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Olympus E-20 5MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

Olympus E-20 5MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

List Price: $2,249.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: work of art
Review: A beautiful camera to look at, as everybody does. The good points are; (in simple language) 1) Control, a lot. 2)Fast, under certain conditions. 3) Tilting view screen. 4) Remote cable access. 5) Outside buttons, a really good idea 6)Manual zoom control 7)Terrific flash. The poor points; 1)All digitals so far, have the problem of stopping movement in the shade, so does the E-20n.
2)Heavy. Can't help that though, with all that great glass. 3)The control knobs have a tendency to move when they shouldn't. Maybe a rub with the elbo, or hand or case or whatever. I have lost some great shots because of incorrect settings. What i do is use black electrical tape. I have it all over the camera, making sure things stay the way i want them. It works! and no sticky stuff later !! None the less, I love this camera

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Best Buy!
Review: As a serious amateur photographer, over the last forty years, I have owned several sophisticated SLR film; and (recently) digital cameras priced on the expensive side of the spectrum (Nikons, Leicas, Sony's and now the E-20N).

To me the E-20N embodies simplicity, convenience, perfection and the ability to add an external flash and telescopic (SLR) features to a beautifully designed ergonomically crafted camera.

Whenever I shoot, I do so with the confidence that my years of using SLR film cameras afforded me.

A Best Buy! Says it all...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Buy at twice the price.
Review: At least that is what I paid for the camera. I do most of my shots in camera raw which gives me aproximately 26 pictures on a 256 mg card. Excelent camera for use with Photoshop CS. Flash is weak for any type of professional use. Optics are excellent. The camera gives you the option to point and shoot or have complete control of all aspects of the picture. Untill the price comes down below 10K for a good digital back for my 2 1/4 in cameras, this is a top choice to use. The only thing better today is the E-1 which was not out when I purchased this camera.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: All pixels are not created equal
Review: Buying a camera for the resolution is like buying a book based on how many pages it has.

I suspect that many of the cameras which purport to offer higher theoretical resolution are in fact limited by lens resolution. The small size of compact digital sensors in comparison with film makes severe demands on lens quality, but the dedicated digital E-10 and E-20 lenses are definitely up to the task.

Pixel quality, rather than quantity, is definitely an area where this and the E-10 shine- the rendition and gradation of colours is better than most. Particularly good with greens, golds and blacks.

The other outstanding thing about this camera is the way it handles. The user interface (by the standard of DLSR cameras) is elegant, and satisfying. This is particularly the case if you regularly tweak the settings: the interface is aimed at making such tweaks while composing the shot, rather than having to step through menus prior to the shot, although this means you need to get to know where each button is by feel, and stay familiar with what it does. You also need to get into the habit of doing a quick "cockpit check" prior to shooting, in case of an inappropriate setting left from the previous session.

I'm a big fan of spinning a rotary switch rather than repeatedly pressing a pushbutton, and the designers of this camera clearly share that preference. In a nice amalgamation of the best of both worlds, you typically hold a button down with one finger to identify which parameter to tweak, while spinning whichever of two rotary knobs comes most conveniently under another digit in order to change that parameter or select from a number of options. The buttons are nicely spread around the available areas, so that you can find them by feel. Many are differentiated in some tactile way which confirms their identity. In some cases (eg manual vs autofocus) Olympus have opted for a dedicated rotary lever even though there are only two choices. This means your finger tells you what the mode is, eliminating the need for yet another confusing light in the viewfinder.
The balance and feel of the camera is very pleasing, and the buttons and dials fall nicely under the fingers. This is a "Real" metal-body camera, no expense spared in the case design and production, and it feels like it.

Personally I think the E-10 is an even better camera than the E-20, unless resolution is your paramount concern - the E20 has some speed issues, and extra options which may distract rather than adding value, depending on your priorities. The E10, considering how much control you get, has a minimum of fiddly "smart" bells and whistles- a great camera if capturing short movie clips with sound holds no fascination for you.

I have one major gripe: while there is a facility for hooking the camera up to an external (TV) monitor, to preview the image in real time (as it falls on the sensor)- and the camera comes with an infra-red cordless remote shutter release - yet, for some *entirely* unfathomable reason, you cannot use both these facilities at once, which reduces the remote to not much more than a gimmick. You have to shell out for an expensive extension cable release, and this is of limited length.

