Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

[dennisg]

I have an E Volt 500 and is a very reliable camera but there are some issues such as the Auto Focus speed that I am not too pleased with. Please do not think that this rig is a dog! It takes excellent pictures, but is one of the earlier DSLR entries by Olympus.

I know that the E 510 has made some great strides to cure the issues that were experienced with the E 300, E 330, and E 500. Is there anyone out there that can give me an objective comaprison between the E500 and E510 as to what they experinced as improvements with the later model? I do know that the E500 is an 8 MEG rig versus the E510 that is a 10 MEG rig.

Just for reference I have the 14-54 MM F2.8-3.5 and 40-150 MM F3.5-4.0 lenses and the FL50 flash. All are great and they perfom well. I am just trying to findout what the benefits are of the E 510 over the E 500. Sometime in the next 6 months I will be thinking of purchasing an upgrade and although the E-3 is a beautiful rig, it might just be too pricey for me right now and there may be a follow-on the E510.

Thanks!

[Ray Shotter]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I have an E Volt 500 and is a very reliable camera but there are some issues such as the Auto Focus speed that I am not too pleased with. Please do not think that this rig is a dog! It takes excellent pictures, but is one of the earlier DSLR entries by Olympus.

I know that the E 510 has made some great strides to cure the issues that were experienced with the E 300, E 330, and E 500. Is there anyone out there that can give me an objective comaprison between the E500 and E510 as to what they experinced as improvements with the later model? I do know that the E500 is an 8 MEG rig versus the E510 that is a 10 MEG rig.

Just for reference I have the 14-54 MM F2.8-3.5 and 40-150 MM F3.5-4.0 lenses and the FL50 flash. All are great and they perfom well. I am just trying to findout what the benefits are of the E 510 over the E 500. Sometime in the next 6 months I will be thinking of purchasing an upgrade and although the E-3 is a beautiful rig, it might just be too pricey for me right now and there may be a follow-on the E510.

Thanks!

I have never owned an E-500 but did consider doing so for some time and spent time trying it out because I wanted a small more compact backup to my E-1. However, I eventually bought the E-510 in July 2007 and have found it a high performance compact DSLR with an excellent 14-42 ED lens. My only criticism is the viewfinder - the same problem as the E-500. But by fitting the ME-1 magnifying eyepiece the view through the viewfinder is much improved.

However, if you want to read a detailed comparison of the E-500 versus the E-510 read the review on www.dpreview.com which, in my opinion, is a well balanced review and good assessment of the advantages of the E-510 over the E-500.

I need not list the improvements here as you will find them all listed on the review in www.dpreview.com

Ray.

[Yorkie]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

Hi Dennisq,

I have also moved up from the E500 to the E510 and boy what a change.

The IS makes a big difference, especially with the 70-300 lens.

The sensor also produces better colour and the contrast is handled much more effectively, especially if you customise the settings. http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/oly-e/index.html provides loads of good info on customising and good reviews.

Definitely worth the upgrade especially wit the price drops we are now seeing.

All the best,

[theMusicMan]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I'd go as far as to say that the E-510 is one of the best ever pound(dollar) for pound(dollar) cameras ever produced.

I don't think you an get anywhere near the same or equivalent functionality, quality, and features for the price on any other camera. If there was an objective measurement of the ratio of price per number of features, then the E-510 would be streets ahead.

Still upgraded to the E-3 though (I am just plain and simply greedy.... )

[HughofBardfield]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I had the E500 and upgraded to the E510 quite early. IS is the big bonus, and I find Live View useful for macro (and for the ability to zoom x10 for manual focus).

Wrotniak's settings (see Yorkie's post above) are very useful to help get the most out of the camera IMHO. A lot of the people I've seen complaining about images from the E510 seem to be using it for JPEGs "out of the box".

I slightly prefered the ergonomics of the E500, but it's minor and you quickly get used to the differences.

[RogerMac]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I also had he 500 and was an early adopter for the 510. I had intended to use the 500 as second body but found myself enjoying the 510 so much that I gave the 500 away and just kept the 510

I never noticed much difference in quality (well not up to A3 prints) but the huge advantage was the IS which opened up a whole extra dimension for interior shots that were impossible before.

One thing I do miss is the second battery - whilst I had both I always had one on the charger. I must buy a second battery.
EDIT
One thing I forgot to say is that the live view is very helpfull for tripod work, and just recently 80% of my work is on a tripod.

[shenstone]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I run both still and still like both. I was like Hugh lucky to be able to pick up an E510 when they were like gold dust and unlike John (musicman) I've not moved to an E3 because I'm so happy I don't see the point for me.

