Olympus E-620

Shooting Modes

The shooting modes are as expected, though the version of Auto incorporated here is a bit unusual, setting key controls to default but allowing users to change whatever they like. This contrasts to the more grandma-friendly auto modes found on many other cameras, which emphasize idiot-proofing over flexibility. The point to keep in mind here is that the changes you make are lost if you turn off the camera or change to another mode and return.

There are also six scene modes accessible via the mode dial, plus a spot for the larger scene mode / Art Filter collection. These are covered below.

Focus

The Olympus E-620 uses a seven-point autofocus system, with . There are two available modes. All-target autofocus lets the camera choose among the seven available points, while single target AF uses one focus point selected by the shooter. The focus point can be chosen by pressing the AF target button behind and to the right of the shutter, then adjusting using the control dial (pretty easy) or the four-way controller (pretty tricky if you have the viewfinder up to your face).

For an extra level of fine control, there are two settings for single-point autofocus. The default Normal setting uses an area slightly larger than the target indicated, while Small focuses only on that single tiny point.

Five focus modes are available when shooting with the viewfinder: Single, Continuous, Manual, Simultaneous Single Autofocus and Manual Autofocus (where the camera autofocuses, then you adjust manually), and Simultaneous Single Autofocus and Manual Autofocus (where you first set the focus manually, then the camera attempts to maintain that focus as the subject moves). Live View autofocus is described in the separate Live View section above.

There is no dedicated autofocus assist lamp on the Olympus E-620. Instead, the pop-up flash emits a series of quick bright pulses, effective over a greater distance than an autofocus assist light, but a bit less subtle if taking indoor candids or baby pictures were what you had in mind.

We found autofocus speed rather slow with the kit lens, especially in spot focus mode. Relatively dim indoor room lighting resulted in a notable lag in focus and, while popping up the flash did solve the problem, other SLRs do a better job dealing with similar lighting conditions. Once focus is achieved, though, the continuous autofocus system did a good job tracking all but the fastest-moving subjects.

As for manual focus, it’s available using a menu selection rather than a physical switch. As a focusing assist, the viewfinder focus indicator stops blinking when the image appears sharp. This is an area where Live View is a useful alternative, since you can magnify the on-screen image while focusing for easy-to-see instant feedback.

Recording Options

The E-620 offers seven image size options, but they’re not all available at once, which seems unnecessarily complicated. Three settings are offered at any given time: Large, Middle and Small. There is only one option for Large, but Middle has three possible settings, and so does Small. The size that currently corresponds to Middle and Small settings is determined via section G of the custom settings menu. It feels like it would be far simpler and more flexible just to present a dozen settings on a single menu, and let the user scroll quickly to the desired choice using the control dial.

There are four compression options for JPEGs: Super Fine (1/2.7 compression), Fine (1/4), Normal (1/8) and Basic (1/12).

RAW shooting is available in the Olympus .ORF file format, either as a standalone file or with an attached JPEG image. The JPEG is saved in Large format with Fine compression.