Olympus E-620 Review: Digital Photography Review

Custom Functions / settings

Olympus have developed a tradition of making phenomenally configurable cameras - even its least expensive DSLR has always allowed the kinds of changes that 90% of people will wonder about the need for, but the remaining 10% will be delighted to be able to change. Many of the settings included tend to be of the type that you'll tend to set once and never return to, which makes Olympus's new trick of hiding the settings menu quite an astute one. Some semi-frequently changed settings have also been moved there (such as white balance which is on the Record menu on the E-30), but they're all replicated on the Super Control Panel, so it's unlikely anyone would delve into the menu to change them anyway.

The minor niggles we've seen before are still here - a two-tier tabbed menu system in which the scrolling behavior of top-level tabs and second-tier tabs is inconsistent, yet their appearance is very similar - but none of them is disastrous. The Olympus classic of only being able to set a manual white balance if you've assigned it to the function button is perpetuated, but this is only likely to trouble a handful of people.

Settings menu

This is the real biggie; nine sections ('A' to 'I') of options grouped into fairly logical sections covering everything from autofocus to image quality settings and button behavior. Although separated into sections, once you're in the main list, the sections link together, effectively creating a 16-page list of options (unlike the top-level tabs, that loop at the end of each tab).

It also pays to keep a close eye on the prompts given at the bottom of the screen - when applying AF fine-tuning the OK button tends to progress you to the next part of the process but, when you've applied a correction, pressing it again saves your settings and boots you out of the menu system (cue nine button presses to get you back to the AF fine adjust menu). It's the price you pay for the impressive level of control that Olympus offers.

A: AF/MF


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Live View AF Mode	• AF Sensor • Hybrid AF • Imager AF	Selects which focus method is used in Live View.
AF Illuminat.	• Off • On	Uses the internal flash to assist autofocusing in low light.
AF mode	• S-AF • C-AF • MF • S-AF & MF • C-AF & MF
C-AF Lock	• Off • On	Locks the focus, once attained to avoid distraction by movement.
AF area	• Automatic selection • Single area • Dynamic single area	Auto uses all 11 focus points to focus on the closest object, dynamic considers the af points adjacent to the selected point.
AF area pointer	• Off • On	Dictates whether the AF point illuminates in the viewfinder.
AF sensitivity	• Normal • Small	Normal includes the area around the AF point for focusing.
Reset lens	• Off • On	Refocuses to infinity when the camera shuts down.
Bulb focusing	• Off • On	Defines whether focus can be altered during exposure in bulb mode.
Focus ring	• Counter clockwise • Clockwise	Defines the direction in which the manual focus ring operates.

B: Button/Dial


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Dial function	• P Program shift Exp. Comp. • A F No. Exp. Comp. • S Shutter speed Exp. Comp. • M F No. Shutter speed	Allows functions to be applied to the main and sub command dials. In each instance, any of the options can be applied to either dial to suit the operator. Menu allows the behavior of the dial while navigating menus to be swapped.
Dial direction	• Dial 1 • Dial 2	Swaps the direction in which the dial operates.
AEL/AFL	• S-AF Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 • C-AF Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4 • MF Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3	Allows the selection of modes that dictate the behavior of exposure and focus at shutter-button half press, full press and AEL/AFL button held. (Described at the bottom of the page. Click on the focus type to jump to the correct table)
AEL/AFL MEMO	• Off • On	Toggles whether AEL/AFL button needs to be held to retain AEL.
Fn Function	• Preview • Live Preview • Set custom White Balance • Current AF point/Home point • Manual Focus • JPEG/RAW+JPEG • Test picture • My mode • Off • Face detect	Assigns a function to the function button.
My Mode setup	• My Mode 1 Set Reset • My Mode 2 Set Reset	Normal includes the area around the AF point for focusing.
Button timer	• Off • 3 Sec • 5 Sec • 8 Sec • Hold	Sets how long the direct-access buttons remain active after they are pressed. Hold leaves the button active until pressed again.
AEL/AFL <> Fn	• Off • On	Swaps the function of the AEL/AFL and Fn buttons.
Function	• Off • On • AF Area	Locks the four-way controller to prevent unintended operation or lets it specify AF point.
Seql. mode button	• Shooting mode • AF Area • AF Mode • WB • Metering • ISO	Selects the function assigned to the continuous shooting button.

