Olympus EVOLT E-500

Viewfinder (6.0)
The size of a viewfinder on an SLR bears some relation to the size of the sensor, so it makes sense that the Evolt E-500's viewfinder is relatively small – the four-thirds sensor is considerably smaller than the standard. It is easy to see the whole image in the viewfinder, but we found the text that displays to the right of the image is dim, and we had to shift the camera slightly to see the complete display. The image itself is bright and clear, though we had trouble judging focus. The Evolt E-500's three autofocus sites are clearly marked. The optical viewfinder protrudes from the back of the camera and is cushioned by a rubber eyecup. On its left side is a diopter adjustment that turns from -3 to +1, allowing photographers to shed their glasses when shooting. Like many optical viewfinders, the E-500’s isn’t completely accurate; at 95 percent, the eye-level penta dach mirror type finder has about the same coverage as many other DSLRs.

LCD Screen (6.0)
The Evolt E-500 has a 2.5-inch, 215,000-pixel HyperCrystal LCD. It's an excellent performer, with good color and brightness and a wide angle of view. The image gets dimmer when viewed from an extreme angle, but we didn't note any solarization, a distracting effect which causes dark areas to turn light gray. The LCD is the only display on the outside of the E-500, so it does double duty, showing camera settings as well as allowing image review. It's convenient for both. The LCD screen, which boasts 100 percent coverage of the recorded field of view, can be adjusted to seven steps brighter or darker.

Flash (6.0)
The Evolt E-500's pop-up flash is convenient, but weak. At ISO 100, it's good to about 10 feet at telephoto and about 14 feet at wide angle. Its range increases at higher ISOs, and its power can be adjusted +/- 2 EV in 1/3 increments. The built-in flash and hot shoe are centered over the lens, which is the ideal placement for on-camera flash. A light source directly over the lens casts shadows behind the subject, where they are hidden, whereas a light source placed on either side casts shadows to the side, where they can be distracting.

The shutter syncs flash up to 1/180 of a second – enough for outdoor fill flash very close up in muted daylight. The Olympus E-500 offers a good range of Flash modes: Auto, which pops up and fires the flash automatically, Auto with Red-Eye Reduction, Slow Shutter Speed, Slow with Red-Eye Reduction, and Manual. The flash can also be synchronized to the second curtain, meaning it goes off at the end of the exposure, rather than the beginning. This is useful for pictures that combine motion blur with action-stopping flash because it makes the blurs seem to follow behind the flash exposure, which looks more natural.

Olympus makes a range of external flashes for the Evolt series. An E-500 user who expects to use flash extensively would do well to get one. The camera is able to control the built-in and external flashes independently.

Lens (6.0)
The Olympus E-500 is most commonly packaged with Olympus's 14-45mm, f/3.5-5.6 zoom, which acts like a 28-90mm zoom on a 35mm camera. It's a wide-angle to mild telephoto. Olympus sells the E-500 for $50 less without the 14-45mm, which gives a rough indication of the lens's value. We note significant barrel distortion and color fringing at the lens's wide-angle setting. The distortion goes away at normal and telephoto settings, and the color error decreases.

Mechanically, the lens is flimsy. When we pointed the camera straight up, the weight of the front elements was enough that the lens crept from telephoto to normal.

Most SLR manufacturers market similar lenses with budget cameras, suggesting they are do-everything optics. They aren't. Their most significant drawback is their limited maximum aperture – f/5.6 just isn't bright enough for available-light photography indoors, and it's barely useful with the built-in flash. So the 14-45 isn't alone in having these drawbacks, but  is a problem just the same. The camera has a Four Thirds mount and accepts all Zuiko Digital and Four Thirds system lenses.