Olympus Evolt E-500

Olympus EVolt E-500

Evolt E-500 Review, by Eric Butterfield November 28, 2005

Show More Show Less

0 Comments | 0 Topics | Print Only This Review

• Latest User Reviews 4 reviews
• Reviewed by: rhol

  Duration of ownership: 1 Year

  Strengths: Good build Easy to hold-well-balanced Very good kit lenses Light responsive shutter release Very good image quality Excellent colours. Loads of custom options, most easy to set via screen or direct buttons. Top value.

  Weaknesses: A bit noisy at high ISO Viewfinder info can be difficult to see Alarming flash strobing to gain focusing in poor light

  Overall: Having used Canon A1s in the past,I initially intended to buy the Canon 350d. However it was difficult to hold (I have large hands). Seeing the E500 on display I tried it out. What a treat to hold! After viewing good reviews, I bought the 2-lens kit.I have not regetted it. This camera has re-kindled my interest in photography. Though out of production it must be worth looking at secondhand, if you're on a tight budget. Alternatively the E510 appears to be an even better camera!

• Reviewed by: ant500

  Duration of ownership: 6 Months

  Strengths: Great Pictures with a nice price. Very easy to use.

  Weaknesses: Low light focus is very slow and not accurate. No Image stabilization lens available from olympus.

  Overall: Great Pictures.... Camera is extremely easy to use and understand. I've taken about a thousand pictures and they look great. Only a couple of cons. The AF alluminator flashes off several times and camera sttill doesn't focus right in low light. Olympus has yet to produce a stabalized lens. Other than that, I would've gave it five stars. Camera is very well balanced. Not to heavy and not to light. The grip is very comfortable and has a nice feel.

• Reviewed by: marcopolit

  Duration of ownership: 7 Months

  Strengths: Excellent image quality, body made of quality material, very easy to use, LCD is great,

  Weaknesses: little bulky

  Overall: Before I bought this camera i did a lot of research so every time I went to a store to look for cameras, most if not all retailers working in the cameras area when I asked about the Olympus gave me a look of yeah! good choice... I could tell the difference when talked about that camera, so I finally got it on Ebay and it has been one of the best investment of my life. I bough it because my wife and I were having a baby and let me tell you how great pictures we are getting! You can not go wrong with it, plus if you look well you can get the whole package with the two lenses, tripod, 1 gb memory, clening kit and bag for under $800. Good luck buying.

• Reviewed by: jlondon

  Duration of ownership: 2 Months

  Strengths: nice

  Weaknesses: short

  Overall: more likely to be read and valued by others who are interested in this producmore likely to be read and valued by others who are interested in this producmore likely to be read and valued by others who are interested in this produc

• Reviewed by: MetromacBill

  Strengths: Light Sturdy Body, 4/3rds System, Many Lenses to choose from, Better then average Built in flash, Nice smooth controls, Decent Battery life

  Weaknesses: None

  Overall: I love this Camera!! Bought this for my Wife to take Pics on the Sidelines at Football Games for our Website. Got the 2 lens kit, and Got three Addl. Lenses(18-180MM f3.5-6.3, ED90-250MMf2.8, and the ED300mm) and the EC-14 Teleconverter. This camera is impressive for it's size and weight, much less then a like-priced Cannon, and the lenses are interchangeable with other E series bodies unlike the Canon D-series.

• Reviewed by: manishaggarwal12

  Strengths: Price, autofocus capabilities, feel in the hand, 2.5 inch screen.

  Weaknesses: Inbuilt flash provides limited range, accessories are very costly, limited capability of autofocus in extremely low light situations

  Overall: I was contemplating whether to go ahead with Olympus 500 or D80 but after looking at reviews on web I decided to go for it.....and let me tell you I do not regret my decision. This is a great camera at a great price. It takes crisp pics. If you have an energetic toddler you would know how difficult it is to capture their beautiful moments in a camera.....evolt 500 does its work brilliantly while taking pics on inbuilt "Children" mode. I have been using it for a week or so only but have already taken more than 500 pics. I am not at all disappointed. However, there are few negatives as well. All Olympus accessories are very costly. In case you want to take pics inside I would suggest to buy a mountable flash. One of my bad experiences was when I was trying to shoot in moonlight, camera had difficulty in focusing the objects. in fact in all instances it was just unable to auto focus. All in all I would say its a good buy and the more you use it the more you will love it.

• Reviewed by: jamo888

  Strengths: Supersonic Wave filter, 15 Scene mode, Large LCD screen, Better build, higher height for flash (minimize red eye)

  Weaknesses: Small View finder, AF assist throuh flash, No top LCD display. Continuous burst available only for HQ

  Overall: I have read articles and technical review for the 4/3 sensor. This approach makes more sense and it optimizes for digital photography. Olympus took a big step on this technology. Most of the big companies used the APC size. Well, Olympus E500 has the supersonic wave filter this is very important a necessity. Canon, Sony, Pentax all followed this feature. The camera has a lot of features for advance users. I suggest read the manual or get some info from the internet. Otherwise, you will not take advantage of the great features.Small viewfinder, It doesnt bother me much. ME-1 finder is available to address this issue. Only 3 point focus points, I would rather have more. All the SLRs are coming out with more. Slow start up time is due to the Wave filter working, you could have this disabled (check manual). to increase speed to 1.5 Sec.Bottomline, Each camera in the market has its own edge. Overall, I would say Value for money this one is a winner.

• Reviewed by: fastfashn

  Strengths: great lenses, functions, settings, build

  Weaknesses: low light AF, manual AF (vf is small so manual focus tricky)

  Overall: I looked at the Pentax DL/DS line, Canon Rebel and Nikon D-70 line before I settled on this camera. I am glad I did. Despite a certain anxiety at switching from film to digital I've found that the kit lenses and image quality are quite good, especially for the kind of shooting I love (street photography, parties, portraits). If I were doing landscapes I'd like a few more MP, but I think the system will be progressing in that direction soon enough.

• Reviewed by: byount

  Strengths: Great value, compact, lightweight and fun to use.

  Weaknesses: Expensive accessories, need to buy external flash for typical indoor photos.

  Overall: This is my first dSLR, and I purchased the E-500 after significant research. The best advice I ran across was to go into stores and physically put your hands on the cameras you are considering. The main thing that put this camera ahead of the Canon Rebel XT was how much better the E-500 felt in my hand. The Canon's grip was just too shallow, and if you don't like how it feels, then you're less prone to use it. The Olympus had a substantially larger handgrip and its construction felt much more solid. The pictures produced by both cameras are compared on numerous websites, and except at high ISO (800/1600), are very similar. The primary downfall of this camera for my pics is the on-board flash, but that is not at all uncommon in dSLRs. It is readily corrected by the awesome (and expensive) Olympus FL-50 flash.