Adobe camera raw olympus e-520

However, the opportunity to focus on an object beyond the center of the frame without recomposing goes a long way for comfort, and the additional points do play a part in assisting with tracking focus. Additional points near the periphery are also advantageous for some tripod work where you have a carefully composed frame you wish to preserve and the subject nears the edge of the frame.

In low light, however, the Olympus E's AF shortcomings emerge. In minimal illumination, the camera often hunted for focus and inhibited me from capturing the image. At times, I felt more confident manually focusing in dim lighting, which could be inconvenient if trying to quickly capture a shot. None of the digital SLRs at this price point focus incredibly well in low light, but most exceed the E With Live View digital SLRs, the digital interface becomes a more direct extension of the button and control layout.

Both the graphic interface and external design contribute to operation speeds and ultimately comfort; key determinants as to whether or not you enjoy the shooting experience with the camera. The Olympus E's electronic interface is oriented to meet the demands of Live View shooters. Much of the E's graphic interface revolves around the digital Status display, which overlays the live composition, and is accessible by pressing the OK button in the center of the navigation panel.

It's an effective design; the virtual overlay is visually distinct from the backdrop and easily legible. The Status display supplies a quick, direct means to access critical shooting settings with minimal interruption to the shooting process.

It creates a more fluid shooting process than a larger digital SLR that houses settings in separate monochromatic display on the camera's top deck. In those instances, users need to take their eye out of the viewfinder cup and direct their attention away from the scene and to the settings. However, Live View cameras like the E, which displays both settings and the live composition on the same 2.

Since the display overlay is semi-transparent and superimposed over the live scene, the composition never completely fades from view. This works to minimize the transition between shooting and rendering adjustments.

It sounds like a small distinction, but when working with human subjects particularly kids , a lapse in focus often breaks the connection with the subject and results in a missed shot. It could ultimately make the difference between a candid moment and one that comes across as posed or contrived. Overall, the E's display is one of the more effective overlays on current digital SLRs.

The superimposed Status display covers a little more than two-thirds of the screen, keeping the scene visible, and striking a nice balance between the information shown and scene visibility.

Image Stabilization. Olympus's current iteration of the technology promises up to four stops of compensation and increased flexibility, with three distinct stabilization settings to handle different shooting occasions. These modes work to stabilize images along the vertical, horizontal, or both vertical and horizontal axis, enabling you to use IS in a range of situations even when panning or tilting during the shot.

The system is flexible, and goes beyond what other mechanically-stabilized digital SLRs provide. I found the E's IS system to be most useful when shooting static subjects under available light with the camera set to a high ISO rating. So the math doesn't quite add up, but the effectiveness of the system within a two-stop range is undeniable. In my experience, this is typically of most stabilization systems -- mechanical or optical. While these same shots would be attainable with a Nikon, Canon, or Fuji digital SLR body with an IS or VR lens mounted, the cost of optically-stabilized lenses would make the system significantly more expensive than the E Dust Reduction.

Since the introduction of its E-1 digital SLR, Olympus has long trumpeted its Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system, and for good reason: the system is reliable, effective, and has remained at the top of the industry in spite of other manufacturers' efforts to emulate the design.

The E's Supersonic Wave Filter shakes particles off the sensor and collects them, keeping them out of the way of the imaging path. Though its difficult to measure the amount of dust cleared by the SWF system, I can say the system is effective, though it's not infallible.

With any digital SLR, dust will collect and attach itself to the imager over time, making it necessary for users to clean it manually or send the camera in for a professional cleaning. The E's long-standing SWF system will delay this process longer than most. Wireless Flash. One of the more interesting updates on the E is the addition of wireless remote flash control. Added to the consumer end of the line on the E earlier this year, the E similarly includes the option to control up to three groups of wireless flashes Olympus FLR, FL36R directly from the camera.

Multiple flash units can be assigned to each group, with the output power, ratios, and operating modes of each flash set in the E's menu. The feature is similar to Nikon's commander mode, which it offers on some of its prosumer-oriented digital SLRs. However, with the integration of the feature into the E, all current Olympus digital SLRs on the market now offer it.

Some consumers may initially feel intimidated by this feature, assuming it's solely intended for seasoned photographers. In truth, wireless remote flash distills photography down to its basics and makes dimensional, multi-light setups as simple as using a Program Auto mode on a point-and-shoot. Users can control the flash output and lighting ratios by merely dialing up or down a particular group's flash exposure compensation levels. It's a tremendously powerful feature, and should be seen as a tool to help budding photographers learn and explore the medium, as well as a portable means to create studio-like setups.

