I just ordered one and wondered if anyone here has one. Feedback would be appreciated.

I have the E-300, but I've never handled the 500. I originally bought mine with the kit 14-45 & 50-140mm lenses but I've traded those lenses in for the 14-54 & 50-200mm models (they're faster than the kit lenses, dust & moisture sealed and the 50-200mm gives me more "reach" than the 40-150mm). The kit lenses are decent, the upgraded lenses are better though. At the moment I'm thinking about adding a wide angle and a macro lens to the set. I don't have any pics up somewhere that I can link to.

If you want to try something a bit different, the Oly DSLR's will do infrared pictures without any problems, you just need a good IR lens filter like a Hoya R-72. Some people do infrared by using the filter and the camera in full color mode then reducing the color in the pics with photoshop. I've been experimenting with an IR filter and the camera in B&W mode (no need to process out the color) and it works, although I don't have anything particularly impressive to show for it yet. This isn't "night vision" photography, you need to take the photos in daylight, and it helps a lot if it's a warm sunny day (so that the objects being photographed have better IR contrast).

Try reading the Olympus SLR forum on DPReview for general talk and opinins on the different models.
forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1022

Here's a site about IR photos with both the E-300 & E-500. www.wrotniak.net/photo/infrared/index.html

Olympus have announced an 18-180mm f3.5-6.3, due out sometime this Spring. Compare the cross-section diagrams of the two lenses.

www.olympus-europa.com/consumer/dslr_ZUIKO_DIGITAL_ED_18-180mm_1_3_5-6_3_Details.htm

www.sigma-photo.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3302&navigator=6

Apart from the Sigma having an extra 20mm, they look pretty much the same to me, especially the internal lens diagrams. It may actually be a rebadge of the Sigma lens with Olympus limiting it to 180mm for some reason (too much distortion at 200mm?)

Well, I got it today and I am impressed. I have to wait until the memory card comes in (backordered) before I can start taking pics. I just thought it would be bigger.

Olympus deliberately use a smaller sensor compared to DSLR's from other companies. One of the side benefits of that is a smaller lens mount ring in the body (which helps keep the body itself smaller) and smaller lenses.

With a lot of talk coming from Canon fans about "full frame" sensors (the sensor is the same size as the exposed area of a single frame of 35mm film), it will be interesting to see what happens. A full frame will allow more pixels, but the bigger sensors will need above average grade lenses to get the best results from the sensors. Canon can certainly produce top grade lenses, but they don't sell at budget prices (to be fair, Olympus lenses aren't exactly cheap either).

If you're going to use the RAW image format, get the biggest memory card you can afford. Olympus don't use any compression for RAW format, so the files are bigger for the same number of pixels compared to RAW files from other brands of cameras.

I have a couple of 1 Gig cards for my E-300 and usually shoot in 1600x1200 JPG with 1:2.7 compression, so the images are around 1.4 Mb each. A 1 Gig card is good for around 700 images at that resulution.

If you expect to shoot in continuous mode (just hold the shutter button down and it keeps taking pics) get the fastest card you can afford. The internal buffer in the camera only holds a few frames, so the faster it can write the buffer to the card, the more pics you can take in one go.

Also the sensor is an unusual aspect ratio of 4:3 as opposed to the 3:2 ratio of 35mm film and all other DSLR sensors. Pros and cons to this. (Then again what doesn't have pros and cons?

The major benefit of larger sensors is less less bleed and grain in higher iso settings.  This should be less of a problem over time, of course...  As for the nikon/canon dSLR's, one of the big selling points is lens usage between bodies.  When my film camera was stolen, I got a digital body instead and kept shooting.  4/3 will find its market, just like most other things.  

Quoted: (Then again what doesn't have pros and cons?

Congress.  Shit.  There are whores and thieves all over that place, so, never mind

I am disappointed that I cannot use the screen instead of the viewfinder to take pics. I know this is a "higher" end camera that is different than the regular point & shoot digital, it is a feature that I would have liked.


I posted some pics in a few different forums and realized my camera skills suck, it'll give me a hobby now.

Quoted: I am disappointed that I cannot use the screen instead of the viewfinder to take pics. I know this is a "higher" end camera that is different than the regular point & shoot digital, it is a feature that I would have liked.

SLR's feature that feature. The LCD on a regular P&S is more accurate than the viewfinder anyways.  This is a step up.  

I posted some pics in a few different forums and realized my camera skills suck, it'll give me a hobby now.

Me too.

Quoted: I am disappointed that I cannot use the screen instead of the viewfinder to take pics. I know this is a "higher" end camera that is different than the regular point & shoot digital, it is a feature that I would have liked.

The Olympus E-330 will do that. You can use the display screen on the back as the viewfinder, and the screen folds out so you can use it at odd angles in situations where you wouldn't be able to use the normal viewfinder. The E-330 was officially announced late last month.

It has the same body as the E-300 but apart from that the specs should be pretty much the same as the E-500.

A pic from the DPreview.com review of the E-330.
www.dpreview.com/articles/OlympusE330/Images/lcd03-001.jpg

Quoted: Also the sensor is an unusual aspect ratio of 4:3 as opposed to the 3:2 ratio of 35mm film and all other DSLR sensors. Pros and cons to this. (Then again what doesn't have pros and cons?

The 4:3 aspect ratio is supposed to be a common aspect ratio for images used in publishing. One of the claims Olympus has made about their 4:3 ratio sensors is that pics taken with sn E series DSLR don't need to be trimmed to fit the 4:3 ratio. I don't know how much truth there is to any of that, I'm not a pro or involved in publishing.

Quoted: Quoted: Also the sensor is an unusual aspect ratio of 4:3 as opposed to the 3:2 ratio of 35mm film and all other DSLR sensors. Pros and cons to this. (Then again what doesn't have pros and cons? The 4:3 aspect ratio is supposed to be a common aspect ratio for images used in publishing. One of the claims Olympus has made about their 4:3 ratio sensors is that pics taken with sn E series DSLR don't need to be trimmed to fit the 4:3 ratio. I don't know how much truth there is to any of that, I'm not a pro or involved in publishing.

The 4:3 ratio is extremely unusual with regards to DSLR and 35mm cameras. Olympus is the only one that does this. I know that the 4:3 ratio is a common thing (television, print publications, point and shoot digital cameras etc.) but in reference to small format cameras, it is exclusive and not as well supported lense wise.

Bumping this thread because of new announcements in the last few days.

Sigma have announced 5 new lenses for the 4/3 system. www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022611sigma43rds.asp

Here's what's known so far about the release schedule for those lenses.
pma2006.phanfare.com/show_image.aspx?album_id=39112§ion_id=39112&hmi_id=1825430&image_version=6&rend=WEB

Panasonic have announced a 4/3 body under their Lumix brand name and a 4/3 Leica lens with internal stabilisation.
www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022609panasonicdmcl1.asp

Some more details about the Leica lens:
www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022608leica14-50mm.asp