Olympus E-620

	Hardware Summary
• Four Thirds system allows for smaller camera size, but tiny light receptors create noise problems • Lens selection in Four Thirds format fine, but not as extensive as Canon or Nikon mounts • Viewfinder adequate, but requires repositioning to see image plus information for eyeglass wearers • Articulated LCD very valuable when shooting in Live View • Extensive flash modes and controls provided • Accepts both xD Picture Cards and the preferable CompactFlash cards • Proprietary cables, oddly positioned connection jack
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Sensor (2.00)

The Olympus E-620 uses a Four Thirds format Live MOS sensor, with approximately 13,060,000 total pixels and 12,300,000 effective pixels. The Four Thirds format was intentionally designed to be smaller than the APS-C format sensors found on most digital SLRs, to allow for more compact camera bodies, a concept proven out in the exceptionally portable E-620. There are trade-offs involved when you squeeze 12 million pixels into a smaller sensor, though, including the image noise problems we found in our lab testing. It also changes the apparent lens magnification factor. Ordinarily, when you mount a standard 35mm-style lens on an APS-C camera, it behaves like a lens with 1.5x or 1.6x the specified focal length -- a 14-42mm lens would shoot roughly the way a 21-63mm lens would on a 35mm camera. On a Four Thirds format camera, the multiplier is 2x, so that same 14-42mm lens acts like a 28-84mm. You gain on the telephoto side, but lose out on the wide angle. At the same time, you're not using the outer edges of the lens at all, which keeps distortion to a minimum.

The Super Sonic Wave Filter system vibrates briefly every time the camera is turned on to knock off dust and dirt.

Viewfinder (6.00)

The optical viewfinder provides a 95% field of view with 0.96x magnification. The diopter can be adjusted in the 03.0 - +1.0m^-1 range. The eyecup is reasonably comfortable (there are interchangeable alternatives available if you disagree), though we did find that we had to move the camera around vertically to see both the full image area and the information display strip at the bottom.

One point to keep in mind when shooting with the viewfinder is that it always shows the full 4:3 aspect ratio, even if you've chosen to shoot in 16:9, 3:2 or 6:6 modes. The choice of aspect ratio is reflected on screen if you are shooting in Live View mode. In fact, there's a custom setting that determines whether the aspect ratio setting applies to both viewfinder and Live View modes, or if it only controls Live View shooting and gets ignored when using the viewfinder.

The viewfinder is comfortable but requires some maneuvering for eyeglass wearers

The viewfinder display is shown in the two diagrams below, the first a full-screen illustration, the second a close-up of the information strip at the bottom of the frame.

		Autofocus target		Spot metering area

Battery status

Auto ISO

Shots remaining

Aperture

Image stabilization

Super FP flash

Metering

Shooting mode

Shutter speed

Flash exposure comp

WB

Exposure comp

Bracketing

Flash

ISO value

Focus confirmation

AEL

LCD (6.90)

The size and resolution of the LCD are nothing special, at 2.7 inches and 230,000 dots, but the E-5620 screen has two major points in its favor. First, it uses the Olympus HyperCrystal III LCD technology, which lets some of the light hitting the surface of the screen pass through and bounce back to provide extra backlit illumination. It's a winning approach to the problem of shooting in bright outdoor light, particularly if you're a Live View fan. We still experienced some issues with glare on the screen when shooting in the sunshine, but the image was bright and the colors well saturated even under these challenging conditions.

The articulated LCD offers freedom to shoot at unusual angles,
and protection for the screen when not in use.

And there's a solution to the glare problem too, thanks to the second LCD highlight feature, an articulated screen. The screen attaches to the camera body on the left, with a bracket that lets the LCD swing out horizontally by 180 degrees and pivot vertically 270 degrees. This provides great positioning flexibility when shooting in Live View mode, with the camera held overhead, down low or off to the side. And while the screen can be placed flat against the back of the camera to use in the traditional position, it can also be flipped 180 degrees so the plastic back of the screen faces the cold, cruel world and the smudge-and-scratch-prone working side is facing inward, nicely protected.

The diagram below explains the information items displayed on the LCD screen during shooting.

My mode

Flash

Aperture

Battery

Shutter speed

Shooting mode

Exposure compensation

Date

Picture mode

ISO

White balance

Flash

Color space

Face detection

Shots remaining

Card type

Image quality and size

Metering, focus and drive

LCD brightness and color temperature can each be adjusted in 15 steps. The last photo taken is displayed while making this adjustment, a much better practice than the flying-blind preview-less setting often found on digital cameras.

LCD Panel
As with most lower-cost digital SLRs, the E-620 doesn't have the auxiliary top-mounted monochrome LCD found on higher-end cameras. The rear LCD information display basically makes up for this, though.

Flash (6.75)

The built-in pop-up flash sits about 3 inches above the center of the lens, a good elevation for avoiding red-eye and shadowing from most lenses. Olympus gives the guide number as 17 at ISO 200. Maximum flash sync speed is 1/180 of a second.

