Nikons as well.
Noise control is the best of any 4/3rds camera yet. It's up there with a D300s and a 7D. Not quite as good but not enough to make a real difference.
It's expensive of course, but you know you want it so just get it over with and buy the darn thing. It's worth every penny in my book.
Great job Olympus.

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Built on our revolutionary E-System technology, the new Olympus E-5 adds powerful new features that let you do more than ever before. Designed to maximize the award-winning performance of Zuiko Digital lenses, the E-5 achieves the highest image quality of any Olympus camera--with astonishing detail, blazing speed, and true-to-life color. New options like user control in Art Filters and 720p HD Video give you more freedom to explore creative effects. And with its weatherproof design, the rugged E-5 can go anywhere. A New Dimension in Image Quality Pairing the new TruePic V+ image processing engine with a 12.3 megapixel High-Speed Live MOS Sensor, the E-5 optimizes the power of Zuiko Digital lenses. New "Fine Detail Processing" technology captures exceptional detail from shadow to highlight. The E-5's groundbreaking, in-body Image Stabilization enables blur-free handheld shooting. And its redesigned, 11-point High Precision Twin Cross AF system is one of the world's fastest and most accurate. Reliable Performance Under Any Condition The first Olympus professional camera to offer 720p HD video, the E-5 records at 30fps with high quality audio. While shooting high-definition video, photographers can capture stereo sound quality by plugging in any microphone with a standard 3.5mm plug into the camera's stereo microphone terminal. And 10 new in-camera Art Filters let you add dramatic effects to both still photos and HD video. All Art Filters can be used in Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Program and Manual exposure modes. And new to the E-5, the Multiple Exposure function lets you overlay up to 4 images in a single frame.

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Olympus Evolt E-3 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with Mechanical Image Stabilization (Body Only) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have toyed with the 4/3 digital SLR system several times since it was introduced in 2003, shrugged my shoulders and gone back to Nikon or Canon. Frankly, I had about given up on 4/3, but Olympus dropped the E-3 on us a few weeks ago and showed us it could be all they promised with 4/3 when it was first introduced over 4 years ago.

ANY DSLR system is about lenses in the end, and Olympus 4/3 is blessed with superb optics. To get an idea of how really great the new Olympus glass is you need to use some of the top lenses, or read a few of the big photo sites like dpreview, imaging-resource, or DCRP. They have all finally acknowledged in reviews of the E-420/410 and E-520/510 that Olympus has the best quality kit lenses of any camera maker, and that the Olympus claim that lenses designed for digital produce better quality images is proving to be true. www.slrgear.com even went so far as to test most of the current Olympus lens line after being so impressed with the kit lenses on the 510/410.
Olympus 4/3 is also by design an all-electronic lens mount - like Canon. Reviewers on the web tend to be so Canon and Nikon biased that they often forget really basic things like this. The 4/3 system has all motor driven lenses, and the lenses were ALL designed for digital photography. I am frankly tired of seeing reviews that talk of Canon as if they are the only company with all motor lenses. There are actually 3 - Canon, 4/3, and Sigma - although some of Sigma's other features are archaic and sales are very low so most just ignore them. Sony/Minolta and Nikon are not similarly blessed with an all-electronic lens mount, and many lenses are still noisily driven by screws on the lens mount in both systems. In fairness, Nikon has been moving rapidly to motor-driven lenses, but Sony seems stuck in their noisy and slower screw-drive AF even though they have used lens motors in a rare few long telephotos. The point here is that the 4/3 mount at least matches the best, and it is better than most.

