FWIW: E-500 Hands On 'preview'... ;-)) M@H

[Max@Home]

Hi All,

First, let me explain that I am a Canon Guy, but one with an open mind...

Yesterday (Monday) evening we (messrs. JapanCamera.NL and me) visited the DigiFotoBeurs, an Autumn/Winter Sales Event for photo-retail-professionals on which all the major players show-off and hope to sell their digital imaging & related products.

Only Monday afternoon the news of the new E-500 was brought, but before I went to the fair, I quickly glimpsed at that news, the bulletin, the camera and it's specs, although not expecting to hold one within a few hours, LOL!
So how was it in real life?

In real life it was a full functional pre-production Body-Only example: no-one was allowed to put ANY lens on it or ANY card in it (the new lenses BTW were not present), but we could look at it's shape, feel it in hand, and fumble with the menu's.

For some reason this body made me think back of the OM-10/OM-20 types, but I am not sure why... size/weight wise this is a 350D/Rebel XT, but lighter, the grip a bit more chunky/beefy, and menu's appeared to be slightly faster.

A nice, bright, BIG! display, but I only saw it in a TL- and halogen lighted, bright event-hall, so just a small observation, no comments about readability in bright sunlight.

As a Canon-Guy, I can pick-up any Powershot/EOS series camera, and feel instantly @Home with menu's and buttons, surprisingly this Olympus gave me that same feeling after only three short browses through it's menustructure and a minute or 10 fumbling with the buttons, very logical and intuïtive controls!

The rest of the feel and touch was a bit (understatement) hampered by the fact that there was no lens attached, but all buttons felt logically placed under my (small) hands.

I truely liked the ISO in 1/3 steps, could get used to that on a 20d replacement )

As I started this: 'FWIW only', no lens and no card allowed, so I got nothing further to report. Oh yeah, maybe one more thing, it was painted/coloured a nice kind of semi-matte black, and the rubberized parts felt cool and 'sticky'.
...as always, all the above is just *my* €0.02 worth...

My kindest regards and respects,

Max@Home

[mikaelwardhana]

THanks for sharring your experience maxxy..

The battle is fierce in this level. All the big brands are already there with their own smallish plasticy SLRs. Including Olympus with this new E500.

I couldnt believe it, this camera weigh only around 400 grams. Geez... For me myself personally, I would prefer a SLR that weigh around 700-900 grams to make it balance when we attach those big glasses. 400 grams is just a little too light. But i understand that newcomers will see this as an advantage.

I am a canonian as well, but i really want to see E-1's replacement from Olympus. ..where is itt? everybody's waiting noww.. :-[

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by mikaelwardhana

I am a canonian as well, but i really want to see E-1's replacement from Olympus. ..where is itt? everybody's waiting noww.. :-[

All the rumours seem to point at Spring next year. Personally not in any rush as I've yet to hit a limitation that wasn't of my own making, but would be nice to see what they come up with. It would appear they have a lot riding on it though so I guess they will want to get it right first time.

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by mikaelwardhana

I couldnt believe it, this camera weigh only around 400 grams. Geez... For me myself personally, I would prefer a SLR that weigh around 700-900 grams to make it balance when we attach those big glasses. 400 grams is just a little too light. But i understand that newcomers will see this as an advantage.

Well, I agree w/700-900 grams bodyweight for balancing when something white and 'L'-like has to be attached ), but the 4/3 system of Olympus also makes for nice small lenses, that are not that large or heavy in weight - in comparison to the full-frame Canon L-lenses, that is - so the lighter Olympus body does make sense, balanced/weight wise, IMHO.

Kindest regards,

Max@Home

[ditto1958]

It will be interesting to see how the new body feels with a lens attached. Personally, I thought all of the entry level dslrs, especially the D350, felt to light and plasticky. The E-300 feels heavy enough and well-balanced with lens attached. The E-500 looks to be much smaller and much lighter. It appears to have a completely different grip than the E-300 also. As with all cameras, you can only tell so much from pictures. You really need to pick one up and see how it feels.

[BigB]

Yes, but seeing as how well the XT sold, I'm sure this E-500 will address the cosmetic "problems" people might have had in the first place. Body wise, looks to be a great entry level camera, along with the sensor and minor upgrades that place it slightly above the E-300 in price (mainly because it's new and many E-300s now are being discounted).

More users means more options for the current users, hopefully this will breathe some more fresh air quicker and more often for 4/3 users.

[jan56]

... I could see the e500 as an advantage as well in respects of a light walkaround second body. I'm doing my work with the E1 and love the tank-build body which is Oly bless weather proof. But for hiking I thought of a lighter camera with built in flash ( the FL50 sometimes gets heavy on the mountains so I thought of a E300 but now the E500 ? - lets see how the reality is .
But anyway, if it brings mor users to the 4/3rd system its good for us all
happy shooting and a nice day,
Jan

[ditto1958]

When I first started shopping for a dslr, ALL the relatively "affordable" models felt too light and plasticky for me, even the E-1. I very quickly eliminated the Rebel from consideration because it felt so cheap when I picked it up. I am interested to see if Olympus has been able to make the E-500 feel right. If it is lighter than the D350 that may be a challenge to accomplish.

[bavanor]

ditto1958,

Are you sure you picked up the E-1 and not the E-300? The e-1 is not plasticy at all. All metal and the best camera I have ever held in my hand. Fits like a well tailored glove. that was the main reason why I got the E-1.

[laingjd]

I picked one up today and I like it so far.
The viewfinder seems bigger than the E300.
The lights that indicate autofocus have been refined.

After memorizing the E300 the buttons on the E500 have been shuffled around.
The weight does not seem a factor. I tried it with both 14-54 and 50-200.
The 50-200 is nose heavy on any camera.

It feels and handles very well.
Faster than E 300.

The LCD screen is big. White background is new.
Nifty little screen animation when dust cleaning at start up.......

The camera end of the USB cable has changed. Looks proprietary now.

[BigB]

Originally Posted by laingjd

I picked one up today and I like it so far.
The viewfinder seems bigger than the E300.

Excellent, hope you enjoy. You upgraded from an E-300? I thought the viewfinder was supposed to be much smaller than that of the E-300?

Post pics when you get a chance.

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by bavanor

ditto1958,

Are you sure you picked up the E-1 and not the E-300? The e-1 is not plasticy at all. All metal and the best camera I have ever held in my hand. Fits like a well tailored glove. that was the main reason why I got the E-1.

Agree. You often see the words E-1 and 'tank-like' in the same sentence. I love it's construction quality.