Olympus E-620

	Color Summary
• Very good color reproduction accuracy • Five Picture Modes for tailoring color to shooting situations • Long exposure results mediocre, particularly image noise component
	Product Tour	Page 3 of 17	Noise

Color Accuracy (17.86)

The Olympus E-620 demonstrated impressive color accuracy, producing lower color error figures than any of the other cameras in our comparison lineup. Orange, yellow and green reproduction are spot-on, and flesh tones are also handled notably well. Saturation was just over 98%, also a particularly strong result.

What we're testing here is how accurately a camera can recreate real-world colors, not making a value judgment on whether the captured colors are especially attractive. Yes, you can always tweak the colors in your photo with image editing software after the fact, but there's value in having colors right out of the camera match as closely as possible the scene as you actually saw it when taking the picture. To measure this, we shoot an X-Rite ColorChecker chart under tightly controlled 3000 lux illumination, then analyze the resulting images using Imatest software to determine color error. First step is to shoot with each of the available color modes, to determine which is the most accurate -- in the case of the Olympus E-620, that's the Muted setting. All of our remaining tests are shot using this setting. Click here for more on how we test color.

In the table below we show same-size crops of each color patch in the X-Rite chart, for the Olympus E-620 and four comparison cameras, each taken in the camera's most accurate color mode. The leftmost column shows the ideal color values from the original chart. The color names come from X-Rite.

	Camera Color Comparisons
	Ideal	Olympus E-620	Olympus E-30	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Olympus E-620	Olympus E-30	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Olympus E-620	Olympus E-30	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Olympus E-620	Olympus E-30	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Olympus E-620	Olympus E-30	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Olympus E-620	Olympus E-30	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

The chart below compares overall color scores for the Olympus E-620 and our four comparison cameras -- taller bars indicate superior performance.

Color Score Comparisons

Color Modes (4.00)

The E-620 provides the choice of five Picture Modes, settings which adjust color reproduction along with sharpness, contrast and gradation (dynamic range). The system is explained in more depth in the Picture Effects section below. Here, we show the effect of each color setting by reproducing actual-size crops from ColorChecker photos taken in each mode (leaving out the black-and-white Monotone option).

	Color Mode Comparisons
	Ideal	Muted	Vivid	Natural	Portrait
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Muted	Vivid	Natural	Portrait
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Muted	Vivid	Natural	Portrait
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Muted	Vivid	Natural	Portrait
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Muted	Vivid	Natural	Portrait
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Muted	Vivid	Natural	Portrait
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

Like most digital SLRs sold today, the Olympus E-620 supports the default sRGB color space, which is the best choice for most shooters, and the Adobe RGB color space used primarily for commercial printing applications.

Long Exposure (7.91)

Our long exposure test is a two-stage process, measuring both color error and image noise over a range of shutter speeds (1, 5, 10, 15 and 30 seconds). The Olympus E-620 outperformed the more expensive Olympus E-30 substantially in the color error testing, but both had mediocre results for long exposure image noise (as we'll see in the Noise testing section below, image noise remains the Achilles heel of Olympus SLRs overall). As a result, the combined long exposure score for the E-620 is superior to the E-30, but far surpassed by the Canon Rebel XS and Nikon D90.

Our long exposure testing procedure calls for illuminating the X-Rite ColorChecker chart evenly at a low illumination level and shooting it at five shutter speeds, with and without long exposure noise reduction. Ordinarily we turn off any dynamic range optimization system for this test, since it can affect results. The Olympus doesn't allow an "off" setting, though. After some experimentation we went with the Normal setting for all of our test procedures. Click here for more on how we test long exposure.

As seen here, the Olympus E-620 maintained a strong, steady color accuracy performance across the range of shooting times, with only minor variation between photos shot with noise reduction on and off. In this chart a shorter bar is desirable, since it indicates a lower color error.

Olympus E-620 Long Exposure Color Error

Image noise, shooting here at ISO 400, was also consistent, but on the high side (a shorter bar indicates lower noise levels). We did find it necessary to lower the illumination level somewhat to keep the 30-second exposure from blowing out and skewing the test results.

Based on previous testing experience, it doesn't surprise us to note that, despite promises to the contrary, turning on long exposure noise reduction actually produced slightly inferior results. The concept of long-exposure noise reduction is that the camera takes a second shot, with the shutter closed, after the actual photo is taken, then digitally corrects the image based on the noise present in that second exposure. The problem is, image noise is inherently random, leading to corrections where none is required and missed opportunities for fixes in other areas.

Olympus E-620 Long Exposure Noise

Neither Olympus model excelled in our long exposure testing, though the E-620 does show improvement over the previous model.

Long Exposure Score Comparison