Olympus EVOLT E-500

Comparisons
Canon Rebel XT - Though the Rebel XT is relatively old and is being replaced, it's worth comparing with the E-500. Both are 8-megapixel DSLRs aimed at amateurs. They're both small and they're both inexpensive. The Canon costs about $125 more online than the E-500, but it has seven autofocus points rather than three and it can shoot much longer bursts – up to 14 in JPEG, as opposed to five on the E-500. The Rebel XT handles better, and has more sensible menus than the E-500. The E-500 performs very well on our resolution test, and its color saturation is much more accurate than the Rebel XT, but its color error is worse. The E-500 has a much better LCD than the Rebel XT, as well.

Nikon D50 - The Nikon D50 sells for about the same price as the E-500 sells for online. It's a bit larger and heavier than the E-500, with lower resolution at 6 megapixels. The D50's layout, menus, and controls are more efficient than the E-500's, though its LCD display is smaller and a lower-resolution. The D50's color performance is inferior to the E-500's, with worse oversaturation and color error. On the other hand, the D50 handles noise much better than the E-500, and the D50 has much better autofocus, particularly in low light, than the E-500. The E-500 has better white balance controls, and allows setting ISO in 1/3-EV increments, which the D50 lacks.

Pentax *ist DL - The *ist DL is a 6-megapixel entry-level DSLR, so it loses the megapixel race with the E-500. It's a bit smaller than the E-500, however, and is less expensive at some online retailers. The *ist DL has a top ISO rating of 3200, and produces usable images at its high range – looking better than the E-500 on that front. The two cameras have similar slow, 3-point autofocus systems that we find frustrating in low light. On the plus side, both cameras have very good LCD displays.

Value (6.0)
The Olympus Evolt E-500 is awful doggone cheap. It retails on the Olympus web site for $799, but can be found online for $600 including a kit lens, and $650 with two lenses. Consumers considering ultra-zoom models may be tempted by the E-500. Unfortunately for the E-500, many of the ultra-zoom digital cameras come with image stabilization. With the small maximum apertures on the E-500 lenses, lack of stabilization hurts.

Worse, the E-500 doesn't perform well enough. It's slow, and its autofocus system is limited. It has only 3 autofocus sensors, and handles low light poorly. DSLRs should offer more speed than the E-500.

Who It’s For
Point-and-Shooters - The E-500's custom Scene modes suit point and shooters, but the Automatic mode isn't as foolproof as it should be for this market segment.

Budget Consumers - The E-500 is a cheap DSLR, but in many respects, it's not better than even cheaper compacts. If shooting speed is a major factor, and telephoto capability is not, it might be a good choice.

Gadget Freaks - The E-500 lacks the live preview of the Evolt E-330, Olympus's most exciting technology. The E-500 is a little dull for this crowd.

Manual Control Freaks - With full manual controls, including white balance fine-tuning, the E-500 could be an option, but not a convenient one.

Pros/Serious amateurs - The E-500 falls between the cracks for these users, who gravitate toward excellent image quality and excellent usability on one extreme, and very compact units with good image quality on the other. The E-500 is neither good enough nor inexpensive enough to appeal to this group.