What Olympus E-4xx, 5xx, 6xx camera to choose ?

Hi guys,

I'm a base ISO landscape shooter. So I really don't care about high ISO performance.

I have just ordered used Oly 12-60 SWD lens for a good price. I own Oly E-PL2. But as many say it does not fit well with 12-60. So I'm looking for some oldies Oly SLRs which are offered around for very low prices.

What Oly DSLR would you recommend to me ? How about autofocus speed with 12-60 on these cameras ?

Do you prefer KODAK CCD in E400, E500, E300 to newer CMOS one ? (Colors in sunny day).

How about viewfinder quality, brightness and size ?

As of ergonomics-controls which one of these cameras do you prefer ?

Thank you.

I do like the colours on the Kodak sensor but the Panasonic is pretty close. I have owned all the 5XX series and the E-620 ( And still own some ) . The best all round image from all those cameras I believe comes out of the E-510 , But (Always a downside) the damb thing will try to blow the highlights at any given chance.

The E-500 is great up to 400ISO , The E-520 ( E-420) is a bit soft with the heavy AA filter good up to about 800 ISO you can get a bit of banding after that. The E620 gives a bit more grain (Noise) but is good up to about 1600-2000 ISO. It also has a flippy screen , focus adjust etc. The 12-60 works very well on it. ( The E-620 is relevantly banding free.

If you are prepared to watch the highlights the go for the E-510 otherwise I would say the E-620.

Stuff taken with the E-620 / 12-60 sort of lately.










--
Collin
(Aficionado Olympus DSLR )
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. (George Carlin)
New Seventh Wonder of the World.

CollBaxter said:

CollBaxter wrote:

I do like the colours on the Kodak sensor but the Panasonic is pretty close. I have owned all the 5XX series and the E-620 ( And still own some ) . The best all round image from all those cameras I believe comes out of the E-510 , But (Always a downside) the damb thing will try to blow the highlights at any given chance.

The E-500 is great up to 400ISO , The E-520 ( E-420) is a bit soft with the heavy AA filter good up to about 800 ISO you can get a bit of banding after that. The E620 gives a bit more grain (Noise) but is good up to about 1600-2000 ISO. It also has a flippy screen , focus adjust etc. The 12-60 works very well on it. ( The E-620 is relevantly banding free.

If you are prepared to watch the highlights the go for the E-510 otherwise I would say the E-620.

Stuff taken with the E-620 / 12-60 sort of lately.

Click to expand...

Thanks for some inviews. By the way - nice shots !

You say E510 feels best for you. Great. Well if you compare E500 with E510 ? Which one blows highlights more ? And which one is noisier at base ISO and shadows ? This is the thing I fight with my E-PL2. To much noise in shadows for high DR scenes. Please can you elaborate a bit about shadow noise on these cameras ?

As of E620 Here in Czech Republic it's still too expensive even used ones.

Thank you

just to back up something Coll said. I have just parted with my E520 and kept my E620 when I could have just as easily done it the other way around. Lots of minor differences but the number one factor in my descison making is that the E620 highlight handling while maybe not as good as more expensive models blows away the highlight handling of the E520. It really makes a difference.

I can recommend the E620 for nearness to E3 in a smaller package. Very nice natural colours.

E300.... is too old do't you think. But still got that "WOW" factor in a body. It's unique porro design. The LCD is too small. Get the E500 instead. If you seldom shoot at night or in low light, or don't mind the pixel size, the E300 or E500 is a real bargain.

jakop

As of DXO - dynamic range performance for all these Oly cameras is very similar:

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Camera-Sensor-Ratings/(type)/usecase_landscape

The best seems to be E-450 and E-5 (at least DXO says it

Do you shoot JPG or RAW ?

And as of ISO sensitivity E-450 vs E-620.

it's pretty visible how they achieve less highlight blowing for E-620.

It's the same tactics which is used on my E-PL2 too. ISO 200 is actualy ISO 120 and they raise shadows. That's it. They cheat a bit

So if you shoot RAW - DR performance should be very similar for all 4/3 cameras. Am I right ?

Thank you.

Dunsun said:

Dunsun wrote:

As of DXO - dynamic range performance for all these Oly cameras is very similar:

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Camera-Sensor-Ratings/(type)/usecase_landscape


The best seems to be E-450 and E-5 (at least DXO says it

Do you shoot JPG or RAW ?

Click to expand...

What DXO does not tell you is the E-5 has a faster pipeline and a lighter AA filter and so does the E-30 with a larger body for shock as well as a different shutter , focus mechanism , etc , etc. They are comparing the sensor in a lab. All Olympus 4/3 12MP sensors are basically the same sensor right up until the OMD and now the 2 new PENS.

Actually if you believe that the dynamic range is so similar then buy whats cheapest but believe me they are not the same. The sum of a camera is not the sensor . Once a lot of people get over that then maybe we can move on.

I have owned both the E-500 and the E-620, and presently own the latter as well as the E-5. Both of the cameras were used across their time in landscape shots. I found both the E-500 and the E-620 to be quite capable in providing color and detail in at least a portion of the photos taken. My experience has slowly grown over time, so presently having the E-620, I am able to produce a few more better scenes than I did with the E-500. That's mostly due to the operator, not the camera, as well as the addition of several HG and SG lenses in that time. I would recommend the E-620, though either will provide you with a beneficial tool for your needs.

