Olympus Announced the Olympus EVOLT E-500

Olympus yesterday announced the next D-SLR model, E-500 (Olympus EVOLT E-500).

The Olympus E-500 will be available by the end of October. Delivering the versatility and power that are the hallmarks of a performance SLR the E-500's impressive range of features include:

A compact, lightweight and easy to handle body in a classic penta-prism design
A professionally approved, user-friendly controls layout
An 8 megapixel Full Frame Transfer CCD
Olympus' unique Supersonic Wave Filter to eliminate problems with dust when changing lenses
A shot preview function to provide easy viewing of images before they are saved onto the memory card
A high resolution 2½″ HyperCrystal LCD with 215,250 pixels
Improved metering from a 49 area sensor
A special filter to minimize image noise at high ISO levels
Two memory card slots for Compact Flash and xD media cards
Full manual control or a choice of 21 pre-defined scene modes
Available to buy alone, or as part of a range of kits, The E-500 will suit every photographers needs. Full pricing to be confirmed in October:


A traditional penta-prism shape gives the camera an authentic and professional look and feel, the user-friendly controls and functions are easy to operate and the handgrip has been positioned so that the camera can easily be kept stable when shooting. The E-500 is ideal for numerous photographic situations, from capturing landscape vistas whilst mountaineering to documenting a city's hustle and bustle.

Direct Button operation enables E-500 users to get to the settings they want without wading through endless menus or pushing arrow buttons excessively. Instead, most custom settings can be set by pressing one of the cameras eight direct key buttons for White Balance, Exposure Compensation, ISO, Flash Mode, Metering Mode, Auto Focus Mode, Auto Focus Frame and Recording Mode, and then turning a dial by thumb to customize the setting as desired. All settings are viewable at once on the camera's control panel displayed on the LCD.


The E-500 includes 21 pre-defined scene modes, ranging from landscape to sunset to portrait, meaning it can be picked up and used straight away. However, as a photographer's skills develop, the manual controls come into their own, enabling experimentation only limited by the photographer's imagination. P/A/S/M modes come as standard.

To radically improve the metering capability a new 49 area AE sensor providing accurate exposure values for ESP metering is included. This uses a newly-developed evaluation algorithm. Conventional centre-weighted average and spot metering, high light and shadow basis spot metering and AE Lock functioning are also available too making the E-500 the ideal choice for any ambitious amateur or creative semi-pro wishing to develop their individual technique and style over time.


The E-500 provides outstanding image quality. An eight megapixel, Full Frame Transfer CCD offers a larger pixel area than an ordinary Interline Transfer CCD and as a result delivers images with a greater exposure latitude, more detail and less noise.

Dust is all around us and when swapping a lens on a digital single-lens reflex camera there's a chance that a camera's electro-statically charged image sensor will attract micro dust that can ruin photos. Olympus has developed a way for photographers to enjoy the freedom of using all the lenses of the Olympus E-System in the most challenging, dusty environments without compromising image quality. Every time the camera is turned on Olympus' Supersonic Wave Filter, a patented ultrasonic technology that shakes at 35,000 vibrations a second to remove dust from in front of the camera sensor is activated. The spot-free photos that are produced liberate users from hours spent retouching photographs at the computer.

The standard kit costs around £600 and the double zoom lens kit costs around £650.