Excellent ratio of price and performance.

I had long a compact digital camera and now wanted to upgrade to a recent and somewhat advanced model of a digital SLR. After I had informed myself long and hard on the internet about the advantages and disadvantages of the different models in the price range of less than 1,000 EUR and read all the reviews and forums to the cameras, I opted for the Olympus E-510 in the Double Zoom Kit , After I have the camera used in different situations and extensively tested (exteriors in daylight and night light, indoors at room lighting and candlelight, etc.), I can draw a first summary: I am fully satisfied with the purchase of the camera and am of the opinion that the price-performance ratio of this camera is quite excellent.

Here are some of my impressions:
The camera comes in a compact box, where in addition to a manual and a DVD that includes a first crash course in the handling of the camera. This DVD is a good start, especially since not only the basic functions clearly explained, but also practical tips are given which should be taken into account when taking photos in order to achieve good results. This DVD is rather aimed at beginners who have gathered so far little experience with the SLR photography. Be declared in addition to the various camera default settings also motivational and exposure modes the E-510 and basic relationships between aperture and shutter speed, white balance, determining the correct ISO settings, etc. The DVD has a running time of approximately 60 minutes and is well suited as an entry to open up the handling of the camera quickly. If you served in between the pause button on the DVD player, you can even try the same Shown with the camera and understand.

Interesting and instructive were the remarks on the white balance and the effects of the flash light on the image quality when shooting indoors for me. After trying different settings and programs of the E-510, I came to the conclusion that the image quality without flash is usually much better and also in relatively dark environments can achieve great shots (candlelight), if one makes only the correct settings.

Overall, you have to experiment with the camera a bit before you made really good pictures. Anyway, if one has little experience in SLR photography. Because the pre-programmed scene modes namely allow an immediate 'it happening photography', but the images are only really good if you deal in more detail with the exposure programs that require some knowledge and require some adjustments. However, the experimentation is great fun and after a few hundred photos has made tremendous progress and internalized the most important tricks that will make much better images.

The two lenses contained in the Double Zoom Kit cover a wide area and are of good quality. For the amateur field, one need not equipped with these two lenses and can achieve great shots. The big advantage of the Olympus E-510 is that the image stabilizer is not built into the lenses, but in the camera itself. Thus, the Zuiko lenses are not quite as expensive as competing products, in which the image stabilization is built into the lens.

The Image Stabilizer has the great property to offset camera shake that occur at slower shutter speeds without a tripod quickly. Slight movements, resulting inevitably, when you hold the camera in hand, are compensated by the image stabilizer, so you can shoot even when shooting indoors without flash razor sharp images.

The Live View monitor the E-510 makes it possible to use the monitor as a viewfinder and as a conventional compact digital camera to use the camera. Personally, I do it only use, for example, if I shoot a photo from the worm's-eye view and do not want to lie down on the ground. Live View allows then to envisage the image on the monitor, which is very convenient, because you can see well even then the monitor when you hold the camera very low over the ground or very high above his head. Overall, however, I prefer the traditional viewfinder and use the monitor almost exclusively of other camera settings. Incidentally, this is also energy efficient and extends the battery time.

The continuous shooting mode allows you to shoot up to 3 frames per second. If you press the shutter permanently, so you can for example quickly snap 10 pictures in succession in just 3 seconds. This feature is great if you want to take a group photo with several people about, usually someone holding closed on the eyes. The large number of photos is then usually one going on the all face the camera.

For the camera I bought a memory card SanDisk Extreme III 4GB memory. If you save the photos in very high quality as JPG, fit a little more than 1500 images on the card, which is absolutely sufficient. If you want to edit the photos afterwards on a PC, but it is recommended to store in RAW format. RAW is the uncompressed original format of the camera. In a 4 GB memory card can store about 260 pictures so. The advantage of the RAW format is that you can make extensive rework using the supplied software and, for example, the white balance can still change the PC that is not on this scale is possible with JPG files. It is truly amazing what can be taken out on the PC or from a RAW file. A very dark picture, for example, still brightened considerably and the color scheme without loss of quality be improved. This is only very limited in JPG files possible. However, the storage in RAW format is more for professionals. The JPG photos are absolutely sufficient for the amateur and of excellent quality.

The performance of the battery is good. For normal use, a battery is sufficient. If you do not permanently use the power-hungry monitor as a viewfinder, are easy to shoot hundreds of pictures on a single charge. Charging the battery takes several hours, so you 'unless the camera is used frequently intensively' should think about a second battery.

A good accessory is also a tripod and a bag for the camera. There is a bag that is made especially for the Double Zoom Kit of the E-series and space for the camera that has two lenses and a spare battery and memory card.

There is also a little book by Wolf-Dieter Roth, entitled "Olympus E-510". In the book, the basic functions are described again and optimum camera settings for various situations explained (sunsets, backlit, landscape photography, Macro, Portrait, etc.). The book is very helpful, especially since the manual supplied the camera is not so easy to read. The book is designed much more appealing. However, it's really just a brief guide, no detailed description. Especially for newcomers to digital photography, this may therefore be the right choice.