Olympus Announces E520 dSLR

Olympus is prepping a new Four-Thirds E520 dSLR for release at the end of the month.

We were such big fans of its predecessor, the E510, that it earned a place in a place in our our Best Budget dSLRs Of 2007 rankings, so we’ve high hopes for this one.

Looking down the spec list, we can see that Olympus have boosted the LCD display from 2.5″ to 2.7″, there’s a new contrast detection autofocus (with select lenses) onboard plus face detection with live view.

Sports snappers (or those keen to emulate the intro to Duran Duran’s “Girls On Film”) will enjoy the upwardly tweaked nippier continuous shooting speeds (3.5 vs 3.0 fps with up to eight images in RAW) and there’s also a handy new optional wireless flash control.

Further tweaks include new vertical and horizontal panning IS modes, a sci-fi sounding Shadow Adjustment Technology for brightening dark areas in photos and a Perfect Shot Preview for live previews of exposure compensation and white balance adjustments.

More of an evolution than a substantial upgrade, the 10 megapixel D-SLR shares the same sensor-shifting image stabilisation, AF Live View, TruePic III image processing and Supersonic Wave Filter dust protection as the E510.

There’s no less than 32 shooting modes, a relatively modest ISO 100-1600 range, and an optional underwater case available for any budding Jacques Cousteaus.

The E520 is set to cascade off shop shelves in June 2008 with a body-only retail price of £479.99 – but you can expect that price to be discounted online.

Olympus E520 preview (dcresource.com)
DPReview

Specs:
Body material Plastic
Sensor 4/3 type Live MOS sensor, 10.0 million effective pixels, RGB (Primary) colour filter array
Fixed low pass filter (anti-alias filter)
Dust suppression Supersonic Wave Filter
Image processor TruePic III
Image stabilization In-body sensor shift, Three modes: Horizontal+Vertical, Vertical only, Horizontal only
Image sizes 3648 x 2736, 3200 x 2400, 2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480
File formats RAW, RAW + JPEG, JPEG (EXIF 2.2) – Four levels
JPEG compression SuperFine (1/2.7), Fine (1/4), Normal (1/8), Basic (1/12)
Lenses 4/3 standard lens mount
Auto focus 3-point TTL Phase Difference Detection, Automatic or manual point selection, 11-point TTL
Contrast Detection EV 0 to 19 (ISO 100) detection range
Focus area selection Automatic, Manual
Focus modes Single shot AF, Single shot AF + MF, Continuous AF (Phase detect only), Continuous AF + MF (Phase detect only)
Manual focus Focus by wire
AF assist lamp Yes, flash strobe (flash must be raised)
Exposure modes Auto
Program AE (with shift)
Aperture priority AE
Shutter priority AE
Manual
Scene modes
Scene modes Portrait
Landscape
Macro
Sports
Night Scene & Portrait
Landscape & Portrait
Night Scene
Children
Sport
High Key
Low Key
Digital Image Stabilization
Nature Macro
Candle
Sunset
Fireworks
Document
Beach & Snow
Panorama
Underwater Wide
Underwater Macro
Sensitivity Auto (100-1600), Manual ISO 100- ISO 1600
Metering system 49-zone multi-pattern
Range (Digital ESP): 1 to 20 EV (50 mm F2, ISO 100)
Metering modes Digital ESP, Centre-Weighted Average, Spot (2%), Highlight based spot, Shadow based spot
AE Lock AE/AF lock button, With shutter release half-press
AE Bracketing 3 frames, 1/3, 1/2, 0.7 or 1.0 EV steps
Exposure steps 1/3, 1/2 or 1.0 EV
Exposure compen. -5.0 to +5.0 EV, 1/3, 1/2 or 1.0 EV steps
Shutter speed Auto mode: 2 – 1/4000 sec
P, A, S or M mode: 60 – 1/4000 sec
Bulb (up to 8 mins)
Flash X-sync speed 1/180 sec, 1/4000 sec (Super FP mode)
White balance Auto, Tungsten (3000K), Fluorescent (3 modes), Sunlight (5300K), Flash (5500K), Cloudy (6000K), Shade (7500K), Custom (2000 – 14000 K), Selectable (3000 – 7500 in 8 steps)
WB fine tuning Red – Blue: +/- 7 steps (2 mired each)
Green – Magenta: +/- 7 steps (2 mired each)
WB Bracketing 3 frames
2, 4 or 6 mired steps
Colour space sRGB, Adobe RGB
Image parameters Colour mode (Vivid, Natural, Muted, Monotone)
Saturation (5 levels)
Contrast (5 levels)
Sharpness (5 levels)
Monochrome (B&W, Sepia, Red, Green, Blue) – filter (Ye, Or, Re, Gr)
Graduation (Auto, High Key, Normal, Low Key)
Drive modes Single, Continuous, Self-timer, Remote control
Continuous 3.5 fps, RAW: 8 frames maximum, JPEG: Up to card capacity @ Large Normal (with high speed media)
Self-timer 2 sec, 12 sec
Flash Auto electronic pop-up, TTL auto / manual, Guide no. 12
Sync modes: Auto, Red-eye reduction, Slow syncro with red-eye reduction, Slow syncro, 2nd curtain slow syncro, Fill-in, Off
Flash power: Up to +/- 2EV in 1, 1/2, or 1/3 EV steps
Viewfinder Eye-level TTL Optical Pentaprism, Field of view 95%, Magnification 0.92x with a 50mm lens and -1 dioptre
Mirror: Quick return mirror
LCD monitor 2.7″ TFT LCD monitor (wide viewing angle, semi-transmissive), 230,000 pixels, 100% frame coverage
Storage Compact Flash (Type I and II) / Microdrive, xD- Picture card
Connectivity USB 2.0 (Hi Speed), Video Out (NTSC / PAL), IR Remote control (optional)
Power BLM-1 1500 mAh Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (supplied & charger)
Dimensions 136 x 92 x 68 mm (5.4 x 3.6 x 2.7 in)
Weight (no batt) 475 g (16.2 oz)