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By Damian Koh
Nov 30, 2005

The Olympus E-500 digital SLR offers many improvements over its predecessor in terms of design and value for money. At a budget price of S$1,599 for the kit which includes a 14-to-45mm, F3.5 to F5.6 Zuiko Digital lens, the E-500 is an alternative for the budget-conscious over Canon's EOS 350D and Nikon's D50. The camera comes with a Supersonic Wave Filter, large 2.5-inch LCD monitor and a full range of shooting modes and functions. Most importantly, the E-500 competitive pricing won't break your bank if you are not investing in a couple of extra lenses right away. In terms of performance and picture quality, the E-500 certainly did not disappoint. Our major gripes with the unit are its small optical viewfinder, lack of a status LCD and a USB 1.1 connection.

Design
We are placing our bets that photographers won't be using their heavyweight arsenal as offensive weapons. In the other camp, this lightweight entry-level digital SLR manages to beat its competitors at 435g (body only). Even Canon's highly popular EOS 350D is a tad heavier at 55g when you weigh both of them on the scales.

Though not the most minute in its class, the E-500 holds a slight ergonomic edge over the popular EOS 350D. The button layout on this shooter, as compared with its predecessor the E-300, is logical and well-thought out. Its four-directional buttons doubles as dedicated keys for white balance, autofocus, ISO and metering. There is only one control dial on the E-500 located right beside the mode-selector atop the unit.

Our fingers feel more comfortable given the additional breathing space around the rubberized hand grip as the lens is positioned slightly more to the right (from the front) as compared with the EOS 350D which has its lens smacked in the center. Even though the E-500, according to Olympus, has the lightest dSLR body, the 14-45mm lens kit which weighs 285g ups the total mass to 720g. Nonetheless, you can still shoot comfortably with one hand and the camera won't feel like a brick.

To complete the look, the E-500 comes with a prism-styled optical viewfinder, built-in pop-up flash and hotshoe on the top edge of the unit. Even though there is a larger LCD on the E-500 (compared with E-300), the size of the viewfinder is compromised. We find slight difficulties focusing and it's a strain to look through the screen for longer periods of time. Fortunately, the company has released the eyecup magnifier, ME-1, which is said to increase the viewing size 1.5x when used on the camera. The ME-1 will be available in Europe by December. Singapore users, however, will have to wait till early next year. Consider that along with a high-capacity, high-speed CompactFlash or xD-Picture Card in your accessories list. Previously on the E-300, you had the choice of using only CompactFlash cards.

A departure from the usual infrared, the E-500's pop-up flash doubles as an assist-lamp in ambient situations, releasing several quick flashes of light. In most cases, the flash works well due to its height which can potentially reduce the amount of red-eye. However, when it doesn't, the focus assist actually frightened off our shooting subjects.

There is no top LCD panel for camera status so you will have to rely on the unit's 2.5-inch screen to change your settings. Frequent use of the LCD will logically drain the camera's battery at a faster rate. Otherwise, when you peer through the viewfinder, the screen will show a status column on the right with various information like aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, battery life, metering mode, etc.

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