C: Release/Continuous


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
RLS Priority S	• Off • On	Chooses whether camera waits for focus before shooting in S-AF mode.
RLS Priority C	• Off • On	Chooses whether camera waits for focus before shooting in C-AF mode.
Seql. L mode fps	• 1 fps • 2 fps • 3 fps	Sets the speed of the limited-speed sequential shooting mode.

D: Disp/Beep/PC


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Video out	• NTSC • PAL
Sleep	• Off • 1 Min • 3 Min • 5 Min • 10 Min	Sets the period of inactivity before sleep mode is engaged.
Backlit LCD	• 8 Sec • 30 Sec • 1 Min • Hold	Selects the period for which the LCD remains lit after a button press.
4 hr timer	• 4 Hr • Off	Auto power off after 4 hours
USB Mode	• Auto • Storage • MTP • Control • Print Easy • Print Custom	Defines the behavior of the camera when connected by USB. Auto brings up a selection menu each time a connection is made.
Live View boost	• Off • On	On brightens screen for visibility, Off mimics brightness of exposure.
Face detect	• Off • On
Info setting	• Play Info Image Only On/Off Overall On/Off Histogram On/Off Highlights and Shadow On/Off • LV Info Histogram On/Off Zoom On/Off Multi View On/Off Image Only On/Off Composition Grid On/Off Thirds Grid On/Off Crosshairs Grid On/Off	Enables/Disables the different playback and Live view screen modes that are found by pressing the 'Info' button.

E: Exposure/Metering/ISO


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Ev step	• 1/3 EV • 1/2 EV • 1 EV	Sets incremental steps used for exposure
Metering mode	• ESP ESP+AF ESP • Center Weighted Average • Spot • Highlight based spot • Shadow based spot	- Link ESP metering to AF point - Do not link ESP metering to AF point
AEL Metering	• Auto • Center weighted • Spot • Spot (Highlights) • Spot (Shadows)	Selects the metering mode used when the AEL button is pressed. Auto meters using the mode currently selected.
ISO	• Auto • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 • ISO 3200
ISO step	• 1/3 EV • 1 EV	Sets incremental steps used for sensitivity.
ISO-Auto set	• High limit ISO 200 - 3200 • Default ISO 200 - 3200	Sets the upper limit and default value used by Auto ISO mode.
ISO-Auto	• P/A/S • All	Selects which modes ISO-Auto is active in. All includes Manual mode.
Bulb timer	• 30 Min • 25 Min • 20 Min • 15 Min • 8 Min • 4 Min • 2 Min • 1 Min	Sets maximum exposure in bulb mode.
Anti-Shock	• Off • On: 1 - 30 sec	Known as 'Mirror Lock-up' on other brands.

F: Flash/Custom


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Flash X-Sync	• 1/60 - 1/180	Sync speed of flash
Flash slow limit	• 1/30 - 1/180	Lowest shutter allowed with flash
Flash + EV comp	• Off • On
Auto pop up	• Off • On