I'm not going to list stats because as has already been posted there are some good reviews so this is just a personal opinion

Yes the Colours/Noise are better in the 510, but being honest depending on what I'm intending to do with my pictures and therefore what other factors influence the picture I think it can often be hard to tell which camera I've used and I need to check the exif to be sure.

I tend to use the E510 whenever I'm only using one camera or am using a long lens or macro for the obvious IS/Liveview reasons, but when I go out for the day I definitely take both typically with a more standard lens on the 500 and either a longer or wider lens on the 510. That way I'm more able to grab opportunist shots.

Re the difference between 8 and 10 Mp - most times you can't see it and remember that most computer screens are displaying a < 1 Mp image back to you unless you're looking at a section of your picture at 100%. It's only really relevant in printing or cropping out.

I agree with Hugh re the ergonomics - why the moved the flash control to the top of the camera I'll never know?

I agree in part re the viewfinder it is clearer in the E510, but I bought an ME-1 for the E500 and now rarely use it as I've got used to it (and sick of knocking it off as I get the camera in or our of my bag).

So would I upgrade if I only wanted one - probably yes the benefits of IS and Liveview are in my opinion clearly worth it. Would I for purely picture reasons - hmm not sure even at todays prices.

Regards
Andy

[BigD]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

ive been thinking of selling my e500 body and getting a 510 mainly because i struggle with out IS having read your views im going to have to think so more

dam you guys lol.

[gmitch]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I have an E Volt 500 and is a very reliable camera but there are some issues such as the Auto Focus speed that I am not too pleased with. Please do not think that this rig is a dog! It takes excellent pictures, but is one of the earlier DSLR entries by Olympus.

I know that the E 510 has made some great strides to cure the issues that were experienced with the E 300, E 330, and E 500. Is there anyone out there that can give me an objective comaprison between the E500 and E510 as to what they experinced as improvements with the later model? I do know that the E500 is an 8 MEG rig versus the E510 that is a 10 MEG rig.

Just for reference I have the 14-54 MM F2.8-3.5 and 40-150 MM F3.5-4.0 lenses and the FL50 flash. All are great and they perfom well. I am just trying to findout what the benefits are of the E 510 over the E 500. Sometime in the next 6 months I will be thinking of purchasing an upgrade and although the E-3 is a beautiful rig, it might just be too pricey for me right now and there may be a follow-on the E510.

Thanks!

Own both 500 & more recently 510. To be honest, I was disapointed with the 500, especially it's weakness for autofocus in low light. The E510 though is superb and I find I rarely get the 500 out of the cupboard anymore. IS is amazing, especially when using longer lens. Not sure though if it's worth going for the 510 now as 520 will be out soon. I think I'd wait for then to upgrade

[mike1251]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I only own the E500 and at present probably wont upgrade for a least another year.................I dare say that there are better cameras that offer more. I am more than pleased with my e500 its not without its niggles and can be difficult at times but what fun is photography if they take all the challange out of getting that super picture. I like having to thing about not blowing my highlights I can hardley see the display in the viewfinder as it is not very bright or rather, I'm not And after a good Saturday night oh how I wish I had IS
There is sometimes a tendancy to dismiss and disrepect the earlier versions of most items as poor relations only fit for the dustbin, yet when we all bought them as new we were pleased with there performance, style etc
So lets not send it to room 101 yet
cheers
Mike

[stryker]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I agree pretty much with what has been said about both the E500 and E510. Having bought a 70-300mm Zoom I found that the E500 autofocus tended to hunt around a bit at the higher end of the zoom range making focussing a bit of a pain.
The autofocus on the E510 is a lot crisper and faster and obviously the Image stabilisation is a big help. I have had no focus problems with the E510 and the 70-300.
The sensor on the E510 is a lot less noisy and I find that I am getting better exposed pictures from the E510. Even though most of the buttons are pretty much in the same place I don't think it handles as well as the E500, but then again I had my E500 two years and the E510 3 months.
It also helps to set it up a la Wrotniak as the default jpegs are a bit soft.
It is also worth remembering the Wrotniak's settings only work on PSAM settings and not the various scene modes, which fall back to the cameras factory default settings.
I felt very guilty when I sold my E500 as I originally wanted to keep it as a second body, but the introduction of the E420 & E520 made E410 prices extremely tempting so I now have a E410 as a second camera body and its small enough to be used where normally I would have used my SP-550.

[Melaka]

Re: Performance of the E 510 vs the E 500

I had an E500 as back up to my E1 and now have an E510 to back up the E3. The change was worthwhile for the reasons others have already given.