The Olympus issue has never been glass or lens mount , it has really been the options you had (or rather didn't have) in camera bodies to use with this excellent Olympus glass on an all electronic mount. As great as the current E-410 and E-510 really are, they are still saddled with an ancient and not particularly low-light sensitive 3-point autofocus system. Shooting in truly low light was all but impossible and your Olympus searched for focus while Canon, Nikon, and Sony locked on focus. There just wasn't a choice of anything better from Olympus. That is until the E-3.
The E-3 takes Olympus AF from Sigma territory to state-of-the-art, and as soon as the new 11-point, all cross sensor, dual-plane AF module makes its way down the food chain, no one will ignore Olympus any more. I hope Olympus can also find a way to move the terrific E-3 feature of AF with manual touch-up down the food chain as well - because the other big Olympus issue is that stupid "Manual focus by wire" feature and Manual Focus select by menu - and it is mostly fixed in the E-3.

This time around I bought an E-3 and a 12-60mm - and the tiny little excellent-quality kit lenses for when the 12-60mm weighs too much and I can compromise just a little on quality. I have added other Olympus equipment to my E-3 system quickly, like the unique 70-300mm (140 to 600mm equivalent with 1:1 Macro), the superbly sharp little 35mm f3.5 Macro that does equivalent TWICE life-size macro right out of the box, and the E-3 grip.

I am completely and totally impressed with the E-3. All the lenses are designed for 4/3 mount and for best performance on a 4/3 camera - they aren't 35mm film designs. No other camera offers the combination of effective live-view, built-in image stabilization, the best auto sensor cleaning you can buy, an articulating LCD that can fold away for protection (AND a top LCD for basic data), a built-in pop-up flash, effective dust and splash sealing of the camera AND the lenses, a popularly-priced zoom that covers the equivalent of 140mm to 600mm and does Macro up to equivalent life size (70-300mm), MUCH improved noise reduction that goes to ISO 3200, user-programmable Auto ISO that can cover the full ISO range (Canon still stubbornly refuses to fully offer this option), and the best range of available lenses DESIGNED FOR a digital camera system.
The E-3 is a bargain for a true PRO grade camera - and it is easily built as well as the Nikon D3 or the top Canons which are $5000 or more. You will get real value for the $1699 you spend on the E-3 body compared to any competing system from any company. However, most will find the E-3 expensive unless they are serious photo hobbyists or Pros, and Olympus needs to move the E-3 refinements down to E-510 price levels as fast as they can.
The E-3 is a great piece of creative engineering, an area Olympus is known for. After all they invented auto-sensor cleaning and live view - which is now finding its way to every DSLR. This is the best Olympus camera EVER, and once you have used it you will be hooked.


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Olympus E 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 Zuiko Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras Review