By default, the camera can raise the flash automatically based on its assessment of exposure conditions when shooting in auto, portrait, macro, night portrait, children, nature macro and beach & snow modes.This can be defeated by changing a setting in the custom menu.

The flash will pop up automatically in automated shooting modes.

The selection of available flash modes is unusually generous.

Flash Modes
	Auto The camera fires the flash automatically based on low lighting level or backlit situations.
	Red-eye reduction A series of quick flash pulses before the shutter trips makes the subject's iris contract to minimize red-eye.
	Slow sync The flash fires but the shutter remains open for a longer exposure, to capture night scenes with both a foreground subject and background.
	Slow sync, 2nd curtain Flash fires just before the shutter closes, creating a trailing light effect when shooting moving objects.
	Slow sync red-eye reduction Slow sync for night shots with foreground subject and background visible, with red-eye reduction.
	Fill-in flash The flash fires even in bright light; helps fill in shadows, particularly in portraits.
	Flash off Keeps flash from firing, though it can still be used as an autofocus assist.

Flash intensity can be managed two ways. The light level can be set manually to 1/4, 1/16 or 1/64 of full output. Alternatively, flash compensation is available, in a ±3 EV range, in 1/3 EV increments. You can also shoot an automatic three-shot flash bracketing sequence, with 0.3, 0.7 or 1 EV increments.

The hot shoe on top of the camera will accept a variety of compatible flashes from Olympus and third parties. The camera can also control Olympus wireless RC flash system devices, using the built-in flash.

Lens Mount (6.50)

The Four Thirds format mount has a smaller diameter than a traditional 35mm mount, allowing for smaller lenses on smaller camera bodies. We found the metal mount on the E-620 body well constructed and changing lenses was smooth and fluid. The kit lens has a plastic mount but, since it is relatively flat (versus the Pentax bayonet mount we tested recently), we don't expect problems during normal usage.

It's easy enough to figure out the 35mm optical equivalent of a Four Thirds lens: just double the millimeter specs (unlike an APS-C format sensor, which produces a 1.5 or 1.6x magnification factor). That means the 14-42mm kit lens provided with the E-620 shoots like a 28-84mm on a 35mm camera, providing a good range for wide angle shots and medium-length portraiture.

The Four Thirds format is used primarily by Olympus, meaning the range of available lenses will be less generous than a Nikon- or Canon-mount camera. All of the basics are certainly well covered, though, so only those looking for esoteric focal lengths and features will encounter problems here.

The Four Thirds lens mount allows for smaller camera bodies.

Shown below are three images taken with the kit 18-42mm lens at its widest and longest settings, plus one in-between the two.

Zoom Ratio Examples
14mm	28mm	42mm

There is a custom setting called Shading Compensation that attempts to counteract the effects of vignetting, particularly in wide-angle lenses, by digitally brightening the corners of an image. Unlike more sophisticated versions of this feature found on higher-end cameras, though, this is an all-or-nothing setting, with no control over the degree of lightening that will be done. There is also a utility for fine-tuning the autofocus positioning of a given lens if you find it is consistently off, though it's unlikely you'll need this capability.

Battery (6.00)

The E-620 uses a PS-BLS1 rechargeable Lithium ion battery with a nominal voltage of 7.2V and a nominal capacity of 1150mAh. Olympus says you should get approximately 500 shots per charge when shooting with the optical viewfinder, which sounds about right given our experience with the camera. Of course, extensive Live View use is going to knock this figure down radically.

Charging time for an entirely tapped-out battery is approximately 3 hours 30 minutes.

The small rectangular battery is keyed so you can't insert it upside down.

Memory (4.00)

Olympus still exhibits a fondness for its proprietary xD Picture Card memory format, even though the rest of us scoff at its limited capacity (2GB max), slow speed and high price-per-megabyte compared to SD and CompactFlash. The good news here is that the E-620 accepts both xD and CompactFlash, with a simple menu selection toggling between the two. The latest ultra-fast UDMA cards are supported and, if you happen to have an old Microdrive lying around, the camera will accept that too.

The one oddity with the memory system involves the panorama-shooting function, which will only work when shooting to an xD card, and an Olympus-branded xD card at that. Obviously it's not a make-or-break feature for 99.9999 percent of potential buyers, but it is an annoying boondoggle nonetheless.

Both xD and CompactFlash cards can be loaded simultaneously.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs (2.00)

There's a single port for both USB and video output, oddly located on the back of the camera below the four-way controller. We don't see a practical disadvantage in positioning the port here, though we would be happier if Olympus had used standard cables instead of proprietary connectors, which make it difficult to locate replacements or spares.

A single proprietary port is used for both USB and video.

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Olympus E-620 Digital Camera Review Navigation
Intro	Product Tour	Color	Noise
Resolution	White Balance	Sample Photos	Playback
Hardware	Controls	Design & Handling	Olympus E30 Comparison
Canon Rebel XS Comp	Pentax K2000 Comparison	Nikon D90 Comparison	Conclusion
Specs & Ratings