G: Record mode/Color/WB


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Noise reduction	• Off • On • Auto	Enable or disable long exposure noise reduction.
Noise Filter	• Off • Low • Standard • High	Changes the noise processing level. High is recommended for high ISO images.
White Balance	• Auto • 5300 K (Daylight) • 7500 K (Shade) • 6000 K (Cloudy) • 3000 K (Incandescent) • 4000 K (Fluorescent 1) • 4500 K (Fluorescent 2) • 6600 K (Fluorescent 3) • 5500 K (Flash) • Custom (Create up to 4 presets) • Kelvin (2000 - 14000 K)	- Fine tune Amber / Green (15 steps) - " - " - " - " - " - " - " - " - "
All WB comp	• All Set Amber (15 steps) Green (15 steps) • All Reset	Applies a correction to all WB presets. Or resets that correction.
Color space	• sRGB • Adobe RGB	Sets the color space used in JPEGs.
Shading comp	• Off • On	Automatically corrects light fall-off at image corners
Compression set	• JPEG size/quality 1 set Large / Compression Medium / Compression Small / Compression • JPEG size/quality 2 set Large / Compression Medium / Compression Small / Compression • JPEG size/quality 3 set Large / Compression Medium / Compression Small / Compression • JPEG size/quality 4 set Large / Compression Medium / Compression Small / Compression	Selects the image size (Large/Middle/Small) and compression settings (SuperFine/Fine/Normal/Basic), that the camera uses for shooting JPEGS.
Pixel count	• Middle 3200 x 2400 2560 x 1920 1600 x 1200 • Small 1280 x 960 1024 x 768 640 x 480	Defines the sizes of 'Middle' and 'Small' JPEGs. The actual pixel values produced are dictated by the Image aspect option (below).
Aspect shooting	• LV • All	LV mode only crops the images shot in live view mode. All crops pictures shot in live view and marks images shot with the viewfinder.

H: Record/Erase


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Quick erase	• Off • On	Defines whether a confirmation screen appears before deletion.
RAW + JPEG erase	• JPEG • RAW • RAW + JPEG	Dictates which components of a RAW + JPEG shot are deleted when deleting images individually.
File name	• Auto • Reset	Auto continues numbering onto new cards Reset starts again.
Priority set	• No • Yes	Sets default position on delete and format confirmation screens.
dpi settings	• Auto • Custom	Applies print resolution based on image size or a chosen output res.
CF / xD	• CF • xD	Select which media to store images (if two cards inserted)
Edit Filename		Add up to a 2-digit prefix to image names. One preset per color space.

I: Utility


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Pixel Mapping	• Start	Automatically senses 'dead pixels' and maps them out by averaging co lour values from surrounding pixels (another fairly unique feature).
Cleaning mode	• Start	Raises the mirror for cleaning
Ext. WB detect	• Off • On	Disables the built-in WB sensor for when the subject is differently lit.
AF Focus Adj.	• Set AF data Off Default data +20 to -20 Lens data +20 to -20 • Data list Check Delete Edit	Allows AF to be fine-tuned on either a per-lens basis (based on lens's serial number), or for all lenses. Each lens can be calibrated with a different correction value for each focus point and with different values assigned for wide-angle and telephoto.
Exposure shift	• ESP • Center weighted • Spot	Each metering mode can be fine-tuned in 1/6 EV intervals between -1 and +1 EV.
Warning level	•+2 to -2	Adjusts whether the battery warning lights up sooner or later than usual.
	• Dial • Dial	Swaps underwater scene modes onto the mode dial.

Setup menu

The setup menu contains just six options, with one of them acting to simplify the menu structure by hiding the complicated settings menu. It's an interesting idea (especially since it's unusual to have to regularly delve into the settings menu, given that all key settings are directly accessible through the Super Control Panel), that can make the Olympus menu system considerably less intimidating.


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Date / Time	• Date • Time • Date Format
Language		Selects menu language. Varies depending on market. Additional languages can be added with Olympus Master software.
LCD Adjust	• Brightness -7 to +7 • Color temp -7 to +7	Adjust brightness and color balance of the LCD
Record View	• Off • Auto playback • 1 - 20 sec	Amount of time record review is displayed. Auto playback then moves to playback mode - allowing deletion.
Settings menu display	• On • Off	Hides or reveals the settings menu to simplify the menu structure.
Firmware	• Show	Displays lens and body firmware

AEL/AFL button combinations

AEL/AFL modes (S-AF & MF)

Mode	Shutter half-press	Shutter full-press	AEL/AFL button
mode 1	AEL & AFL	Exposure	AEL
mode 2	AFL only	AEL & Exposure	AEL
mode 3	AEL only	Exposure	AFL

AEL/AFL modes (C-AF)

Mode	Shutter half-press	Shutter full-press	AEL/AFL button
mode 1	AEL & AF Start	AFL & Exposure	AEL
mode 2	AF Start	AEL & AFL & Exposure	AEL
mode 3	AEL only	AFL & Exposure	AF Start
mode 4	No action	AEL & AFL & Exposure	AF Start