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(More customer reviews)Pros:
Very Small, Very Light, fits easily in a jacket pocket
Ultra-wide angle is very useful
Image stabilization available on-camera
Noticeably better construction than my other Olympus standard grade lenses
Wide filter ring prevents vignetting (use just one filter)
Good image quality, except for:
Cons:
Barrel distortion at wide end (correctable in Photoshop)
Last few pixels not quite as "sharp" as center
Practice required to keep horizon level, not create weird perspective
Construction not as good as Olympus "pro" lenses
There are wider lenses for other brands (that weigh 2x more... hehehe.)
There are better ultrawide zoom lenses (in the $1500 range... haHaHA!)
My stuff for reference: E-410, 9-18mm, 25mm pancake, 35mm macro, 40-150mm (small), 14-54mm, 70-300mm (14-42mm and 18-180mm lenses sold)
I bought the Olympus system to get great image quality at a small size and price, I wouldn't have if not for rumors of this lens. When it was announced it seemed better than I hoped! I bought it early for a trip to China (I normally wait for the price to drop), it is a good thing I did, because I used the 9-18mm about 70% of the time! I also took the 14-54mm and the 40-150mm kit lens, thus making a small, quality, versatile package that I always carried in my pockets and hand/neck.
The 9-18 is ideal for travel, it fits in a pocket or can be carried attached to your camera all day and not be tiring. More importantly, when you get to touristy places, you can stand very close to your subject (if you don't mind the perspective), thus you will be in other people's photos, rather than them being in yours! Plus, there are a surprising number of subjects that can only be photographed whole or with no obstructions with an ultra-wide angle lens. Great for "spy" pictures of people who think you are pointing the camera somewhere else. And, you can lower shutter speeds to 1/20s and still have sharp pictures, a huge benefit for cameras with no IS. Imagine what it would be like on a camera with IS!
Image quality is good, but there is noticeable barrel distortion towards 9mm. Otherwise I would say IQ is between the 14-54 and 40-150, but closer to the 14-54. Lens flare was not a big problem for me, but more than my 14-54 (and I like placing the sun in the frame). Keeping the lens clean helps a lot with flare. Contrast (something I like) is much better than the 40-150, but not as good as the 14-54mm. Chromatic aberration happens, and is slightly worse towards the edges, but is not too bad. Sharpness I am less attuned to because all Olympus lenses are sharp and I rarely view the corners of my pictures full size, but it is sharp from f/4 to ~f/10, about/nearly as good as the 14-54mm. The 14-54 seems to experience less corner variation from f/2.8 to f/8 than this lens from f/4 to f/8, but this is a very minor consideration.
Other thoughts: construction quality is better than my other Olympus standard grade lenses, including texturing on the whole exterior and a less plasticky sound when you hit the limits of the zoom range. Zoom travel is very short and is of the out-in-out variety. I now think my 14-54mm is too big, and got the 25mm pancake to anchor the gap between the 9-18mm and 40-150mm. With the 9-18mm, 40-150mm and any of the you will have a small yet extraordinary setup with the E-420, E-520, or E-620. Alternatively, use the 9-18mm, 35mm macro, and 70-300mm for landcapes/macro/wildlife. You will see many tourists walking past with a Nikon D300 or Canon 50D and a large lens, that weigh more than your camera and three lenses together despite having less zoom and smaller aperture. You will wonder what delusion they are under that they think they are making better pictures (of the same thing)!
Update: I returned to China for a longer stay, and have been using the 14-18mm range quite a bit to take pictures of people around town. I am glad that the good image quality occurs across the zoom range. I have found that this lens is now the anchor of my small lens collection. Things I notice even more after a few months are, the 9-18 is contrastier than the 40-150mm, and the construction quality is far higher than the 40-150mm or other standard grade lenses (except the 25mm pancake?). My 40-150 has a quite a few nicks in it. The 9-18 has just 3 hairline scratches which are difficult to see even on close examination.
Update #2: After a year and a half this lens has become widely traveled and I am getting better at using it with time. I have never had a complaint about the final image quality of pictures with this lens. The only complaint I ever had is barrel distortion, because I hate fixing it in Photoshop. Contrast still doesn't equal the 14-54, but that never seems to matter. It is still holding together perfectly, showing no signs of abuse, even though I have sometimes abused it (in a wide variety of ways).


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OLYMPUS 261058 Zuiko Digital 9–18mm f/4.0–5.6 ED Lens

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Olympus Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital ED SWD Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras Review

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(More customer reviews)Absolutely fantastic glass and fast fast fast focus. I also have a Nikon D200 setup and the Olympus E3 with this lens is just as good if not better for image quality and far exceeds the Nikon for performance. Be aware that this lens on the E3 makes a little heavier combo that the Nikon but it doesn't bother me.

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This is a high-performance super-telescopic zoom lens that features, for the first time, the Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) autofocus system which enables the lens to achieve an AF speed about two times faster than the previous ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 model. ED lens elements are used extensively to correct the color blurring that can occur when telescopic lenses are extended to their maximum focal length, while the digital-dedicated design ensures high-quality performance with clear, crisp images from edge to edge. Close-up shooting capability is also superb, with a minimum shooting distance of just 1.2 meters throughout the zoom range.

Main Features
Manufacturer: Olympus Corporation
Manufacturer Part Number: 261015
Manufacturer Website Address: www.olympusamerica.com
Product Type: Telephoto Zoom Lens
Minimum Focal Length: 50mm
Maximum Focal Length: 200mm
Magnification: 0.21x
Aperture Range: f/2.8 to 3.5
Weight: 2.2 lb

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