Grabbing great images indoors and out is very
easy with Olympus's E-520 Four Thirds offering. The DSC's exposure system
does a good job of obtaining the proper exposure for shots and its focusing
technology, although sometimes slow in making up its mind when lighting
conditions are challenging, consistently delivers sharp pictures.
Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/80 ISO: 400
The E-520 takes very good indoor pictures
with its pop-up flash. Images were, in most cases, evenly exposed and
free of "wash out."
Aperture: F/5.2 Shutter Speed: 1/60 ISO: 400
On those occasions when you can't seem
to get what you want with the built-in flash, you can automatically bracket
a scene by varying the light output of the flash.
When the mood of an indoor shot may be spoiled
with a flash, the E-520 will still perform well without an inordinate boost
in light sensitivity that can introduce noise into a picture. On those occasions,
the camera's image stabilization technology lets you shoot at shutter speeds
you wouldn't dare shoot at without a tripod.
Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/13 ISO: 400
The E-520's light sensitivity settings range
from ISO 100-1600. At ISO 100 (photo at left) grain and noise are minimal,
while at ISO 1600 (photo at right), they become very noticeable.
Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/800 ISO: 100
Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/4000 ISO: 1600
Along with the standard 14-42mm (28-84mm
equivalent), our review unit arrived with a good-sized telephoto lens--40-150mm
(80-300mm equivalent). It performed well and was just the ticket for the
kind of close-ups that would be difficult with shorter glass.
In addition to automatic flash bracketing, the
E-520 has auto exposure bracketing. Shots below were taken in Aperture Priority
mode with exposure compensation set to ±1.
Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/125 ISO: 100
Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/250 ISO: 100
Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/60 ISO: 100
Unlike many digital SLRs, the E-520m has a feature
for creating panorama shots. It allows you to stitch together several photographs--in
the case below, five shots--and create a wide aspect photograph from them.
Image Quality