Dunsun said:

Dunsun wrote:

Hi guys,

I'm a base ISO landscape shooter. So I really don't care about high ISO performance.

I have just ordered used Oly 12-60 SWD lens for a good price. I own Oly E-PL2. But as many say it does not fit well with 12-60. So I'm looking for some oldies Oly SLRs which are offered around for very low prices.

What Oly DSLR would you recommend to me ? How about autofocus speed with 12-60 on these cameras ?

As of ergonomics-controls which one of these cameras do you prefer ?

Thank you.

Click to expand...

Colours on a sunny day : e-600 & e-620 with WB green+1,

and really I find the e-pL1 is better for base-ISO landscapes than the e-pL2

All Olympus DSLRs AF very fast with that lens.

Dunsun said:

Dunsun wrote:

And as of ISO sensitivity E-450 vs E-620.

it's pretty visible how they achieve less highlight blowing for E-620.

It's the same tactics which is used on my E-PL2 too. ISO 200 is actualy ISO 120 and they raise shadows. That's it. They cheat a bit

So if you shoot RAW - DR performance should be very similar for all 4/3 cameras. Am I right ?

Thank you.

Click to expand...

DXO notwithstanding, empirical evidence is there's a rather wide range among various models. I have the E-510, -30 and -5, and each successive model has more useful range than the predecessor. All can create excellent images with the 12-60 while focus response is better with the E-30 and E-5. For sunny landscapes, the E-510 must be carefully reined in to prevent clipping, resulting in loss of shade detail. The E-30 must also be minded, but much less rigorously, and the E-5 is more forgiving still, while avoiding some odd shadow noise that can crop up in E-30 images.


Among the three, I prefer the E-30's shape and control layout. After becoming used to the pentaprism models, I don't think much of the pentamirror cameras (all the 4-, 5- & 6- three-digit models). But of course, those are the most affordable and easy to find ones.

Cheers,

Rick

I went through E-510, E-410, E-600, E-620, E-3, E-PL1, E-PL2, plus 14-54 MkI & 12-60. For the 43 lenses I would choose the E-1 for fabulous JPEG colours. I've kept mine over all the other bodies which could NOT recreate colours properly on JPEGs, especially purples. I'm only just selling my E-1 now as I recently bought an OM-D and the E-1 simply isn't getting used now I've switched to m43. For 43 lenses you just have to use a 43 body for full AF speed. E-1 also gives you weatherproofed kit with the 12-60. You'll pick one up for around 150 euros. Mine's for sale!

I own the E-500 and E-620. I found the E-500 to be a very frustrating camera for use in any setting other then outdoor daylight use. I have had some stunning out door landscape shots with the E-500 and occasionally good wildlife shots but far to many missed shots or really noisey shots d/t iso limitations. No doubt many were my fault but my success rate with the E-620 has been much better and I find it much more forgiving, faster focusing, sharper, better ergonomics and in general I think the E-620 takes a better picture. The E-620 has the fold out viewer and the lit buttons (night use) both of which I intially viewed as gimmicks but have found very useful. I can not comment on the 12-60 lens but I also own the 50-200 swd version and it is faster on the E-620.

I prefer KODAK CCD.

Taken with E500.

I provided a few samples taken at iso 100 and these jpgs are from camera without editing. The sky blues reproduce well so do the fall browns.

We have an E330 and an E620, both are great cameras, but there are design differences in Olympus cameras which haven't been mentioned in the replies so far.

If using the same battery type is useful to you the choice is narrowed: E410/420, or E620. (BLS-5 is a safety upgrade to the BLS-1)

The E620 has Image Stabilisation - not useful in landscape work, but handy to have.

Both have screens which articulate and allow live view. The E330 screen folds down or up, is great for candids and overhead shots, but the edge can sometimes catch on a tripod, in my experience. The E620 screen is hinged at the side, so is good if you want to compose a shot with yourself in it. On this subject it's rarely mentioned that the limited edition E600 didn't allow an Olympus remote control to be used.

More recent cameras, such as the E620, allow use of third-party wireless remote controls via the USB socket.

Olympus changed their flashes at some point to allow wireless flash control, the older cameras such as E330 don't support this.

The viewfinders have the information in different places: E330 at the side, E620 beneath the image. Both are useable but I have spectacles so prefer it beneath.


I hope this helpful, I joined just to reply. Veteran / Senior Members - please be patient with me if I get something wrong!

Ian

I have the E-1 (Kodak sensor), E-500 (Kodak sensor), and the E-420 CMOS Sensor. I noticed that the CMOS sensors are a little worse in high ISO, but if your always going to use base ISO than that isn't a problem. However, i do like the colors and performance from my E-500 and E-1 over the E-420. usually the newer the camera the faster it is, but with the kodak sensors I am willing to be patient with the write time..... I noticed on the E-1, RAW takes less time to write than a JPEG or TIFF file.... weird i guess?!?!?!?!