The current generation of Olympus consumer digital SLRs offers an increased maximum burst speed of 3. Conversely, the E could only stomach eight RAW files in a burst. It offers ample speed and endurance for casual motion, though it's not really fast enough for sports or rapid action. In terms of operation, the Olympus E has a penchant for both speed and sluggishness. With snappy shutter response in viewfinder mode, the speed drops off significantly when the camera is switched into live view.

This is disappointing because the camera is heavily marketed for its Live View; consumers upgrading to their first digital SLR may be surprised when the shutter lag surpasses their point-and-shoot cameras. However, all-in-all, the E is about as responsive as its direct competitors, even in Live View mode.

While the collective image quality among entry-level and just post-entry-level digital SLRs continues to improve with each generational release, the performance gap between the leading models seems to diminish. It is worthwhile to note that with the exception of the E, the leading cameras in this area all feature CCD sensors that approximate APS-C dimensions, while the E's Four Thirds sensor is smaller. The Essentials: Color and Sharpness. The Olympus E renders good colors with mostly muted saturation.

This treatment is ideal for shooters intending to post-process most or all of their images; for these photographers, a simple Photoshop action might be all it takes to get the images exactly as they'd like them. This method also allows the corrected colors to be tweaked, intensified, or diminished in a controlled environment.

However, shooters upgrading from a point-and-shoot digicam may interpret the neutral colors as bland and slightly dull. With the array of digital-specific lenses available, the E is capable of impressive edge-to-edge sharpness.

Photos from the Olympus E contain a good deal of detail, though its default settings leave images appearing a bit soft. With the application of an unsharp mask in post-processing, the images become crisp, with a nice, dimensional pop to them. However, point-and-shooters drawn to the E may not care to take this additional step, and the apparent sharpness of the images will suffer as a result. Low Light.

The larger grip and weight of the Olympus E provides additional support in low light. I often find commercial assignments taking me to dimly lit clubs, tasked with capturing a performance that's largely dependent on moody lighting and performer mannerisms to tell the story.

In these instances, the inclusion of mechanical stabilization is invaluable; however, it really only takes care of half of the equation -- reducing the subtle shake from my hands handling the camera.

It does nothing to freeze subject movement in the frame. For this, you'll need to boost the ISO to increase the shutter speed. Of course, additional noise will be introduced every time you push the ISO and amplify the signal.

ISO 1, at one foot-candle illumination, about the brightness of typical street-lighting at night. This is one instance where digital SLRs distinguish themselves from compact point-and-shoots. With a larger imaging chip, digital SLRs generally produce superior images with less high ISO noise and more detail retained near the edge of its sensitivity range.

In terms of image clarity and detail, I found the E held its own with competing cameras in its class right through ISO FFF files created using the FlexColor software are not supported. Preliminary support means that the image quality and raw format support for the given camera model is not yet finalized and may be updated in a future release.

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Minimum Lightroom Perpetual version required. Skin hues were very close to the mark and overall colour accuracy was above average, with a mean colour error of 7. Imatest showed the resolution of the test camera to be higher than that of the E we reviewed and figures from the centre of the image field were in line with our expectations for a megapixel camera. However, both lenses suffered from edge softening. With the mm lens this was most noticeable at wide lens apertures and with shorter focal length settings.

With the mm lens it was general across the focal length and aperture range. Interestingly, results from Imatest analysis on ORF. Imatest also showed a gradual decline in resolution as ISO sensitivity was increased. Interestingly, raw files maintained their higher resolution right up to ISO in our Imatest assessments. The results are shown in the graph below. Our Imatest tests on the kit lenses showed the mm lens to be a significantly better performer than the mm lens.

Lateral chromatic aberration ranged from low to moderate in both lenses, although it was worse with the mm lens than the mm lens. The graphs below show the results of our Imatest tests. Note: the red line marks the boundary between negligible and low CA, while the green line shows the boundary between low and moderate. Severe CA is indicated by the pink line. Examples from both lenses are reproduced below.

White balance performance was similar to the E — and significantly better for incandescent lighting than the E Although the orange cast was not totally eliminated, it was reduced to a point where it could be corrected with editing software. A neutral colour balance was obtained with fluorescent lighting but the pre-set fluorescent mode added a slight green cast. Manual measurement produced close to true neutrality.

Flare and ghosting were negligible with both lenses and only observed when the lens was pointed directly towards the sun or a bright light source. The test camera took just under two seconds to power up and we measured an average capture lag of 0. Shot-to-shot times for both JPEG and raw files averaged 0.

Both JPEG and raw files took 1. In the continuous shooting mode we recorded a burst of 11 high-resolution JPEGs before the camera showed signs of slowing. It took 2. It took 5. Image sensor : IS1 — 2 dimensional stabilisation. IS2 — 1 dimensional stabilisation in vertical direction for horizontal panning with camera held horizontally. IS3 — 1 dimensional stabilisation in vertical direction for horizontal panning with camera held vertically.