Olympus has upgraded its E-500 digital SLR… again. Despite launching the E-510 a little over a year ago, the camera has been replaced by the E-520. Currently, most camera manufacturers are changing their DSLRs every two years or so; Olympus is changing them every year… can it keep the pace up?
The E-520 appears to be a series of incremental improvements on the previous E-510, rather than a root-and-branch upgrade. So, the E-520 retains the same body shape, 10 megapixel Four-Thirds sensor, Live View (although this has been improved to include exposure compensation and white balance, as well as improved AF monitoring), in camera image stabilisation and Supersonic Wave Filter dust protection.
The changes to the E-520 are the inclusion of face and contrast detection autofocus, wireless flash, auto gradation (in other words, shadow adjustment) and increased dynamic range. In addition, the E-520 can now shoot at 3.5 frames per second (up from 3.0fps), the buffer has been increased to handle up to eight RAW images and the size of the rear LCD screen has been increased slightly to 2.7”.
The new Olympus E-520 is expected in June 2008 and retail for £480 for body only, or for £530 as a kit with the Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens. There are also two double zoom kits planned; one that adds a Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6 zoom to the basic kit for £630, and the £760 Tele Double Zoom Kit, that features the Zuiko Digital ED 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens in place of the 40-150mm.
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