Olympus E-510

Reviewed September 2007

Characteristics

The E-510 is equipped with the same Four Third format Live MOS sensor measuring 17.3 x 13 mm as the E-410. The sensor is composed of 11.8 million pixels of which 10 million are effective. The E-510 is able to record RAW, JPEG or RAW + JPEG images, and the JPEG format provides a choice of seven image sizes and a variety of compression levels:

The RAW format records the output of the sensor without any image processing for such settings as white balance, sharpness, contrast, etc. Images must then be brought into the software supplied with the camera, Olympus Master, so they can be seen and converted to more common formats such as TIFF, TIFF Exif, JPEG or BMP. The camera also allows capturing a JPEG version — using a selectable size and compression level — simultaneously with the RAW image.

The camera uses a Zuiko Digital Four Third lens mount, giving it compatibility with all Four Third lenses. In North America is it sold as a kit that includes an Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-42 mm f3.5-5.6 ED, whose focal length is the equivalent of a 28 to 84 mm on a 35 mm camera.

The Live MOS sensor has a sensitivity range that starts at 100 ISO and can be manually set in all but the Scene modes that are found at the SCENE position of the Mode Dial, to 100, 200, 400, 800 or 1600 ISO. In addition, an Auto ISO setting with a selectable upper limit is also offered, allowing the camera to adjust the sensitivity as dictated by the ambient light.

The E-510 has a shutter speed range that covers from 1/4000 second to 60 seconds. The Scene modes, however, are generally limited to a maximum exposure time of 1/4 second or 1 second. While in the Manual mode, a B (Bulb) setting is available that allows exposures up to 8 minutes if the optional RM-UC1 remote control is used.

The menu system of the E-510 is presented when the MENU button is pressed. The menu is composed of five sections — the same sections are shown irrespective of the camera mode (capture or playback) — and are identified by tabs on the left side of the monitor: Shooting Menu 1, Shooting Menu 2, Playback, Setup 1 and Setup 2. The first two sections relate to image capture, and some of the options contained there can be directly modified using the buttons on the camera.

The first section, Shooting Menu 1, offers the most options when the camera is set to P, S, A or M, while some scene modes have some options omitted:

• Card Setup: serves to All Erase, or Format memory cards.
• Custom Reset Setting: when the camera is turned off, all the current settings that have been modified from their original settings are saved in one of two memories. This option makes it possible to save a group of preferred settings at any point, or reset them to their defaults.
• Picture Mode controls the way colours are recorded:
  • Vivid*: increases colour saturation.
  • Natural*: records colours without any increase of decrease in saturation.
  • Muted*: lowers contrast and colour saturation.
    *For each of these three settings, the contrast, sharpness, and saturation can be adjusted over ± 2 steps or set to 0.
  • Monotone: allows recording a monochromatic image with accents on contrast or sharpness, or as black and white, which can be neutral, tinted yellow, orange, red or green, by varying the colour tone (neutral, sepia, blue, purple or green).
• Gradation: allows selecting the gradation of the image: High Key, Normal, Low Key.
• Image Quality: serves to choose the image quality, as outlined above.

• WB controls the white balance: Auto, Sun (5300°K), Cloud (6000°K), Shade (7500°K), Incandescent (3000°K), Fluorescent 1 (4000°K), Fluorescent 2 (4500°K), Fluorescent 3 (6600°K), One-Touch White Balance (set under ambient light), Custom (set between 2000°K and 14000°K). And, with the exception of the One Touch white balance, all white balance settings can be adjusted over ±7 increments towards red or green. The AEL/AFL button can be used to turn on the Live View mode and see the effect adjustments have on the colours of the subject about to be photographed.

• ISO: serves to adjust the sensor sensitivity (see above).
• Noise Filter: selects the strength of the post-capture noise processing applied to all images (Off, Standard, Low or High).
• Noise Reduction: On or Off. Controls the noise reduction applied after all long exposure images. When Sequential shooting is set, Noise reduction is automatically turned off.

The second section, Shooting Menu 2, contains the following options:

• Metering serves to choose the metering pattern:
  • Digital ESP:
    • ESP + AF: the multi zone metering takes note of the active AF point.
    • ESP: the multi zone metering does not take the focus point into account.
  • Centre Weighted.
  • Spot.
  • Hi Spot: spot metering with highlight control.
  • SH Spot: Spot metering with shadow control.

• Flash Compensation: serves to adjust the flash output over a range of ± 2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
• AF Mode: AF-S (Single), AF-C (Continuous), Manual Focus, AF-S + Manual adjustment, AF-C + Manual adjustment.
• Focus Area: decides whether the auto focus automatically picks the focus point using any of the three AF points, or if it is fixed left, right or centre.

• AE BKT: automatically brackets the exposure over three frames capturing images with 0.3, or 0.7, or 1 EV variations.
• WB BKT: allows bracketing the white balance over three images, using variations over Red and Blue, or Green and Magenta to bracket the white balance selected by camera.
• FL BKT: serves to bracket a flash exposure over a range of 0.3, 0.7 or 1 EV.
• Anti-Shock: makes it possible to raise the mirror prior to an exposure so as to avoid any possible camera vibration during long exposures. Settings are Off, 1 second, or 30 seconds.

The third section of the menu consists of options related to the Playback mode:

• Slide Show: serves to review images automatically at a 5 second interval, and if desired as index sheets with 4, 9, 16 or 25 images per screen.

• Rotation: allows changing the orientation of an image in 90° increments by pressing the button.
• Edit: allows applying the camera settings that were recorded (white balance, exposure compensation, sharpness, contrast, etc.) along with a RAW image to the image and saving the result as a new JPEG image. Or alternatively, changing JPEG images to monotone or sepia, correcting red-eye, or adjusting the saturation. In addition, JPEG images can be resized to 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, or 320 x 240 pixels.

• DPOF (Print Order): serves to select images that will be printed (either one at a time, or all at once) and choose whether the time and date at which photos were captured is superimposed on the printed image. The E-510 is compatible with PictBridge and can be used to print images directly to a similarly compatible printer via the USB cable.
• Copy All: Yes or No. Serves to copy images from one card to another.
• Reset Protect: serves to remove all protection from images that were protected using the button.

The last two sections of the menu, Custom and Setup are described in the Interface and Software section of the review.

The E-510 is equipped with two memory card slots: one for CompactFlash type I or II (including Microdrives), the other for xD cards.

The two card slots are positioned on the right side of the camera, behind a solid door that covers the back edge. A red LED, at the top, lights when either of the cards is active. The xD card is ejected by pressing it on its edge while the CF card is ejected using a lever that folds away.

The chart below lists the number of images that can be captured with a 1 GB xD card, and a 4 GB CompactFlash card:

The E-510 only has one external connection, located on the lower back of the camera, below the Arrow Pad. The connector is protected by a flexible plastic door that opens to the left.

The function of the connection is dictated by the cable used: either USB Port or Video Out, which makes it possible to connect the E-510 to a television. The cables, USB and Video, are included with the camera.

The E-510 is powered by a Lithium-ion battery (BLS-1), housed inside the grip area of the camera, behind a solid, locking door. A battery charger is included in the kit (BCS-1) and takes approximately 210 minutes to completely recharge the battery.