Minor gripes are mainly connected with the autofocus- you do have to pander to it in ways which are not necessary in the case of a wet-film SLR, and it is definitely slower. However if I had to choose between a better autofocus and the superb (for a DSLR) manual focus and zoom (both via lens rings), it would be no contest.

It used to bother me that the LCD down-angle is insufficient for high overhead shots, until I realised that I could angle the panel to "maximum up" and turn the camera upside down to take the photo. The image will still look "right way up" to you, although not to the camera.

All things considered, if you like to have lots of control of the parameters, and you use your camera regularly, this is a very good choice.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: EXCELLENT, just it waste too much batteries
Review: excellent camera, the only BAD BAD thing is that waste too much batteries, you save in film, but with this camera you have to buy 4 batteries AA every 40 pictures.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Heavy Duty
Review: Have been using a Canon S100 for casual photography but was looking for something professional for serious work. After checking online reviews and current prices I decided to go with the E20N. Many reviews had remarked on the qualtiy constructions of this camera which I can only agree with. This is one heavy, well constructed piece of equipment. Kind of like the Hummer of cameras. Not a camera one would use stricly for pictures of the kids etc. This is a serious tool for pros or semi-professional photography. Tons of buttons, menus and dials to learn how to use. But the results are excellent! I almost exclusively use the SHQ mode with creates about 4MB size files (2500 x 1950 at 144 ppi, low JPEG compression). This is good enough to create larger than 5"x7" output on an imagesetter at 133 lpi. On an ink jet printer you can get top quality prints on legal size paper. Next step up would be the Nikon D100 which costs about the same but without the lens! Only negative for me is the fact that it takes relatively long to save pictures to the storage medium.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good and Versatile
Review: I am now using the E-20N for our newspaper and have found it to be excellent for sports and news photography. The only drawback is the write time from buffer to card can be long and ties up the camera when the buffer is full. It is a little slow powering up, about 5 seconds. However, I am learning to overcome it and work around it. It takes excellent quality photos and does night football on the high school level very nicely with the FL-40 Flash. The flash is a necessary accessory. It is a wonder to handle, good focus, fast auto focus and love the manual flexibility it has. I definitely recommend it. I did not know if it would take night football, but it has done very well. I am still learning it and trying to master the many features it has. Very, Very good digital camera, it has all but eliminated our wet darkroom. we also use Nikon Coolpix 950s and 995, both very good digital cameras.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Best Buy!
Review: I love this camera! This camera is the most like a TTL SL Reflex 35mm camera I've ever seen in a digital camera. The only drawback is how it seems to "go to sleep" between shots, if the shots are not within a few seconds of each other, and then the camera is hard to "wake up." Of course, I am still learning how to use the camera, especially with the built-in flash, and the Olympus dedicated flash. And as far as I am concerned, as a user of Canon and Nikon cameras for many years, I bought this camera because I know that Olympus has made great cameras for as long as I can remember, and the 5 megapixel print quality from its images is excellent.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Olympus E-20N
Review: I love this camera! This camera is the most like a TTL SL Reflex 35mm camera I've ever seen in a digital camera. The only drawback is how it seems to "go to sleep" between shots, if the shots are not within a few seconds of each other, and then the camera is hard to "wake up." Of course, I am still learning how to use the camera, especially with the built-in flash, and the Olympus dedicated flash. And as far as I am concerned, as a user of Canon and Nikon cameras for many years, I bought this camera because I know that Olympus has made great cameras for as long as I can remember, and the 5 megapixel print quality from its images is excellent.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Olympus E-20N
Review: I love this camera! This camera is the most like a TTL SL Reflex 35mm camera I've ever seen in a digital camera. The only drawback is how it seems to "go to sleep" between shots, if the shots are not within a few seconds of each other, and then the camera is hard to "wake up." Of course, I am still learning how to use the camera, especially with the built-in flash, and the Olympus dedicated flash. And as far as I am concerned, as a user of Canon and Nikon cameras for many years, I bought this camera because I know that Olympus has made great cameras for as long as I can remember, and the 5 megapixel print quality from its images is excellent.


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