Olympus E-520 Review

As well as using the kit lenses for our tests, Olympus also gave us the opportunity to use the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Super Telephoto zoom lens (which is being offered by some retailers instead of the 40-150mm lens) to test the performance of the body-integrated image stabilisation system in the E-520 camera. Some sample shots are shown below. With each of the lenses we used, we estimate the built-in stabilisation system provided approximately three stops of shutter speed advantage over the E-420 (which lacks stabilisation).

Picture taken with the test camera were similar to those from the E-420, which isn't surprising as both cameras have the same sensor and image processing system. Test shots in outdoor lighting were bright and colourful although some highlight details were lost in very contrasty situations. Shadows tended to block up when the subject's dynamic range was wider than the sensor could handle.

Exposure metering was accurate provided light levels were reasonably high. However, long exposures at night were consistently slightly under-exposed, as were flash shots in low light levels. Autofocusing was also reasonably fast and accurate under most shooting conditions, although we had a couple of 'near misses' when using the 70-300mm lens at full extension to shoot fast-moving subjects. Hunting was negligible in low-light conditions.

The slight warm bias we observed in our test shots with the E-420 was also present in shots taken with the E-520 and Imatest revealed increased saturation in the red colour band. Interestingly, saturation was only marginally below the normal 100% level in our Imatest tests, which also revealed minor shifts in the purple/blue and cyan/green hues. Skin hues were very close to the mark and overall colour accuracy was above average, with a mean colour error of 7.17.

Imatest showed the resolution of the test camera to be higher than that of the E-420 we reviewed and figures from the centre of the image field were in line with our expectations for a 10-megapixel camera. However, both lenses suffered from edge softening. With the 14-42mm lens this was most noticeable at wide lens apertures and with shorter focal length settings. With the 40-150mm lens it was general across the focal length and aperture range.


Margaret Brown

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